Senior advice: Graduating seniors write to psychology freshmen

We describe the course context, representative results, and student evaluat ions of an assignment in which graduating psychology majors provided writte n advice in the form of letters to incoming psychology freshmen. Quantitati ve analyses of 101 letters written as part of a senior seminar revealed tha t the letters contained an average of 11 recommendations and expressed a po sitive tone. Prevailing advice centered on becoming involved in student org anisations, cultivating study skills, securing research experience, and liv ing college to its fullest. Evaluative data demonstrated favorable reaction s to the assignment by both the authors and the recipients. We conclude wit h a discussion of the pedagogical and advising uses of the assignment and i ts results.