Washington University in St Louis Top Questions

As I finally completed the challenging process of selecting a college to attend, I thought that the greatest challenges of my senior year would be over. However, within my relief and excitement for college, I still suppressed feelings of doubt and anxiety. I feared uncertainty, something I would undoubtedly encounter as I first moved into a dorm, stepped foot into a class, and met new students. But if I had the opportunity to speak to myself during this point in my life, I would surprisingly confirm my own fears. Knowing that many of my peers in college will not share my same interests or beliefs, and that some classes will challenge me beyond what i can imagine, I would pass onto my past self an extremely valuable lesson I have learned in college: to embrace uncertainty. By talking to a student that I seemingly share nothing in common with, or by taking a class that I have no prior knowledge about, I have grown the most as a student. Because of this, my college experience has been extremely rewarding thus far, and never in a million years as a high school senior could I have ever imagined it.

As simple as it may sound, making good use of the summer before freshman year is the most important thing an aspiring college student can do after they have graduated high school. There are so many things that need to be taken care of and most students brush these things off because there is a feeling of accomplishment and complacency that comes with a high school diploma. Once high school is done, students tend to de-stress and celebrate for a majority of the summer. A high school graduate does not necessarily have to start to research classes the day after graduation, but it helps significantly in the long run if the student makes use of free time during the summer. This time should be used to do productive things such as scholarship research, class searches, career path brainstorming, and even up keeping of some subjects so they can be easily remembered for the upcoming school year. Using only a fraction of the time allotted for summer break to do these things can greatly prepare a student for college and beyond. The benefits of a useful pre-college summer are invaluable.

After completing my freshman year at Washington University, I would have told my high school senior self to simply calm down. Instead of thoroughly enjoying my final months at home, I was plagued by worries. I was overly concerned about whether I chose the right school, if I was going too far from home, if I would make lasting friendships, if I was capable of succeeding at Wash U, if the transition would be too difficult to handle. I was an overzealous worry wart. I would have liked to remind my past self to go forth with confidence in my choices and to stop resisting the changes that were already in motion. I would have emphasized the importance of taking a breather after the essays had been completed, standardized tests had been taken, and the tough decisions had been made. I would have wanted my past self to enjoy the lull between graduation and becoming a freshman (yet again, only this time on a college campus), instead of being ferociously concerned with the future. I wish I could have been there to just remind myself, "calm down, calm down, calm down."

Knowing what I know now, the best advice I could give is: To find your passion and run with it. I have found my passion, it took some time, but I am now doing and going to school for what I love. Upon graduation from high school I was accepted early into GMU and thought I knew what I wanted in life. When I discovered it wasn't exactly what I was looking for I left and decided to save some money and go to NVCC. I wasn't happy with any of the classes and honestly I had no desire to go to class so I could earn a degree and have a job that I hated going to everyday. I felt pressured by my parents to study something that would make me lots of money- but at the same time I wasn't happy. So I left school for awhile and worked some pretty awful jobs. I knew I needed a degree and now that I am doing what I love, I am that much closer to finally graduating. It may take some time, but in the end once you find what you love, do it.

College has been fantastic. More specifically, Washington University has been fantastic. Having now completed a part of the ‘college experience’, I would advise my high school self to keep an open mind and relax because everyone will find his or her perfect college. After receiving a rejection from what I assumed was my top-choice school, I was disappointed and convinced I was a failure as a student. Looking back, however, my rejection turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I now realize my true failure was the close-mindedness I had developed to a University and the downtrodden attitude I had on myself. As the saying goes, “when one door closes, another one opens.” My ‘failure’ allowed me to become aware of the open door that is Wash U and has allowed me to discover the university that is truly my perfect fit. My advice to my high school self would be to work hard without stressing, keep an open mind to new experiences, and explore the many opportunities presented to you. For as I've discovered, everything has a way of working out for the best.

Don't settle too much into the "senioritis" mode which plagues most high school seniors. While the importance of awarding one's self a little hard-earned relaxation cannot be undermined, it's crucial not to let such an attitude become the norm or discourage in any way the work ethic you built and developed throughout high school. College academics are hard. There's no way around that fact. Unfortunately, no matter how many times you hear it, it's easy to go into this new environment with the belief that the school work will be just like it was in high school. My advice is to go into college with the honest understanding that to be successful here, you WILL need to try harder and study more than you did in the past. With this attitude, you will find the classroom work more easily manageable, and you can limit those otherwise long, stressful nights of cramming for that exam you might have procrastinated studying for, or that essay you blew off the past week. You can still make time for that hard-earned relaxation, and enjoy those nights off much more with no last-minute work to worry about.

If I went back in time and talked to myself as a high school senior, I would advise myself to get a job. I got a job in May of my senior year, but I should have gotten one earlier. Also, I would make sure I saved as much money as I could. My parents recently informed me that they can only give me $5,000 for college, which means I have to come up with the rest on my own and I haven’t saved enough. During senior year, I assumed that my college would just get paid for, but that isn’t the case. Now that I have grown up a little, I would let myself know what would be impending in the future and how to save myself from the debt I will have once I get out of college.

If I had the chance, I would tell myself to get organized early, focus on specific goals and to work hard even when it seems that nobody around you is. College is a mysterious place where homework and studying only gets done behind closed doors or on the crowded tables of the library so just because others are hanging out and having fun every time you see them does not mean it is OK to neglect your work simply because it seems they are too. Furthermore, college is a place to learn about anything and everything you want. While grades and homework are important, it is far more worthwhile to understand the concepts you are studying rather than mindlessly doing homework simply to get it done. The concepts are far more valuable in the future than a small later grade will ever be. In addition, I would tell myself not to worry about making friends or fitting in with a specific crowd. Friendships are forged between those who have similar values, ideals and interests so its far more important to find real friends and not fit in with those who seem to be the "cool kids" on your floor.

If I were to go back in time to speak to my high school self, I would quote my favorite lyric: "Take your time, don't live to fast; troubles will come, and they will pass" (from Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd). As I was preparing to go off to college two years ago, people told me "enjoy college, it goes too fast, but it will be the best years of your life." I began hearing it so often that I started to tune these people out, and ceased to really listen to what they were saying. But they were right. Having two years of college behind me, I have seen how fast the years have gone by. I have also seen that college is one of the best, and most challenging times in life. Therefore, I would want to tell myself to slow down and take my time while in college. I would tell myself make the most of every minute of every day I have. I would encourage myself that although college comes with challenges, I shouldn't be discouraged. These challeges soon past and give way to some of the most rewarding experiences of life.

1. Learn how to study. Don't sit at your computer for a few minutes switching between the facebook tab and wikipedia and think you are studying. Go to the library, sit down and really concentrate for hours at a time. This will really help once you get to college, and have a seemingly impossible amount of work to do. Instead of integrating time-wasting activities into your study habits, if you learn to really get work done, you will find the work you accomplish more rewarding, and it will take half the time. 2. You can't do everything. Taking 20 credits, playing soccer and basketball, working, doing research, and joining 5 clubs may seem like a good idea at the start, but overambitious freshman have come to realise time and time again that there is not an infinite amount of time in the world. Just because you don't have class from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. straight doesn't mean you won't spend that much time and more on schoolwork. Relax, take it easy, and you will learn how involved you can become without overwhelming yourself.