The CC Weekly Weigh In: If I Knew Then What I Know Now…

With everyone heading back to school (yay!), there are so many things going through everyone’s minds. “Will that guy from last year still want to hang out?” “Am I going to survive living in an off campus apartment?” “What the hell do I do about choosing my major?”

By CC Staff

And for incoming freshmen…it is only worse. They are entering a scary new world. They will once again be the babies. They are going to experience their first Welcome Week, their first oversized lecture, their first time being sexiled by a wild roommate.

We at CollegeCandy feel it is our duty to steer those college newbies in the right direction; it would be unfair for us to let them make mistakes (and take the same awful photos…) and miss out on great opportunities. After all, college only happens once, so we want to ensure everyone does it right.

This week, we asked our writers to share some advice with the lucky ladies who are still in school and the even luckier ones who are just beginning. We have learned a lot from our time in college, so listen up and heed our advice….

If I knew then what I know now:

Kelly – UMass: I would not have spent my entire 4 years in a relationship. I would have not trusted every single person I met. I would have taken some yoga and art classes and I would have definitely brought some more Lysol.

K – NYU: I’d have gone to office hours. For everything. Even if you hate freshman year calc and your professor says things like “There are going to be lots of flunks on this exam” and routinely asks if he is speaking English, my GPA would’ve been much more promising.

Sara – NYU: I would be less pretentious. I’m almost 24 now, and, looking back to when I was in undergrad, I can’t believe how seriously I took myself. God, loosen up!!

Beata: I actually would have studied more, and made more of an effort to reach out to my professors. I slacked off majorly in college, and I feel like I didn’t get everything that I could have out of my education. Think of all those pages of reading that I didn’t do! What interesting thoughts did they contain, thoughts on which I missed out?

Alex K: I would care less about what other people think of me. By the end of my first year, I learned that lesson, but that whole year was kind of lost to low self-esteem.

Sarabeth – University of Texas: I’d have to say I would’ve gone to class more. There were a bunch of D’s that could’ve easily been B’s if I’d actually put forth the effort to show up. Plus cute boys were in my astronomy class. Wouldn’t have minded more gawking time.

Elizabeth – Baruch College: To be honest, I wouldn’t have gone to college at all. Note: To those of you who are artists…honing your talent will always get you further in the industry than showing to an interview with a ‘degree’.

Carly – Grinnell: I would have not spent every minute of my spare time with my boyfriend. Please, please, please, if you are just starting college and you get into a new relationship, have a life outside of it! You will be so happy you do.

J – NYU: I would have stayed away from the damn ice cream bar.

Amber- Old Dominion: I would have partied less and joined more clubs…I feel bad that I missed out on the Kickball Club!

John – UConn: If I could return to the moment I stepped into my freshman dorm room, I would spin on my heel, duck to the floor and jam a Roman Candle in the Ethernet port. I wasted more time playing on YouTube and Wikipedia than I did studying, and that’s no small feat.

Lauren – University of Michigan: I would have worn pants without an elastic waste a little more often and I never would have worn that snakeskin print Michael Star shirt to frat parties. That is just embarrassing.

Jo – University of Miami: I would have gotten involved right away when I got to school. I waited a semester to kind of settle in, but I really didn’t get to meet enough great people who had similar interests until later! You can’t always rely on making friends on your floor in your dorm! I think this tip is especially important if you are a commuter student.

A.G.D. – Emerson College: I would have tried harder my last semester. At the time I stopped caring and didn’t see the point of getting good grades. Now I’m applying to grad school and am seriously regretting it.

Jennifer H – Bowling Green State: Considering all of the roommate drama I seemed to encounter, I think I would have requested a single dorm. I loved my freshman year of college… minus the part about walking in on my roommate having sex. With her girlfriend.

Erica – Kent State: First and foremost, I would have broken up with the boyfriend, who became the long distance boyfriend when I started school. Lots of unnecessary stress. I also would have talked to my roommate more before moving in. The girl only brought three items with her: her fish, her hermit crab & her COLLECTION OF ACTION FIGURES. I cringe to even think about those first few months of school.

Sady – The New School: During my freshman year, I lived in a “chemical-free” dorm. No, this is not a joke. It was the only sober dorm on campus. Living with straight-edge kids for six months drove me straight into the loving arms of Mother Alcohol. I have never looked back.

Kari – Florida State: I would have avoided the dining hall like the plague, sworn off late night Taco Bell, and I certainly would not have blatantly ignored the fact that liqour does indeed have calories. At least I like to think I would… I’d just be more proactive in my battle against the Freshmen 15!

Kathryn S.: I would have gotten more involved. In high school, my list of activities was a mile long. In college, I worked full-time on top of classes, and missed out on a lot of great experiences.

Victoria Witchey: I would have taken more classes with real-world applications- maybe economics and computer science courses. And I would have done something more constructive with my free time- although hundreds of nights at the bar were fun, I look at all the kids starting businesses in college and think “Why didn’t I do that?”

Mollie – University of Wisconsin: Well, I wouldn’t change a thing about my college experience. Not every single moment was amazing. I definitely made mistakes, but I learned valuable lessons and overall I had an absolutely, fantastic time and have many happy lifelong memories.

[Photo courtesy of i.pbase.com. We were scared to post our own embarassing photos.]