Iowa State University Top Questions

I would tell myself about being involved on campus and making friends as these are very important to succeed because you always have someone there for you through the bad times and the good times! It also allowes you to have a buddy system for emergencies or jsut someone to relax with between classes!

Make sure you are always ready for something new. Always be positive and show others your positive attitude. Stay focused and always get your homework done on time, even before time. Get involved in everything because the more I am involved the more I will learn. Hang out with all different cultures and learn from there. They can teach me a lot more about the other countries. Stay focused and don't get involved in bad activities. Always help others if they need it. This is the time to focus on yourself and no one else. Getting homework done ahead of time always helps. Go to games on campus and get involved with the sports in school. Stay in shape and you will feel better about yourself. Eat healthy and encourage it on your friends. Have friends and treat them good, always be there for them and show them that you care. If your there for your friends they will be there for you. You will learn who you truly are. Teachers will love you or hate you. You have to learn to ignore what others think and only think about yourself. You are the only thing that matters!

Within my major, students must all do their homework in the same place during what would otherwise be their "free time." I would tell myself to make friends in my major sooner, rather than later instead of making friends outside and then rarely getting to see them. The more you're around these people, as friends, the less you are inclined to latch onto old high school friends and feel homesick.

The first thing I would recommend is looking harder for scholarships. When you're in high school you don't realize how much money people are trying to give you for college. When you see how much you're being charged for tuition you really start to wish you would have listened to your school councelor. Another piece of advice I would give myself is to start eating healthier and get in a good excercise routine before you leave for college. It's much harder trying to establish healthy habits like these when the homework starts to pile up and you're living in a dorm room the size of a closet. Lastly, when I first started classes I was constantly worried that people would know I'm a freshman or that I looked out of place and people were noticing. Lighten up. After a few months you realize that no one is even paying attention to the other people walking around campus because they've got more important things to worry about.

I would tell myself to establish really good study habits as a senior in highschool. I would tell myself that I need to understand the importance of good time management in order to be ablet o do all of the things that I want to. I would tell myself that it is okay to take a break from studying and go outside. I would advise not overwheming myself with too many credits or activities in order to get into the swing of things. I know that I took too much on too early and overwhelmed myself. I had to take a step back and reevaluate what I was involved in. I have big goals and I know now exactly what it takes to reach them. Don't underestimate working and thinking ahead because you don't want to run out of time. Also, get involved in campus activities you wouldn't normally get involved in, you might find out things about yourself you never knew.

In High School I would always do things at the last minute and I never fared badly for it. As a result I never really learned good time management or studying habits. Unfortunately this followed me into college and I learned the hard way that sloppy last minute work and overnight cramming does not cut it in college. So, I would tell my high school self that time management is no joke. In college you don’t have someone constantly goading you to turn in homework or reminding you that something is due. You need to be self-sufficient and just do it. You also need to be self-efficient and in order to be self-efficient you need to stay focused. Make a schedule for everything you need to do from studying, to working, to hanging out with friends, and stick to that schedule. In college there are a lot of distractions that will try to steal your focus, there will be parties, there will be friends, there will be significant others, there will be work, family, you name it, but you need to stay focused. Getting through your college studies is the most important thing, not the distractions.

If I spoke to my younger self, I would first exchange pleasantries and ask him how he was feeling and tell him he doesn't look too tough. I would sit him down and reflect upon the last few years of high school. I would tell him funny stories and people I’ve met. I wouldn’t tell him everything as to not spoil his future years. But, I would not hesitate to give sound financial advice as well academic. I would tell him to save money for school and possibly a pretty girl he might meet. I would give an insight to the rigors of college life and give him an idea of the level of difficulty with anecdotes from past AP classes. I would tell him that being down would not always mean you will be. That he would he need to pick himself up when situations look most bleak. I would want him to feel humility, excitement, and promise. I would assure him that he would become the man he expected to be. He would become what his parents were proud of and what he felt he had the power, wit, ingenuity to do.

I would have to say the biggest piece of advice would be apply for more scholarships. As a senior in high school I felt like surviving the end of the school year and hanging out with people was more important, but as most other freshmen and now sophomores in my position I would do anything to go back and just apply for everything. I'd also say branch out to others more in the beginning of the year. It's easy to be scared the first semester of college but everyone is in the same boat. Just go for it.

As a senior in high school i was very naive and had no real direction because i was the first person in my family to attend a university directly out of high school. If I could go back and give myself advice I would advise myself to look at more schools. As a senior my mind was made up that I would stay close to home. I wish i would have looked into out of state schools and farther away from my confort zone. I would advise myself to have more confidence. There were some schools that i didnt apply to simply because I thought i would not get in. I would also advise my younger self to apply for twice as many scholarships.

Don't be afraid to be yourself and put yourself out there. College is a competitive place where those who do not take the intiative will be left behind and wondering where the time went. Unlike high school where many things were done for you, college is a place where responsibility lies solely on you. Start preparing now for the college lifestlye by doing the simple household chores such as laundry and dishes. This way, you will already be used to it when college comes around, and instead of worrying about how to do the new household chores, you can focus your time and effort on your schoolwork and making connections. In high school, a great deal of emphasis was placed on schoolwork and getting "good" grades. Although this is still an important component in college, retaining the information covered in class and forming connections with faculty, students, and business is more important in college than getting an "A" so to speak. Enjoy your last part of high school and be ready for college, because no time is wasted. These next four years may dictate what you do for the rest of your life, so leave it all out there.