If you could redo college, what would you do differently?
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268 answers
Edmond’s Answer
Two things: (1) I would have tried to convince one of my professors to be my mentor; (2) team up with other students for study and homework. It's OK to study on your own but find one or two other students who are better than you are in a given subject and do some of the harder homework together. In that setting where we explain the topic verbally, the brain functions much better.
Marina’s Answer
Personally, I would be more focused, waste less time and get more sleep. Sometimes in college you become overwhelmed with new found freedom and experiences, that it's easy for your studies to become less of a priority. It's good to be mindful of that and keep a schedule of the work you need to accomplish and stick to it.
Kim’s Answer
Kim
Kaelynn E.’s Answer
Matthew’s Answer
Christina’s Answer
I would have gotten more involved in the school itself- student government, clubs, etc. This would have given me a more well -rounded experience and an opportunity to meet different people. I went to school with a lot of my friends and we had a great time, but meeting other people would have given me an opportunity to get different perspectives. In addition, I would also have connected with more of my professors to gain some professional mentorship. #liveandlearn
Amanda’s Answer
I would have taken part in more activities and used all the services that were offered. I was too focused on just the work. I think I missed out on a lot.
Jenna’s Answer
Eugene’s Answer
As you progress through your career, we tend to focus on getting jobs done and working to achieve stretch goals. Time to dedicate to Learning becomes harder, so firstly, I would appreciate the time at college.
Secondly, sometimes we are too hard on ourselves on trying to achieve a grade. You only have a certain amount of energy, so be clear on your outcomes ie. Grade can be necessary vs I'm just here to build a skill.
Thirdly, I would not focus on studying something to get the big $$$. This doesnt mean to ignore it but don't forget to feed the soul and explore different subjects. Experiment don't be afraid to fail.
Colleague is great to develop your thinking and build relationships. It takes practice. I wish I had better habits. Read more, write more papers without trying to make it perfect. Journalling is another great too to create clarity of thought. These give you great foundations to build upon and then you spend most of your energy growing, instead of trying to catch up :)
Eugene recommends the following next steps:
Manu’s Answer
Try to invest time in some sports/yoga/dance.
Lauren’s Answer
Lisa’s Answer
2. Use your school resources! Placement tests, checking in with career counselors to ensure you're staying on track. Think about your major, and what type of real life job/career you will be able to find after you earn your degree.
3. Prioritize studying over balancing study with work. Most of us need to balance working while going to school, but the coursework should come first. I'd try to find a job where I could study at work if possible.
Sandi’s Answer
1. Study a subject that provides me a hard skill and do supplemental read for the soft skills!
2. Read more books on how to apply the skills I learned in class.
3. Develop organizational habits that will help substantially as I begin my career.
* I wish someone had told me #1!
Jasanpreet Kaur’s Answer
1. Completion of SHRM and SAP HR certification. This was told to us while we were in the final year but at that time the relevance of these certification was not known to me.
2. Now after having 5+ years I feel like I must have written some papers to publish with the help of professor. I am certain, that would have been a great learning and add on value.
Nagendra’s Answer
If at all i get an offer to do it , i want to do it from High school level. Since that one particular subject mark pulled me down in getting admission to the college of my wish.
Emilio’s Answer
College was a great experience for me, but I wish I took more online classes at community colleges. This would have saved me money and allowed me to focus more on my upper division classes.
Danielle’s Answer
Best wishes!
Lois’s Answer
Aaron’s Answer
Dee’s Answer
Rachel’s Answer
Veena’s Answer
Tiffany’s Answer
Capria’s Answer
Capria recommends the following next steps:
Erich’s Answer
Alicia’s Answer
Darryl’s Answer
Zhu’s Answer
In my opinion, no matter what I answer to this question, It always is a supplement for my achievement based on my experience. It's for myself, not others. Thus is not instructive to others. Everyone has his/her own aspiration, you may find the right way to spend your time only based on your own. What do you want to be? Usually, we know what is the right thing to do, but we just cannot control ourselves, we know we should read more books, we should focus on knowledge, we should study harder, don't waste time. But the entertainment is more attractive, those electronic games, those movies and TV series, and we are easily persuaded by ourselves that I can master my life, spend some time to relax will not have any bad impact.
So don't ask others, just ask yourself. what do you want to be? what do you want to get in that period? everyone has a different answer, but the answer is for himself and will help him to know, what he should do.
Amber’s Answer
Priscilla’s Answer
Great question! I think the three biggest takeaways I had from college were:
1) Study Abroad (if you can)! I know it can be expensive and challenging to coordinate your schedule around an international trip, as well as missing a semester at your actual college, however, my greatest memories were from studying abroad. And, there's not another time in your life where you could really live in another country(ies) while gaining an education.
2) Say Yes to doing everything. My parents gave me this piece of advice when they dropped me off at college, and I said yes to new friends, new adventures, and new opportunities instead of staying in or constantly studying (although, this is important!) and it really made my transition into college seamless.
3) Get a Part-Time Job. This enabled me to build my resume, gain work experience, and create a network prior to stepping into adulthood. This also set me apart during recruitment. I actually had several part-time jobs throughout college and my favorite was working for professors in various departments at my university. The connections I made with them and the work experience I gained still remains with me today in my job at PwC.
Best of luck!
Karen’s Answer
kevin’s Answer
– Connect with job placement resources to start getting experience right away. It almost doesn't matter if it's in your field, you'll learn how to interact as part of a team and build experiences you can speak to in interviews and use to guide your future job searches.
– Study abroad opportunities might take you off the track for a bit, but will broaden your understanding of people and culture while giving you experiences that will last a lifetime.
– Similar to study abroad, explore courses/events outside of your specific field of study. You'll find connections with people you won't run into as your life and work narrow your exposure over time.
Avi’s Answer
Different cultures have different ways of practicing business principles. Getting an internship internally or studying a course abroad would have allowed me to gain a higher appreciation of business practices across cultures.
Ruben’s Answer
To be honest, I would not change a thing. I had the time of my life. I was able to meet lots of new people. I was active with many clubs and organizations. Travelled throughout the US attending conferences and meeting more people. I also worked as an intern for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) for six months and received school credit. I also played intramural sports on campus. This social aspect of college was possible due to great time management. Time management was key in having time to do all the things I wanted to do and still do good in school. I surrounded myself with good people and always took care of business/school work. I guess one thing I would like to have done would be study abroad in Italy or Spain. Other than that, I would do everything exactly the same all over again. Great times, great memories, and great friends...
Mike’s Answer
Hindsight is 20/20! If I could re-do college, what would I do differently?
For me, two things -
1) go to a school close(r) to home
2) invest more time talking to school counselors, and seeking job opportunities (in High School, and during College) which align with the field I believe I'd like to get into for a career.
I started my college career at Ohio State University, while my family was stationed at an Air Force base in Hawaii. The separation was difficult, but manageable. Looking back though, I would have optioned to go to a school closer to my family as I missed out on the opportunities to spend holidays and breaks with friends and family.
Finally, I changed majors after my first 3 semesters of school as I found a passion toward sciences and mathematics, and also architectural sketching. I choose an engineering path, but looking back, would have preferred architecture as the end result would be very satisfying to see something you're working toward actually result in a tangible entity people will use, like schools, office buildings, etc.
My best advice is to talk to others about the careers they choose, seek to see if that is something you'd be interested in doing, then find opportunities to immerse yourself (like a summer internship/job) into the opportunity to get a feel for the work, the industry, and culture, and see if this aligns with your interests.
Hope this helps! Best of luck!
Jaclyn’s Answer
I would have gone abroad or travelled further from school to broaden my perspective
REED’s Answer
If I had a re-do, I would've began working for a company that has a really good tuition reimbursement program. A lot of big companies have tuition reimbursement as a built in benefit of working for them (like Verizon).
This may have been a bit more difficult managing work/school but in the long run I would've paid much much less for my school out-of-pocket.
Michele’s Answer
What a great question ... I would definitively invest more time networking, giving back to the community and focusing on self development. There are so many opportunities, you now have time to explore, travel, meet new people and make a difference; take advantage of the time you have and help others. If i could go back i would definitively join the peace corps and travel the world before jumping into corporate America!
Darrell’s Answer
Denise’s Answer
Kendrall’s Answer
When you graduate, you'll be asked questions like, "What's your experience with ........" or "Have you ever.........". If you take the time to get some of those experiences (in your field of interest) before you graduate, you'll be much more competitive.
Patricia’s Answer
Such a FUN question. Ohboy if I could redo college. College is suppose to be a time to meet new friends and have fun. There are sororities to think about, new friends to meet, parties; extra curricular activities - you are able to choose everything and there is a great deal of responsibility and time management. Unfortunately I started later in life and changing career paths. I enrolled in the BSN-RN program and what a program that is. It takes all of your time (and sleep). I didn't have much time for football, tailgating parties and the like due to it was such a rigorous program and consumes all of your free time. I attended college during the summer months too while in the program (year round) and only saw my friends at Christmas. But I wouldn't change anything at this point. I have my BSN-RN degree and that is the door to all possibilities in this life. So sacrificing football games and sororities for my degree is a good thing. Thank you for such a wonderful question and enjoy your education. Choose wisely and don't allow anything to take you from the path of the 'good life'. Surviving college takes a lot of hard work but once you have your degree no one can take it away from you. Cool huh!
Alex’s Answer
Ed’s Answer
Tamecheo’s Answer
1. I would have taken advantage of my career advisor's office hours during my freshman year to ensure I was on the exact path regarding my major once I selected it as I started "Undecided".
2. I would have researched majors, salaries, and did some job-shadowing to ensure I was on the path which would make me happy and earn a decent starting salary. I did not understand the important of this until I was older as once you’re an adult you will constantly do this. If you get it right in the beginning, you are ahead of the game.
3. I would have studied to retain the information rather than memorize to obtain optimal grades. Looking back, graduating with honors does not have as much meaning as being able to recall what I learned during my 3.5 years of college until graduation.
4. I would have participated in more extracurricular activities as my focus then was work-study, part-time job, study groups, and my boyfriend. Looking back, I missed a lot of my college life experiences. (Moderation in everything is ideal)
5. I would have taken Spanish more aggressively rather than just one summer school course. I would have immersed myself in the language to become bi-lingual.
6. I would have done an internship, but I don't recall even knowing about internships then. Internships allow you to get your foot in the door for a job and even possibly a career after earning your degree. Employers want experienced candidates, not just those with a degree.
7. Listen to those older than you that are doing well for themselves. Be humble to take the advice they are giving as they know what they are talking about because they have been there done that. Learn from their mistakes and do not repeat them. Trust me, you will be them one day speaking to the youth as it's a never-ending cycle.
Samuel’s Answer
I would become involved in the entrepreneurial community as early as possible and start a business sooner. I didn't get involved in the entrepreneurial community till my senior project, and it was literally life changing in many ways. There's a reason universities are the breeding ground for so many startups - having access to some of the world's best equipment, technology, software, and last but not least, minds, is such a massive opportunity, that if someone is focused and uses the available resources and support, they can truly change their life.
Samuel recommends the following next steps:
Ryan’s Answer
Hi Mireia, I would definitely be a lot more mindful about organizing my time. You are in charge of how you want your life to be. Be mindful of creating a solid work/life balance. I always find that having a planner was very helpful. I feel that writing everything down makes your goals more tangible.
María José’s Answer
I would be more focused on what i wanted to accomplished. There is time for everything, but if I would have focused more on my objectives, I would have done things in a better way. And sleep is a better way to get those objectives done with a good result... so, i would have slept better and more hours :)
Best regards!
Wes’s Answer
rani priya’s Answer
Focus more on skills, and less on jobs and salary figures. College placement continues to be the buzzword among Indian youth. But I sincerely believe that focusing on skills, instead of jobs, is a more worthwhile option in college. If you have the requisite skills, you are bound to be hired.
Create useful networks and safety nets. Networking does not mean fawning up to every senior or alumni from your college. You need to know the contacts who may be helpful and ‘why’ they may be helpful.
Take more free online courses from platforms such as edX. These are potential goldmines of knowledge, which most Indian college goers sadly never make use of. Narrow minded focus on securing a ‘job’ leads to people missing out on exploring such self-education tools.
Not try to fall in ‘love’ just because every one else seems to be in love. In college, most of us are heavily influenced by Hindi cinema and have half-baked knowledge about emotions and relationships. Its advisable to exercise caution before investing too much time, emotion and attention on someone.
Lizzie’s Answer
Looking back, my grade would not have changed that much, if at all, had I done those fun things. When you look back at college, you don't really remember so much the assignments or classes or crying in lab (just kidding--I do remember crying in lab at night a little.) You remember the people, you remember the social events, you remember staying up late in someone's room to talk about life or play Just Dance.
So go, have fun. It's all about balance.
William’s Answer
I had an idea what I wanted to do and I knew my strengths and interest. I would have seek more career paths that allowed me to marry my strengths and interest versus focusing on each one individually. From there my best advice is to really spend time to get some experience what you think is a good fit. Try to connect with someone who is in that field and try to explore as many other paths you think would be of interest. From there you will be better prepared to use your time in college to focus on what you want beyond college.
Marc’s Answer
But in hindsight, a few things I might have done differently...
- researched professions a bit more before starting college. I was definitely naïve on what paths there were. I loved biology in high school, but decided not to pursue simply because I couldn't see making money as a biologist. SMH!
- take more advantage of all the resources and activities offered at a university. Your paying the money, leverage them. There is so much you can do and benefit from.
- and remember it's not all about the academics.
Abbey’s Answer
Wes’s Answer
Wenmiao’s Answer
Amber’s Answer
Amy’s Answer
Jay’s Answer
College is that sweet spot between adolescence and adulthood where you can explore and participate without being told what you have to do, but also without any particularly negative outcomes - you might be exhausted from a night of coding, but if it doesn't work the worst thing that happens is that you sleep in until noon and try it again if you want...or don't.
That said, don't miss out on the frivolity too. There aren't many opportunities in life where you get to live with your friends and don't necessarily have to make ends meet.
Ganesh’s Answer
Another point is to work closely with teachers in building the content for upcoming students.
Priscilla’s Answer
Great question! I think the three biggest takeaways I had from college were:
1) Study Abroad (if you can)! I know it can be expensive and challenging to coordinate your schedule around an international trip, as well as missing a semester at your actual college, however, my greatest memories were from studying abroad. And, there's not another time in your life where you could really live in another country(ies) while gaining an education.
2) Say Yes to doing everything. My parents gave me this piece of advice when they dropped me off at college, and I said yes to new friends, new adventures, and new opportunities instead of staying in or constantly studying (although, this is important!) and it really made my transition into college seamless.
3) Get a Part-Time Job. This enabled me to build my resume, gain work experience, and create a network prior to stepping into adulthood. This also set me apart during recruitment. I actually had several part-time jobs throughout college and my favorite was working for professors in various departments at my university. The connections I made with them and the work experience I gained still remains with me today in my job at PwC.
Best of luck!
Debjeet’s Answer
1. Be more social and keep networking
2.Learn a lot more on my areas of interest
3.Take part in more student club activities.
4.Keep my lethargy aside and do something productive.
Rob’s Answer
Nathan’s Answer
1. Get involved in your own education, don't prioritize fun over projects and departmental involvement
2. Intentionally develop relationships that will last with your professors, advisers and mentors
3. Use electives to help guide your education path, don't take the easy classes to just get by. An elective course may open your eyes to a whole new field of interest that could change your path
Richard’s Answer
Unrelated, but my career started out based on my educational background but took many turns as I grew my networking with people and taking on new assignments.
So, focus on your keeping your GPA up, use the social life to take off the stress of focusing solely on academics and keep in mind what degree you end up with may not be your long term career choices.
Noorayaz’s Answer
1. Find a counselor or mentor that can help me determine which career paths are best for me to follow. I made some impulsive choices based on no real data. It worked out in the end but I probably delayed my career by almost a decade.
2. I would focus more on grades. I spent more time socializing than studying. The key is treat college like a job. Get up early and start studying, go to class and study in between. Use the evening to relax, just like you would after a day at work. This will condition you to what life after college is like, while ensuring fun and scholastic success
3. I would focus more on staying at campus. I spent 4 days a week at home, rather than on campus. It was fun but I missed out on a lot of experiences because of it.
College can be the best time of your life. Make it that, while setting yourself up for a great life afterwards.
Lison H’s Answer
David’s Answer
If I were to go back to college, I would probably stress less about finding the perfect major/ career early on. I would also make sure I had a better balance between my studies, social life, and get involved in student groups & clubs.
You have your entire adult & professional life ahead of you to figure things out. Too many young students feel pressured to figure out their long term career when they start college. Your career is more of a process than anything, and you might find something that interests you later in your career. Every role you have is going to be a learning experience.
I started school studying to be a Civil Engineer, then switched to Marketing, and now am working in the technology field.
Additionally, college is a place that you have so many opportunities to make lifelong friends and make connections. Taking part in social & academic clubs will also help you make connections to help you find a job after college.
Gabriel’s Answer
What would I have done differently? I would not have dropped out/stopped attending/taken a "semester off". I didn't necessarily lack a support system, but I was always kind of independent and my parents kind of let me do my own thing. After three semesters I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It wasn't until many years later that a former high school teacher told me (and take this with a grain of salt, but it meant the world to me) "You rarely go to college to learn a skill or trade - you go to college to learn how to learn."
No matter what...unless there is some really dire circumstance...don't stop. Don't quit. Those letters after your name mean a ton. Do finals and 8:00 AM classes make life a pain? Yup. Suck it up and do the four years. You made it through high school...you can do the same in college. Don't start something you aren't able to finish. (And there's nothing worse than paying on student loans for a degree you never got.) I know...after high school four years seems like a prison sentence - but the rest of your life will be grateful you sucked it up and got it done. Working a full time job and taking one class at a time (took me about six years) just to get a BBA...had I just sought out help from the mentors I had...my life would likely be different. I can not stress enough how important it is to just get that degree. I come from a long line of "English majors" who did nothing remotely-close to their field of study. That's okay...but their degrees allowed them to get jobs in fields and find their passions. And let's be honest - the days of coming right out of college and working for one company until you retire are long gone.
And if any of you are either a fan of or major in the theatre arts...may I recommend "If I Could've Been" from Working.
Rachel’s Answer
Tabitha’s Answer
EXPERIENCE life. This doesn’t mean party. Attend university and community events that will expand your EXPERIENCE. Seek out an event or speaking engagement that you wouldn’t normally attend. College is about education and experience.
Remember that your tribe will shift. All of the friends you make during freshman and even sophomore year won’t always remain with you. The relationships you build will be life altering and some will stick with you a lifetime. Choose wisely and don’t despair over lost friendships and relationships.
Jessica’s Answer
Patricia’s Answer
Rachel’s Answer
Jamie’s Answer
Dana’s Answer
Rajesh’s Answer
sridhar’s Answer
I would have spend more time in learning history and literature, Students who understand the history and historic mistakes can only take this socitey forward by avoiding the mistakes from the past.
Spiro’s Answer
Richard’s Answer
If i could redo college, will try to understand what companies are looking to recruit from my college and learn more about them. This will help in aligning my choice of the company based on my career goals. Look to connect with the Alumni of the college.
Tracey’s Answer
Carlos’s Answer
Cynthia’s Answer
Great question. I would first take a test of interest and interview people in the fields. Then research the future of that field.
Norma’s Answer
1. Focus - apply myself more
2. work less hours - working full time plus overtime and going to school full time prevented me from sleeping enough and studying
3. live on campus - I attended what is known as a "commuter school" (live close enough not to live on campus that you can drive yourself - i lived 30 minutes or so away)
4. get more involved - i was a member of student government, but didn't always volunteer as I was interested but not motivated to participate
When planning your future, think about some of these things before you make a decision as to where you will go. :-)
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