DePaul University Top Questions

As a college student now, I would tell myself "don't sweat it, but stay serious." As a high school Senior, I was so worried about going to college and whether I would be "higher learning" material when the time came. I had always done well in high school academically, to get by that is, but I felt I was missing an important characteristc in my motivation to do better. I needed to achieve more for "the sake of exemplifying excellence." I had always wanted to be magnificent person in all of my endeavours, but oftens time I would just settle with the minimum "get by" requirements. This would haunt my senior experience, as I would apply to college right at the end of my Senior year. I had been too laxed and not a go getter like I should have been, but it seems even still my actions proved to give me a chance in life, by making it into DePual. I feel a renewed sense of accomplishment and strive to achieve. But if I had just done the simplest things such as applying when I had the chance, all would turn out fine. Always believe in your abilities.

If I had the chance to go back to my high school days, I would definitely tell myself to work harder on my home work; take more advanced classes; and for sure participate in more extra curriculum activities. I would also get a part time job and start saving up for college and gain experience because the main thing you need in life is experience. I would work harder in school to get scholarships when i graduate from High School to have some money ready for college and study really hard to increase my knowledge in academics. Most importantly I will be active in my neighborhood and help out in my school in being more productive. If I could go back this is what I'll do to get me prepared for college.

If I could go back to my days as a high school senior, I would tell myself what college is really like. I would let myself know how much studying needs to be done and what kind of commitments need to be made in order to successfully make it through college. If I were able to better my study habits as a high school student, then many things in college would come a little bit easier for me now. But, most of all, I would tell myself how lucky I am to be able to go to college. If it were not for moving in with my grandparents the summer after my father died, I would most likely not even have earned a G.E.D. Going to college was not something that I had even imagined before that time, but now it is a reality and I have absolutely no regrets about where I am attending college or what I plan to do with my life. I cannot wait to finish college and get into the teaching world to be able to help children learn and help them achieve their goals in every way possibe.

Don't base your college decision choice off of what your friends or girlfriends/boyfriends or parents want. Think about what YOU want- do you want to be in a sorority/fraturnity? Do you want to go football games? Do you want to be close to home? Do you want large classrooms or smaller ones? Do you want to have close connections with your professors? Do you want to live in a big city or a on a large campus in the middle of no where? Don't choose a college based off of what sounds and looks good, go deeper than that and make the choices that will ultimately make you happy. You're going to be spending the next four years wherever this decision takes you, so you want to make sure you know what you want. Make a list of what is important to you, what you're looking for in a college, and then narrow down your choices based off of this list. You may end up at a school where none of your friends went, but you will meet new people and end up having a great college expereince.

The one thing I would want to tell myself is that college is so much harder than highschool! I would tell myself I need to be prepared because there is not the same responsibilities. You now not only need to take care of yourself and your school work.

I would tell myself to visit more schools before making a choice and ultimately choose a college where you are more likely to get a job straight out of school. A school that supports an internship program is a great choice. The big and popular schools sometimes are not the best, choose a school that is rated highly in the area that you want to study.

If I would to go back to my high school days, I would definitely work harder on my home work; take more advanced math classes; take more science classes; take programming classes and for sure participate in more extra curriculum activities. I would also get a part time job and start saving for college and gain experience because the main thing you need in life is experience. I would work harder in school to get scholarships ready for college and study really hard to increase my chances and opportunities. Something that I always wanted to fix and now it?s affecting me in college is taking the classes much more serious. Now I have to repeat one of my classes and its costing me even more money. I would tell myself your dream of becoming a game developer is coming, and if you want it, then work even harder now! That?s what I would tell myself.

From an academic standpoint, I would tell myself to take advantage of the study skills that are emphasized, so when I attend college I am fully prepared. I would also tell myself that many people are going to try to pressure me to do things I may not want to do but to know who I am and what my priorities are in life to guide my decision making. Additionally, since diversity is such a strong charactersitic at DePaul University, I would tell myself to never change for other people and to be proud of who I am as a strong, intelligent, young woman.

I would tell myself to take full advantage of everything that college has to offer. Learn everything from the insightful professors, campus activities, and the professional programs and resources to make the most of your college experience as well as further prepare you for the life after collage.

I would tell myself to work a little harder to find and complete scholarships. When I applied for college both DePaul and my school nominated me for scholarship and grant money. As a high school graduate I became complacent thinking that this "easy money " would be the norm for my college career. I would also tell myself not to take five classes freshman year. It is doable, but it put alot of undue stress on me for that quarter and my GPA ended up dropping .2 points. Do not spend school refunds! When DePaul refunds me it's because I accepted to much loan money, if I had given that money back to my Subsidized Lender that would be one less loan for me to pay when I leave college. Finally I knew from the beginning that I wanted to go abroad "somewhere", so my last piece of advice would be to save all my pennies from my jobs and my parents to pay for the the thousand dollar plan ticket and to have spending money during my program. That way I wouldn't have to worry about sucking my parents dry.

In high school I would not have categorized myself as lost or confused. I had goals, which I met upon arriving at DePaul. I do wish that I would have explored my interests a little more, though. The primary purpose of college is, of course, education, but also to experiment with the person you hope to be. There are so many opportunities here at different ends of the spectrum. It's difficult to choose a club or service organization without knowing the right fit. I have a chance to make a difference in both DePaul's and Chicago's community, and I intend to dedicate myself entirely to something I feel strongly about. This ambition would be much easier to achieve if I had gotten to know myself better.

If I were to go back in time and give myself some advice about college life and the transition the main thing I would say is to get involved! Once I started to do that I felt like I knew more people The people that I met assisted me in whatever I needed such as what classes to take or what teachers were nice. Not only that, but they were interested in the same things I was and eventually we became great friends. Getting involved brought about new opportunities about other clubs and activities to do also. That lead me to learn more about the school and the world in general. I got the chance to travel and see new places. I got the ability to be a leader or using my strenghts like give information at meetings That made me feel like I mattered and I was helping out. Getting involved thought me how to manage my time wisely with school work and studying. It also gave me a break from them. Getting involved made me feel like a part of my school and it made me feel like I was a part of something.

When I was a senior in high school, all I could think about was moving away from home. I wanted to make new friends and visit new places, but most of all I wanted to feel independent. I knew that the only way I could feel this way was by moving to another city. I chose Chicago because it was only two hours away from home. I also fell in love with the Lincoln Park campus, but little did I know how expensive that neighborhood was. DePaul University was my first choice and Loyola was my second. Either way I wanted to be in a place where my religion would still be a huge part of my life. If I could give myself advice two years ago, my life would be different. I could have saved a lot of money by attending a community college. Moving away from home did not prove that I was independent, because I still need help from my family today. It does not matter where I am in order to live by my faith. Last, everything comes with time and the more independent I want to be, the more responsibilities I will have.

I would tell myself to completely let go of any fears that I might have in high school about college. These past four months, I have really found out who I am as a person. I would tell myself not to be afraid of the what future might hold. Let go of all the fear I might have had in high school about being who I really am. Be outgoing, be gregarious, and have the time of your life. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You learn the most about yourself when you're in the a new and different situation. The transition might be frightening at times but it's all worth it in the end.

I would tell myself to be more responsible. It took me about 6 years to get my Associate's Degree and I am just now beginning my Bachelor's at the age of 25. School should be taken seriously and not just something to do. It would have been a lot easier to have taken school seriously when I first started. I could have already had my Master's Degree, but instead I'm still 2 years away from a Bachelor's.

My advice to myself, or to any senior about to go on to college, would have been to be selfish. Yes, your parents or you yourself are/is paying a lot of money for you to go whereever it is you are going, so enjoy it to the fullest! Go to any and all free campus activities. Spoil yourself every once and a while and fall in love with you. Hang out with people you would have never have been caught dead with in high school. Go ahead and drink and be stupid, but don't be reckless. Again, this is the time in your life when really, all you have to worry about is yourself...take advantage of that and live it up! If you take care of yourself, everything will fall into the place it is suppose to.

I would tell myself to "just go for it!". I was rather timid and stuck to the organization I knew. I really wish I would have discovered more groups and expanded my horizons. I was also invloved with community service but I would have liked to even be more invloved.

I obtained my GED in 1998 while the rest of my class walked across the stage and got their high school diplomas. The ony emotion I feel is useless is regret, and I regret not finishing high school. The reason why I did not finish was due to the fact that I lived in a small town and there was a young man who was stalking me and making my life very difficult. I gave up, I let him win. If I knew then what I knew now I would have done what I needed to do to graduate, even if it meant moving away to another town to finish. I let him steal that away from me, and there's nothing I can do to change that. I'm glad I got back on the right path and am currently homlding a 4.0 GPA and beat the statistics. The only thing I can do now is share with others that, no matter what, don't let anyone take what's yours.

I would tell myself to expect the unexpected. Be prepared to be challenged in all areas of your life, academically, socially, spiritually. There will be people and experiences that will test you, make you rethink about what you thought you knew. You will be forced to think for yourself, and stand by what you believe in. You will discover things about yourself you didn't realize before, and even have skills you never knew existed. You will form an appreciation and new meaning for the word family and home. You will learn what a true friend is and how to be one. Your view on life will be constantly changing as you learn about others' perspective's and stories. You will see that the world is so much more bigger than you thought it was. And while this may all sound overwhleming and scary, if you face yourself and these things with courage, you will grow and mature, gaining something so much more valuable than a degree. You will have the knowledge and pride that you were able to conquer fears and prove that you are truly ready to go out into the world and keep on learning.

I would tell myself not to get too involved right away. At the beginning of the school year there were so many groups I wanted to become involved with it became too much to keep up with and I had a hard time finding the balance between clubs, schoolwork, and a new social life. I wish I would've taken some time to get used to my new environment before diving in head-first. Now, I have a handle on my work-load for class and it is easier for me to be involved without over-committing.