University of Puget Sound Top Questions

As a senior I wish I had gotten more help with my writing skills. This is one of the most important parts of collegiate academics, and although I felt prepared, I could have gotten a lot better, and refined my skills a lot more than what I came in with. Also resource that was not always available in high school, which was asking for help in areas I was struggling in. My high school senior year I was under the impression I had to figure things out all on my own, when in fact I should have gotten help in some more areas. For example, in AP Statistics, I should not have waited half way through the year to receive help. But one thing that I realized was when I did it payed immense dividends. Lastly, time management in high school and college is completly different. In high school I could get away with starting my homework really late at night. Now after spending a semester in college I learned that, starting late would make it extremly difficult to finish my work at hand.

Knowing about college life and the transition, advice that I would give myself is to take a chance and try and do something that you have not done before. Academics are important and you shouldn't procrastinate but don't be afraid to go out and introduce yourself and meet new people, it will all be worth it in the end. Continue to try hard but do something spontaneous.

If I could go back and talk to myself from my senior year of High School, I would not only lecture myself on taking school more seriously, I would have smacked some sense into myself. I now realize that while at the time, it seemed like I just wanted High School to be over, I miss High School now more than ever. I would have told myself that grades do matter. I have always been a very good student and have received high grades all of my life. Senior year, however, I just wanted to get out of high school and no longer cared. My grade point average suffered, and I received my first C- mark. I often wish that I could go back in time to warn myself about the troubles I was headed for. I wish that I could go back and redo my senior year and get much higher grades. Even though it didn’t seem so in high school, grades really did matter and I could have been given a much better start in college if I had only realized that a little bit sooner. Thank you for taking the time to read my application.

High school self, you are more ready to go to college than you think. Try not to worry too much about academics. You have always done well in school, and that is not going to change any time soon. Instead of worrying about academics, it might be time to worry a little bit about your social life. College is not all about the grades, despite what you may think. Grades are important, and you should not neglect them, but remember to have fun. Join a club! Try something new! Go out of your comfort zone, because that is where you will really discover who you are. Also, try not to stress about not fitting in. You will find friends, as long as you forget about that little comfort zone of yours. This is perhaps the best opportunity you will ever have to go into a new space with new people and a clean slate. Sieze the day, and discover who you are outside of the classroom. It is just as important to be social as it is to get good grades, and it will make your life infinitely more enjoyable. Self, take a chance, because you will not regret it.

Hey, Old Me. You’ve got so very much going for you and you have endless amounts of good in you, and for that you need to take a deep breath, quiet your mind, and grant yourself a deep and serene gratitude. With that done, I have one piece of advice: Analyze yourself. Strip every bias you can, uphold as many external, objective perspectives as possible, and find a way to illuminate every part of your personality. Do not be afraid of the ugly things you see. In fact, embrace and run with these things. They are part of you and cannot and will not be neglected out of existence. In your analysis, try to tend to these antagonistic components of who you are. Gently identify instead of harshly accusing; be kind to yourself, and strive for bravery in your self-correcting ways. Imagine you are your own, ideal, personality-parent. A parent and guide with mature vision and a gently firm way of correction, rife with rewards but grounded with firmness and honesty in noting failures. Be kind, and have the courage to constantly improve what you see in yourself. Good luck out there.

It is A LOT cheaper, easier and more fun if you can really take the time to research what you truly want to do for yourself (not for mom and dad or your friends!) I changed schools 3 times, and eventually picked a major and graduated. Now I am trying to decide if I want to take out more loans to attend a different school and get a Bachelor's in photography, which is what I should have done in the first place. DO INTERNSHIPS! (In a field that actually means something to you...!) Don't do foreign exchange in high school-you have a lot more freedom and options if you wait till college. Try to always be taking a sport club or PE class -you will feel so much better and be healthier! Netflicks is your best friend! Apply for a passport; take roadtrips and go somewhere new! Explore everything you can! Auditing is awesome! You don't need perfect grades. No matter how much you love your boyfriend, choose a school and major that you would have chosen without him-it will be worth it! Keep playing music! Keep in touch with old friends! Learn to laugh.

If I could go back in time and give advice to my high school self upon coming to college, the main point would be to go to every event. Yes, the floormates you have freshman year are going to be awesome, but meet as many people as you can because that will only make things easier down the road. When people start taking different classes, declare majors, or head out of the country to study abroad, a wider friend group will act as a support system. The more people you meet, the more interesting things you will be exposed to and the more complex your social learning environment will become. You may meet someone that has an inspiring passion for social justice or you may meet a person that can teach you how to do all the outdoor activities you’ve always wanted to do. Ultimately, you may find that one person that reminds you of home and who becomes your best friend. Seeing familiar faces all around campus can be a comfort because in the end, you know you won’t be the only person that feels just like you do. A confused and happily lost freshman.

The advise that I would give myself would be to work harderd and to strive for the best, and try to become Valedictorian of my class. Re-take my SAT until I was able to get the best possible score I could achive, and take the ACT's. Another word of advice I would give is to take as many college now classes as I possibly could, and go to more college visits. To appy to as many scholarships as possible, and appy early. To look at more than one college, and find the best one that would be suited for me and the amount of education I wanted to achive.

"Hello self", I would begin, judging the look on his face to be that of pure astonishment, "I am you of the future, I have come with advice for your upcoming year, do with it what you will." After we had figured out exactly how I invented a time machine and or time lapsed to the past, I would give to him the same advice I have given to many current high school seniors. "Love those closest to you, but don't be afraid to become a true individual." This has been a tremendous struggle for me. I attend school roughly 1500 miles away from home, from a family that I love deeply, lifelong friends, a really awesome dog, and even a girl friend. I have had to really find myself as a person, an entity seperate from my loved ones, yet still maintain the relationships that I have with them. Becoming my own man has been both a challenge and a revelation for me, leading me to hope that each new college freshman has a similar experience. I hope that each does not cling to the past, but develops as a human. That is what college is all about.

Freshman should really look forward to and get involved in orientation. There is a 10 day, 3 part orientation process. There is Passages (group trip), Prelude (group classroom session), and Perspectives (volunteer work). Orientation is such a great way to get involved and meet other freshman before everything starts up. This is a great opportunity and can be overlooked!