A course that surprised me has to be CMSC250H (Discrete Structures). I thought this was going to be any old computer science class where in lecture we're just taught language features and concepts however this class was very different. Simply put, CMSC250H is a math class. However it was a new type of math that I had not experienced before like combinatorics, pigeonhole principle, math with quantifiers, etc. It was a change in pace since the only class I had taken prior to CMSC250 was the intro level programming class, CMSC131. All in all, in CMSC250 I learned about programming with complex math concepts. I would tell incoming students to keep an open mind about courses they choose because the courses they choose may be very different to what they expect. Always be ready to learn and throw away any judgemental thoughts you have on a class.
With our first year pretty much being "Zoom University" it has been pretty difficult to connect with faculty, let alone the peers in my classes. All students wake up 5 minutes before their class, flip open their laptops, attend class, and then go back to sleep. Online school has lost its interactiveness; everyone has become school-zombies. With this in mind, the most beneficial method to develop relationships with faculty is to attend office hours. Office hours is a time for students to approach the professor 1 on 1 or in a group to discuss what's happening in the class. Without attending office hours, all professors know you as is a box on their screen. I would recommend that incoming students should be proactive when approaching professors and let their name be known. Office hours are a great place to start but if office hours is not your thing, shooting them an email is a great start too.
Connection with peers online is certainly difficult like I stated above. But hilariously enough, it seems that the most bonding happens over the hatred of a class. The first step of developing relationships amongst your peers is being relatable. The college life is certainly a universally difficult experience and it allows you to bond with others. Another great obstacle that may impede you pursing relationships is your own comfort zone. Sometimes you have to go outside of your comfort zone to create stronger and new connections with your peers. Always be ready to put yourself out there.
Probably the thing that I was least prepared for were the professors. My first semester I had a mix of great and not so great professors. I learned that based on their teaching style, some classes requires you to go above and beyond to really learn the material. I was so used to highschool that I expected the material to be spoonfed to me where I can easily comprehend and digest the material. A really helpful tool for finding classes and professors is planetterp. Planetterp allows you to see class ratings as well as overall class grade distribution which is all helpful statistics when choosing classes. The incoming freshmen may still find themselves in an unfortunate situation after using plantterp, thats when freshmen should have an open mind and be proactive to learn the material.