Find out what the members of the class of 2015 are up to in their first year of college. A college freshman is featured in the Freshman Focus every Friday.
Caroline Mehta, ‘15, attends George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is double majoring in biology and psychology.
Q: What classes are you taking, and which do you like the best?
A: I’m taking invertebrate zoology, Science in the District, general psychology, Foundations of Human Communication and “Why Do We Need Biotech?”
My favorite class as of now is general psychology because it’s an interesting topic that wasn’t available at Country Day.
Caroline Mehta, who has a view of the Washington Monument when she runs at night, lives two blocks away from the D.C. monuments.
Q: How do you like living in D.C.?
A: I’ve been trying to explore as much as I can. I really love the city. I live only two blocks away from the monuments. I go running around there, as well as venturing into streets and farmers’ markets.
The city is a good size; it’s big, but not New York big.
Q: How are you adjusting to the campus?
A: The first week was a big adjustment. I had to use Google maps to get to all of my classes. I have a class that takes 20 minutes to get to via the bus.
When the pope was here, it was really hard to get around; most of my classes got cancelled. It apparently would’ve taken two hours to get to my off-campus class due to the traffic.
Q: How’s your dorm?
A: My dorm is known to be one of biggest party dorms on campus. It’s also the second most sexually active dorm in the country.
Eleven hundred kids, about half the freshmen, live here. But it’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s quiet enough for me to fall asleep. I live in a small area that I share with three roommates. We all have our desks and beds in one living area. But we have our own bathrooms.
Q: How do you like the weather?
A: The weather has not been bad. There hasn’t been any cold yet. But it was humid when I first got here in August. I still like the weather in Sacramento better.
Q: The food?
A: I’ve been exploring the city and trying new foods and restaurants. The on-campus cafeteria is pretty bad. But the school has agreements with other places, like Whole Foods, where you have $1200 a semester to spend.
Q: Are you participating in any extracurricular activities?
A: I joined Chaarge, a women-only group for finding new ways to work out. I also joined College Republicans, but I haven’t been very active in that. I will be as they hold more events for the upcoming elections.
Q: What’s the most embarrassing freshman mistake you’ve made so far?
A: I almost set the smoke detector off while making a panini with my panini press that we are prohibited from having.
Q: Why did you choose GW?
A: I liked how the science department was growing, and it’s really easy for freshmen to participate in the department. The city has a lot of difference science and political opportunities too, which is really nice.
Q: What has disappointed you about your school?
A: Because of the city, campus and the large student body, it’s common to meet a lot of people and never see them again.
Q: Do you have any advice for the class of 2016?
A: If you know what you’re interested in ahead of time and don’t want to do a lot of general requirements, look into that in a school.
I’m in the Columbian College of arts and sciences, and I have to satisfy GPAC requirements (cross-cultural course, science, math, social science, etc.), but there are so many courses to choose from that relate to what you’re interested in. I can easily find courses related to science for almost each requirement.
It’s also really important to study for your APs well and get a good grade on them.
Using Degree Maps, you can put in your predicted majors and minors, and it shows how complete your degree is. And with a double major in bio and psych, I’m 33 percent done with my degree because of APs, which means I could potentially graduate early.
Also from APs, I’m able to take classes that aren’t intro classes, so they are more specific to what I’m interested in.
—By Adam Dean
