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If you could do college over, what would you have done differently and why?

Probably nothing really, besides eliminate my first year and a half which was a waste of stupid pre-reqs.

I'd also would have gone straight to grad school instead of the work force. It is a bitch working full time and attempting to do grad school.
 
I would have picked a different major (though I'm not sure which one)
I wouldn't have let financial burdens stop me from doing an internship or spending a semester abroad
I would have had more sex
I wouldn't have moved in with a friend of a friend mid-semester junior year after my roommate's mom pulled him out of school to institutionalize him (the friend of a friend ended up being really dirty and smelly and possibly a pedophile)
 
I would have drank less (my bad choice) and screwed more (not so much my choice). I would have cheated in physics class.
 
1) Same Major

2) Socialize more in my dorm, although I didn't figure out where the really hot people were till my 2nd year, so I'd probably pick up and go and start partying at the dorms where the hotter women were.

3) Study a shitload more and not ditch class?

4) More sex would be nice too.
 
intogamer said:
I want to hear your stories/scenarios ATOT
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different college w/more women

internship or spending a semester abroad

cheat in every class -> what u learn in school is near worthless in the work world. grades get you the job. you learn while on the job. (first 2 weeks of job you should study/google your ass off to know the specifics on how to do your job.)
 
intogamer said:
I want to hear your stories/scenarios ATOT
Click to expand...

I would have taken a year off before I started to gather my thoughts and make a plan as to what I actually wanted to do so I wouldn't switch majors 3 times. Then I would have actually WENT TO CLASS 🙂
 
More party, more drugs and booze. Oh wait, I majored in music back during the early rock-n-roll years, I'm not sure it's possible to have done more party, drugs booze etc.

The fantastic time I had in college made it possible for me to tolerate the boring adult things I've had to do since, like working, putting my kids through school, dealing with sick/dying elderly relatives etc. At least I have great memories.
 
If I knew then of what I know now, I would do better in several classes (A instead of B/C) and would not take some of the unnecessary classes.

Chose my major right away instead of undecided for almost 2 years.

For ATOTers that are still in school, communication and ability to solve problems, work as a team are very important in the real world. Trust me on this <with over 10 years of experience in Fortune 500 companies)
 
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Things I should have done:
1. Not switched majors ~3/4 finished with a BS in Biology. I would have started with a CS major from the beginning.
2. Apply for every scholarship / grant under the sun that I am eligible to receive. You are at a disadvantage here if your gender / race is the majority in your field.
3. Work for free on research projects for professors to get my name on publications. It looks like I will have only one peer-reviewed publication from my undergrad days. Having several peer-reviewed publications really helps with applications to graduate schools and fellowships.
4. Get involved on sourceforge.net projects earlier. I only had one by the time I graduated. This helps with job / graduate school applications.
5. Join ACM and IEEE and participate in the activities.
6. Develop a formal research plan for graduate school my junior year (this will be handy for fellowships and letters of intent).
 
I would've kept going. . .
but I wanted to get out there and start earning a paycheck.

Likely if I did it over I'd do the same thing again.
 
I didn't go to college, and I probably still wouldn't. I wish I had kept up with programming though, and learned more of it. It was just a small diversion when I was younger. I wish I had been more serious about it.
 
moshquerade said:
I would've kept going. . .
but I wanted to get out there and start earning a paycheck.

Likely if I did it over I'd do the same thing again.
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me too. money was extremely tight and I hated the notion of going into debt to get my degree - I was terrified of owing that much money(which, of course, seems insignificant now).

I've been a programmer with a Fortune 10 company for 10 yrs now and doing really well - have a beautiful wife & 2 even prettier daughters.

In spite of all that, I think I would have tried harder to stay in school and finish -i joined a frat & concentrated on partying/girls too much. Also, I had lost about 90lbs in high school playing football/track, so "girls" was a brand new topic for me.

Maybe when my kids get a little older I'll check into seeing how I can finish my degree.
 
I would've worried about my grades more. I came out okay, but it took me a good chumk of law school to "learn" the work ethic involved in pulling As again.

Also, I would not have gone to law school. Too expensive for the actual job prospects coming out. I went at night, and my career advanced to the point where I had a pretty good income without the degree. Unless things pick up and a larger firm hires me, the degree itself wasn't worth the money.

Biggest mistake, though, was not doing a 5th year. College was fun, I learned a lot (even if I didn't take the time to grind out the As in every class), and it was over quickly. I wanted to double-major and get a finance degree during the 5th year (BBA Economics is my first), but I talked myself out of it.
 
Academically, nothing, I'm very happy with my degrees and how my career is going.

Socially, if I were to do it again, I probably would be less afraid of being outed as gay and start living my life instead of waiting until I was graduated and away from a huge pool of people. I'm happily involved now but that would have been nice.
 
Platypus said:
Socially, if I were to do it again, I probably would be less afraid of being outed as gay and start living my life instead of waiting until I was graduated and away from a huge pool of people. I'm happily involved now but that would have been nice.
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I thought college life was generally pretty accepting of homosexuality. Is that incorrect, or were you just uncomfortable with it at the time?
 
Probably would've just gone straight into the major I graduated from instead of switching into it the second year. I did manage to graduate "early" (well, "early" in terms of finishing a 4-5 year program in 3 since I started a year late in it) but it would've been nicer to have scheduled things better and taken more chemistry and biology classes.

Also would've dated more instead of having one pseudosteady relationship.
 
lxskllr said:
I thought college life was generally pretty accepting of homosexuality. Is that incorrect, or were you just uncomfortable with it at the time?
Click to expand...

Well, I went to school in Indiana (Purdue) in a male dominated field so to say it was less than accepting would be an understatement. It's true that for the most part people are more accepting in college environments but there's still a giant abundance of white trash abound. I remember being at taco bell at 3 am and hearing some redneck call a guy(black) the N word multiple times extremely loud and seeing a few people clap and cheer at the situation.

Excuses aside, I think most of it comes from the fact that I was still too concerned what people thought about me and I was worried it would hinder my success.
 
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