<p>I regret not being more social - as in trying to join clubs or groups for some fun. I also regret not trying out for the marching band - I know I wasn’t a music major and was just a member of the high school band who got by on moderate talent, but I really miss that feeling of performing a song that is so much fun it gets you fired up. I started at a college with an incredible band (U of Michigan - go Blue!) and I was too intimidated to even try.</p>
<p>Now I have to bromides that I trot out for my students on a regular basis: 1) they can’t say “yes” if you don’t ask, and 2) the things people really regret in their lives are the opportunities they didn’t take</p>
<p>-I wish I had taken Japanese as my foreign language and had studied abroad in Japan. I really wanted to do these things in the first place and chose my college, in part, because it had a Japan Studies minor and a year-long exchange program with a Japanese women’s college. But due to some misunderstandings and bad advising, I did not. I also wish I had gone away for an entire year instead of just a semester.</p>
<p>-I wish I hadn’t dropped that math minor.</p>
<p>Honestly, that’s really it. I guess I wish I had been more involved with life on campus, especially in my junior and senior years, but I just got a bit tired of my small LAC campus (one of the few downsides to LAC life) and was ready to move on to bigger things. Perhaps I wouldn’t have felt that way if I had been a little more involved in some ECs.</p>
<p>My largest regret is definitely getting dentistry work done at my UCLA’s dental school. I thought it would be great for its convenience. Much to my surprise, those sessions were brutal. i went to 15-20 three-hour sessions in about two quarters. I have no doubt that those procedures (including having to get my wisdom teeth pulled it in the middle of the quarter) had a real impact on my grades. My lowered GPA prevented me from participating in my department’s ceremony for those with Latin honors unlike many of my friends. (Although I ultimately graduated with Latin honors.) It also drained all of my dental insurance and took a large chunk of the small amount of money I had. It made my senior year extremely unpleasant and stressful. But financially I didn’t have many alternatives.</p>
<p>Smaller regrets include not participating in certain classes. There was a graduate seminar that I really wanted to take on a subject I was fascinated in. It was my final quarter though and I really wanted to focus on my grades (I got a 3.9 that quarter)</p>
<p>I also really regret not doing an internship as an undergrad. I was convinced I was going into academia after graduation. It wasn’t until after I graduated, and after I had done much research, that I had decided that I did not find that that was not a path I wanted to go down.</p>
<p>As bad as some of those things were, I really enjoyed my undergrad. I met amazing students and amazing professors there. It was a wonderful opportunity and I’m grateful to UCLA for providing me with the it. It hasn’t been long since I’ve graduated (spring '12) but I think all things considered I’ve done fairly well for myself. And I expect to do better within the coming years.</p>
<p>Not getting a computer science degree and working with the team that developed Doom. An art professor from my school did the artwork for the box cover. </p>
I regret not studying abroad, not trying computer science (I think I would have liked it at least for a double major), and not getting involved in intramurals.
I regret not going away to school, although I really wasn’t allowed any say in the matter.
I regret not going for the sorority I really wanted because I was worried about a HS acquaintance voting against me.
I regret not taking more risks, having more fun, and being so afraid of displeasing my parents.
I regret being more concerned with finding a husband than I was about grades and career.
Most of all, I regret not trusting my gut and changing my major. Everything could have been different.
I was invited as one of only handful of undergrads to join a tiny class (less than 25, mostly graduate students) led by one of the pre-eminent philosophers in my major. I declined because of conflicts with a required class for graduation. In hindsight, I should have jumped at the chance and taken the required class in the summer.
My other regret is not taking advantage of extra curriculars – learning to ballroom dance, learning to surf. My extra-curriculars were all tied into my eventual career choice, which I really enjoyed and excelled in. However, I often wonder what I would have become, had I not been so “tunneled” in my view about what I wanted to be. My advice – go in with the attitude of turning over all the rocks you can and be prepared to find something you like even better than what you thought you liked going in. You never know.
Generally, I don’t have regrets…loved my college experience. But a couple tiny regrets:
I wish I had looked around at more colleges and applied to more places. (I don’t know if I would have chosen differently, but it would have been nice to have choices—I just didn’t know)
I wish I had taken more advantage of all the “extras” that colleges offer besides classes. (Of course, it was so long ago, maybe they didn’t have as much as they do today…)
I think my only regret is sticking with my HS boyfriend for 2 1/2 years in college, until he dumped me! But who knows, maybe then I would have married somebody other than my present husband, and he is perfect for me!
So many regrets. Engineering major who worked very hard in the wrong field at the wrong school. At the time all my decisions were logical, instead of finding something I would love to do. Good at science and math, go into engineering. Once in engineering stick it out to the bitter end. Never give up. When it was time for fun, you would find me in the library. Focus on the practicality of the real world - job placement and salary statistics. If I could do it all over again, I would have had a lot more fun in those fast flying 4 years, instead of spending my mornings, days and nights studying. Take life a little less serious instead of worrying about jobs and money.
My roommate did something with Noam Chomsky, I don’t even remember what since I paid absolutely no attention at the time. I really regret not having a clue who Chomsky was and tagging along to meet him and get his autograph.