University of California-Los Angeles Top Questions

I can still recall stepping into my college on the first day. None of my friends went to my college, and I was petrified by the enormous campus with thousands of strange new students. I did not want to risk starting a conversation with any of them, because I was afraid that they would not be friendly to me. Despite sitting in class with an auditorium full of students like me, I felt incredibly lonely. This would last for a semester. After a dull winter break, I decided to start making friends on day one of second semester. I talked to anyone I could see – roommates, classmates, even someone I met in the elevator; most of them were incredibly amiable, and many became my friends. A month later, I had already made several best friends. I talked to them when I was upset, they trusted me with their secrets, and we enjoyed spending time together. If I could travel back in time, I would advise my high-school-senior self to talk to everyone starting on the first day of college. Most people are welcoming and affable, and the benefit of having friends is critical to have stellar college experience.

Assuming I could go back in time as a high school senior and give myself advice, I would have so much to say to myself. First off, I would definitely start by saying to try my best and get the best grades I possibly could. Secondly, get involved as much as possible. Whether it is in the community or in my high school. Doing community service hours, joing a sports team, or a club. I would tell myself that in order to get into the University of my dreams, I would have to work hard for it if I really wanted to get in. Lastly, I would not leave wihtout making the best of my last year in high school. Everyone always said that high school is one of the best times of your life. That could not be any truer now looking back. I would tell myself to participate in every single activity I had that year because later on I will either reminisce about it or regret not doing so. High school is your last chance of really being a kid and enjoying life because once you get into the college world you are basically an adult.

Dear Reina, It is your senior year of high school and you are about to enter college. Just some words of advice. Be sure to get involved in some activities. Keeping up your studies is great, but you want to enjoy college as well. Another thing I need to tell you is do not stress too much. Things will work out. I know that perfectionist attitude can get the best of you, but just try to enjoy your classes for the sake of learning first. Definitely do not procratinate. I know this is the first time that you will be sharing a room, but it is not so bad. Make sure to respect everyone and their space. You shouldn't have any issues. Also, eat healthy foods and get plenty of exercise and sleep. It's good for your health. I know you are going to do well in college, Reina. Take care of yourself and be safe. Love your older, wiser college freshman self, Reina

There will always be mistakes, that I can promise. Learn from those mistakes; let them foster your growth into an independent being. Never forget the people that have helped you. Know that college is worth it, I know you’re worried and you might be on the verge of thinking about not even attending but the opportunities you will have in college are worth the sacrifice. The quarter system is grueling and you might just find yourself studying into the morning hours but you’ll get through it alive, I promise. There are so many programs that are here to help you throughout the way such as AAP, don’t let your pride get to you because you will need the additional help so apply from the beginning. As a part of the curriculum, there is service learning components that go out to volunteer with the old and children. Volunteering will make you realize that you want to be a Geriatrician. There might be moments in which the world might start coming to a halt because everything that could go wrong starts going wrong but remember that you need to be the change you want to see in the world.

“Buy a new pack of socks and briefs because they empty fast once you understand laundry’s low priority in college,” is about all I have to tell my younger self, “I know you’re expecting more but my lips are sealed. You’re probably wondering what college life is like. The ‘college’ part is an accumulation of choices offered by your school, friends, family, and even yourself in this time. The ‘life’ part, however, constitutes the decisions you make on these choices. Since I’m you, you’ll listen to my advice, but doing so undermines your free will. Giving you hints detracts from your college life because it robs you of the opportunity to make certain decisions for yourself. You must experience college in its entirety, including stressful coursework, raging parties, mistakes and victories, loneliness and friendship. My advice may spoon-feed you a tested and tried path of least resistance that denies you invaluable learning experiences. As much as I want to advise a streamlined, error-free, and successful time in college, I won’t. It’s the mistakes and self doubt, the searching and the struggle for the right answers that makes you grow.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to stay physically fit in college and avoid gaining the ‘freshman fifteen’ at all cost. Many of the insecurities that haunted me during college stemmed from being insecure with my weight. If I did not gain weight freshman year, I would have been able to focus more on important things such as studying and networking instead of worrying about my weight. I would have been confident in my appearance. I truly believe that my significant weight gain placed a damper on my college experience. I experienced drastic weight gain and loss throughout college because I could not get my eating habits under control. Although I exercised regularly, it could not combat my eating habits. Fortunately I was able to gain control over my food consumption during my senior year of college and have an amazing year. I wish that all of my college years had mirrored my senior year. I credit my overall happiness and confidence to being secure in my physical appearance.

I would advise myself to have greater forknowledge on dealing with the financial and administrative processes in order to understand the system. I would also advise on joining more extracurricular groups to branch out to different people and learn new experiences that will enrich my character. More importantly, I would tell myself to have greater self-confidence about going oout on my own and making critical decisions. This I believe is the most significant advice because it is vital on the path to adulthood to make your own decisions, take care of yourself, and learning to stand on your own bootstraps. Therefore, I would tell myself to be resolute in entering a new world and not to be afraid of meeting new people. My experiences at UCLA have given me new friendships, hindsight, and understanding about the world around me.

I would tell myself to study theatre and not wait.

I would have said to apply for more scholarships and be more organized about the whole process. Funding school almost entirely on student loans is mentally, physically, and emotionally stressful, so I could've potentially saved myself a lot of health related trauma. Also, I would have said to use what knowledge of statistics I had from pre-AP chem as a sophomore in the team science fair project I did as a junior. If we had used statistics and proven our data mathematically, we would've had a stronger argument to an already creative, innovative, and interesting project. Lastly, I would've said to study more seriously. I studied, but I was one of those students who was usually pretty well off even without studying (I still made good grades!). If I had established some good study habits back then, there would've been less of a "self-crash course" once college classes began.

I would advise me to just be comfortable with who I am. There is so much pressure to fit in, and to become one of the crowd, and tob e considered en essential part of a larger whole. But there is nothing wrong with being an individual or standing out.