Despite the current pandemic, life goes on. This is especially true for the incoming class of 2024, for whom Stevens finalized admissions for the final round of decisions last week. In light of the current pandemic, Stevens made the decision to cancel its Accepted Student Days, opting instead to “provide a virtual experience” in its place. Accepted Student events occurring later in April will likewise be hosted virtually. This leaves the incoming class without a way to interact and network with their peers in-person. Instead, students are turning to social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and GroupMe to network with their future classmates.
One incoming student, Ryan, had the idea to start an Instagram page (@stevens.2024) for incoming freshmen to post photos and descriptions of themselves. “I figured it was just a good way to connect the class of 2024, especially when we’re all signing to schools blindly,” he said. “I honestly didn’t expect this account to get so popular… Every time someone would put their profile from the account in their story, I’d get at least one or two more submissions.” Another student, Adriel, stated that the Instagram page “[makes] meeting other freshmen relatively easy,” and that he’s met four other students after being featured two weeks ago. Several other students had similarly positive experiences meeting other members of their class on Facebook and GroupMe, with many of them saying that they’ve already formed connections with several people, and one who even found their roommate.
Of the incoming students The Stute spoke with, it was a very split crowd – about half were not concerned about these cancellations affecting the beginning of their freshman year, and the other half felt that they were “not getting the ‘full experience,'” according to incoming freshman Kristy Chen. Several students have voiced concerns about their potential classmates changing their decision to attend Stevens, or not being able to come to Stevens at the beginning of the semester. One student expressed financial concerns because of pandemic-related unemployment in their family.
Of course, this is all on top of the normal stress that is associated with going away to college, “preparing to transition from depending on others, to being independent from my family,” according to Kristy. However, some students are optimistic, such as Adriel, who stated that “meeting other students hasn’t been too difficult… I should be ready to start come late August.”
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