University at Buffalo Top Questions

Invest. Invest in three things: stock (Google, Apple, Samsung), real estate, and a solid foundational education. Cultivate strong relationships with success-minded people. Be a rainmaker. Do not wait for opportunity to come knocking. Go out and find opportunity while it is still sleeping, wake it up, and make the most out of it. Then find another opportunity, and do the same. then another, and another, and repeat this process for as long as you can with as many hard-working, smart-working people as your team. Learn much from your professors, but realize that all of the knowledge you glean from them will be but a puddle in the ocean of information, and that others have talents that you will not have. Harvest their brilliance and form your team around those who have so much to offer this world. Turn your education into a beacon to attract a team of multiple intelligences and of various strengths, and lead your team into continual success.

Cherish the final year of highschool becuase it goes by extremely fast. Also, college is hard. Making the transition from living at home to living by yourself is difficult and it sucks at first but it will get better and you will love college.

If I could give my senior self some advice I would simply say to stick to your gut because everything is going to work out. I say that because I was always a very decisive person until my senior year of high school. I began to question everything from architecture as a major, to Buffalo as a school, to my ability to actually leave the high school that I loved so much. From my graduation up until the middle of my first semester my anxiety levels were higher then ever. But eventually I embraced the change and fell in love with my major, my school, and all of the new friends. If my senior self could see how happy I am now, she never would have questioned a thing and it would have made the transition much easier.

Dear myself as a high school senior, This is a letter that I want to tell you about college life and experience. Many people might tell you that college is a place to have fun or it's a hard life to stay in college. Right now I can tell you it's both of them. Why? I'll explain them to you. College is a place to seek for more knowledge. Therefore, everything comes after academics. Being a college student is a full time job. You study hard everyday. Getting good grades isn't a easy thing. Effort is necessary for every course avaliable. However, humans aren't capable for concenstating for long time. The result for this is to relax. How to relax? Do the stuff that you like. For example, sports, games, movies, music...etc. Anything you can name. Another important part is that you need to learn time management. Otherwise all the hard work will collapse. Don't go to parties. Only hangout friends that you trust. Don't touch drugs and alcohol. Don't worry too much. Do what you have to do. Have fun bro! Enjoy your future college life. sincerely, Yi Ting Wu

Do not rush high school! Do not give up towards the end of senior year with everything (including friendships). It was so easy to spend my days day dreaming about how much better college would be, getting ready for college and neglecting things that should be important at that time (SATs, AP exams, Prom etc.). Take as many AP's and courses that grant college credit as possible, little did I know that I finished almost a while year of college while in high school. It cost me around $1200 across four years of college courses here and there saving me around $7000! It may seem stressful to pile on so many college courses each year in high school but it is worth it, I wish I would have taken more and taken my AP's more seriously

As I look back on the high school school student I once was, I recognize a student that was as excited to become a college student as he was frightened. If I could sit down with that student, I would tell him that the fear he has is entirely normal, and that his interest in engineering will help him grow so much, even in the first year. I want to let him know that, although he is worried about picking the wrong major, he will enjoy engineering, and have mobility even through the first year to find which subset fits him. The greatest academic advice I can give him, is to learn as fast as possible that college is much more difficult than high school, but it is entirely possible to succeed, with continuing ambition and study skills. Lastly, he (I) should know that his life will change a great deal in the next year, and there will be great successes as well as failures to learn from, but if he puts his effort into working hard and staying true to the important things in his life, he will be just fine.

Take those AP and SAT prep classes seriously! Firstly, great SAT courses gives you the freedom of choosing your school. In addition, many colleges have general requirement courses and receiving good AP scores can make you bypass those courses. This gives you a head start and thereby lessening your workload in college. You should also participate in volunteer or leadership opportunities in high school. This is an excellent resume builder. Yes, resume building is important in even high school because there are programmes in college such as honors programmes that offer beneficial resources to it’s students such as tutoring and networking sessions. A very important difference between high school and college is that in college you are solely responsible for yourself. You may feel swamped in that 200 student lecture hall but go to your professor’s office hours and build that professional connection. Each professor gives a syllabus for their course and you should treat that as your bible. Don’t forget to make friend but choose them wisely. Try to find someone who has similar ambitions as you who would not lead you off your path and would be a positive influence on you.

Knowing what I know now, I would have told myself to not be afraid of leaving home early. The reason I decided to stay in my old college before I transferred to UB was that I felt that I was not ready. Thinking about it now, it should have not been a reason to stay and postpone a dream. Also, go for what you're passionate about, not just what you think is a safety net. Be the music major you want to be! But still take all the pre-requisite courses for medical school because you can still apply to medical school. Lastly, make sure you take that opportunity to go to UCF. I know they didn't give you the best scholarship, but in the long run you would have been happier there back with your old friends. Take care of yourself, and take it easy on the partying!

I would tell my self to work hard and not to take A.P. classes as a joke. To put some effert into them because they could prove to be very valuble.

I would tell myself to stop trying to impress everyone. You cant please every person you meet. Dont try to be something you are not because at the end of the day, you are only left with you to deal with. Stand fimly behind your beliefs but respect those of others as well (as long as they dont conflict with the well being of other people). Focus strongly on your future career because its never too early to think ahead, but understand you can change your mind. Just be smart about it. Dont think you know everything. You are so young. Your parents were your age once upon a time so listen to what they have to say, it might save you heartaches and headaches.

If I could give my high school self any advise, it would be to try to concentrate more on school than anything. I sometimes got caught up in working several jobs through school and balancing a social life. I would have told myself to work smarter, not harder. To find one job that I would be able to provide for myself with and stick with that throughout school. I definitely would have told myself to READ THE BOOKS! Throughout high school, I was able to pass Advanced Placement exams without ever reading the textbooks. I thought that I could continue this through college, yet found out quickly this was not a feasible study plan. Once I learned that reading the assignments was necessary for good grades, my GPA rose.

Going back to talk to myself as a high school senior.. there are so many things I would say. First, I would say keep you eye on the prize. Things can be overwhelming, especially your first year of college. Transitioning from not doing much ot get good grades in high school, to studying around the clock to get a B or B+ in college, takes some getting used too. Second, I would say dont give up on what you really want out of life. I have always been interested in the medial field; my first year I was a pre-medicine major, and the classes were very intimidating. I changed my major to psychology after my first year. I dont regret psychology, because I can use that throughout my life, but here I am going back to school for nursing. Nursing, working with patients and the medical field in general is what I am really interested in. Lastly, I would tell myself that the only person that can hold you back is yourself. You are the person who chooses who you surround yourself with, how your behaviors define who you are; make decisions based on what is best for you!

I would tell myself do not follow your heart and what you were born to do. I would have made more money the past ten years.

If it were possible to go back in time and offer advice and to a younger version of myself I would tell myself three key things. Since the world economy has taken a turn for the worst in regards to employment, interest rates, default rates, foreign wars, taxes, health care and overall future uncertainty, I would tell myself to ignore all the preexisting expectations of our society and be a little bit more pragmatic and independent. I think that in today's time it is generally expected for a high school student to transition to college with the hope of earning a great education and a very lucrative career. However, with improvement in healthcare, tax uncertainty, and overall economic risk, the baby boomer generation is working longer and retiring later, offering less employment opportunity for younger generations. In addition, governmental policy fluctuation and overall interest rate volatility is making it increasing more expensive and arduous for younger generations to earn an affordable education. All that being said, I would tell myself not to go to college, use the money instead to invest in “Apple” before they released the iPhone, and study computer programming to start my own social networking site.

The only thing I would tell myself is to handle everything myself. I left everything up to my mother when it came to the finacial aid and nothing ever went right.

I would tell myself that a boring repetitive job with a very high amount of pay won't be as good as a job that is fun and challenging even though it may not pay as well. I would tell myself this because I currently am changing my major to something I would enjoy much more than if I stuck with my current major. Other things I would tell myself is to find a balance between my studies and having fun. This is the kind of advice that I would tell myself.

Hold nothing back. Don't focus on the cost of the campus and don't sell your dreams short just to appease others. Tomorrow is never a guarantee so never take a single new opportunity for granted. If something interests you or sparks your passion then chase it with your whole heart and never be afraid to make a mistake because sometimes it is our mistakes that teach us the most in the end. Believe me, even when it seems like the world may very well be falling out from underneath your feet, you will find a way to fly...but only if you are willing to spread your wings first. Above all, believe in yourself and don't forget to have some fun every once in awhile, you'll thank me for this later when that midterm stress sets in, I promise you.

I would give myself the advice of working hard in college especially during the beginning year, and also to study up on my major and make sure that I went in with a base knowledge of what I was going for.

I would tell myself not to base my decision on any one of my friends or family. Look at the schools based on their academic rigor, student retention rate and which schools you truly love. Focus on your grades because the better your high school schoolwork, the better scholarships you can achieve. Follow your heart and be prepared to work hard while having the time of your life for the next 4 years.

Really think about what you want to major in, and maybe even stay undecided for a year, if the college allows it. You should stay on campus; it is an experience that should be had by all students for at least one year. Do not worry or stress yourself about grades, you don't need a 4.0 in every class. Do not worry about your loans too much. You have time to pay them back after school and will only add more stress to your college life than you need. And finally, join some clubs or participate in intramural sports or other other activites offered by the university; they are lots of fun and allow you to meet many great people.