<p>mackinaw, that sounds like an amazing class. I DID take a course like that - American History, with George Forgie. It was a HUGE lecture class, over 300 kids, but I loved it. He was known to be tough, but I’m glad I took him. I was very proud of the A I got from him, too.</p>
<p>@bopper Yes I did complete medical school, residency and fellowship and worked for some time before I decided to switch careers. </p>
<p>I couldn’t figure out how to get involved in undergraduate research, and therefore I didn’t do any.</p>
<p>As a result, I didn’t do any research until I entered a master’s degree program, where I discovered that I hate research and I’m lousy at it. If I had found that out as an undergraduate, I wouldn’t have wasted my time in graduate school.</p>
<p>Undergraduate regret: Not going to more parties and events (theatre, music, etc.) … studying too hard and being too intense. Not trying new things.</p>
<p>Regret as a young twenty-something: I had friends who were in jobs where they went through training programs in various cities - London, Zurich, etc. If I knew then what I know now, I would have eaten rice and beans for a month to have been able to gone over and stayed with them and seen Europe. Not that I haven’t seen it since many times (am currently in Germany), but there’s no time like doing that as a young person IMO.</p>
<p>I wish I had socialized more. I was working part time all through college, and very dedicated to academics. But I definitely missed out on a lot of the fun.</p>
<p>Going to an all men’s college in the 60s. Made up for it though in grad school.</p>
<p>I wish I had gone to a small liberal arts college (like the ones my kids attended) instead of the Big Flagship U.
It wasn’t a bad place (Michigan) but I feel I would have spread my wings academically if I had been in a smaller and/or more supportive environment. Overall, it’s not as much a regret as something I have thought about (especially seeing my kids flourish) and wonder what might have been.</p>
<p>No regrets. I went to college before all the worries started. Never dawned on me that an English degree might be considered useless in another decade or two. I had the time of my life, fell in love with my one and only, got a great job right after graduation. Would do it over again in a heartbeat and wouldn’t change a thing.</p>
<p>@stradmom, I went to Stratford for two plays when studying abroad as well. Saw what was considered at the time to be the best staging of A Midsummer’s Night Dream in 50 years, as well as a great Cymballine. After Midsummer’s we went to the pub across the street and the main cast happened to come over to drink and shoot pool. We ended up playing with them and chatting about their desire to go to America and make it big, and had a great time. Moral: go to the pub after the play not before! 
I do regret eating at the pub though.</p>
<p>
This is one of the best pieces of advice about college that anybody will ever get.</p>
<p>Hands down – would have studied abroad. And chosen a school that offered/encouraged it. </p>
<p>My regret is choosing to make more than 99% of the decisions by myself. I chose my school, my classes, my major, my friends, my jobs, my places to live, and nearly everything I needed to do to survive. I ignored everyone’s advice and enlisted in the service, and later came back to my college without considering any college options out in California. </p>
<p>The upside for me is I hit the ground running the minute I graduated as I really had gone to the school of hard knocks,and graduated with a major in Self Reliance and a minor in Improvising. </p>
<p>Going to college at all. Seriously, people - reconsider.</p>
<p>bromfield said it for me. My first day in a science lab, my wallet was stolen. I dropped that class. I have always thought I would be an M.D. rather than a Ph.D. if I had gone to the women’s college that I wanted to.</p>
<p>I did more than enough ECs. I was involved in the soph play, had a paying job with student council, was the UG rep for my field in their committee meetings, won awards, etc., even joined a sorority to get out of dorms. But happy? no.</p>
<p>So, when my son was young, and asked me if he could go to any college he wanted, I said absolutely! I encouraged him to fly, and he did. </p>
<p>I regret:
- Not showing up for class very often. It does affect how much one retains the material
- Not doing study abroad
- Not improving my analytical essay writing skills
- Not taking classes that were totally different from my major. As a STEM major, I still chose The history of science as my history requirement.</p>
<p>But, oh, the partying was fun :)</p>
<p>I regret:</p>
<ol>
<li>Not choosing aerospace or mechanical engineering as major. I was fond of airplanes since I was very young.</li>
<li>Not traveling to many places.</li>
<li>Not paying attention to relationship.</li>
</ol>
<p>I would like to have studied abroad. Definitely encouraging my children to do so.</p>
<p>I regret getting an electrical engineering degree instead of a general engineering degree. I pursued EE because I loved building circuits as a teenager. Once I adjusted to college, I excelled through my prerequisites. Thought my upper level EE classes would be applied, well they were all theoretical and I ended up hating EE. I would have thrived in general engineering because I had developed a passion for physics, math, and chemistry. I could have found a niche in a different branch of engineering if I would have withheld specializing so soon.</p>
<p>Then again, if I didn’t hate undergraduate EE I would have never pursued medicine. Reflecting back always leaves me stuck in this quagmire; I don’t know if changing my major would have led me to a happier life now.</p>
<p>I regret wasting time on so many economics classes. My two best friends were econ majors and I made econ my “concentration” (like a minor) to go along with my journalism major. I was good at math and thought, “how hard can it be?” It was too much. Most of the classes were huge and boring, and the competition for grades was intense.</p>
<p>It took me till junior year to find courses I loved–mostly obscure history and literature classes, taught by amazing professors to very small groups of students.</p>
<p>I would have relished the experience instead of rushing through it. I started college a year younger than most of my classmates and graduated in three years. In retrospect, I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to graduate when I was still in my teens. I wish I had treated my undergraduate years as a journey rather than a race. </p>