Johns Hopkins University Top Questions

My advice would be to begin life as a college student with focus and discipline. I would also tell myself to apply to all schools that interested me. Finally, I would tell myself to apply for scholarships.

Use the Pomodoro technique! Use more elaborate mnemonics! Take harder classes! All of this would have prepared you better for the intense academic rigor at Hopkins. You really should practice better studying, find ways to cut procrastination short, and start up a study routine. Otherwise, you may be disappointed. Hopkins is tough as nails and almost everyone I know there is flailing -- don't let this be you.

Nobody knows you like you do. So do not let outside pressures dictate what you feel you should or should not be doing. Look inward and rely on your internal compass to stay true to your own hopes, desires, and dreams. That is not to say that others cannot provide meaningful life lessons, help and advice, for they can. But you are the master of your own destiny. Set goals, self-evalute, and seek happyness and fullfilment above all else.

College is an entirely different ballgame than high school was. There's a lot more freedom, which is amazing. The biggest change for me, was that I got to pick which classes I wanted to take (instead of just being told what needs to be taken for each year). As a result, I ended up taking a lot of classes that I enjoyed, but that weren't practical. Our generation has it tough - unemployment is high, and so there's a lot of competition for every single position. If I could go back and talk to myself again, I would advise myself to take more classes that really would make my resume pop when applying for internships and jobs. This isn't like high school - you really want to take classes that will help you in the real world.

After excelling in highschool, the dream to study at JHU finally came into fruition. Unfortunately, these high achievements gave me a false overconfidence. During my freshman year, I was struggling to balance volunteering, research, and schoolwork. I was not succeeding the way that I expected to. However, I wasn't initially willing to cut out extracurricular activities from my life: it has always been important to maintain and pursue interests that lie outside the classroom. The shock of my grades made me recognize that something had to change. I reprioritized schoolwork, and temporarily cut out personal commitments. I made a promise that I would return to my extracurricular activities when I could achieve a balance between academic rigor and a rich personal life. I recommitted myself to school. I wasn't used to asking for help, but instead accustomed to succeeding on my own. I needed to put my pride aside and seek outside help. I learned that asking for help is a vital skill that doesn't portray weakness, but rather signals a willingness to collaborate and share opinions. With support, I developed stronger study habits and raised my GPA. I learned to tackle my schoolwork with greater humility.

Dear Meg,As my young adult years unfold, I am still undecided what exact path I should follow, yet I have discovered the one aspect of life you cannot live without; RISK! To understand what I mean, you must consider the following quote, "With great risk comes great reward." In the years since graduating from high school, I have pushed myself to take tremendous risks that have frightened me to the point that I almost quit and crawled back inside my shell of comfort. However, through my perseverance and determination, I tackled the obstacles that accompanied those risks and have only felt more rewarded. I now have amazing relationships with people I would have never been friends with before and have been privy to experiences that have changed me for the better. Overall, I have become a stronger and more inspiring person and realize that in order to develop further I must continue to take risks in every aspect of my life. As a result, my advice to you, a younger version of myself, is to take large and small risks, day in and day out, in order to make yourself the best you that you can possibly be!

Apply to more scholarships. Apply to everything as early as possible. You can skip a few high school obligations in order to prepare more for your future.

I would tell myself to get involved in all those clubs and extracurricular activies offered on campus! Learning in the classroom is one aspect of education but getting out there and getting your hands dirty is what really leads you to your path. I think about all the clubs that sounded really interesting that I didn't get involved in because I thought I didn't have time and was too focused on my studies. Looking back at it now, so many college graduates are lost in their paths and passions because they did not take the time to explore what their heart was calling them towards. Those experiences are what allow you to refine you passions. I would study what you love, not what you think will make money. Go out on those weekend trips with campus clubs because that is where you will meet people on the same wavelength of life as you and it will feed and stimulate a part of your intellect that a classroom cannot.

Dear Past Self: College is very, very different from high school - while you will have much more freedom to choose how to spend your time, you will feel the very real need to devote much of it to studying and learning material for classes. Prepare to study more than you ever have, and seriously use a planner - make a schedule and stick to it, and you'll find that you have plenty of time to get everything done (and get a good night's sleep!). Don't stress too much - four years passes in a flash, and it's better to take the time now to enjoy the little things than to regret afterwards not having done them! Love, Me

Keep calm and turn the cartoons on. If you have ever watched cartoons, there is always a hidden lesson to be learned. In Wile E. Coyote, we all know that the Road-Runner is never captured, but is that the main point? Well, obviously not or there would only be one episode! There is constant trial and error, but the one overlooked characteristic is the Coyote's determination. The Coyote faces countless obstacles and boundaries, but never gives up, complains, or gets held back in failure. Rather, he is positive and persistent. If he fails, he brushes himself off, returns to reading his little Acme book, and creates a new master plan. He possesses the greatest amount of drive and willpower. No matter how many times he is electrocuted, run over, set on fire, or pulled off a cliff, he remains resilient. My message for you is to be like Wile E. Coyote! Never surrender and even if you feel like doors are being slammed in your face, never lose hope! Lastly and most importantly, never sell yourself short because the future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams. Goodluck!

Honey, there is no need to stress yourself out. You are more qualified for these colleges than you give yourself credit for, you’ll see. College isn’t going to suddenly demand that you solve advanced physics problems or write 50 page long essays. You will have time to explore and grow and learn about yourself and interests gradually because the purpose of undergraduate college is to teach you how to learn about anything and everything. All you really have to do is allow the school to help you, engage in class and participate in clubs or sports whether they are passing interests or deep passions because you have the time and it will pay off in the long run, I promise. And when you feel homesick, just remember that your friends and family are always just a phone call away, ready to support and love you in any way they can because you are not alone and going away to college is never going to change that. Don’t worry, starting this new chapter in your life is going to be more rewarding and exciting than you can possibly imagine.

The most important pieces of advice I could ever give myself, no matter what time in my life, are to be true to myself and to love myself. Appearance pride and reputation do not mean as much as I sometimes think they do. No matter which college I could have attended, I have to constantly remind myself that these two pieces of advice will allow for me to become a happier person. I sometimes forget who I am while I'm under peer pressure but the times I do remember, my life is much better and those around me are also affected positively as well. I must be true to myself and everything else can come after that because happiness is motivation and motivation leads to much greater things.

I'm an only child who grew up in Brooklyn, Ny. As an only child growing up in a rough neighborhood I took always relied on my parents. I was cyber bullied before it became a popular term and I grew up scared with low selfesteem. I made a few mistakes but my first was listening to my mother when she claimed that the SAT's were nonsense . My dad is an EMT for FDNY who can barely pay the bills and put food on the table at the same time, and my mom is a housewife who can't seem to hold down a job. If I could speak to my high school self I would tell her to use her common sense and do the best that she can do. Stop skating along, you aren't going to be a teenager forever. You're going to work a retail job (which you're going to hate), struggle more than you have ever imagined to go to school, and only be able to afford community college. Please Jacklyn, your life is now and you are doing a disservice to yourself and your future.

If I could go back to when I was a high school senior, I would tell myself to not be worried and just relax. Everything will end out working out and stressing out over it will just make you go crazy over the summer and for the beginning of the school year.

As a high school student I would give the advice of do not take on too much. Having a plan is important to accomplish what you want in life but taking on too much can be a hindrance. Evaluate the priorities and don’t try to get everything done in one day. Everything will work out, concentrate on the here and now, keep the future in mind, but living in the present. Second don’t care what anyone else thinks about anything, as long as they are productive positive choices. Not caring what others think can be a struggle especially for a high school student. The thoughts people have in high school are not as important as what you think of yourself. The last set of advice I would give myself is to develop very successful study skills. There are more projects, papers and more in depth homework. It is vital to have good study habits in school. The best advice I would give any high school student is to create a well thought out, study plan and schedule and stick to it – no matter how hard it is. That will pay off in the end.

Back when I was a high school senior, my perception of college was this: If I get into one of the greatest colleges in the nation, I'm set. If I succeed just academically, everything would go downhill from there. But college is more than just textbooks and chalkboards. It's about the people, the environment, and the beliefs that the university holds that truely makes the college experience. I've explored many different colleges, and I can say that no two colleges are the same. Some schools are relaxed, some are in great places, some are extremely rigorous. Each college has its own sort of 'aura', and it's that, not just the education, that really shapes you. I'm in a lab more than I am at class because of the importance of research that my university holds. The international feel of my school also broadened my views the world. Putting a rank for a college used to be my standard to rate schools. But I now find that not accurate. College should just be an extension of who you already are. And the college you attend is a decision of who you want to become.

First of all, I would tell myself to not worry about picking a major. I would tell myself that it is fine to try out classes in different departments. I would tell myself to relax and to figure out what I liked most. Then, I would tell myself to make the most out of dorm life, that I should try to meet everyone on my floor and constantly keep my door open. I would tell myself that freshmen year is the best opportunity to make friends, and that I need to take advantage of that. Beyond that, I would tell myself to get involved on campus, to join clubs and student groups. However, I would also tell myself not to commit to too many extracurriculars. I would tell myself to form study groups and to study with my classmates on a weekly basis. I would tell myself that the school is one giant support-system, and that I should not worry about struggling in my classes because there are so many people there to help. I would tell myself to relax and to enjoy my college career.

FIrst of all, relax and don't worry. You've done everything to make yourself as appealing as possible to Brown, the school you've dreamt about since middle school. But, don't be surprised when life sends you a twist, one that ultimately proves to be hundreds of times better than what you expected. I won't say where you're going, but it was a longshot that you followed on a whim and have never regretted since. When you get to school, don't worry about making friends. Don't let your parents, especially mom, stress you out when you go dorm shopping (and heads up, you will cry after they drop you off for the first time). You'll meet so many people and feel lost, but after a bit, you'll meet great friends who are willing to watch Disney movies and sing along to Phantom of the Opera while eating oreos on a tiny dorm bed. You'll still love your home, your pets and your old friends, but this new phase of your life is amazing and believe that you'll never want to change a thing.

TAKE A YEAR OFF BEFORE GOING TO SCHOOL. Listen, buddy - you think it's gonna be easy? Moving across the country to go to school and living on your own is no cakewalk. Kiss your allowance and the roof mommy and daddy generously put over your head goodbye. Instead - I'm offering advice that is counterintuitive to what you will read anywhere else. Take a year off after high school. Work your brains off and out your ears senior year. Be sure what you want to study is going to be worth it and that you have a clearly defined plan for both fun and success. These are the greatest years of your life - spend them well and learn and enjoy everything that is going to come to you. Move to the city your university is in and work for a year or do an internship in the field you want to study. You can always defer your scholarship - but you can't get back the time spent taking uninteresting classes or goofing off at fraternity parties. Go to school once you get that burning sensation in your gut, letting you know you're heading in the right direction.

To be honest, I would tell myself to take more chances in college. When I was a freshmen, I focused almost all of my time and energy on my schoolwork. Although doing well in college academically is definitely important, I found myself at the end of first semester with very few friends, as I had spent most of my time in my room, studying with my roommate. I didn't attend many of the optional orientation events because I'm shy and thought I would be uncomfortable. However, I now wish that I had taken advantage of more of these opportunities, not having realized beforehand how important the social aspect is to the college experience as well. If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to be brave and push myself out of my comfort zone. I would tell myself not to be afraid of being who I really am. I would tell myself to go to every school event, no matter how lame it might sound. Education isn't the only thing that lasts a lifetime; friendship does too.