Florida Gulf Coast University Top Questions

Don't bull shit through high school. make good grades, it will cost you less money in the end. paying for college out of your own pocket is no fun. Don't let turning 21 make you lose focus on what you should be doing, save the booze for the until the end of the semester. always plan on going to your classes all the time (even if they are boring). Pick a major you can do. Computer science sounds cool, but it is alot more demanding than it is fun. Be real with yourself when it comes to picking your major.

I would, as a high school senior, tell myself to treat college not as an extension of high school, but as a "first step" in my career. So many high school students do not take their first year of college seriously, and do not fully focus on their educational goals. Freshman year in college is substantially vital in acheiving a degree and graduating on time. I would simply tell myself to stay focused and utilize any and all college/university aid programs, such as career guidance and tutoring.

As a high school senior, I was one of the many students at the point in their educational career where they feel like the little obstacles of high school seem beyond feasable. What these student experts don't know is what the real world holds ahead of them, ready to throw at their faces like a wet snowball without warning. Nothing that the high school professors told me and nothing that the AP classes presented to me would ever fully prepare me for college life. I heard tales about college regarding study skills, GPA, professors, partying and so on but what I didn't hear about was life on my own. I never realized that having two jobs in high school wouldn't be enough, I never realized that I would have to turn down my friends movie night because I didn't have the cash, and I never realized that my dream of having a car of my own would become far fetched. The advice I needed was to have a better budget throughout my senior year. I was living in the "here and now" and I was too absorbed in the affluent and unrealistic world that surrounded me.

Going into college, I was pretty prepared for working hard since I was going to be a music major. But I would remind myself that college is more about learning and understanding what the professors taught than the grades. Getting wrapped up in the grades is not important. I have been told that numerous times over the last 2 and a half years. If you understand what you are doing the grades will come on their own.

Don't wrap yourself up material things, save your money and be smart about who you trust. Spend more nights studying and less nights drinking with strangers, they won't remember you next week. Relationships are a part of life that even you will have to experience, don't let people be reckless with your heart. Stay healthy mentally and physically. Eat right, excercise regularly, and study in groups as often as you can. You don't know this yet but study groups will help you build beautiful friendships and succeed in school. Don't be shy, ask that silly questions because a third of your class is probably wanting to ask the same thing. Remember to study smart not hard.

Transitioning from high school to college is a big deal, but getting involved with programs right away is the best thing to do. Making sure you know your way around the campus and introducing yourself to the people who are higher up in the "food chain" at school will always help you in the long run. Essentially, socialization is the key.

Be more out going. Enjoy the first few years, work hard, go to class, and take a full 18 credit load as many semesters as you can handle. SAVE your money ! Most of all, enjoy it.

Well Sophie, all your high school teachers are going to tell you that college is going to be a complete 180 from high school, and they are partially right. When they say college professors are going to be super tough on you and not anywhere near as nice as your high school teachers, they are embelishing a bit. My experience with college professors is that they are each very different in their own right. Some are extremely hard on you and will not give you the time of day, and others are extremely accomodating and want to help you in any way possible. As far as the course work goes, it varies from class to class and professor to professor. Some of my professors never assign any work and prefer class discussions to any written work and others stick to long research papers and presentations. Studying is something you are going to have to learn to deal with also. I know you never studied in high school and managed to pass all your tests, but if there's one thing that is different in college, it's the tests. They can make or break your entire grade and GPA.

I would study more my senior year so I knew how to study like you do in college. I also would learn to balance my priorities before I went away to school and didn't have my parents on back telling me what to do. Another thing, you don't have to go to every party there is. There are parties almost every night of the week, so if you miss one you're not going to die.

Advice I would give to myself as a high school senior would be to save as much money as you can instead of wasting funds on unimportant things.