University of Arizona Top Questions

Prior to starting college, it is crucial to fill out the FAFSA online with a parent. It is not difficult and will not take more than an hour. The FAFSA allows students to qualify for grants and loans. It is important to apply to as many scholarships as possible; the money can become very helpful. Aviod procrastination and do not take any assignments or essays lightly. Certain classes only consist of exams and no assignments at all so studying is required. It is also necessary to be prepared for each course by buying all required books and reading your emails. It is recommended to live on campus because it allows someone to meet more students and you live near many resources such as the library and tutoring buildings. Unlike high school, some classes consists of 300 students or more and it is very crucial to pay attention and take notes because it is very difficult for instructors to give students individual attention. There are required courses that must be taken before starting on actual courses concerning your certain degree. It is not required to know your major right away. Take time to think it out; your major can be changed.

If I had the ability to go back in time and talk to my senior self about what to expect in college with my experiences so far, I would tell myself to take everyday by the day and to try my hardest at everything I do. My first semster at college, I was so excited. Being away from home, my best friend being in a walking distance of a minute, all the new people I was going to meet. WIth all of these new experiences there was one thing I let ship, my education. I spent more time thinking about what I was going to after I got my work done that I did not concentrate on that work. The work was completed haphaserdly and not to my full potential. If I had only spent a few more hours on that work I would have had a perfect GPA. To my senior self this is the advice I would give, " In the future no one is going to care about what I wore, who I hung out with or what I did. All that is going to matter is what I have achieved and how i have used it".

Dear Fernando, I am reaching out to you to give you advice about you college experience, As a freshmen you will do exceptional in all your classes and advance with an exceptional GPA. Your sophomore year remember that college is a path for a better future and don’t take it for granted, stop over analyzing what career path you want to take pick one and don’t give it your 110 percent don’t give up and don’t let games and your social life interfere with your academic’s. The University of Arizona will transform you in a way that you never thought it would you will change your way of thinking and as to your career path you will know what you want in time. The University of Arizona will offer not only an academic experience for you but a spiritual one as well. Remember Fernando, it is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. You’re elder Fernando Carpena

If given the opportunity to sit down and have a chat with myself a year ago I'd say "DONT WORRY!". I would tell myself to not be stressed about making friends because everyone will be in the same boat when entering college. I would tell myself to be excited because what I am about to experience will shape me into the adult I have always dreamed of being. I would tell younger me to let things happen the way they are supposed to happen. Shortly after saying that I would also let myself know that I will feel, in my heart, what is supposed to take place. I would tell myself to stay true to who I am and to keep faith in the things I believe in. But most of all, if there was one thing I would tell myself, it would be to learn from mistakes and to allow myself to grow from every situation, no matter how good or bad it ends up being.

I would make sure that I focused on getting straight As so that I could get a scholarship and make my life a lot easier. I would tell myself to live at home for as long as possible because it would save me money. I would tell myself to not eat out and save my money for buying books and paying part of my tuition. I would make sure that I knew what major I want to pursue so that I could start taking the right classes by the first semester. I would tell myself to look into scholarships to help pay for tuition. I would tell myself to look online to see which classes I need to take for my major so that I can already have a good idea on what I would be doing.

I would advise myself to take the SAT more seriously. I could have done much better, but I chose to be lazy, and because of this, I did not do as well as I could have. I would advise myself to create better study habits, because that has been the most difficult part of the transition from high school to college.

After my high school graduation in May 2010, I was nervous about transitioning into the next stage of my life: college. The idea sounded so foreign to me. I had move out of my house and into a tiny room with a complete stanger. I was responsible for feeding myself, my school work, my finances, new friendships, my laundry. The list was endless. I was nervous that I was going to fail and that I would let the people i left at home down. But looking back, these responsibilites were nothing more than a stepping stone. I learned a lot about who I was as a person, and who I want to be in the future. In examining the adventures I had in my first semester of college, I would tell myself that being afraid of the unknown is alright. I learned it is how a person reacts to the new environment that affects the true identity of the person. If I had to tell myself any piece of advice, it would be to close my eyes, take a deep breath and to just relax. In the end, take everyday as it may be, an opportunity to learn something new.

Assuming I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, the advice I would give myself would be to stop procrastinating. By the end of my senior year I managed to become a notorious procrastinator, but the moment I entered college all the coursework I thought I could finish later ended up being done poorly or not finished at all. Because of my procrastination I was not able to earn the grades I desired. It wasn't until the end of my first semester that I realized that I had to start finishing my assignments earlier than the night before their due dates. Once I started becoming more organized and focused with my assignments, my grades greatly improved. I have now managed to get papers and assignments completed earlier which has allowed me more time to study for tests. I feel much less stressed now than I did when I began my freshman year in college because I have made this change. I still have more room for improvement, but if I had worked to stop my procrastination in high school I would have earned much better grades during my first semester in college.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior I would tell them to focus more on school than anything else. In college you will get the biggest wakeup call of your life. The work is a lot harder and requires a lot more focus and studying than high school homework and exams. I would also tell myself to work harder on getting scholarships in order to help pay for school instead of leaving the burden on my parents. As long as you go into college with good time management and good financial support you will have a lot less stress, but besides all of the work college also offers a lot of opportunities and an environment where you can meet a lot of new people that have the same interests as you.

Stop what you are doing. In the end, gangs and drugs are not what will make you "cool". You will fight twice as hard with less than half of the opportunities because of the path you are going to choose. There will be missed opportunities to provide your daughter the amazing life she deserves because you would rather throw your life away and believe you are worth nothing. Stop putting yourself in situations that could kill you and start putting yourself in situations that will benefit your future. Because you will have one, and it will be more amazing that you could ever imagine. I know it seems like there are no resources and that the world believes you will always be a screw up. But, there are people and resources out there. College access isn't the strugle it seems. Step one, don't drop out of high school. Okay?