Washington State University Top Questions

There are a lot of things that I would like to tell my high school self. First, have a good balance of studying, researching and social activities. Too much of one of these aspects and it will not lead to a successful college career. Also, think more into the future, make connections with those in your industry because sometimes knowing people and being friendly will open doors for you later on. Lastly, take your grades seriously, more seriously than you do in high school. Every grade will affect your GPA, and you will want to keep your chances open to go to graduate school which you can't go with less than a 3.0 average. Don't be lazy, join as many clubs and extra-curricular activities that you can and fully immerse yourself in the college experience.

Do as MUCH as you can in High School. Go to every sporting event, go to every dance, make memories, make mistakes, and LIVE life. The last memories of your teenage years can be some of the best and you will never get them back if you do not be as social as possible!

First off, do what you want to do now. Do not go to a school or choose a career based on what you thought was a good idea when you were a freshman in high school. Just because you choose something once does not mean that you will be happy with that for ever or even for the next four years. Secondly, plug yourself in. You can have a great time where you go, but you can also have a terrible time wherever you go. It all hinges on how involved you want to be. Invest time into making close friends because friendship is an investment that pays dividends for life. Finally, you need to make decisions for you. The number one criteria to consider hen making a decision should not be how it will make everyone back home feel. You need to worry about what path is best for you, not best for your image in the eyes of the people back home. Remember, do what you want to do, invest in friendship, and do what is best for you. If you follow these pieces of advice, school will be great.

First, the decisions you are in the process of making are entirely your own, and should be treated as such. While you should always respect the opinions of others, do not be afraid to disagree. Just because your mother wishes she had gone to medical school, doesn't mean that is the path for you. Just because your mentor went to a small school and loved it, doesn't mean you should as well. Trust yourself enough to make decisions that feel right for you and not for anybody else. This is your journey, not theirs. Second, know that people say that college is hard for a reason. This is not a myth, but rather a cold hard fact. College is much more demanding than anything you have previously experienced. But, instead of being intimidated or frightened by this new challenge, embrace it and remind yourself that you are capable. Also, keep in mind that the various challenges of college are almost always accompanied by personal and intellectual growth. You will frequently be asked to step outside of your comfort zone and be offered opportunities to grow. And when you take those chances, you will be greatly rewarded.

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I, your future self, bring with me a fantastic fortune. If you follow my advice, hopefully you will end up there, living a different life than the one that I now lead. Of course, this all depends on action, specifically, action on your plans next year. Look at yourself, a high school senior with a 3.9 GPA, with sporting and scouting experience strengthening your teamwork abilities. You have a creative mind for music; however, you squander your time playing games. Colleges around the country continue to send letters, begging you to apply to their college over the thousands of other institutions competing for your intellect. Similarly, scholarships hang low on the branches of financial aid. The opportunities for a well-established adulthood buzz in front of you like flies. Your only task is to catch them. With this, I leave you my message -- don’t deny your free money and education. Go get the scholarships and colleges you want to have. Trust me: avoiding these offers adds piles of stress to a college lifestyle. Although I am happy where I am today, you can excel beyond your short-sighted self. Remember my words. I wish you best of luck.

My high school self was rather naive and unprepared for college, so I have a great deal of advice I would love to impart on her, if I had the chance. First, I would advise her to ignore her high school counselor and choose more challenging classes as college is a great deal more challenging. Second, I would instruct her to begin volunteer work over the Summer and gather letters of recommendation. The first is valuable for learning how to work in a community, and a college campus is a community and the second is invaluable when it comes to scholarships, jobs and internships. Third, I would insist she practice doing research, as learning how to find information on your own is an important skill, especially when it comes to financial aid. Fourth, I would recommend off-campus housing as it's useful for drawing a line between fun and work and would allow her to escape the school environment, which is needed at times. Lastly, I would advise her to move early, giving her plenty of time to settle in, become familiar with the campus and nearby area, before being swept up in the start of school.

Set your studying habits in high school instead of waiting until you get to college. It will make learning so much easier. In addition, do not procrastinate, learn the material, and don't drink too many milkshakes from Flix.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself, I would tell myself not to be afraid to ask for help. I have always been an independent student. I study by myself, and in many cases teach myself using books, online examples, and tutorials. If I have a problem understanding something, I use many different tools, such as Khan Academy, YouTube, and Google, to help me. I'm not saying this is a bad skill to have, it's actually quite the opposite and has worked well for me, but sometimes these tools don't help and I need to ask my teachers or TA's. I was very apprehensive about contacting my teachers or going to places like the MLC (Math Learning Center). I felt like I was dumb if I couldn’t figure it out by myself, or like they would judge me. Having these feelings towards asking for help caused me to learn a hard lesson since I failed my first calculus test. I spent a lot of time debating whether to seek help or not; in the end I did and it was the best thing I could possibly do for my learning.

Knowing about college life, I would tell myself that college is hard and I have to be prepared for academic excellence and involvement. In college, there are many resources to guide you in to achieving excellence and involvement is also important since it is a great representation to your resume. I received a lot of help as a college student and getting the grades I earned came from resources around campus. When I was a senior in high school I was not really prepared and I thought I would struggle to succeed. But nevertheless, college is a great experience and the advice I would give to myself is just to be prepared and be involved in the university. Great opportunities come along when you do.