As I’m about to walk across the stage at the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts Commencement Ceremony, I thought I’d reflect on my undergraduate college experience and share ten things that I learned that I think you should know before embarking on your own college journey. My college experience wasn’t exactly traditional – I graduated high school at 17; spent a year at veterinary school in Edinburgh, Scotland; completed my EMT certification in British Columbia; then spent two years at the University of Minnesota obtaining my Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. Whew! It was a whirlwind for sure, but I think it gave me a great opportunity to reflect on the college experience as a whole. Without further ado, here are ten things – in no particular order – that I learned during my college experience.
Don’t burn bridges with your professors, especially in your major, even if you don’t like them.
This is one of those things that you learn when it’s potentially too late. I’m considering going to graduate school now, when I wasn’t considering it at all before, so I’ve been giving some thought to who I would ask to write my letters of recommendation – and I’m coming up quite blank. I have a few people from outside of school that I could ask and a professor or two from non-major courses that I think would write me a good letter, but as far as professors or advisers in my major? Nada.
There’s two reasons for this, one of which is not my fault. The University of Minnesota has over 50,000 people on their campus; in other words, their classes are huge. When you’re in a class of 1,100 students (Psych 101, everyone…), or even a class with 150 students, it’s hard to develop a personal relationship with the professor – the type of relationship you’d need for them to write a good letter of recommendation – without living at their office hours.
That really leaves you your small classes and your capstone class. This probably adds up to three or four professors or TAs, so make sure that you form a good relationship with them, even if you don’t like them or their class. Yes, they might be a horrible teacher. Yes, you might despise their class and might be only taking it because you have to. But if they have a “PhD” after their name, then having them write you a stellar letter of recommendation is AWESOME for trying to get into grad school.
I didn’t really do that, though, not because I’m a sassy student who can’t keep her mouth shut (usually), but because I wanted to pursue individualized projects that weren’t supported by the program. This caused me to butt heads with a lot of my professors, which makes me worry about what they’d say in a letter of recommendation. Don’t make my mistake! That being said, this brings me to lesson two:
Find a university that allows you the flexibility to tailor your degree to your goals.
Yes, colleges allow you to choose your program. Yes, most programs have a handful of electives that you can choose from. Sometimes, though, that isn’t enough. For my capstone project, I wanted to write a book about how to heal from trauma using natural and alternative methods. I was excited for the capstone class because I thought it was finally an opportunity where I could pursue my own interests (I had already gotten shut down rather quickly by everyone in the Individualized Major programs before when I tried to move slightly outside of their boxes). Unfortunately, these hopes were dashed, too, when the professors were unwilling to budge even the slightest to allow me to pursue a project that more closely aligned with my personal and professional goals. I still wrote the book, but I had to do it alongside a capstone project that fit their rigid requirements.
I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why no one was willing to work with me to design a major and a project that would set me up for success in the best and most direct way possible, but it didn’t happen at my university. Whether you think you’ll desire that flexibility or not, ask about it during the admissions process, and even meet with people from your prospective department and ask them, too. Pay attention to the words that they use to answer and how much they him and haw, too. Some universities just aren’t willing to color outside the lines, whereas others are more than happy to accommodate and support you in your goals.
Size DOES matter.
I believe that part of the reason my creativity and flexibility was shut down at the University of Minnesota was because of how big the campus is, and I already said how I felt that that impacted my relationships with the professors in my major. I never planned on ending up at at university of that size, but I definitely regret it in a lot of ways.
I’m not saying that you have to go to a school with 20 people in your year, but take some time to consider what effects on your academic and professional life that a large school will have. Will you be able to meet with your adviser when you need to or will you have to wait two weeks for an appointment? Are your classes taught by professors or are the vast majority of them taught by graduate students? Accessibility, relationships, and flexibility are likely going to be much better at a smaller school.
That being said, larger institutions will likely have more research opportunities and more amenities (for example, my healthcare is mostly free because I pay the student services fee). You need to sit down and figure out which is more important to you and, if possible, find a school that’s the right size and has the right resources for you.
Try to knock out as many of your general education requirements that you can with AP credits or college credits in high school.
This was the entire reason that I was able to graduate college in three years WHILE spending a year of that at an international graduate-level school. I had over 40 credits going into college from high school and community college credits while in high school, and that saved me close to $30,000. If you’re not able to do that, it’s not the end of the world, but knocking out those general education credits in high school allows you to focus more on what you want in college.
If you do have some AP credits, take the time to assess which schools will accept those credits and how many credits they’ll give you in return. Obviously, the more credits you can get accepted, the better, but it’s important to look, as not all schools accept the same AP classes or the same scores on the AP exams.
It’s okay to transfer or change majors.
As I said in the introduction to this post, I moved around quite a bit. I realized that, once I got to vet school, it wasn’t the right fit or profession for me, and decided to pursue my emergency medical education instead. That was a great fit for me – until I was denied entry into the US Armed Forces because of my medical history. That took me down the path of my psychology degree. Throughout all of those changes, I listened to my authentic self and didn’t force myself to stay in any situation that wasn’t a good fit for me.
Even if you have the best possible plan based on what you know about yourself and the future you’re pursuing, you might get on the path to that future and realize that it’s not what you thought it was. That’s okay! That’s not a failure on your part or evidence that you don’t know yourself at all. Things change. You change. Things aren’t what they appear to be on a college website. The most important thing is that you realize that you’re in the wrong place or on the wrong path and make changes accordingly, whether that be a change in your major or a change in your college.
Academics are NOT the sole focus of college.
If you’re a high achiever or if your parents have high expectations for you, it’s common to believe that the sole purpose of college is academics. While that’s a HUGE part of it, there’s so much personal and social development to be had during college, let alone extra-curricular activities that are good for both your professional resume and your personal health and sanity.
While I’m by no means saying that you should completely forget about your degree and major in Frat Parties instead, it is important to develop yourself outside of the classroom. Get a part-time job, join a sports club, take part in a campus organization – whatever it is, make sure that you have a life out of the classroom. Your resume and your mental health will thank you.
Go to at least one college football game.
Guys… I HATE football. Like, I really don’t like it. But I still went to one football game (well… I made it to half – still counts!), and I’m glad that I did. You don’t have to go to every game or even stay through one whole game, but there’s just something so unique about being in the student section during a football game at a school that’s crazy about football. It’s an experience that you won’t be able to find anywhere else, and it’s an experience you won’t forget.
If you like football, than this should be easy for you! I guess, more generally, what I’m trying to say is that you should take advantages of experiences that you can ONLY have during your time at college – even if you only do them once. If you share my motto of “living life to the fullest means taking advantage of every opportunity this world has to offer”, then you’ll understand exactly what I mean.
Make sure you have at least one piece of college clothing before you leave.
This may seem kind of silly and, at the end of your degree, you might be SO READY TO LEAVE that snagging a university sweatshirt from the bookstore seems like a waste of time. It might be…now. But when you’re five years out of college and you’re reflecting back on how college impacted your future, you’re going to be glad that you have something from your college to wear. It’s sentimental, for sure, but college is a huge part of your life.
If you go to a football game, especially the homecoming game, chances are you’ll be able to snag a free t-shirt – then your hard work of picking out an article of college clothing is done for you! Just having something tangible and wearable from your time at college is important, if not now, then years down the road.
Your college experience doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s.
Dang – this is probably the biggest piece of advice I can give you, and I feel like I’m living proof. I’m successful. I graduated college with a 3.81 GPA. Yet, my college experience looked nothing like the traditional experience, and definitely nothing like what I thought it would look like. I’ve already talked about the okayness of changing your mind above, so I’ll focus on how it’s okay to be different here.
Every person is unique. Everyone has different priorities, different passions, and different goals for their future, so it seems pretty obvious that everyone’s college experiences don’t have to look the same. This goes beyond just having a different major at a different university, though. This could mean transferring, like I did. It could mean not going to college at all, and pursuing trade school or entering the military, instead. It could even mean going abroad so that you can enter a medical profession right out of high school, also like I did.
However you need to tailor your college experience to fit yourself and your goals the best, then absolutely do it. It might not be easy. It might take some creativity to accomplish, but it’s absolutely worth it. This ties in to how critical flexibility is, because everyone’s path to success doesn’t always sit within a nicely defined major and course list. Whatever you do during your college experience, make sure that it’s entirely YOU, from the school you select to how your coursework plays out. You deserve that freedom and authenticity.
Take some time to appreciate what you’ve accomplished before delving right into work or graduate school.
This is the last tip I want to give you guys because it’s the last one you’re going to encounter on your college journey. When you submit that last assignment, it is an absolutely incredible feeling of being DONE, but it can be really easy to get swept away in job applications and grad school admissions essays and not appreciate the fact that you just completed a degree!
While undergrad might not be as big of a deal as getting your PhD or landing a six-figure job, it has played a huge role in your life and in your ability to go pursue higher things, so take a moment, a week, or a month and celebrate how much you’ve accomplished so far. You deserve it!
What were your biggest lessons learned during college? I’d love to hear!