University of Illinois at Chicago Top Questions

To those who are interested in attending a four year institute way out all of your options before making that decision. Go to a junior college first to help build your gpa and save a lot of money. If interested in attending a graduate school take your prerequisites early on and do well, nothing less than a B. Utilize your professors office hours and build a relationship with them so that if need be you it would be to your advantage and when you need a letter of recommendation they will truly know you and be able to vouch for you. Get involved whether its something on campus or off campus. Also getting experience in the field tha you are interested in is also a plus factor because someone with only good grades is boring you have to be well rounded. Do not change your major for anyone else but yourself if you are not certain about keeping it. It is a lot of different things to major in so pick something that is of interest to you and stay focused. Pay close attention to the various syllabus that your professors hand out because dates are extremely straightforward and important.

Relax and do not stress over little things. You will manage everything you need to get done, and if you need help, get some.

Make as many friends as you possibly can. Your GPA starts from day one, don't screw it up.

As a high school senior, I thought I had everything figured out. I knew where I wanted to go and who I was and what I wanted from life. When I got to college, I learned that much of that was not true. When you leave home, you leave to find yourself. I am still the same person in certain ways. Some of my interests are the same, however I have grown as a person and became more of myself. If I could have given myself advice, I would tell me to be flexible. Do not judge people, try new things, stay open but stand by your morals. College is the beginning of the rest of your life, so its a great place to figure out a general direction of what you really want to be.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself that even if I go to a tough school, I just need to keep on working hard. That no matter how bad things get, school should always come first, and to always think about my goal to get into the UIC nursing program. As a senior, I did not know how the UIC nursing program worked. I would explain to myself that even though there is heavy competition for the nursing school, to just go there and see what happens. I would tell myself that it's okay to attend UIC, because even if I don't get into the nursing program, the experiences I learned from attending this school will stick with me for a lifetime.

Hey there past-self. There are a few things you need to watch out for during your freshman year. First, you need to get a room transfer. Your roomate is horrible. Second, pick less classes if you want to join greek life. Also, visit your professors more since they know what is going to be on the finals. There is a lot of free time in college so you really have to time manage. If you don't, you'll find yourself wasting too much time. The gym is one of the greatest things in college. You should spend more time over there. But, getting a grant from the Honors college is the most imporant thing that you need to do. Since you got accepted from the Honors college, they can basically give you a free education. That is the one thing that you can not escape from your grasp.

If I could go back to when I was a high school senior, I would give myself a lot of advice. First of all, I would tell myself that procrastination is not a good thing because if I let procrastination take over in college, it can cost me my grade. Also, I would give myself the advice of finding study habits that benefit me because the work in college is very different than in high school and if my study habits are not good enough, it does not matter how many hours or days I study for an exam, its how good my study habits are that actually help me learn my course material. I would also tell myself that it is very important to think ahead of everything and plan everything in advance. College could be fast paced at times and time management is key and it is not something you learn overnight. Therefore it is important to stay on track of things and make sure that I am following a routine schedule.

If I were to give myself advice about college the first thing I would say is go to EVERY class and be there everyday. My biggest mistake my first year of college was taking too many days off. I never fell behind, but the fact of the matter is I received a few B's where inactuality they were easy A's. I would also say, do not let my social life distract me. I am a very social and endering person, which can at times be distracting, but I'm gotten my act together completely. I love my school and every aspect of college life. College is about time-management, friendships and discipline.

The advice I would give to parents and students about finding the right college and making the most of their college experience is that it takes time to really sit down and think about what is it that you really want out of your college life. It is important to know what kind of environment you want to form a part of, if you want to live at home and find a closer college, or if you want to go to a school that is farther away and life there. There are many factors that influence a college experience, but at the end it comes down to what the college student makes out of it. What you make out of it really affects everything, even your grades, that is why it is important to know what you want from the beginning, and once you find a school that meets those characteristics, then why not give it a shot?

First of all, visit all schools that you see as having the potential to be your designated college. By visiting schools, it becomes more clear what you do and do not want in a post-secondary school. Research the classes, majors, and requirements of schools. Try to find out extracurricular activites and clubs offered at schools, as well. By doing all of the above, you are better informed of what to expect from a school and it ensures you are getting what you want. Also, if possible, try to contact others who are attending the school. Most new college students don't know people when they get to a school so by contacting and talking with others it gives a chance to make friends even before arriving. This is hugely beneficial to developing a network and social life. For at least the first year of college, try to live on campus. By living on campus you meet many, many people and are involved and informed about all activities and events going on within and outside of the school. It is extremely important to communicate with all your professors as well when it comes to academics.