University of South Dakota Top Questions

Cherish the simple times of unclear skin and boy problems. The complex world soon awaits you.

All of those things that you've always depended on your parents for, such as help with banking, finances, purchasing certain products, insurance, etc, continue to learn more about them. Ask your parents to teach you in addition to helping you and do some research on your own. Some of the activities that you are not worried about at all, may be slightly different when you're out on your own, so be prepared. Also, never EVER act differently than who you are in order to impress or satisfy anyone. You are a beautiful and inspiring person and you deserve to be exactly that. Take courage!

I would have told myself to find as many scholarships as possible. Please don't give up again because now that you've started this terrible debt, you're going to struggle to pay for it for many years. Even though you still have received a scholarship after hundreds of application, don't give up!!

I would tell myself to continue working hard, and staying on track, but I would tell myself that it's ok to have a little fun. I would recognize that I worked too hard between my jobs and school durring highschool, and I would encourage myself to make more friends, attend a couple parties, and live while surrounded by so many familiar people. I thought highschool would last forever, you never think its going to end, then it does, and it hits some people hard. I would tell myself to have a little fun, because once those people are gone, you hardly ever see or hear from any of them again. Although I completed several AP courses, I would also advise myself to take a couple more, going into college with some credits earned deffinitley doesn't hurt a guy, It could allow for me to finish college a little early, or atleast I could have saved myself some money.

I would give myself both practical school-related advice, AND advice on life in general. First of all, dealing with school, I would tell myself to always put my school work first. The social life and many friends that you will make at college will be tempting and time-consuming, but remember why you pay to attend the school, to get high grades and a well-placed career. Dealing with my 'position' in life while at college, I would tell myself to truly stick to being myself. As cliche as it sounds, it is so easy to lose yourself in others' opinions of who you should be. And thirdly, my advice to myself would be to simply live a fun life, because you most likely won't relive these college years again.

My advice would be to take all the science classes you can and research skilled degrees such as nursing or engineering. You don’t have to excel in these classes in high school. You just need the background so that you may do well in them while you are in college. The thing about science classes is that they can be used in any industry you decide, and they pay premium salaries. I would also say to get involved in a science related professional organization. They give you more experience. They look good on your resume, and they also offer scholarships. I would tell myself to look in the help wanted ads to see what jobs are hiring and what they are paying. I would also tell myself that an expensive school is no better than a cheaper school. The final advice I would give myself is to pick a school where you have at least one good friend, so that your freshman social life or lack of social life doesn’t bring down your academic life. You need to have a good balance of social interaction, yet treat studying like a full-time job.

My advice would be to work on study skills. The first semester showed me that I hadn't had very good studying skills. My GPA was a 2.9 which made me so frustrated because I was so used to being on the honor roll in high school. After being so upset about my GPA, I decided that my goal for the second semester was to achieve straight A's. That second semester I used some study skills that I had learned from my Applied Psychology class. Once I started to incorporate some of the skills to my studying, I was able to achieve my goal and felt that I was back on track and got my GPA up to a 3.24. This also got me on the Dean's List for the semester which made my family and me very proud. I just wish that I would have been able to start those skills earlier but unfortunately I had never needed them in high school, so working on study skills in high school would be my advice to my high school self.

I would tell myself not to be nervous. High school students going to a new school often forget that every other person in your college freshman class is also looking for friends, and for that reason they are not hard to find. Get to know the people in your first classes, for they could turn out to be lifelong friends. The petty drama in highschool will end and you will move forward to more exciting and life changing opportunities. Be open to changes and follow your interests, for you may discover that being a doctor does not thrill you as much as becoming an ecologist, saving the world's frogs. Your life will go incredible places if you let it.

WOW! If I could go back in time to my senior year in high school, I'd be forever a changed woman. There were so many opportunities that I could have taken advantage of but I didn't because I just wanted to graduate and just head on to college. I would definitely push myself to take more Advanced Placement classes and to get involved in more extracurricular activities. Although I did get a few awards at my graduation ceremony, I would have loved to had the honor of becoming a member of the National Honor Society. Now that I am in college and seeing that if I pushed myself a little further to do my best in school then I would have easily gotten a full ride scholarship to any college of my chouce.

My advice would be to investigate the universities' college life with its academic reputation. Further, pick a college that fits your personality.