University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

Study hard and make the most of your high school life, because once you graduate high school, life will never be the same. Don't procrastinate and be too laid back. The teachers mean well and are only trying to help you, so listen to their advice and follow it. Keep your grade point average as high as possible. Not everyone is a genius but you should try to maintain only A's and B's in your courses. Get invloved in the school and the community. Join as many clubs as you like, as long as you can balance your schoolwork with your extracurriculars. If you find that you enjoy your extracurriculars, try and obtain a leadership position. This will all look wonderful on your high school transcript. Not everypne can say they have a grade point average above 3.0 and that they are also involved with clubs, organizations and the community.

If I could speak to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself that I shouldn't be discouraged about attending a community college before transferring to a four year university. After attending my local community college for one year, I have no regrets at all. I took all the same classes my friends at four year schools were taking, except I wasn't paying a dime because I earned a scholarship. Moreover, I was able to make amazing friends I know I will always be friends with for the rest of my life by getting involved in my school's student government association. Finally, I had the opportunity to save so much money by living at home for an additional year. As an individual who has had many friends return from their four year schools because they couldn't handle all aspects of the transition, I believe attending a community college was one of the best academic decisions I could have ever made. A community college works as a great transition between high school and a four year university because you aren't thrown into becoming completely independent, you get to slowly adjust to an indepedent lifestyle.

I would remind myself that every class counts during high school. While high school is a time of fun and self-discovery, starting then to develop excellent study habits and the ability to focus on getting work done accurately and timely are vital. I would encourage that younger me to discuss the colleg life with my teachers, learn from them the life lessons they learned, not just the subject matter they are teaching. I would tell me to start saving money now, college is expensive and carrying student loans, which is okay when needed, can be a serious burden. Work diligently while in High School to achieve the best GPA possible, it could definitely get me a scholarship that can save lots of worries on how to pay for everything. I would encourage that younger me to look for opportunities to study abroad and learn what is out there in the world. Don't think that all that matters is here in the United States, be well-rounded and understand that hard work now will make life so much easier later. Be willing to sacrifice a little now to be more prepared for the college experience.

You are a Limenitis archippus, a Viceroy butterfly not yet metamorphosed, waiting for the sun. Throughout the next four years you will slowly be transformed, quenching your insuppressible thirst for knowledge on new wings. Let go of the limitations you hold yourself hostage within and fly above the high wire. Stop using the legs you have always had and attempt a new type of transportation. With a little balance and the right wind direction, you will do things that you never imagined yourself being willing or able to do. You will be able to understand parts of your world that you never thought you would try to understand. You will scare yourself. This experience will change you, and there is no returning to who you once were. But that’s ok, because even though it might be a little unbelievable right now, the view is even better from up here.

Lauren, apply for as many scholarships as you can. The government won't help you as much as you think they will. Don't go to school until you've figured out what you want to do, otherwise you're going to end up figuring it out too late, and your going to be put on a waiting list and you will have taken classes that don't go with the program so you will waste $6,000. So please, figure it out sooner. You will regret going to community college. You don't fit in there. You get lonely and depressed. Go to a university. Re take your ACTS as much as you can. The higher it is the better chance at scholarships you will have.

If I could talk to my high school senior self, I would make sure to tell myself to prioritize. When I was a high school senior I thought I was already way prepared for college due to the hard academic classes I took. What I didn't know at the time was how hard it is to balance school, clubs, friends, and new discoveries while in college. I always imagined college as the place to truely find who I am but what I didn't realize is how many different options I had. With so much going on, it is really hard to focus hard on one thing. As a high school senior, I would tell myself to plan ahead of time of my interests and get more involved the summer before hand to see what I really like to do and hope to pursue in the future.

When I was in high school, I dealt with a lot of bullies and I was bullied a lot. Most of the times I would keep my head down and go to each class and then rush home. During my freshman year, I figured that I was not going to college because I had been diagnosed with depression due to certain extenuating family issues. I dealt with a lot that year, it was a huge struggle, especially the medication's side effects. I finally saw a light sophomore year which made me start caring more and by my senior year, it was a complete 360. The thing I would go back and tell myself would be to not doubt yourself and you're going to work hard eventualy, why not make it easier for yourself and start early? At least if you don't get there, you can say you tried. Don't worry about anyone else, just worry about yourself and be the best you that you can be in every situation of your life. Things will look up eventually, but you have to help yourself get there. Don't accept defeat and keep fighing.

Elise, I know how badly you want to attend a prestigious private school. I know you want a small campus with as few students as possible. And I know how scary the idea of a huge public university is. But hear me out. You've been stuck in an echo chamber your entire life! Small town Southern life isn't a representation of how the world actually works, and you're selling yourself short if you enroll in one of these tiny liberal arts colleges. Go somewhere where you can meet interesting people and have amazing experiences! Sure, a small college is the safe option. It's inside your comfort zone. But at this time in your life, do you really want to do what's safe? What's easy? This is the time to challenge yourself! I hope you'll consider that.

I would tell myself to look into more local scholarships since I ended up attending a public state university. I thought I was going out of state for college and did not take the time to look into in-state options for scholarships, which I which I had done. I also wish I had applied my University of Maryland application for early-action to help get more scholarships from the school.

Looking back at what I did in high school, I would have told myself to not give up so easily when things got hard. Being in college, there is a huge change of the workload and the type of work you are expected to turn in. I wish I did better in high school because the work was so much easier! I also highly suggest taking those AP classes in high school and really give it your all on that test. Trust me. High school AP version is a lot easier to deal with than a college course. One major bonus about college though is that you take classes you actually want to learn about. Of course there are general education courses, but majority of the classes after that will be based on things you find interesting. Personally, I am horrible at math and science, but am a decent writer and interested in the communications field. I only have to take the bare minimum of math and science classes—Yay—while taking more that is about my major! In the end though all that matters is the overall experience. Study, study, study, but do not forget to have fun.