Miami University-Oxford Top Questions

The best possible advice I could have given myself as a high school senior would be to not feel stressed about what I'm doing for the rest of my life. Allow yourself to make mistakes, but learn from them. This includes allowing yourself to change your major or take classes outside of it. It is ok to pursue things that you are intersted in, and overall you will be far happier having those experiences than if you focused on one thing the whole time. Not allowing yourself to experience everything college has to offer is the biggest mistake you could make. While in college you have all the resources imaginable at your fingertips, use them. This includes the libraries, labs, and most importantly, professors. Professors aren't there because they love the pay, it's because they love their field and want to keep studying it along with the students, not just teach it to them. You learn with the professors, not alone, leave that pride in high school.

Dear Mike of 2011, At this point in time you are likely caught up in the euphoria of senior year – whether this be due to the sensation of finally graduating after four years of hard work, the stress of AP test preparation, the mad college application dash, or the endless workload. Regardless of what you are doing now, I urge you to take a break and read what I have to say – it will make your coming years not only easier, but more enjoyable… With your faculty planned high school schedule, you have little need to concern yourself with time management. College, however, is a much different place. If you remain unpracticed in time management, you will inadvertently make your first years of college more difficult than need be. Among the best advice I can give you is to treat college academics like a job. Otherwise, the separation of your academic and personal time will begin to blend. Don’t let college consume your full attention. Yes, it is important, but consider some advice from yourself: manage your time and create a balance in your life. You’ll discover a more disciplined, productive, and relaxed self. Sincerely, Mike of 2013

If I could talk to myself as a high school senior, I would've told myself not to worry so much about how many extra curricular activities I was in, or what color my prom dress was, but to seek out more scholarships to help with the heavy financial blow of a college education. I would have told myself to take community college classes to lessen the burden of those general education classes my first two years of college and to spend more time on the Miami University campus, even though I fell in love with the campus at fist sight. I would congratulate myself on all of the hard work I'd put in thus far, but encourage myself to work even harder. I would have told myself to be more aggressive in my summer job search, and learn as much about being independent as I could before beginning my college career.

You think that you're ready for college. You think that you're ready to move out of your parent's house forever. You think that you're ready to independent and to not look back. But, nothing will prepare you for your college transition. You will have to be brave and have the confidence and courage to just enjoy the ride. It will be tough. Embrace the change with a smile. You'll struggle with the course load at first but you'll get the hang of it. You'll miss your parents, little sister, and dog more than you think you will but they'll send you "care" packages and make the trip to visit you here and there. You'll meet many new people and at first you'll feel lost but dont' worry, you'll find the right friends soon enough and they will become life long friends! Don't take a single minute of those 4 years for granted. Everyone says that they fly by and they sure do! Study hard and stay focused! It will pay off. Get involved and do your very best every day! Good luck!

Just relax and pray about it! Too often during college did I worry or get stressed out about exams or my future. You’re going to be successful, make friends, be on the dean’s list, and find your passion. You’re going to have fun, make mistakes, try new things, and be challenged. But don’t let the struggles get you down. The anxiety can turn you into an unhappy, frustrated, and judgmental person. And if you can’t be happy with yourself, you can’t be happy for other people. You already know you want to dedicate your life to serving others. Keep in mind that in order to be a light for others, you must first be fulfilled yourself. If you want people to see God in you, take time to enjoy the weather, listen to your heart, and pray for guidance. All things happen for a reason though you may not know it at the time. All you can control is the moment you are in and you must be thankful for every moment in your life that you are granted.

Dear Self: I cannot stress enought the importance of the things you will learn in the next several years. You will learn that pursuing your dreams is life defining, and incredibly difficult. You will learn that no matter how important money is to you, without it the options you have will decrease dramatically. You will learn that simply having options is what provides you true freedom, and allows you to take advantage of your opportunities. You will learn that connections are more important than talent, that great marketing is more important than a great product, that being an employer is preferable to being an employee, that reason always trumps faith, and that no one can match your patience and ambition. These lessons will be instrumental in defining who you are, and you won't want to trade those lessons for anything. My advice to you as you head into making these transitions is to keep an open mind, to always finish what you start, to deal with the difficult and intimidating things first, and to keep your work above anything else. Take time to discover what interests you. You may encounter some real surprises. - Your Future Self

Take advantage of everything Miami has to offer. Get involved early and soak up as many experiences as possible.

First I would say to take more pictures with your friends because those are the only way you'll be able to preserve those memories. I would explain that studying in college actually means doing a bunch of practice problems note just simply looking over notes, so that I would know what to expect. Other than those few things I would say don't worry too much life is always going to continue on and stressing out about things won't help change the current of the river. If you can't reach a certain destination that you wanted then it is more than likely that there is a better destination waiting for you farther downstream.

The first piece of advice would be not to stress too much about my college decisions, because in the end I made the right choice. Second, I would tell myself to prepare better for college. To utilize my older sister and learn about her college experiences, good and bad. To pack all my stuff sooner. To not wait until the weekend before I was leaving to buy college supplies. I would have told myself that although everyone talks about college like it was a crazy wild party all the time, there is a lot of school work that needs to be done as well and that in the end it's more important have fun while doing your best academically. But most importantly I would tell myself to talk to everyone. Meet as many new people as possible. Don't try to pick your best friends out in the first week or two, instead hang out with lots of people. And while you are meeting all these new people, I would tell myself to not lose sight of who you are. Don't try to do exactly what everyone else is doing. Be unique. Be yourself.

To take the ACT earlier and to relax about going to college.