What I wish I knew in 12th grade—

Visit the schools you're interested in and ask the students what they think about their school

So I came to Carolina over two years ago not knowing what to expect in the least other than the fact that I knew I was going to a great academic institution. I come from a small high school in a small suburb of New York City called Rye. My mom was raised in North Carolina, but has been in New York for the past 25 years. I had visited the state a number of times to see family, but had never gotten a true sense of the culture. Now I know that coming to this school was and probably will be one of the best decisions of my life both personally and academically.

After applying to a number of schools my senior year of high school and being accepted to a good portion of them, I narrowed it down to three schools: a medium- sized, less competitive school in Boston, a small but very prestigious school in New York, and Carolina. In my heart I think I always knew that I would come to Carolina, but the decision was still tough. If I had to do it all over again, I would have visited the schools more often and asked actual students what they thought of their school.

One of the reasons that I know Carolina was the right choice for me is the size of the school. If you come from a small high school, don’t be intimidated by size! When I looked at UNC in 12th grade that was the one thing that I was a little skeptical about. But being at a large school provides so many opportunities to choose what you want to do. I had no idea what I wanted to major in when I was in high school and even now I'm still not 100 percent sure. You cannot stress about your major when you're a senior in high school! The whole purpose of college is to figure out what you want to do with your life. The University of North Carolina provides ample choices and classes to take so that you can figure out what it is you want to do.

Another important thing to remember is to not out-do yourself in high school! Don't try to do too much and spread yourself too thin because the chances of your excelling at one thing decrease. Out-doing yourself in high school can be easy but in college you have no one telling you what to do or how to structure your activities. Be prepared to be your own teacher, budget your own time and read/do work on your own!