<p>I figured it was time to spoof the "Ask A ____" motif.</p>
<p>Fun facts about what happened to me after I graduated from the University of Chicago:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>While I was in Chicago, I was a very average student. I was never on Dean's List nor did I graduate with honors in my department. I think my final GPA was somewhere around a 3.2, which was enough for me to get some kind of honors designation on my diploma but nowhere near what I needed for departmental honors recognition. </p></li>
<li><p>I probably spent about 2-3 hours every weekday and 4-5 hours on Sunday with my homework, certainly not more than that. Considering that I was in class 9-12 hours per week, 9+ (3*4 [Homework Monday-Thursday])+5=26 hours per week on homework. That's less time than you spend in class as a high school student and less time than a 9-5 M-F job. </p></li>
<li><p>I spent a lot of time with extracurriculars, so much so that my extracurricular involvements led me to my first jobs out of college. From there, I became an even more competitive job candidate in my field, and ended up landing a generous scholarship to the top graduate school in my field. (Which, to be fair, is a narrow field, but even so.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thoughts on college as "the gift that keeps on giving":</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It' s funny, even though at this point in my career it's my graduate degree that gets more oohs and ahhs than my Chicago undergrad, I'm convinced it's the Chicago undergrad that makes me more likable as a job candidate. Not too many people in my field come from high-fluting schools, but the ones who do like to know that they are hiring a candidate with a brand name on the diploma, and the ones who know the reputation of the University of Chicago regard me more seriously.</p></li>
<li><p>I am in touch with zero of my friends from my first year of college. However, almost all of my friends now are in some way connected to my college experience (either as friends of college friends, people I knew in college and became closer to after graduation, etc.)</p></li>
<li><p>I hope that families who are thinking about paying for college not only weigh the out-of-pocket costs but also the opportunity costs. Chicago was reasonable for me and my family, and the lack of financial burden I had coming out of undergrad meant I was able to work on some neat projects for nearly non-existent pay that I wouldn't have been able to take on had I needed to worry about paying off a lot of loans. In other words, this is not just about "Oh, I'll major in econ at UChicago, not religious studies, so I'll make enough money to pay back my loans after I graduate from college" (that's a flawed way of thinking to begin with, but let me not even go there right now), but rather, students and families should be asking, "If I major in econ at UChicago, can I still do a Fulbright after graduation? Can I take time off between college and my future i-banking career to travel and volunteer?"</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Other pieces of advice that are bound to come up:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>98% of the time there are diminishing returns on studying after a certain number of hours. Because sure, you'll do better if you study more, but realize that there are always going to be people who will do better than you and haven't studied as much as you have. </p></li>
<li><p>98% of the time your GPA by itself is not going to get you hired, anyway. Eh, scratch that. 100% of the time. Your transcript is never the only thing in an application.</p></li>
<li><p>I wish I went to Doc Films more often. So if you're a current student, go, go, go, go!</p></li>
</ol>