University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Top Questions

If I could go back in time and talk to my high school self, I would tell myself not to sweat the small stuff. At the end of high school, and at the beginning of college, I was so worried about the small details of my accademics that I probably missed out on various student government opportunities . I love my life as it is right now. I am a graduate student at University of Michigan, I have had a loving relationship with my partner for the last four years, but I was not very involved, socially, when I first began college, and I think that was to my detriment. I should have gotten more involved in campus, and high school, government. I now know that I am now interested in policy, and I realize that if I would have gotten more involved that I would have more experience with policy writing, and governing, in general. I have taken multiple public policy courses, but I feel that more student government opportunities could have prepared me even further. I now want to enact policies for older adults in my community, and I wish I had more experience to fall back on.

Patrick, college is honestly going to be so good to you. It's a time of new discoveries and happiness and finding out who you are. Do NOT be afraid to move on from those ideas you had about what you would do. Change is good. Change is important. I know you know this, but keep it close to your heart. College is the place where you'll finally start feeling comfortable as gay. Comfortable as Latino. Comfortable as YOU. And while I'm not the same person now that I was a year ago, I feel like I'm finally ME. You're going to see a lot of people who know what they're doing and who are on a set path and who are going to make you feel terrible for the academic choices you're making. You need to remember though that God is always watching out for you and that you are doing what you need to do. You're going to help your communities. You're going to make the most of your education. It's going to be difficult and confusing - but you're going to love it, believe you me.

If I could go back to my high school senior-self, I would not have agreed to room with someone I knew from high school. I think one of the biggest mistakes I made initially in college was trying to hold on to my high school identity and social reputation instead of putting myself out there and completely opening my mind. I would tell myself to trust my gut and know that if there is something that interests me, there will be other people who are also interested. And, mostly I would tell myself not to feel worried if I don't have it figured out right away. College is four years of finding yourself, and I certainly continued to grow throughout all of them.

I would advise my younger self to really make an effort to find my place and friends in the theatre community on campus and establish myself as a part of that as soon as possible. Waiting until younger me finds the guts to tell her parents that theatre is where she wants to be career-wise is only going to make that next transition (switching majors) even more difficult.

Dear Jonas, Don’t be afraid. It’s not as scary as you think. Start managing your time now. The responsibilities that you have now are few in number in relation to what you will have when you go to school. Get your priorities straight. Time won’t slow down, and you won’t have someone with you at all times to remind you of all the stuff you should be doing. Cherish these last few days with your family. You’ll miss them once you’re gone. Don’t worry about how things with Emily will fare when you leave. It will be O.K. Get ready for long nights. Don’t kid yourself: this is going to be tough. But don’t give up. God has placed you at this University for a reason. Start cleaning up after yourself. Your roommate will appreciate it a lot. Wash your sheets every few weeks. As much as you can help it, don’t wait until the last minute. All-nighters turn you into a zombie. Put effort into the relationships and groups you are passionate about. Keep going! Your wiser self, Jonas

While it is important, freshman year is not all about meeting new people and finding the best parties on a given night. The early undergraduate years are great opportunities to explore different fields of study and find campus groups with similar interests as you. Learning more about yourself and your interests and finding like-minded students can help immensely down the line. Once you have found a program that you enjoy, do everything in your power to engage with professors and find related research opportunities. This will help to stretch your intellectual capacity while also giving you a better idea if this field is truly what interests you. Lastly, don't schedule early morning lectures unless you know that the topic will interest you and keep your focus. Sleeping through class only makes you look bad and increases the amount of work that you have to do later! Good luck!

You might always say that you could have done better in college. However, the important thing is to set yourself up relatively for success in the future because you will probably discover your passion later in life (maybe even in grad school). The important thing is to network and build friendships with people all over the world. Try new things because in the future many new careers will emerge from a mixture of disciplines.

I would tell myself to be more able to let go of past relationships with friends from home. College is a new experience for everyone and it changes everyone. When you're going to school across the country from someone who was one of your best friends in high school, you're both going to change differently and likely be unable to be as close as you once were. It is much better to accept this, rather than trying to pretend that it shouldn't happen, or isn't happening. Because if you do that, it will just be blatently shown to you later and this will be a lot less fun than accepting it as is happens. So, don't give up on old friends or ignore them, cause you still need them. Especially at the beginning. But understand that your experience is going to be much different than there's and don't try to hold on to the way you both used to act.

Okay here are a few quick things you should know: Don't apply for the school of Dance or take freshman math. They both turn out to be terrible decisions. You're going to make it through French. Even though the teacher is a pain and the course is a bear, you've got this. Take advantage of office hours early on. Teachers really do want to help you. Don't sweat the small stuff. I know it all feels overwhelming right now, transitions always are but there's very little you can do about that except be determined to get through them. Just accomplish whatever tasks you have to and move on to the next phase of your life because something much greater is waiting for you. Don't stress over each and every decision you make. Do the best you can with the information you have and you'll do just fine. Trust me. I was you ten years ago.

Prepare to work harder and fail more often than you ever have before. For the most part, high school classes, sports, and your social life came easy to you. You got accepted to your dream school and the future looks bright, yet challenges lie ahead. There will be classes that will test your academic ability. There will be sports teams beyond your skill level. There will be friends and girls that will come and go, and the rejection will undoubtedly sting. When these moments arise, do not give in to the temptation to give up. You will feel sad, angry, and frustrated as you realize your illusion of the perfect world is beginning to crumble. It is at these moments when you will define who you are. You can decide to give up- the easiest choice - or you can work harder than you ever imagined. Initially you'll fail again, and again as you search for answers. This should only fuel your determination. With your continued work ethic, you will achieve the success you desire and you will appreciate the failures that shaped who you have become. Know failures will arise, but understand they can be overcome through hard work.

I would give myself a list of points to reconsindered. 1. Rankings aren't everything. Don't pick a school based on how high it's ranked on some list by an anonymous author. 2. Look at the availability of programs. Think about every topic you might be interested in majoring in and make sure the school you pick has those or at least something close to them. 3. When visiting schools, approach random students and ask them to tell you about the school. What they say when put on the spot will tell you a lot. 4. Apply to more schools. (This ties into #1.) Don't only apply to reach schools. Apply to some more match and below-match schools. 5. Don't let Mom and Dad tell you which school is the best for you. They can really only base it on reputation, so take the time to figure it out for yourself and reach out to current students to find out what the school is really like. 6. Visit each school more than once!

First, I would tell myself to treat classes more like a profession than as my "usual" classwork. My high school was far from challenging, and because I rarely had to put in extra hours for my assignments and exams I assumed this would be the case as an undergraduate. To prepare myself, I'd tell the 17-year-old me to seek out community college courses and take those in conjunction with my usual HS cirriculum. I was so dismayed as a freshman to meet countless students who entered college with 15 or more credits to their name, and besides my AP classes I was unaware this was doable. Not only would this have helped me prepare for balancing a larger workload, but I could have saved myself extra classes in multiple semesters at the start of college when the adjustment period was greatest. This is the closest way to simulating the stress of major university that would have been possible, and it would have been fun to get a sneak peak at how a collegiate classroom functions.

Yes, finish high school, but take that animation book Tobias gave you as seriously. I want you to keep drawing everyday, making up characters and writing out rough comics/storyboards to explore our characters. Please focus on drawing anatomy (especially hands), and drawing emotion. All that aside everything you need to know about the industry is online, you really don't need college for our field, especially not an art institute. Don't get me wrong the teachers are wonderful, very useful but it just costs way too much and I know I'll be in debt for a good chunk of my life just because I wanted to shut a few people up and go to college. I've got my debt so now I'll just have to keep with it. I can't even make the monthly payments anymore; the finacial aid department ruined it. They lied and told me I only had around 100 to pay out of pocket. Now I'm looking at paying over 13000 out of pocket before I graduate. And, 36000 back in loans. It's not worth it, do your research on storyboarding and stay the hell away from college.

Coming to college out of highschool, I had a created a very specific path for myself that I would follow through college. I would major in Physics, and eventually go on to grad school. I knew what classes I would take, and what semesters I would take them. After my first year at college however, I realize that coming in with such a closed mind puts you at a huge disadvantage in college. Giving yourself a chance to try new things, and to explore new passions is an extremley important part of college, and I have taken that away from myself by setting on such a specific path. After realizing this, the advice that I would give to my high school self is not to set your mind on one thing for years down the road. I would tell myself to give everything a chance, and that I may find somthing that I enjoy even more than phyics. I believe that this advice would give my former self an advantage for his first year of college, allowing him to disover new interests and dreams.

Don't worry so much about proving yourself or trying to be accepted. Be yourself. It's a good thing.

I know you’re anxious to get out of here, but be warned: College is nothing like you’re expecting it to be. You won’t know anybody. The thousands of strange faces will intimidate you. It’ll seem like you’re drowning in the work. But eventually, you start to see familiar faces, develop a solid working routine and remember the excitement you’re feeling right now to go off and change the world. Also, college wasn’t really made for us introverts! However, once you get comfortable eating by yourself (everyone does), going to meetings and being friendly to strangers, you’ll be 10x more independent than your hall-mates who can’t use the bathroom without each other! There’s plenty of superficiality on campus, but being genuine will guarantee that you end up with the right people. Look forward to calling out the sexists, racists and elitists! Ultimately, you’ll realize that the college experience isn’t just about the rigorous courses, parties or interesting people; it’s about putting yourself out there, learning who you are and growing into your skin. It’ll take a while, so be patient and cherish the journey!

If I could go back in time, I would reassure myself that everything would turn out alright. It's hard not having control over your future, thus I was very nervous and went into the college application process with the wrong mindset.

If I had the opportunity to return to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to develop a comfortable routine quickly. Throughout my high school career, I benefited from a reliable routine that allowed me to efficiently balance my time between my extracurricular activities, school, my part-time work, and friends and family. With my time appropriately allocated, I had the spare time to think of the future and keep my goals straight. During my first semester in college, I often lost my goals and my future do to the lack of orginization in my schedule. I know that without a solid routine, my day often becomes sporadic and subject to procrastination. This single issue was the cause of my uneasiness during the first semester in college. Had I developed a routine earlier in the year, I would have been more comfortable reaching out to my peers and faculty to address other concerns I have had during my experience at the University of Michigan.

My first semester of college was a wake up call. My high school had a system that’s purpose was to give students a chance to master material by retaking failed tests. Although this system was created to push students to learn, for many it acted as a crutch. I was one of these students. Instead of working to understand the materials I would use the ability to retake exams as a way to get by without putting in effort. I later recognized that I needed to make a change coming into college and ended my first semester in good standings. Successfully completing work in college has shown me how doable the work in high school truly was. If I could go back I would advise myself to work to the best of my abilities at all times. I did well, but could have done much better in high school. Advising my high school self in this way could have potentially made the transition into college a little smoother, and my overall high school experience more enriching. Although I would advise myself to change I am happy with where I am now as I have changed from my old habits.

Don't spend so much time worrying and just do it. Seriously, nobody cares what you do and quite frankly nobody is even paying attention. Take chances now while you still can. It's okay to make mistakes, it's okay to make a fool of yourself, it's okay to have fun and it's okay to fail. Get out of your own head. You will miss out on getting to know amazing people if you don't get out there and talk to people. If you work hard, have a good time and stop taking yourself so seriously, you will have the best years of your life. Enjoy every moment of it, because it will go by very quickly!