Wayne State University Top Questions

Knowing what I know now about college life, and the transistion it requires from high school, there is a great deal of advice I would give myself. All my life I have been an excellent student, and even graduated as Valedictorian of my class. When I started college, I was overconfident and thought that college was going to be a breeze. I was wrong. Although the study skills I acquired during high school proved to be a great help, college was much more serious than I thought. Studying required much more time, and attention to greater detail. I was also no longer a big fish in a small pond. I had to prove myself all over again, starting from scratch. Also, beyond just the academic realm, extra-curriculars are very important. If I had been more active in extra-curricular activities, getting involved would be much easier now. Overall, no matter how good of a high school student I was, college is much different, for there is less free time. Time that would have been dedicated to friends, is now dedicated to school or school-related activities. The transition to college is not easy and must be taken seriously.

I would tell myself to study hard and get a lot of scholarships or financial aid because school is very hard to pay for. College is a cross road into the real world. You are leaving security behind and entering into a very big part of life. You have to work hard in school because that is the only way to get anywhere in life. With proper time management, school can be fun as well as an oppertunity to better yourself and plan for the future.

I would tell my self to go into a medical major right out of high school and not to drop out! I changed my major three times in four years, then had to drop out do to finicial difficulities after being injured in an accident. I wish I could do It over again, and get a degree after the first four years . Now I am old, have a ton of responsibilites and am stuck taking out student loans which I cannot afford, to attend another four years of college, since I pretty much have to start all over. Im old, and broke, but I have kept a 3.7 to 4.0 GPA over the last two years of college and am determinded to be the top of my class. I wish I could tell my younger self to stay in school and finish a good degree, and get good grades, so I could avoid all the suffering I go through now, working 40 hrs a week and going to school full-time, and having to fully support myself. Life is hard so I would tell my younger self to stop being so niave, and start being a sucess!

Take all the AP courses that is available is high school and take the senior seriously and do very well on ACT scores. Join clubs and organization.

Your friends may not be coming with you, but you can still remain friends. Stay away from alcohol, or at least don't go overboard. Be nice to your parents, overbearing as they may be. Be nice to your girlfriend - she's going to be the town bike when she gets to a real university, and its partly your fault. Your degree is worthless, but don't cave in to your parents - you will still have a degree, and they wont. Ration your hate, you have 5 years to go before you meet someone going to the same places you are. You're friendly, but people still won't call you to hang out - seize the day, seek adventure, don't hide in your dorm room. Cafeteria food sucks, trust me. Those stomach aches arent from the food or the booze or the stress - go see a doctor sooner instead of putting it off for 4 years. Don't let the slackers get to you, its always been you and whoever you can team up with to get work done; those without the motivation to swim will drown. Above all else, enjoy it and thank God you're going.

I would definitely tell myself to go on to college directly after highschool. Instead of going to college after graduating highschool, I got married and got a job at a bank. When I was 22, my husband died in a car accident, and I had to provide for myself. I did pretty well at the bank, up to a point. Education is something that is prized in the banking industry. I finally decided that after 15 years of working in different jobs at the bank that I would get my bachelors degree. It has been very difficult competing with younger people in my field at my age. It would have been much easier for me to do college at 18, instead of my doing it now at 37.

I would tell my self prepare early as possible. When it comes to finacial aid because paying for college is just as important. As attending a school because you cannot start until the payment is somewhat or all paid off. Also don't worry about making friends. If you're meant to have friends at your school so be it. Or if not don't worry about Breauntae, care about yourself and your education.

Every day that you walk through life as if you can hit rewind at any moment, realize that the rewind button you are counting on to be there is being phased out as we speak. That's right, everything you're doing is going on film, and that film is going to be your life. Make each day worthy of being recorded and watched by you one last time with no editing. Whatever happened in the past all happened for a reason. The important thing is to make those experiences, positive or negative, a strictly positive influence on what you do now. And, even more important, don't just know what you need to be doing, do it! Start acting on what you have learned from your life. I was once a high school student with a GPA below 1.5 or something tragically close. That ended with my getting a GED after a few years of not attending school whatsoever. And it had nothing to do with my learning abilities. But once I realized what I wanted to do with my life, I was able to start college with a whole new attitude and believe me, it?s working!

I would tell myself to learn how to study better. I would also make sure I would have applied for more scholarships.

Budget your time wisely. In high school, the time you spent on your studies was structured for you by your teachers and your parents. When you get to college, nobody is going to force you to go to class or to go to the library to study. You are responsible for yourself. However, this new found freedom is a double-edged sword as college life is riddled with distractions. My best advice is to sit down after the first week of class and create a schedule of assignments and exams. Make sure you budget study time wisely - you may want to study 2-3 hours for every hour you spend in class. Additionally, it doesn't hurt to make a financial budget. No more home-cooked meals means that you have to feed yourself and food gets expensive real quick.