University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Top Questions

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to enjoy every last bit of my time in high school. Once you graduate, your parents are going to move and you're probably not going to see your hometown again for a long time. Walk through the woods, skip rocks across Lake Wallenpaupack, and go for long car rides at night while you still can. Soon, you'll be in a big city going to school with 20,000 other students that don't know who you are. Find out, for yourself, who you are and who you're going to be and I promise everything will make sense once you start to believe in yourself.

When I was in high school, I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I chose to study chemistry as my undergraduate major, although it didn't really matter which degree I studied as long as I took the pre-med courses. I would have told myself to study a different major such as finance, economics, or chemical engineering. After sophomore year, I began to despise my degree and courses I had to take, but decided to tough it out. If I was attending medical school, it wouldn't matter what major I studied since I would not be doing a chemistry related job for the rest of my life. I would also tell myself to be more outgoing and social. I made some great friends freshman year, but did not continue to make many new friends with each new dormitory and living arrangement. College is an incredible opportunity to meet unique people and become responsible for your own actions. Lastly, I would have told myself to enjoy my time more, since four years of college (3.5 for me) goes by extremely quickly and soon enough you will miss the freedom and fun.

My first piece of advice would be to pick a college or university based on my comfort level there on the campus. The campus setting never became more clear to me than when I didn't like it. My second piece of advice would be to stick to studying a specific skill set- I should never have given up on pre-med because it was "too difficult" and "too stringent of a curriculum". My third piece of advice would be to join groups to play sports I had never played before and to make sure the campus had programs available. Do an overnight at the campus and make sure on the weekends students had activities available and that majority of the students stayed on campus. Finally, see how important it is to stay social based on involvement in greek life or no involvement.

I consider myself to have a type-A personality; I like to be in control and do not always deal well with change. The entire college process was stressful to me just because I struggled to make a decision knowing that it would affect the rest of my life. I also stressed about how I would really deal with being away from home and on my own, if I would make friends, if I was truly ready, and would I make the right choice? Now, more than halfway done with my first year of college, I would tell my high school self to relax. To enjoy the experience and the process and to trust myself and my preparations. My first semester of college truly taught me how to relax and enjoy the ride. College should be stressful, but it should also be the best time of your life. Looking back, I would tell myself to trust my instincts, because I know that I made the right choice and could not see myself anywhere else.

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to be more financially aware. When I was in high school, I picked the University of Pittsburgh because I absolutely loved it and it seemed like the perfect fit for me. I knew at the time that it was expensive, but I just assumed I would be able to get loans and pay it off later. Now, as a student, I am fully aware of the financial burden going to an expensive school without much help can be. I still love the University of Pittsburgh, but I am constantly thinking about transferring simply because I am afraid of the amount of debt I will be in when I graduate. If I had realized this in high school, I might have picked a school that would not put so much financial stress on me. However, in my current position, I have decided to stay because I know that Pitt is an extremely good school for the career field I want to go in.

I would tell myself to take harder classes my senior year of highschool such as AP Biology and AP Chemistry. Coming in to college to general biology and chemistry classes I felt far behind the kids who had taken AP. I would also encourage myself to seek out people in my home area that were going to go to my school. Most importantly, I would tell myself to keep an open mind about future career and school plans.

When I was in high school, I was convinced that in order for a college to be elite it had to have a very small acceptance rate. However, now that I am at Pitt, I see that selectivity is not as important as the media and people make it seem. Each and every university has something unique to offer. As a result, I would tell myself to not automatically assume that a school is lesser simply based on the number of students it accepts. In addition, I would tell myself to not be afraid to experiment and try different things. Even in the short 5 months that I have been here at Pitt I have done things I would have never done a year ago. It is important not to limit yourself and be open to new experiences and ideas. Similarly, I would tell myself not to be afraid to change. Yes, you may have enjoyed high school and who you were there, but college provides you with an amazing opportunity for growth. Finally, I would tell myself that, eventually, everything will work out. You will end up where you should be and you will be happy.

The advice I would give my self is to know who you are before coming to college. Sometimes people can find it hard to stand up for themselves in such a different environment from high school, so I would remind my self to be strong in myself. I would also tell myself to keep an open mind in regards to which academic path to follow. I found myself being narrow minded, but after coming to school, I realized there are a lot of opportunities I can pursue in my academic career.

Even though I had an incredible high school experience, I still look back and tell myself I could have done more. For example, I wish I took advantage of the Advanced Placement courses in high school. Once I began scheduling my classes in the summer before college, I learned that some of the general education classes I needed could have easily been tested out of. Instead, I have to wait until my sophomore year of college to take a class related to my major while my classmates dive into their majors right away. Honestly, I am a little jealous of them. They are getting all this experience, and I’m falling more and more behind. I wish I thought ahead and motivated myself to take these challenging courses. I had the “brains” to, for I finished in the top 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my class, and I definitely could have borne the weight of higher-level classes. Motivation. The one thing I wish I had more of in high school. I learned my lesson, and I am happy to say I have a 3.9 GPA after my first college semester. It’s safe to say I’m motivated now.

Don't try so hard to reinvent yourself. Figuring out who you are is going to take time. Feel free to play with different identities, but make sure that ultimately you are being as authentic as possible. You will find people who like you for you, and you don't have to try to be something you're not.