About 2 million college freshmen are gearing up to invade campuses across the country during the next few weeks. Born in 1990, this huge group of 18-year-olds grew up in the electronic era, where text messaging akin to breathing and Facebook is their social network.

If you’re an “old fogie” who’s marketing to Gen Y, it’s wise to educate yourself about their world and the ways in which it’s light years apart from the one in which you grew up.

Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, offers a handy tool for doing just that. The Beloit College Mindset List “provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college.”

They’ve released the list for the past 11 years, to help faculty (and others) better understand the mindset of today’s college students.

Here are excerpts from the 60-item list for the class of 2012:

1. GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
2. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
3. Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
4. Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
5. IBM has never made typewriters. (What’s a typewriter?)
6. They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
7. Caller ID has always been available on phones.
8. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.

Other interesting tidbits about the Y Generation (from past lists):

1. They are too young to remember the Space Shuttle Challenger blowing up.
2. Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
3. The expression “you sound like a broken record” means nothing to them.
4. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black & white TV.
5. They cannot fathom what it was like not having a remote control.
6. Roller-skating has always meant in-line for them.
7. “The Tonight Show” has always been with Jay Leno.
8. Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
9. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI and WWII or even the Civil War.
10. They can’t imagine what hard contact lenses are.
11. They don’t know who Mork was, or where he was from.
12. They never heard the terms “Where’s the Beef?”, or “De plane, de plane!”
13. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
14. They have always been able to make photocopies at home.
15. Car detailing has always been available

I have a 16-year-old, so I’m somewhat “hip” (do they still use that word?) to the vast differences between his world and my Baby Boomer one. He finds it mind-boggling that I watched cartoons only on Saturday mornings, that computers weren’t invented when I was a kid, and that we listened to music that came on “big black CDs” (33s and 45s…maybe even 78s!).

What about you? What differences do you notice between the world in which you grew up and that of today’s college freshman? How will you adapt your marketing strategy to reach them?