Website: http://www.freefreshmen.com
Email: [email protected]
Fall Application & Informational Schedule: https://flac.tamu.edu/schedule/
FREE’s mission is to develop leadership and to form a community of freshmen within the college of engineering. FREE combines the service, professional, and social side of engineering in order to better your leadership abilities and create an awesome freshman year.
Why apply to FREE?
FREE allows freshmen engineering majors to become a part of an uplifting community that develops freshmen into both social and professional leaders. Members will build meaningful and lasting relationships with fellow freshmen and upperclassmen, which will allow for a smoother transition into college and a feeling of home away from home. Additionally, FREE provides both connections and resources that will assist members in achieving success in social, academic, and professional affairs.
To provide a glimpse into what the experience of being in ASSIST looks like, the FLO’s Student Leaders completed an assessment of their previous year. The following should be used as information to help you make an informed decision about being a member of AFC, but please note that your experience may look different.
What does a “week in FREE” look like?
- Weekly meetings: 1-2 hours
- Weekly committee meetings: 1-3 hours
- Opportunities to socialize on/off campus (studying, going out to eat, working out, playing sports, etc.) – 5+ hours/week
- Weekend event (day trip, retreats, all-FLO events, professional trips, etc.): 1-7+ hours
What did the remote experience look like due to COVID-19?
Weekly Zoom meetings, Committee online hangouts (Discord, Zoom, Skribbl.io etc.), Contact sheet for freshmen to use to talk about majors with current and past FREE members, Assigned 1 on 1 Zoom lunch/meetings between members.
Organization Size:
| Position | Freshmen | Counselors | Executives |
| # Students | 80 | 16 | 4 |
Being involved with FREE I can expect to pay…
| Dues & Known Costs | · Fall Semester: $40 | |
| Financial Aid
(if available) |
|
FLOs are evaluated yearly based on several factors. Three of these factors are Leadership, Service, and Social. Here is what last year’s members experienced in these areas:
| Leadership | · Spring semester meetings: Freshmen will lead FREE meetings
· Spring Retreat: Freshmen plan location, activities, and car lists for spring retreat · Day Trip: Freshmen plan location activities, and car lists for spring semester day trip · Lunch Buddies: Freshmen coordinate groups within FREE that will dine with each other and off campus · Shack-A-Thon: Freshmen plan theme, paint the shack, and help build and take down the shack · Profit Shares: Freshmen organize a profit share for our philanthropy and create promotional posts for other members to share on social media · Social Media Pages: Freshmen are in charge of the FREE social media pages during the spring semester · Various guest speakers related to engineering majors (department head, career fair info, resume reviews) |
| Service | · FREE Events: Bake Sale for Boys and Girls club, Street Clean Ups, Volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, Volunteering at a nursing home.
· FREE members also volunteer with various on campus events such as Wienerfest, The Big Event, and Replant. |
| Social | · Christmas social with FLiC, Study in ZACH with FEST, FLO Bowl, FLO Cup, Mr. FLO, Digs & Gigs, Fall Retreat, Spring Retreat, Big/Lil Tailgate, Parents’ weekend, Big/Little Christmas Social |
Does FREE have a Big/Little Program? Yes
What does the Big/Little Experience entail?
Yes. Our Big/Little program allows for freshmen to be placed in Big/Little “families” with 3-4 freshmen and 2-3 older mentors. This program allows freshmen to be introduced to role models in the College of Engineering that were once members in FREE themselves. Bigs are expected to hang out with their littles multiple times each semester. There is also a Big/Little Tailgate in the fall semester for one of the home football games where food and games are provided. Bigs are also invited to many of our other events throughout the entire year. Bigs and Littles are under a similar contract as staff and freshmen.
Want to learn more?
Attend the FLAC Coordinated livestreams, informationals, and reach out to the student leaders using the contact information available on this page.
Find the full recruitment schedule here: https://flac.tamu.edu/schedule/
Want to Apply?
Go to: https://flac.tamu.edu/apply/