Washington & Jefferson College Top Questions

If I could go back to myself in the spring of 2007, I'd tell myself to keep an open mind. When I was 18, I had the notion that I needed to travel far away from my home and family in order to get an enjoyable college experience. I applied and got accepted to prestigious universties in Louisiana and North Carolina, far away from my town in western Pennsylvania. I'd advise myself not to judge a university by its price tag and prestige level and to shirk the mentality that my parents didn't know anything, even though neither of them attended college. I'd tell myself not to bother applying to Vassar, because there was no way my family could afford it. I'd ask myself to give in to my curiosity and apply to an Ivy League, just to see if I had the chops to get accepted. But above all, I'd ask my naive, inexperienced 18 year old self to give Washington & Jefferson College, only fifty miles away from home, a chance while visiting, because it would become my second home and the place that I'd be happier than I ever was before.

I would sit myself down and say that no matter how hard it seems and what people tell you that college life is possible. I would tell myself that not going to school would be the hard choice that having to work in a dead in job with no career paths to choose from life would be much harder. That going to school also gives you more choices and better options. Most important how much fun it is learning in a great environment. Finding out what you love to do and making a life out of it instead of doing what ever pays the bills, and in the long run you will be happier and have a more fullfilled life.

Try to make your decisions early, like your Junior year, as to narrowing your choices of colleges. Decide by your junior year if and which varsity sport to play. Decide if you want to be closer or farther away form home.

As a high school student, I was at the top of my class with very little effort. As I applied for colleges I only looked for institutions with extremely high expectations, as does Washingtion and Jefferson. I was accepted to these colleges based on my impressive grades and extra curricular activities, not nessecarily my work ethic in school. Once at Washington and Jefferson, the course material started out as expected, hard but nothing I couldn't cover in a few hours of studying the night before. As the semester progressed, however, I realized that I had no study skills to speak of. Looking back to my high school years, I wish I could have told myself to take more night classes at the local college, work with my guidance department and my teachers to improve how I studied instead of sitting back , enjoying the fact that I never needed to study. It would have benefited me much more in the long run than the countless hours of volunteer work to pad my application packets.

"Ashley, don't be foolish your first semester. Allow yourself to meet new people and experience crazy things. Dunk your Oreos these next few months; test the waters. You will find your groove, I promise. Friends will come and go, both from high school and in college. Don't ever change yourself in order to make someone else happy. Don't put your life on hold or in danger because of the mistakes of others, even if you love them. You should be the most important person to yourself during the next four years; you have no one depending on you, but you! Everything will fall into place if you simply live. Stop worrying about five years from now and focus on today; you'll never have another day just like it. Remember the good things, as well as the bad; learn to live and love without limit. Trust in your own strength and will power do stick to your guns and not fall into the trap of others. Ash, most of all, llearn to love yourself, if you don't, no one else will be able to. No one can love you like you can."

If I could return to 2008 to talk to myself as a high school senior I would tell myself not to worry so much about being away from home and to make sure that I went to a school that I loved despite the distance. I know now that home and my family will always be there waiting for me when I return. So I shouldn't be afraid of leaving and jumping into this completely different life because I will be able to adapt even if it seems difficult. Also I must remember not to try to fit into the image of a life that I thought I wanted but to rather be myself and try to discover who that really is. College is about growing as a person into someone you can be proud of.

I would tell myself to apply to all of the ivy league schools I'd like to attend...I can get in and yes, there is enough money to apply. I'd tell myself to stay far away from the fatty food to avoid the Frosh 15, to stay on the academics at all times, to enjoy college and not waste the experience, and that a social life is not nearly as important as the rest of my life. You will have a lifetime to be an adult. Study, have fun, and enjoy the next four years. You will never get them back!

Knowing what I know now, I probabay would tell myself how to better manage my school work with my social life. I would tell myself to get out there more and make more friends. However since this college does include a large work-load, at times it can be difficult but it can be done. I would tell myself to not go home every weekend but rather stay on campus and get involved in as many clubs and activities as possible. Along with this I also would tell myself to learn how to study and explore the information on my own, because a lot of the learning here is outside of class. I would tell myself also to enjoy my college years and make the most out of them, rather than always trying to rush through the weeks just to get them down and over with.

Go to school closer to home. Say within a 500 mile radius. You will want to go home more often then you think now and you will want to be able to see friends over the summers. You will want to be able to have your friends you make at school live close to where you live over the summer and to where your family lives.

If I could go back and talk to myself as a senior, I would tell my self to pay attention more and focus more. I would also made myself take more courses that would have been worth taking for college. I would talk more with my teachers and counselors, in helping me with financial aid. I would tell my self to get involved more, so that I would be more comfortable with joining things on campus. I also wish I would have better study habits in highschool, so those would continue with me in college, and I wouldn't have to re teach myself good study habits.