University of Denver Top Questions

Don't hold back. It's 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} worth it to put yourself out there, everyday. Try new things, talk to everyone you meet, and really listen to what they have to say. One of the best things about college is living with and learning from people from so many different backgrounds. Try something new every chance you get. Also, balance your life: grades, work, extracurriculars, and friends. Don't ever forget to have fun! And get off campus and into the mountains as often as possible. Finally, and most importantly, pursue what you are passionate about. Find something that interests you and just GO FOR IT. Learn, ask questions, think critically, and push yourself out of your comfort zone. It will make your college experience unforgettable.

Dear You, It's you writing...or me writing I guess. There are some things you need to be aware of for the future. For one thing, learn to ask for help. Asking for help shows a willingness to learn and explore while being stubborn is a sign of weakness. Do not worry about attending college right out of high school. I know people have their own opinions about the opportunities you're giving up by not going back to school immediatley but you need to understand there are obstacles you will face before you turn 20 years old that are going to change your life forever and school will suffer - do not be ashamed for doing what's right for you. You need to learn to budget. This is not only going to help you in college with paying back loans but with purchases you will have to make in the future. The economy I live in is not the same as the one you live in during high school. Finally as a first generation college student cherish your support system. They were there before college and they are still here now but won't be forever. Sincerely, You

The best thing that I could tell myself, or anyone in high school would be to seize every opportunity they offer. There are so many options in high school to get involved and to talk to different people and there are even more of those opportunities in college. It would have been more useful to seek out different opportunities in high school so that by the time I reached college talking to various people who have different backgrounds would be easier. In high school, it seems that everythign is so segregated by what people like to do and what people are involved in, if one were to be involved in more groups then the understanding of different people would be easier and it would help with the integration of people and ideas.

When applying to college, interviewers often asked me what I thought about the importance of diversity and, at the time, I thought the question trivial. I am an Asian American woman from Hawaii and learned at an early age that I lived in a “melting pot”. Interviewers would reliably add a disclaimer to the question such as “I know this doesn’t really apply to you,” but I never realized the full extent of this statement until I left my island and settled down on the mainland. Going to college has taught me a new appreciation for the concept of diversity. If I were to give my high school-self one piece of advice about college, it would be to understand the importance of diversity on a school campus. Diversity is more than the ethnicity of the faces surrounding you; it is also the varying experiences and opinions of people who come from different backgrounds. After a year at college I realized that diversity of mind is correlated to diversity in ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. I would tell my high school-self to deeply consider a college that sincerely values diversity on campus and not just in their marketing brochures.

You will struggle and there will be setbacks, many, many setbacks. You will feel like you want to quit. You will have many obstacles in your path that you have to find a way to get through. You wont have the same experience as most. Your life will go in several directions and you will be more confused about yourself and life than ever. But, it is all worth it because you will also, succeed no matter what. The amount of friends you will make on the way will help you get through those obstacles and struggles. You may not have been able to experience a typical college life but that wont matter to you. The direction you choose to go in will be the most rewarding; no matter what path you choose to take. Most importantly, do not forget about how much you are loved and how far you have come.

If I could go back and talk to the high schoool version of myself, there's a couple things I would say. Some major advice would be to tell myself to not choose a major so quickly and experience some other classes. I would say to keep an open mind and experience a variety of things and not put all of my eggs in one basket. Doing this, I would hope to find an area of study that I am truly passionate about, since I will be doing it the rest of my life. I wouldn't want to spread myself too thin, but I would want to keep my options open. The second piece of advice I would give would be to apply for as many scholarships as possible. The most stressful part about college is finding ways to pay for it and by applying for more scholarships, it could relieve some of this stress. By getting more scholarships, this would help pay for my undergraduate degree so I could save money for medical school. These two pieces of advice would have changed my thought process and helped me along the way.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself that I needed to re-prioritize my criteria for choosing a college. When I was applying to and picking colleges, I had all the wrong reasons for my decisions: I was obsessed with leaving my home state of Colorado for a warmer climate, going to a big school with Division I athletics, etc. I thought that these things were what made the 'college experience.' Well, I was wrong. I ended up close to home at the University of Denver, a small private school that doesn't even have a football team- and I couldn't be happier. You can have the college experience ANYWHERE- be it California or Iowa. The important qualities in a school are that it has a good program for your major, will give you the most financial aid, and will set you up the best for your future. Beyond that, it's all up to you to make it what you want it to be. Get involved with campus organizations, study hard, and have fun- THAT's the college experience, no matter where you are.

One piece of advice I would give myself is to look hard at the financial aid that one school is presenting over another. I had a choice between going to a school in which I had a free ride or the University of Denver in which I thought would give me a better chance to go into my field. I would not necesssarily change my mind completely, but I would have given it some more thought. With my financials being in trouble, I would think that getting a degree from anywhere would be wiser than making sure that my degree came from a more prestigious university. With an economy that is shaky at best, going into a lot of debt does not make sense. Students come out of college with a prestigious degree and cannot get a job. Therefore, they cannot pay their loans and their credit scores take a massive hit. I would tell myself that although fits work great in college, as long as you can finish and get the degree, it's more important than anything else.

My biggest advice would be: trust yourself. At the beginning of college, there is sometimes a temptation to reinvent oneself - start spending time with a new crowd of people, change the way you dress or act, or try new things you've never done before. Exploration is an important part of the college process, yes, but it is also important to adhere to your core beliefs and values. There's no need to change who you are or what you believe in just so that you are well-liked or more appealing to your classmates. So yes, in college it is essential to make the time to try new things and discover new things about ourselves. Join a club or two! Go to that psychology lecture! Say hi to someone you've never seen before! Join an intramural sports team! Just make sure you don't lose yourself along the way.

The advice i would give to myself would be to study more and work harder. i went into college with a 2.7 GPA and it was a lot of work but i maintained a 3.5 GPA my first semester and i am so proud of myself. i know if i would of worked this hard in high school i would of done better but i just didnt care. knowing what i know now i definietly would of applied myself more and prepared myself for the overwhelming college stuff.