Freshmen have only had a few days to immerse themselves in college life, but they have already set themselves apart from other graduating classes, according to an Aug. 15 study by Mr Youth, a national marketing firm.
The firm released its findings after surveying approximately 5,000 incoming college freshmen. The study was composed through national surveys, focus groups and video cameras given to teens to document their lives for a short period of time.
The study found the class of 2015 “profoundly different” from college students at other levels. They are more immersed in social media and technology than ever before, the study said, reporting 91 percent publicly check-in online, 75 percent send more than 20 text messages per day and 40 percent login to Facebook more than 10 times per day.
The class of 2015 has the will, social skills and technological tools that set them apart from older college students, said Dillon Guerin, mechanical engineering freshman.
“Many people have told us since middle school that we are the group that will make a difference,” Guerin said.
He said a tighter grasp on technology makes current freshmen different from older students. The class of 2015 developed along with technology, such as Facebook and smartphones, and mastered it first, Guerin said.
Older students may have missed out on technological advances in elementary and high school classrooms as well, he said.
Guerin said he and his peers are entrenched in social media, as the study suggests, and their deep involvement makes them more social than older students he observed on campus.
The study found 67 percent of current freshmen check Facebook from a smartphone, 75 percent upload photos from mobile devices and 52 percent have more than 300 friends on Facebook.
“Our age group has a better way of talking to people,” Guerin said. “We’re more social.”
But seasoned University students do not share Guerin’s sentiments.
The freshmen girls who went through 2011 fall sorority recruitment are like any other students, said MeKensie Meaux, education junior. She said she shared similar interests and could relate to many of them.
“We may be different ages, but we are all in the same generation,” Meaux said.
 
_____
Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]