California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Top Questions

I would say, Greg, the next four or five years are not going to be easy. Physics requires a lot of commitment and the professors will expect the best from you. They will also help you, assist you, guide you. This is not high school anymore. You are an adult, no one is going to hold your hand and ask for your parent's signature. You are in charge of your destiny. If you do not come to class or do not do homework, the college police will not come after you. College is an exciting time, full of opportunities and driven young people all with the same goal you have: to recieve a better education and make a better life for yourself. There are also missed opportunities, and it can become overwhelming. Especially in the last two years, with the course work becoming more difficult, graduation approaching, job interviews or graduate school applications on the horizon. You are becoming an adult, taking charge of your life. All parents and professors can do is to guide you in the right direction, but at the end of the day it comes down to you, Greg. College is the first step.

Having the chance to go back in time and speak to myself senior year would be extremely beneficial. Now that I have gone through my first quarter in college I understand how to correctly manage my time and most importantly how it affects my parent?s bank account. I would tell myself over and over to give one-hundred and ten percent in all of my classes and to manage my time correctly. From experience now, I know that the free time I have isn?t really free time but actually study time and when there is nothing to study it is in this time that I should apply for scholarships so I could take some weight off of my parent shoulders. I would also tell myself to be more open to my surroundings and to take advantage of the university resources because they are there to help everyone including myself. Having the chance to go back in time after the first quarter with a large magnitude of experience would really help one very much.

If I went back in time, I think I would tell myself, no matter how hard to road, no matter how many obstacles stand in your way, don't quit! Even when money is tight, and you feel that you could try again later...don't quit! Just keep telling yourself that you're almost done. Do not to listen to those who try to push you down, instead believe in yourself and be confident in your abilities to work hard, and keep your goal in mind. In the end, you will have what you set out for, then nothing and no one can stand in your way for any goal you set for yourself in the future. Learn as much as you possibly can, because your future is wonderful, and if you stay focused, you will just make it there faster. Make us proud!

To research each major that sounds interesting.

Based on my experience here at Cal Poly, I think I would tell myself to really prepare myself for the type of coursework that I'd be doing in college. I would insist on taking all honors and advanced placement classes so that I would know what to expect when I went to college.

I would have started earlier to gather money and other resources for college. As it is, I started too late to really make a difference, so now I am struggling to make ends meet, especially with the fee increases (more than 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} in the last two quarters). As it is, the financial aid office is not able to help me with grants, as my partents made enough that I don't qualify. Not enough however to easily provide for my education.

I would say to really take the time to research good schools that you want to attend. If you are planning on getting your bachelors degree, go to a four year university right away so you don't waste your time and money taking classes at a junior college that you don't need. Start taking 15 units instead of 12 if you want to graduate in four years. Talk to your counselor as much as possible. Be very organized with everything from your transcripts to your school work. Make sure nothing is late.

Self: Maybe you'd better take that calculus course this year, you'll realize later you love science more than any other option and you'll be grateful. Oh and take advantage of some scholarships for women affected by Breast Cancer before you are 25, it would save you some money and stress. Also, corporate america is not all you think it is.

I would tell myself that growing up isn't so scary, and college life is not as bad as everyone was saying it would be. I would also advise myself to pay just a little more attention to my english and math teacher, their methods of teaching were astonishingly similar to college professors. Also, that it doesn't matter whether I was the dorky kid or not, college students don't really have a sterotype when it comes to getting the grades and creating a long lasting career choice. Eating with the cool kids everyday really doesn't effect your G.P.A. or your choice of major. Everyone was correct in saying highschool and college are two very different things. In the end, your life decisions are in your own hands, not in the prom queens.

The best thing I would advise myself is not to be in a hurry to get a part-time job. Having extra money is great but school comes first. By having a job, time from my social life was cut, which balances my schoolwork stress. Also I would tell myself to be open to knew ways of studying because some study habits will become useless in college since the school work is different.