GT Freshman Survival Guide

From your first tour at Tech, you’ll hear people telling you to ‘get involved’. That means different things for different people. Maybe it’s a sport, community service, or maybe even a FLO (if you have no idea what that is, keep reading.) The process to join clubs at Tech varies greatly from organization to organization. Here’s a general overview and some tips to keep in mind.

 

Step 1: Demonstrate Interest

 

Your first chance to meet club leaders is at Club Fair, an event during the first day of FASET. Write down your email address and get added to the group’s mailing list. Don’t hesitate to interact with a bunch of organizations - you might see something that surprises you, and it’s not as if you’re committing to any of them. (Don’t just randomly sign up for stuff, though, unless you want your inbox flooded by emails you don’t care about.)

 

A good way to find out more about clubs is through JacketPages (http://jacketpages.gatech.edu/organizations). Some organizations have more detailed entries than others, but all pages include a contact to email if you’re looking for more information. Some even have information on dues (if there are any) and when the club meets. That brings us to a major point.

 

Step 2: Introductory meetings and applications

 

So you’re on a bunch of mailing lists and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what kinds of activities and organizations you want to take part in. Now you have to get integrated into these groups.

 

Every club is different. Some ask for a lengthy application, some want a face-to-face interview, and many require nothing more than dues. The last type is pretty self-explanatory, so I’d like to focus on the first two, particularly Freshman Leadership Organizations, or FLOs.

 

FLOs are one of the best ways to get, as the name would suggest, leadership experience on campus. There are five: Emerging Leaders (EL), FreShGA, Freshman Activities Board (FAB), Freshman Council (FC) and Freshman Leadership Initiative (FLI). You can find out more abou them at (http://leadandengage.gatech.edu/content/36/first-year-leadership-organizations). Each has a different tie to Georgia Tech (FLI, for example, is an arm of the Student Foundation, and FreShGA is connected to the Student Government Association.) Their applications are quite comprehensive, so if you’re going to apply to a FLO (or multiple FLOs), make sure they align with whatever you want to get out of the experience.

 

The same goes for other opportunities. If you want to get on the executive board of an organization, you’ll probably need to fill out an application. If you’d just like to participate, you can probably just show up to weekly meetings without missing a beat. That’s your choice.

 

Step 3: Paring it down

 

You’ve written personal statements, you’ve interviewed, and you’ve heard back from all of the clubs you wanted to join. That’s fantastic. Perhaps the process left you with two or three organizations to which you can devote your time . Or perhaps you were too successful - you don’t have time for all of your commitments.

 

If you got accepted into an organization but decide you don’t have time for it, let it know as soon as possible. Not only will it keep you sane, the club will probably thank you - it gives them an opportunity to accept students off the waitlist or at least delegate your duties to others before it’s too late.

 

And with that, you’re ready to go. Now, there’s just the small matter of balancing extracurriculars with your classes, football games, eating and sleeping (strictly optional). Easy enough, right?