University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Top Questions

How competitive it really is.

I wish i would have known how liberal it is. I came from a small midwestern, very conservative town so it was quite a surprise to be surrounded by a very liberal environment. However, due to the large population, there are still conservatives around, just not as many as the midwest. I also wish I would've known how big the campus really is. In part it's awesome to have such a huge campus, but it makes for a trek to class if you have to cross campus. Bring comfy shoes!

I wish I would have known how "at home" I would feel at the University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota was my essentially my last choice for continuing my education, and to this very day I still don't know what compelled me to choose the University of Minnesota, but today, I couldn't be happier to attend such a great school. I feel like I'm apart of a community, and that I have over 48,000 other classmates, and professors, that want to see me succeed as badly I want to succeed myself.

It is ok to fail, no one will hate you and it won't ruin your academic plans.

I wish I had known about the financial aid options available to me sooner. I decided to go to a smaller university for my first several years of college because I didn't think going to a large college would be affordable. I think I would have gotten a more efficient route to my degree if I would have started at the University of Minnesota rather than transferring. That being said, going to the smaller university first has allowed me to participate in a unique dual degree program that I would not have heard about otherwise.

More people.

I wish I would have known to try out a few different major paths before committing to one. The University of Minnesota has so many different degree options (including a create your own degree where you can pick portions from three undergraduate majors) that it would have been nice to try a few more classes before launching into my degree.

I wish I knew how helpful the professors were going to be. I went in thinking that they weren't going to care about me. I'm just one out of hundreds of their students, but they really do care about you and want to help you succeed.

One thing I wish I would have known is what food choices I had offered by my university. I do not find our dining hall meal system to be as good as it could be. Although this likely would not have been important enough to me to change my decision about attending my university, it may have been helpful to take it into consideration before comnig here.

I wish I had known about campus resources for financial aid, disability services, and had help about finding jobs.