ABSTRACT
A new student approaches R. Bierstedt's role-taking situation with a background of conventions or ignorance, for he has as yet no knowledge of his own experiencing to draw upon. It is easy to forget that the new student meets a bewildering set of experiences which demand a variety of new social competences. Knowledge of the environment the new student aspires to belong to is, for the most part, socially derived from others. Models of what is appropriate and expected of new students are derived from two sets of stimuli: the students and the staff of the university, and these are often in conflict. Clothing represents a great problem for the student who does not wish to run the risk of being unduly conspicuous. The pervading nervousness among new students exhibits itself in a dread of doing anything wrong and looking foolish.
