Florida Gulf Coast University Top Questions

Upon entering college make sure that you do research about your campus and make sure you understand everything about scholarships and financial aid that you will be getting! As well as have some sort of an idea what you want to be majoring in so you can wisely choose your classes. Another thing you will be living away from home and will be on your own, since your on your own you need to act more mature and make good decisions! The greatest advice I can give you is time management, there are tons of things you will be doing in college but you should always make time for your education and be responsible as well as have fun!

If I could tell myself anything in the past, it would be to always have someone with you. Do not go to guy(s) places alone, even if you are just going to "chill", because they have other plans.

I would tell Michelle Sarti as a high school senior to apply for University, not to take the community college route. Michelle, you took AP clases, graduated with a 3.8. Going stright to the University it would of been a lot easier and there would be no "what if" in oyur mind. Always aim high no matter what people tell. Do not lower your expectations just because others think it is ridiculous. Just always remeber, "Skys the limit".

Knowing what I know now from the years of struggling to pay for my college semester by semester along with working I would have told myself a couple of things. First I would tell myself to start looking into colleges, apply to a few and to at least start my preliminary classes even if I did not know what I wanted to be. I would tell myself to apply, apply, apply for any and all scholarships and grants I could find. Since I am from a working class family where my mother had not graduated from high school and my father was in the military there was not extra money for school. I am the first and only college graduate in my family so far and it means alot to me and my family to accomplish this. I definatly would tell myself to go to college, live in the dorms, be adventurous and enjoy college life. Meet new and lasting fiends and have fun. I really wish I had known these things and gone to college right out of high school instead of waiting 10 years to start.

I should have signed up for a summer session to get a feel for the college prior to the start of fall classes.

The advice I would give myself as a high school senior is to join more clubs as a freshman. This way I could become more well around instead of just hanging out with the same friends I met. It is always more helpful to join more clubs because you learn more about others and yourself. And this way you meet alot more people that are different and similar to yourself.

Since I moved from Russia to America 4 years ago it's been hard for me to make friends not knowing any English. I have gotten better over the years and became more social, but I still haven't made enough effort because I'm shy and for some reason scared of my accent, which some people don't even notice. Making friends doesn't only help your social life, but it also makes you happy. When you're happy and all the worries are gone, that's when the schoolwork comes to mind. It is like some kind of a motivator.... I have always been very good at setting my goals, working towards them and achieving them ( no matter how long it takes ). I have a long term goal of graduating college, getting in to the medical school and becoming good at what I do and of course love it and just be successful.

Always plan ahead your classes. Make an outline of all your college career so that you will not fall behind. Planning ahead will save you so much time and money. It is also very important to have your priorities straight also, sometimes people tend to work more than study because they see money coming in quick. School should be your first priority because it will most certainly bring a lot more money into your pocket when you become a professional than a minimum wage college job. Another advice I would give is, do not make any career decisions or school decisions based on others. Such big decisions should only be based on you only. Do not let anyone have a big influence on you unless if it is something that will benefit you in your career and future goals. Lastly, I would also recommend to always talking to an adviser throughout your college career. There are there to help with any problem or concern, so make use of them. One-hundred percent of the time they will be right, with any academic advice they give you.

Now that I have experienced two full years of college I wish I could go back and change some things. If I went back in time to when I was a high school senior I would tell myself to make sure you pay attention to deadlines, get enough sleep and save money. I know now that college is more expensive than you think. I thought if I worked enough that I could just pay it off as I go, however, I now know that other things costs money too. So I would tell myself to save money and be prepared for anything . Deadlines and sleep I found are also important things that seemed less important when I was in high school. Deadlines cannot be pushed back in college like they could in high school and when you don’t watch the deadlines you get behind in your work, which leads to less sleep. Sleep didn’t seem important in high school, but now I know that a lack of sleep can be harmful to your school work and your health. These are the important things I learned in college that I wish I knew in high school.

If I could go back in time there is a lot of advice that I would give myself. In high school I thought I knew it all. When I got to college I suddenly learned that I knew nothing. The first piece of advice I would give myself is to be more prepared and to try harder at school. I never tried my hardest in high school. Even though I received good grades I never tried. I think this is the reason that I had such poor work ethic my first year of college. I really had to learn how to take notes and to study once I was in college. I would tell my high school self to learn all that while in high school because it would make the transition much easier. Another peice of advice is to not concentrate so much on the social aspects of school. While yes that is an important part, it is not the main part of college. My first year I think I forgot that I was really at school to take classes, not to make friends. I would remind myself to stay focused more on schoolwork.