University of Southern California Top Questions

I graduated high school dead set on becoming an architect. Although USC has a great architecture school, it didn't take long for me to realize that there were more options that I had never considered. If I could go back and give myself some advice, I know that my younger self would be hard to convince, but would need to better understand that change is great, and keeping an eye out for opportunities is essential to success in college. I would have also made myself focus more on financial aid.

Learn to study now, because that's the most important skill you can take with you from high school to university. Life will be complicated enough, equip yourself with the right tools now to succeed. When you arrive, make sure you step out of your comfort zone. Do all the things you thought you would never do, but do it with class and responsibility. College is the one time in your life where you can have your cake and eat it too: you have your independence without all the responsibility. Jump on opportunities as they arise, and never stop thinking about the future. Four years may seem like a long time, but before you know it, graduation will be upon you and the next step in life will seem much more intimidating than college ever did. Above all, stick to your values. The freewheeling college lifestyle is great fun, but like all good things, it'll come to an end and you don't want to leave the best four years of your life with a feeling of regret.

Even though senior year is basically a blow-off year, make sure that you challenge yourself with difficult classes, even if it means taking them at another high school or college. If that isn't possible, try much harder to get a job in order to learn real time management skills because the course and workload in college makes sleep very elusive. You come from a place where you are the smartest by a mile, but in an elite, private university like USC, you will be considered an average student at best. In order to make up for the huge gap between your schooling and your future peers' you need to work a thousand times harder and not let yourself slack off in your schoolwork. It doesn't matter what your grades or rank are in high school, but it does matter deeply how prepared you are to stack up against students from some of the best private schools in the country.

BEDROOM - NIGHT Estefany sits in front of her computer finishing an essay, wishing she could finish high school and move on to college to become independent. A kind of commercial break appears in lieu of the word document on her computer screen. An older Estefany speaks to her. OLDER ESTEFANY: Hey! Who says college is a guarantee that you?ll gain independence? Many college students who live away from home are still dependent on their parents for various reasons, so don?t even think about blocking them out. As long as you still need your parents for financial and emotional help, you depend on them. You may think you?ll finally be liberated once you can make your own decisions, but this new freedom can be hard to manage. You?ll discover that it?s difficult to make decisions after so many years of allowing your parents to decide for you. My biggest advice for you as you transition to college is to accept the support that your parents can give you! Being a college student does not necessarily imply becoming an independent person. Independence comes at its own time, whether that time is before or after college.

Get a job earlier in high school and save money for college. Apply for as many scholarships possible and keep applying.

Have a general course of action, a plan, to tackle so that I will not regret having no moretime to take classes that I would have liked to take.

The honest advice I would give to myself would be to not get married and follow through with my dreams. Because of my early marriage and family choices, I have so far, only attended a vocational college for a 12 month program. I feel that the real 4 year college experience is something all should experience. Not only for the class education but the things many can learn about life and themselves from the entire experience as a whole. I have only made it partially through my journey, and the career field I chose (nursing) requies constant educational upkeep and I greatly look forward to accessing everything that any college may have to offer.

Be more outgoing. Get more friends. Try to not be such an introvert. Because after a while it does get kinda lonely. Though the friends you do get are great, you could use some more. And well you already know after first semester that you don't really want to be an architect.... Tell mom and don't be. Go do theatre design. That's what you really want to do. And try to be more involved in silks and band. Cause who knows in 2 years the silks may no longer exist..........Don't procrastinate so much. Try to finish your work ahead of time that way you won't be so stressed out all the time. Majoring in architecture will be the hardest thing you've ever done..... Possibly even harder than college applications. And if you don't work hard you aren't going to get good grades.... I know I got 2 Dpluses first semester....... Don't do what i did. You can do so much better.

College is like recess. When the bell rings on your last day of high school, recess has begun. Run outside and go wild! There are new playground toys in college and one may look like a slide, but it's not. It's actually a grading curve - fun at the top, but it really hurts when you hit the bottom. Kick the can is still a fun game (especially when you're broke). The nightmare of being last picked for kickball doesn't go away - now the game is called "pledging a fraternity." Remember your archnemesis, the teachers pet? Well, it just so happens that he sits next to you in your anthropology class (no, he won't share his answers will you and yes, you will still be plotting against him even after graduation). You will fall down and get hurt. Dust yourself off and go see Amy (she lives down the hall from you - she's not a nurse, but might as well be). You'll know when recess is over because another bell will toll - your alarm clock on your first day of work. Recess was too short, and so is college - enjoy every minute!

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself that when you start school doesn't martter. I was spring admit to USC and as a result, I felt ashamed because I thought I wasn't as good as the other students because I wasn't accepted in the fall. However, once I started school, I learned that you're randomly selected to be a spring admit; it is not based on having lower qualifications. I would make sure I understood this so that I not longer would have to dwell on it. I would also point out that by not attending USC in the fall I was able to attend a community college, save money, make friends, and get many of my general education requirements out of the way. Community college also helped me to make a smoother transition to university life, as I already understood how classes were conducted at a college level.