If you could do college over, what would you do differently?

You've bought into the great Ivy League myth, which is too bad. Study after study shows that it is your high school "B" student who is most likely to lead a successful and fulfilling life. Stop looking backward and move on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9F86cAoi3o

No running on teams

Studying 3x more (so, a normal amount)

Get in super tight with profs, get good internships, plan "long-term what the eff am I gonna do" sort of thing.

Party more, but not like a crazy d-bag - more of 'adventure' partying where you go have awesome experiences, not Pu&&s-chasing.

So many things lol. I'm still suffering from post-college depression.

I would have not gone. What a farce.

Gotten laid more, maybe run a little less. Definitely drink less. The opportunity was there but I didn't play the game well.

Wow

1. I would have had a surgery I needed

2. Would have had sex,

3. Would studied abroad (biggest regret) Had a chance to study in London and Germany!!!!!!!!! ahhh

4. Should have got better grades. Though I didn't do awful, biology major with 3.5 applying to osteopathic medical school this year.

5. Would have stayed on campus all 5 years and saved a butt load of money and time.

6. Would have had a better relationship with the professors in my Major, I was known as a trouble maker

7. Would have spent more time developing my social skills and building connections with people in high places.

Banged more bitches.

Ah, if we only knew then what we know now! Okay, with full benefit of hindsight:

Start as a linguistics/psych double major, rather than physics major. Also take the premed prereq courses.

Start the women's t&f/xc teams during my first undergrad year, rather than my fourth.

Go to bed "today" (i.e. before midnight) every day but New Year's Eve.

Do the old RCAF exercises six mornings a week, alternating the 5BX and the XBX programs.

Figuratively "bill" 40+ hours a week of actual study, much as I keep track of my billable hours now. (I'm convinced that someone who *actually works* on his/her courses for 40 hours a week, on a consistent basis, can get stellar grades.)

Start making donations to the sperm bank much sooner--might as well have gotten paid for what I was doing anyway.

Run at a variety of speeds throughout the year, with the percentages (at various speeds) shifting, but with no all-slow period ever.

Lift regularly, but with somewhat fewer sets and definitely fewer reps/set.

Admit to (and daily remind) myself that I was the dumbest and poorest-educated member of my program, as well as the slowest reader and writer, and that having had a couple lucky days of standardized testing in high school didn't change those facts.

Discover (a lot earlier) that people like me better when I talk less.

I would have trained more over the summers.

I would have had the guts to have a frank discussion with my coach about how I didn't think our training was not getting me to my best.

If that did not work I would have just run on my own and enjoyed it more, injury free.

Most of all, I never

would have locked myself down with the one girl for the last 3 years of college who immediately got lazy, fat and disgusting after college. I turned down a lot of propositions in those years, including from a beautiful woman on our xc team who I thought would never have been interested in me and from an exotic sprinter on our team who I also thought never would have been interested in me.

Not have gone.

buy the books

I would have 1) done ROTC for school and job opportunities. 2) or gone to community college the first two years and then transferred so I could afford it 3) changed my major to something that could actually get me a decent job.

OP, sounds like you lived my dream for college. I would be really happy to have had what you had. I was a 3.2 GPA 25 SAT student with a 4:32. I went to state school but didn't qualify for any scholarships or need based aid and my parents didn't help me at all. I ended up quitting the team I walked on to in order to work more. Anyway I am in a ton of debt despite my efforts and working in a low-paying field.

I wouldn't have gone to my local U. Granted I went mostly for free due to XC scholarship, but...

Because it was my local school it rarely felt like "college", it felt more like what I called "the 13th grade". There were a lot of folks from town in school and I felt like from day one all I was doing was looking to graduate as fast as possible and get out. I didnt really soak it up.

If I'd gone to a similar school but out of town I would have had a better overall experience. However:

-I would NOT have studied more (I know myself too well)

-I probably would have been a better runner, but not so good to really make a difference in my life.

-Might have a gf or two more, but nothing too wild.

-I'd certainly have graduated with more debt.

2 chicks at the same time.

from the perspective of someone who didn't finish:

1. I wish I hadn't run, even though it was a great experience. Honestly I wasn't successful enough to justify the time it took away from studying.

2. I wish I had used the studying help resources more, it might have helped my grades.

3. On my second attempt at college (this time I didn't run) I put too much emphasis on my job as a part-time grocery store peon and not enough on school.

Many people would say the opposite. Consistent mileage at a rate you can recover from is preferrable to high intensity overload.

As for me, I would have gone out of state and focused more on academics..sticking through pre-Med instead of dropping out junior year. I focused way too much on running and I wasn't even on a college team. [quote]formerly present wrote:

Run at a variety of speeds throughout the year, with the percentages (at various speeds) shifting, but with no all-slow period ever.

TMoney wrote:

2 chicks at the same time.

Shit TMoney, you don't need to go to college to do that.

[quote]drop out wrote:

from the perspective of someone who didn't finish:

1. I wish I hadn't run, even though it was a great experience. Honestly I wasn't successful enough to justify the time it took away from studying."

I hear this a lot from runners and I dont see how an hour of running in the AM and in the PM takes away from studying? Even if you account for travel to meets that's still usually a friday & sat. thing.

Are you REALLY telling me that you'd be studying on a friday night or saturday morning? Doubt it. You are just fooling yourself and making excuses.