Six Ways You Can Prepare for the Fall Semester

Whether you’re waiting for your internship to end or staring at a blank wall in your home, it’s never too early to brace yourself for the chaos that is fall semester! While fall semester may seem like a far off dream (or nightmare, no judgment), here are some small things you can do to prepare while watching reruns of “Golden Girls” or waiting for Lorde’s new album. By starting small now, you might just save yourself a stressful headache (or two) later on.

Start shopping for classes

It’s always a good idea to start looking at class syllabi before shopping week comes. Whether you’re reading Q guide reviews and getting some tea on your required classes or discovering that a course on anime does exist, browsing classes online and finding more out about them is a solid first step.

Catch up with friends

Now that you have some time, it would be nice of you to say hi and catch up with your old pset buddy or roommate. You can show that you’re a loyal and kind friend through a few texts or FaceTime calls. Still, try not to be too jealous that they’re vacationing in the Bahamas or casually doing groundbreaking research.

Scope out new extracurriculars

It’s natural for interests to change from year to year, and taking another look at all the extracurriculars that Harvard offers is a good way to explore something new worth trying. Asking friends what they’ve enjoyed, sending a few emails, or even just picking something randomly (like the Rock, Paper, Scissors Club or the Surf Club) are all ways to set the stage for exploring something new next year.

Stock up on snacks and supplies

If you don’t want to pay ridiculous prices for last minute college commodities (looking at you, Tommy’s Value), you might as well keep an eye out for cheap essentials and sales over the summer. In that same vein, stocking up on specifically snacks will be useful for your roommate who’s probably pulling an all-nighter during her first week back. Especially if you’re not from the area, you might want to buy a few extra bags of ketchup chips, or whatever snack you like from home that’s not available in Cambridge.

Buy an intro textbook

If you know you have to take a required class with a heavy workload, it might be worth buying the textbook or a prep book now, as opposed to later. You don’t have to study like you’re cramming in Lamont at 3 a.m., but taking a look at the material every now and then will help you feel more acquainted with it.

Relax

We’re obviously still in summer. Don’t feel guilty about taking some time to be with your family and ordering Chinese food every other night. It’s harder to start strong in the fall if you feel like the work never stopped.

Now that we’ve made it to August, the end of summer is in sight! Enjoy the rest while you still can, but if you’re naturally skilled in really stressing yourself out, then there’s plenty of ways to start preparing for the fall!