University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Top Questions

College is the next transitory step in becoming the adult you will be, and this will occur must faster than you could ever expect. Being on your own in college demands that you take responsibility for all aspects of life - academic, extra-curricular, and even home life. What is wonderful about this newfound respobsibility, though, is the passion and excitement that come with it when you find something that clicks. Whether it's attending an engaging class, talking with a professor, finding a club , volunteering, or just bonding with close friends, you learn who you are as a young adult by the interests you find in college. The freedom can be both exhilarating and overwhelming at first, however once you found steady ground in your major and friends who share your ideals and interests, college is like a practice run at being an adult before you step into your career. So make sure to take every opportunity, read the fliers posted around school, listen to what the professors have to share, and explore the campus: because every step offers an opporunity to find out more about what you truly want to become in the future.

Let?s face it. College is not the end all be all for being ready for the real world. No matter what you are planning to do, classes aren?t going to teach you all you need to know to be a competent and capable professional. There are no Networking 101 or Collaboration 200 classes. Yet you need these skills. To get them, you need to get out of your comfort zone to find the people and experiences that will teach you things you will never forget. But how? Get involved off campus and volunteer. Make friends with people in your classes you normally weren?t friends with in high school. You?ll find you have more in common than you think. Your academic advisor could be a mentor for life. Join a few clubs. On the surface, they just look like fun. Yet you?ll come out a better leader - I promise. Professors have insights about career choices from their own struggles. In short, be more than a student. Be an intramural champion. Be a volunteer. Be a brother or sister ? Greek or otherwise. Be a leader. Be you ? but give college a chance to make you even better.

If I could go back in time, after attending college and talk to myself as a high school senior, the one thing I would say is that college is just like high school. The only thing is that people are older and slightly more mature. When I left high school I thought the whole popularity thing , the best dressed, and the guys and girls that everyone wanted to date would be history. I sure was wrong. In college sure enough everyone is focused on obtaining their degree and really focusing on making decisions that will affect their life in the future. However, there are still petty fights between girls who want to date the most popular guy and guys who want to talk to the most attractive girl. There is still the whole thing of popularity especially with the greek life and athletes. Everyone wants to hang with them and be good friends with them because of their popularity. In sum, I would tell myself to continue to stay focused and organized how I was in high school and don't let these minor conflicts stand in my way of my success.

College is not high school. There's an opportunity for you to make plenty of friends but focus on your schoolwork. You don't want to find yourself on academic probation when there are plenty of on campus resources that want to help stuents out but you don't want to take advantage of them. Always use your instructors office hours because no one knows the course material better than the one who teaches the class. I would advise myself to also organize small study groups or just get a tutor because with the knowledge of others it helps with your understanding of the course material. College can be a very enjoyful and stressful stage of a young adults life so if your enjoying your college experience too much then theres a possibility that you are are not doing all you need to do to pass your courses and if times are too stressful just remember that college is not just tons of work but there are places around the campus that are designed to help releive stress so don't take college to seriously or too light but just focus on getting a career out of your college plans.

I would tell myself to have patience. College is an entity that can seem painfully slow going one day and frighteningly fast-paced the next. The most successful people coming out of college are those who found a happy medium between the fast times and the slow times. Therefore, I would tell myself to be patient and to live within the moment. In other words, during the good, bad, fast, and/or slow times during school, I would simply tell myself to weather the storm that is college life accordingly. I would also stress the terms flexibility and balance when applied on academic and social terms. Keeping a well balanced group of classes as well as a diverse group of friends keeps the mind from becoming dull and stagnant. Finally, I would stress the absolute importance of listening to your heart a well as your brain during my college experience. I have seen people change for the better as well as for the worse because of peer pressure, classroom competition, and various other challenges on campus. To avoid these obstacles, one's mind must be in tune with one's own personal values and morals. Commonality does not mean reality.

Study the course catalog of the school that your interested in to make sure you know what kind of courses you need and don?t need.

Making friends always came easy, but college threw a curve ball at me. Within the first week of school I met plenty of people and made friends quickly; however, never have I had to spend 24 hours with the same people on a day to day basis. I was completely out of my element. Looking back on my days in high school, the key to my successful friendships was that I had free space when I wanted to be by myself. Now, I have been immersed in a world of no individual down time; there are always people around me. If I could go back in time to my high school self, I would advise myself to become more accustomed to having people around me. I would also suggest to myself to try and hang out with people more instead of always excluding myself when people were getting together. If I could have made that simple change, the transition of college dorm life would have been much smoother for me and I would have more stable friendships in my life.

I would tell myself to really get focused and get involved. But I would also tell myself to relax, it's going to be great. I should have gotten more involved with campus wide activities my freshman year because this school is so huge it's easy to just disappear. I was more focused on my dorm activities (which were great) but for my future I needed to join some academic clubs and volunteer more. There are so many opportunities that we get in these four years and they go flying by fast and thick. Just be as involved as possible, take your life by the reigns and don't be afraid to fill up your days. Be friendly, talk to people, take chances. It's hard for shy people in the first few weeks because you have to just walk up to strangers in the cafeteria and ask to sit down. Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid!

Be prepared for anything and everything. Life in college can be so unexpected at times and absolutely dull at others. Stay focused and take time to really figure out the person who you want to see yourself turn into. Surround yourself only with positive things so you never doubt yourself at any moment. This transition is one of the biggest and life, so it must be taken seriously, but don't disregard fun altogether. Homework and grades are a huge part, but almost equally important are the kind of connections you'll make and experiences you'll gain. Good luck!

If I could talk to myself as a high school senior, I would say do not worry about your grades! Now I am not saying that grades are not important. As a student, I have always tried to do my best in academics so it was not as if I was going to slack off in college. However, straight A?s are not the end all be all. Your grades are not the only indicator of what you learned in college. If you have done all that you can and you get a B, then that is perfectly fine. In extremely difficult classes, you may not get an A but you will learn so much. I would also advise stepping out of your comfort zone. There are so many opportunities available in college if you are willing to take advantage of them. Be outgoing, try new things, and never doubt yourself. There will be some times when you wonder if you?re following the right path. Take a step back and remember why you wanted this dream in the first place. Realize that you control your future and believe in yourself.