Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Top Questions

I would tell my younger self that college is hard work and that I should not take assignments lightly. I would tell myself that fun should not come before work. There would be time for fun and meeting new people, but I am there to work. I would also say I need to go to professors ofice hours more often. Most importantly, I would say that a lower grade is hard to bring back up, so don't slack off.

Don't just choose a college based on ratings or cost. Take your time and find one that is the right fit. The friends you make in college are just as important as grades. Go out and explore, it's ok to be awkward most people probably feel the same way.

College isn't as easy as you might think. Don't get involved with the wrong friends--that will only hurt you or slow you down. If you choose to go to Georgia Tech, then you have to make sure to stay academically focused. Get your work done early and don't procrastinate! Make sure to focus during your classes and don't fall behind; if anything, then stay ahead. Read ahead! Go to the professor for help! And ask for help early in the semester. Focus on yourself and what you need to do to suceed and don't get caught up in all the partying. Don't be too hard on yourself when you fail every now and then, just stay focused on that little light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone goes through rough patches in life and you're probably going to be let down as you go through college, but stay strong! If you need help, then take advantage of the tutors and make the right sort of friends that will be able to help you. Never give up! Stay focused! I know you can do this. Trust me, I'm from the future!

The one piece of advice I would give to myself would be learn to get involved in your school. I had always done well in school academically, but I never pushed myself to take leadership roles in high school. When I got to college I found I still had the same issue, and it caused me to fall behind. I was still making good grades, but I wasn't as happy as I thought I should be. A few semesters passed before I decided to join a few on-campus organizations; this helped my overall satisfaction a little, but not as much as I would have liked. It wasn't until last semester when I took over as Coach for my club golf team, that I truely started enjoying college. I was always told college is going to be the best 4 years of your life, but until I took a leadership position I felt like I wasted 2 years of mine. So, if i were to go back 2 years I would tell myself to become proactive and seek-out leadership opportunities, don't let time just pass you by, go out and grab life by the throat.

Become one with your work. Work with your work, rather than trying to struggle through it. Learn to learn for the sake of learning. Choose the path that you are intrinsically motivated for. Do not simply seek a good GPA. Do not make college a numbers game. Add quality and value to all of your work. Know that you cannot cheat the system by cutting corners. Although it may have worked in much of High School, you cannot expect to do better if you are not putting in the right amount of work. Have full belief that you can learn to do anything if you put in the work. Most of success in life is only a matter of making the right decisions.

It is true that you can go back to school when ever your ready, but If I had to do it all over again I would have went right after high school. GOing back to school as a working mother is much harder, than if I had hust gone after high school. The other best thing I would tell myself is to be confident in who you are and don't ever let anyone make you feel inferior.

Looking back at my first year at the Georgia Institute of Technology and my high school years at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, the transition between the two was very smooth. One of the best decisions I made that helped make this smooth transition was taking MATH 1502 (Calculus II with Linear Algebra) and MATH 2401 (Calculus III) through the Georgia Institute of Technology's distance learning program. Taking these courses simultaneously with other rigorous courses would have surely made my freshman year in college a less enjoyable one. If I could go back in time and talk to myself, I would definitely advise sticking with this decision. One thing I would advise my past self not to do is to take certain AP courses that had non-transferrable credits. The time spent studying for these courses could have been spent on working on personal electronics projects that would later be beneficial for participating in RoboCup as a control board designer, since it has taken a full year to learn enough of the fundamentals to be able to understand how the different parts of the board worked.

I would tell my high school self to shrug-of the incompetent boyfriend you have, the lazy friends who tended to get in your way and belittle your dreams and find those people who share your same goals. I wish I could impart in my high school self the insignificance that popularity as a Senior year truly holds and the vapid idea of a prom and its queen. That all those things festive that might have seemed more important than academics and family will be gone in a matter of months and will no longer matter to you. What matters to you at the moment you might not even remember in a few months so to most importantly think before reacting. Our actions brand us and shape us into who we are. If you learn to think wisely about your decisions by thinking about their consequences and how they will affect you not a month later, or a year later but five and ten years later, you will end up going back to your high school Senior self and exulting and thanking yourself for having chosen such a bright and awesome future.

I would tell myself not to worry so much about the type of college to attend, because I know now that it does not matter what school you go to, but rather what you do at that school. For instance, I am now studying liberal arts at one of the top engineering schools in the country; I would have never pictured myself where I am today a year ago. But where I am does not matter much. What matters is that I am somewhere, and that I am pushing my boundaries as hard as I can in order to gain as much experience as possible. So, even though the real world is only a few years away, I would tell my senior self not to worry so much. My life will work itself out.

One of the greatest challenges of getting in to college is paying fees. During my senior year, I did not apply for as many scholarships as I should have. I wasn't sure if I was going to attend college, so I wasn't trying very hard to find money. Getting accepted is the easy part; I made the grades and the SAT scores, so I was never too concerned about acceptance. The financial situation, however, is the only factor that may ruin my educational goals. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to start applying for scholarships my junior AND senior year. I would tell myself to apply for corporate scholarships, state scholarships, university scholarships, and any other scholarships available. My high school had a career center which provided lists of scholarships that most people did not even know about. I was an idiot not to take full advantage of them. That is a mistake I would tell myself not to make. Scholarship hunting is hard, and I would tell myself to take every scholarship opportunity that comes my way.