Carnegie Mellon University Top Questions

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior there are a couple of pieces of advice I would give myself. The first is that the world is full of different paths in life. From just a college perspective I see chemical engineers, creative writing students, programmers, and architects. The possiblities from a college education are expansive and should not easily be overlooked. Another piece of advice would be to expect nothing. One thing I learned is that trying to predict how your current or upcoming semester will be an impossible task. Oppurtunity and obstacles are always coming forth and each can only be dealt with at the present moment. Approaching college with an open mind and understanding of your present self is the best you can do. Lastly I would tell myself where good friends are to be found in college. During my first two years I joined different groups and participated in alot. The search was interesting and fun, but when you have good friends by your side college becomes a communal experience. You share more sad and good moments with familiar faces, which always make them mean more.

Don't get hung up on that one pretty girl you met on the incoming freshmen Facebook group the summer before going to college. It's not going to pan out and while you're on that wild goose chase, you could have been meeting the other girls who were going to end up in your social circle and would have been much better for you. Instead they will end up in wholesome committed relationships with peope who aren't you, and you can't even hate the other guys for it because you'll end up becoming good friends with all of them. In other words, my advice to you is that you'll become much better socialized in college than in high school and you don't need to fall for the first girl that pays attention to you.

I would tell myself to be true to myself. Don't worry so much about what others think. Stick to your principals and don't get caught up in the gossip mills. Also, take more time to help others.

In senior year after I got my acceptance and rejection letters, I almost didn't visit Carnegie Mellon. I had gotten unto UCLA, and I thought that was all I needed. My parents told me that if I still wanted to, I could go visit one school out of state. I didn't mind taking a day off to travel, and Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh had looked interesting and fun. Just a few weeks later I flew out with my dad. On the way there, I expected to see the city a bit, tour the campus, and then confirm with UCLA as soon as I got home. By the end of our trip, I was completely in love with Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon's campus, and the school's personality. I enrolled right away. I've already told some graduating seniors I know that if you feel the pull on a campus, no matter where it is, follow it. I've loved nearly every minute of my year there (perhaps except for finals) because even though I've lived in Los Angeles all my life, Carnegie Mellon is not just my school, but my home. Every student should find their home.

I would tell myself that finding the right college is more about knowing yourself than comparing statistics or rankings. I spent so much time trying to balance my college list that in the end I wasn't even sure how I felt about all the colleges. I got so caught up in the pressure of finding a college that I would be comfortable at, but also help me in my future career goals. There was so much to think about, and so much great information from every single college I looked at that I got caught up in all the technicalities. Throughout the entire college process, I was sure that there were dozens of colleges I would be happy attending. The problem was finding the one I would be most happy at. But it would have been easier to know what that best fit was if I had learned more about myself. If I had known what environment and programs I needed to grow and challenge myself, I would have been more sure of my choices and could have saved myself a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety.

You have a lot to look forward to. College will be better than high school, and the transition isn't that terrible. First semester will require some adjustment, even if you're prepared for the change. Be sure to take care of yourself. Even if there's tons of stuff you want to do, remember to keep your life balanced between academics, social life, personal life, sleep.

I've taken classes and I've done projects. I've done the homework and taken the tests. They have taught me much and in no way do I doubt that I have become more educated than I could ever imagine. However, even with all the typical tasks of a college student I think what I have gotten out of college goes past that. To me college was an awakening, a realization that the reality of the world was a lot more different than I had pictured when I was in high school. I caught my first glimpse of what it was like to shoulder all my responsibilties by myself. I made my own decisions. It was no longer about what looks best to wear or when was I going to meet friends. It was about, "how do I allocate my time today?". The steps I need to take to achieve success are known, and experience has been my teacher in following through with my goals. With what I've learned through experience and through myself I am confident in tackling tomorrow.

In the short year and a half that I've been at college, I've learned a lot about myself. I've learned how far I can push myself, and I've learned how to better interact with other people.

Engineering school, even after only the first year, has assaulted my mind with problems to solve. Every homework assignment, whether it be in Calculus, Electrical Engineering 100, or Computer Science, means that I will be staring at a problem, thinking of problem solving strategies and multiple methods to approach a single problem. Even the challenge of paying for college has changed the way my brain works. Faced with a 55,000 dollar tuition and inadequate support from my parents(though they are doing their best), I have been forced to become an entrepreneur, and I've learned to deal with stress on an entirely new level. I know that after graduating from a top engineering institution with a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, I will be very well equipped for a career in which I will be in a position to significantly improve the quality of life of some demographic of the population, a dream I've had since I was a child.

The main thing that I have gotten out of my college experience is self discovery. With every seemingly meaningless task or event that I attend to, I end up learning so much. Not only do I learn about the event itself, but I also learn about my personal interests. College had been more of a social experience than an academic experience. Even though I am paying for a degree, I am getting so much more. Because most people at Carnegie Mellon live on campus, we have become enclosed in our own Carnegie Mellon bubble with its own social norms and mores. This has been the most valuable part of my expereince at college, because this can be directly related to the future and the workforce. In the future, everyone becomes enclosed in their own work bubble. Having the skills to learn and adapt quickly to an enclosed environment is important beyond belief.