Freshmen at Winthrop 101

If you rent a loft from Timbernest (the official company Winthrop goes through), your loft is designed to fit the university beds - basically the part of the bed frame that holds the mattress becomes part of your loft and still holds your university mattress.  They rent you the taller leg things to basically hold that part of the university bed up (“lofting” it).  The remaining pieces of your bed frame that aren’t being used are the end pieces (the headrest and footrest pieces), and you find a place for them in your room.  Most people lean them up against the wall somewhere, maybe behind their desk or under their new loft.

If you bring your own loft with your own pieces and mattress, you will need to find a place in your dorm room for your ENTIRE bed and mattress.  Winthrop doesn’t store extra furniture for you anywhere, and you can’t take it home.  You could take the bed apart, but it would obviously still take up a lot of space.

Academic Success Communities are basically floors in residence halls that are centered around a theme.  For example, Wofford and Richardson each have eight floors, and each floor has a “theme” like technology, being healthy, Honors, etc.

It is optional to choose an Academic Success Community based on your preferences.  If you choose one, you will be placed on that floor in your assigned/chosen residence hall if possible.  The thinking behind this process is that you will be living with people who have similar goals/interests to you.

If you do not choose one, you will likely still be a part of one since the majority of residence halls on campus participate in the Communities.  It’s not usually a big deal, and you won’t feel outcasted or forced into anything just because you’re placed into a Community.

How involved your floor is with the chosen “theme” depends a lot on the people on your floor and especially your R.A.  I have heard that some Communities have optional themed nights (nothing is mandatory) like study groups for Honors or healthy snack nights for Healthy U.  In contrast, I was placed in Technology in Wofford as a freshman and the only thing that happened was that I was given a mousepad when I moved in (so technological!).  So it really depends, but nothing is every mandatory, so if you don’t want to participate, that’s cool.  But if you want to be more involved or have more events on your floor, your RA will be happy to consider your ideas!

I don’t know what happened, but I thought I had posted this answer before… if anyone has photos, please submit them in the ask box! :)

I would recommend taking the language placement test in the language you have experience in from high school even if you don’t plan to take those classes, just to see where you stand.  You can possibly place into a higher class, and if you pass that class with a B or better, you get credit for that class as well as the classes that come before it.  It’s a good option to have, and the test doesn’t take long.

But no, you don’t need to take the placement test in your “new” language.  Just sign up for 101 :)

My one word of caution is to make sure you understand your degree program requirements… I’m not sure if any programs still require three language courses (instead of the usual two), but make sure yours is not one of them if you plan on taking anything besides Spanish or French - sometimes there is not a third level offered in the lesser-studied languages.

Hey there!  I’m 99% sure that Residence Life will not allow you to bring your own mattress.

The reason I say that is because you cannot remove any of the provided furniture from the room… in other words, you would need to find a place in your dorm room for the provided mattress and bed (the entire frame).

You should call Res Life to explain the situation (803-323-2223) and make sure to speak with someone about the option of bringing your own mattress.  Let me know what they say!

Phelps and Lee Wicker are both suite-style rooms located in the same area of campus, so in many ways they are equal.  I personally didn’t live in either of them (I went from Wofford to Roddey to off-campus housing), but I’ve heard good things about both!

Phelps was recently renovated, which means it has new paint and other things like a new elevator.  While it’s still mostly the same as the other suite-style residence halls, things like new flooring and etc. may appeal to you.  Phelps also has a computer lab and a sink in each room, which Lee Wicker does not have.

If possible, try to see if you know anyone who might give you a quick look into their room in Phelps or Lee Wicker to see what appeals to you more.

Overall, Phelps might be the slightly better choice if those newer amenities appeal to you, but overall they’re both suite-style rooms and they’re both fairly close to Thomson and classroom buildings.  The most important part to enjoying your dorm room is enjoying who you share it with, so keep that in mind as well!  Both choices would be good ones.

I thought I answered this a while ago, but I just logged in to see it still sitting here!  Sorry about that!

You can sell books back to the bookstore at any time at the counter where they do textbooks (over near the textbook shelves). You can also try to sell them to fellow students (the Winthrop class pages, like Class of 2016, are good places to advertise) or wait until people sign up for next semester’s classes and try to sell it to someone then.

On the left (kind of right in front of you when you walk in), there is the textbook section of the bookstore.  Walk straight towards it and you should see a desk/counter.  The people at that counter will be able to help you with book purchases and selling them back.  The money you receive back is in cash. :)
A note of advice, you will probably be able to get more money back for your textbooks (especially books that freshmen often need) if you sell them to other students.  It may take a little longer, but you will earn more money that way.  However, if the amount of money is not as important as getting rid of the books, the bookstore is probably the easiest way to go.

That’s a really complicated question, to be honest.  Majoring in something you don’t like will only get you a job you don’t like.  However, majoring in something you love with pretty much a 0% chance of getting a job in that field will probably also get you a job you don’t like, because you’ll have to get a job doing something else in order to pay the bills.  Either way, you might end up feeling like you wasted your college degree.

Ideally, a person should be able to think about the things they enjoy, look at the majors at their university, and choose a path that can lead them to a career within that field.  I know that’s not always possible - not everyone can be a famous actor, a groundbreaking scientist, or a successful author.  Perhaps you should try to think about the things you enjoy, then what you would ideally like to do later in life, and THEN think of some back-up things you would like to do if the first one doesn’t work out.  For example, let’s say you LOVE theater.  It is your whole life right now.  When you get ready to come to college, you decide to major in Theater with the hopes of continuing on to become a successful actor, or director, or etc.  However, maybe consider what you would be happy doing if that dream didn’t work out.  Would you like to teach Theater?  Work at a community theater or something similar?  You should have multiple outlets if your dream career has a narrow opening for success.

I feel very lucky that my two passions in terms of a career are English and teaching… my degree choice was fairly obvious: English and Secondary Education.  I know it can be very frustrating when you feel forced to choose between something you love and finding a job later in life.

Ultimately, this is what I believe you should NOT do: come to Winthrop and major in something generic like Business or something (no offense to Business people!) just because you think “well, I need to get a job one day.”  The classes won’t make you happy and a job in the business world likely won’t make you happy either.

A good compromise is to major in something more “practical” (though still something you enjoy enough to do as a career), but still minor in something you’ve always been passionate about.  I know several students majoring in Biology to become doctors and etc. and they’re minoring in Dance because they love it.

When you get to Orientation, you will meet in a small group with a professor in your currently-selected major to talk about classes and other things.  That person will be a good resource for discussing career options in the field that you love.  I hope my rambling helped you at least a little!

When I lived there it was usually pretty decent.  I had a router and I could always get online for things like Facebook and writing papers… the only thing that was sometimes too slow to function well was when I tried to use Skype and talk to other people with a webcam.  Sometimes it was fine, but sometimes it was really slow.  You can definitely tell when everyone’s online (7-12ish at night probably) because it slows down a little, but it’s really not so bad.  It’s not a connection that you will probably enjoy playing WoW on or anything, but it’s a college dorm with 400 people living in it, and at least the wi-fi is free!

I never had a problem with using a router, and mine wasn’t that expensive (I want to say like $40? but there are cheaper ones).  However, if you are really concerned about the connection quality I would suggest an ethernet cord (if you don’t mind your laptop being connected to the wall).  It’s not a magical fix for when the internet is slow, but I’ve heard it can make your connection better because it’s more direct.

It really depends on what you would like to do with your space.  If you bring a TV, you will most likely have to put it on top of your dresser or desk, unless you loft/bunk the beds and bring an additional piece of furniture to place it on.  Consoles are generally pretty small, so I wouldn’t see them being a problem.  It’s all about how you organize your space.

I don’t think a 50-inch TV is necessary or space-efficient in a dorm room, obviously, but you also don’t have to dig out your old teeny TV from the garage to bring with you due to space constraints.  I had a 20-something inch TV (sorry, I’m a loser sometimes and can’t remember exact measurements haha) and it was fine for me.  However, some people bring huge TVs to game on and they just have to adjust their space to make it work.

My first TV tip is to talk to your roommate ASAP about the TV situation.  Make sure you don’t both bring TVs (unless you just would really like to for some reason).  Also discuss the use of the TV… will you be playing video games all the time on it?  Does your roomie have seven different weekly shows he/she likes to watch?  Remember to be courteous and compromising.

My second tip is… you will never use your TV as much as you think you will.  That may seem hard to believe, but it’s probably true.  You’ll have class, homework/papers, and hanging out with friends.  I watched a decent amount of TV in high school, but in my dorm room in college I hardly watched any at all.  There was just always something more fun than sitting in my room with my TV turned on.  Keep that in mind before you buy a new TV just for school or pack 300 video games.

Hope that helps!

Hey, sorry I took a few days to get back to you!  I was trying to do some research to help answer your question (I’m not an Interactive Media major, not even close).  Here is where you can find the required classes for the Digital Information Design major with a concentration in Interactive Media: http://www.winthrop.edu/majors/default.aspx?id=10537

As you can see, most of your concentration classes are Visual Communications classes such as Intro to Typography and Design and Color.  From what it seems to me, it has much more to do with computers and designing things via technology than with actual hand-drawing skills.

If you have not been to Orientation yet, I would suggest you ask the advisor you meet with before you register for classes about the requirements for the program and whether or not you are well-suited for it based on your skills.  If you have already been to Orientation, go ahead and email that advisor with your questions!

You can also always just try it out - take a class or two and you should be able to tell pretty quickly whether or not it’s the program for you :)

For reference, detailed information about each placement test and who is required to take it is here: http://winthropfreshmantips.tumblr.com/post/22403007229/placement-tests

Psychology majors need to take a language to the 102 level (meaning you need credit for 101 and 102 in a language of your choice).  There are two ways to accomplish this:
1. take 101 and 102 in a language.
2. take the placement test in that language (you can take it during orientation) and try to get placed into 102. if you do well in 102, you will get credit for both 101 and 102 :)

If you follow this link and look at page 106, you will see the General Education (aka Gen Ed) requirements for the BFA students.  If you keep reading, there are the classes specifically for each concentration. http://www.winthrop.edu/uploadedFiles/recandreg/Catalogs/12-13/VPA.pdf

According to page 106, you will need 3 hours (aka 1 normal class) in the Logic/Language/Semiotics section.  You could fulfill that with a language, if you wanted, but there are also a lot of other options (which you can find on page 16, here http://www.winthrop.edu/uploadedFiles/recandreg/Catalogs/12-13/Degree-Requirements.pdf).  Other options include Computer Science, math classes (besides the MATH 150 class everyone takes), Public Speaking, and etc.

As far as the last thing you said in your question about the languages, it doesn’t really work that way.  You wouldn’t jump right into the fourth Spanish class at Winthrop because you took Spanish 1, 2, and 3 in high school; however, if you would like to take a language class, you should take the Language Placement Exam during orientation - you have the possibility of scoring high enough to skip a level or two, and if you do well in the level you place into, you get credit for all of them.  Personally, I started at Spanish 101 even though I placed into a higher level just because it was a good review and an easy A for me (GPA boost!), but it’s up to you.

Thanks for your question!