I went to a big three.

I would have done fewer extra curriculars, and only the ones I truly wanted to do. Then I would have been able to sleep more and study more. I already studied maybe three to five hours a day but I spent hours every days on extra curriculars because I thought it would help for college. I averaged five to six hours sleep a night. It was dumb.

I would have applied to colleges in warm places rather than following my boyfriend to freezing New England.

Pomona, Stanford, Duke, etc.

Ugh. I would have have focused on getting the best grades I could instead of screwing around in 9th grade and playing catch up for 3 years. I would have also figured out some study skills and I would have put investing in any romantic relationship on hold until the latter half of college or later.

Anonymous wrote:I would've paid more attention in math. I went to grad school for economics and had an ok foundation, but not as solid as some.

I applied to Wisconsin, Illinois, Notre Dame and Northwestern. Got into all four...LOVED Wisconsin after a summer program there, but went to Illinois because my parents could not come close to affording out of state tuition and I didn't want debt. Still loved it and met my spouse there, so I'm unsure I'd change that decision.

Some similarities. I wanted to go to Wisconsin but parents wanted me to go in-state at Illinois as well. I think if I went to Wisconsin I wouldn’t have gone Greek and would have gotten involved with different things. But it all worked out. There were no good reasons to pay more.

I would have stayed in the US instead of returning to Europe. That was a huge mistake.

I would work harder and apply to the best schools I could for marine biology. Then I would try more new things in college instead of playing it safe. I was too afraid to fail.

Went to a top ten uni and ended up with a law degree.

I would've paid more attention in math. I went to grad school for economics and had an ok foundation, but not as solid as some.

I applied to Wisconsin, Illinois, Notre Dame and Northwestern. Got into all four...LOVED Wisconsin after a summer program there, but went to Illinois because my parents could not come close to affording out of state tuition and I didn't want debt. Still loved it and met my spouse there, so I'm unsure I'd change that decision.

1. I would realize that I have ADHD and severe generalized anxiety, and demand treatment for both.

2. I would accept the offer from McGill, instead of rejecting it, because of the aforementioned untreated issues above.

I went to Williams. If I could go back in time, I'd go to Pomona. I grew up in CA and was recruited at Pomona, but I really wanted that east coast, preppy mystique. I ended up staying in New England for law school and then moving here. Decades later, I desperately miss CA and so wish I had stayed there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In reality: I would’ve gone to community college -> state school

In fantasy land: I would’ve kept you with swimming, studied more for SAT, and majored in a hard science.

This is interesting. Makes a lot of sense. Would you / are you encouraging your child to start at CC?

Not encouraging them to but I’ll leave it as an option. I have savings for them now. I had significant student loans for years after college that I wouldn’t have if I’d gone to CC.

I would’ve gone on the pill.

I would have skipped UVA and gone to the Culinary Institute of America.

I would’ve gone to the same school and gotten the same stem degree but I would have tried out for the basketball team And if I didn’t make it I would’ve been a team manager.

Anonymous wrote:In reality: I would’ve gone to community college -> state school

In fantasy land: I would’ve kept you with swimming, studied more for SAT, and majored in a hard science.

This is interesting. Makes a lot of sense. Would you / are you encouraging your child to start at CC?

In reality: I would’ve gone to community college -> state school

In fantasy land: I would’ve kept you with swimming, studied more for SAT, and majored in a hard science.

Fun game to pass the time on a Friday...

If you woke up tomorrow and you were in 9th grade in 2021, and you could pursue the things you wanted to in HS and college, what college would you want to go to? Did you apply to that school as a teen? If you want, please share where did you go.

---
I'll say Northwestern or Michigan. First, I think I'd work harder and pursue drama in HS. I think it would be great to be at an academically strong college that is somewhat artsy. I did accomplish that somewhat because I went to NYU, but it would have been nice to leave the East Coast and be somewhere more traditional. I did not apply to those schools when I was a teen.

This is meant to be fun and light, so please try not to hate.