Essentials for First-Years is a series of workshops that gives you the information you need for a positive transition to academic work at Yale. These workshops offer insight into Yale's hidden curriculum -- the unstated knowledge, practices, and strategies that can help you find success and satisfaction in your Yale courses.
Workshops will be held over the first five weeks of the semester. You will be able to choose to choose among multiple days/times each week so that you can easily fit these key workshops into your busy schedule. Below is the workshop topic for each week.
Use the form below to indicate your interest in receiving more information about these workshops. In late August we'll reach out to you again so that you can sign up for specific dates and times.
Workshops
1. Organize Your Time! + Meet/Greet: Week of September 4
Yale students are busy! Between classes, extracurriculars, paid jobs, volunteering, and making time for friends, finding time for it all can be challenging. Join our Academic Strategies peer mentors for a session that helps you create a weekly schedule that meets your unique needs and learn other strategies for getting things done quickly and efficiently.
2. Optimize Your Reading: Week of September 11
In college, all of the expectations around reading are taken to a new level: not only is there significantly more reading to do, but how you process it and use it in your academic work can be very different than in your previous experience. Join us to learn approaches to your reading that will help you be efficient and effective with the goal of deepening your engagement with lectures, classroom discussions, and assignments.
3. Seminars & Lectures Strategies: Week of September 18
College-level seminars and lectures often have their own unwritten expectations for your role as a student. This workshop tells you exactly what those expectations are, and helps you learn the preparation, participation, note-taking, and review strategies to help you thrive.
4. Cultivating Faculty Mentors/Recommendations: Week of September 25
Talking with faculty within and outside of the classroom is a crucial experience at Yale. Faculty can talk through your academic interests and help provide advice and support for research opportunities, internships, and potential careers. Getting recommendations from faculty members is essential for applying for summer opportunities, including summer abroad programs and fellowships. This workshop helps give you the tools you need to approach faculty confidently and have a great mentorship experience.
5. Imagining Your Summer: Week of October 2
Co-led by the Office of Career Strategy and Academic Strategies, this workshop introduces you to your options for summer experiences and how you can find financial support through Yale to fund those experiences. Whether you are interested in study abroad, internships, or pursuing your own studies, Yale has a program and/or fellowship for you!
