Indiana University-Bloomington Top Questions

This past semester has been extremely difficult for me financially. I am mostly paid for through pells and grants through FAFSA. FAFSA is supposed to automatically pay IU when they bill me but this was not happening. Due to this IU put a hold on my account for late payments and made it impossible for me to register for spring semester classes. As an elementary education major I did not have the time to waste. I needed to reserve my spot in my prerequired classes as soon as possible. We argued with IU for a long time explaining that there was nothing I could do to control the government and they responded that they understood but that I would just have to cross my fingers and pray the payments came in. Finally we broke down and borrowed money to pay off the last little bit. I was not able to register until the wednesday before classes started. My advice for myself would be to stick with it. It is stressful and extremely distracting from the school work you need to be focusing on but just keep your chin up. It will work out if you stick with it.

You?ve got a rough couple of years ahead of you. You?re going to have 3 surgeries between now and August 2009. You need to wait to start college, because you cannot handle taking classes and being that sick and in that much pain. Your schoolwork will suffer, and when you are finally able to go back to college (Fall 2009), you will be ashamed of your past college performance. It will also affect whether or not you get scholarships when you really need them (Fall 2009). Everyone knows that you are smart, but sometimes even smart people need to take a timeout to take care of their own needs. Nobody will think any less of you for taking time away from college. You should use this time to figure out what you want to do with your life and get a part time job. Do not get a credit or debit card; you need to pay cash for everything, so that you can see exactly how much money you are spending. Do not get discouraged. You need to think about ways to turn your passions into a career. You can do whatever you want with your life.

As a freshman in college looking back on senior year, the most helpful piece of advice would have been to tell myself to study for all of my classes in a more organized process. Even if you were able to coast through highschool with good grades, college is a new challenge because professors expect you to do your best on your own.

Hi Alicia, I see that you have worked very hard in high school and are preparing for college. Going to college is a privilege that you should acknowledge and appreciate. Whether you pay for college yourself, have assistance from your parents, or receive scholarships to assist with expenses, you need to understand that it is truly an investment in your future. First and foremost you should respect that investment of time and money and make the most of it. You've learned good study habits and that will become even more important in college. In high school, teachers give assignments daily with opportunities to improve grades through extra work. In college, you will have to be very self disciplined because an assignment may be given weeks in advance and it will be up to you to manage your time and resources without supervision to complete the task. You should continue to be involved in school activities and groups, as well as community service. This will be a great way to develop new friendships while helping others. Most importantly, try to experience as many new things as you can. This is your opportunity of a lifetime. Make it count!

I would tell myself to not take everything so seriously. When I arrived here I thought that I would have a hard time making friends, and that my room-mate and I might not get along well. I also worried about my classes, but what I've come to realize is that by constantly worrying about something you can do yourself more harm than good. Breathing is good for a person. If I could talk to myself as a high school senior I would tell myself that distractions like T.V. shows and the internet help with calming down, but don't let yourself become obsessed with these things. I would also say find a groove for your studying, it helps to be in a room with some background noise, but don't be in a room with other people. You know you won't be able to study with others in the room. But most of all, I would say to just breath.

I would try to force myself to be more focused my freshman year and get to know the people better I end up living with.

I would tell myself to get better grades so I could have been given more scholarship money. Tuition is a burden and I may have told myself to apply to more state schools in my area so I would not be paying such a large amount each semester.

Be ready to accept the responsibilities of becoming an adult by living on your own, going from a small high school to an enourmous college, and the work load only grows if you do not stay on top. Last, you will meet an different variety of friends, establish relationships, and obtain life long memories.

this time i will concetrate to much on my studies if everything comes great .And i hope comes as a reality,because i passed in hard life this last year ,and i will fall the rules and conditions of the scholarship.and not only that am a person who servived the genocide that take place in rwanda 1994 .and we are a group of young servivers. this last years i studied badly because of school fees i had no support and even a sponser but now time had come on me to continue my studies because of this opportunity and i will be a part of the people could be selected.And this time i will forget the passed and think about the future that is to make mind set or concetrate on what am as than thinking for the passed and to be couregiouse. But i come to know what life is and i understand people and their believes and what i put forwad is corparation ,motivation and hard working.

I would tell myself to remember that college is harder. I may think I can do it all, but I am human and need a break once and a while. I need to take some easier courses to balance out the more difficult ones. I would also tell myself not to procrastinate, and to make time to study starting the moment I know something needs to be read. After my surgery my eyes get tired a lot faster than they used to and i need time to take breaks. I would also reassure my self that I have pleanty of time and I don't have to go straight to class, I can explore and find a close place to eat instead of taking a sanwhich and sitting outside my next class for two hours. I would have also gone to a regular school and talked to their guidance counselor so I knew when to apply for things, that would have made a more seamless transition and would have provided more time and less wait.