Howard University Top Questions

The scholarship opportunites that are very hard to grab a hold of.

I wish I had known how important the competition at the school was. Of course at every school there is competition, but the competative drive of students at Howard cannot be compared to any other. You must come ready. Students at this school are determined to be successful, with an "any means necessary" attitude, which can be overwhelming in the beginning. Though, as a matriculating student, you quickly get used to the atmosphere. One becomes just as dominearing as the rest, and the assertion one acquires, actually accentuates your individuality, therefore setting you apart from others in the best way.

Before coming to Howard University I would have liked to know anout the application process a bit more. I can the first in my family to attend college and I did not know about applying to colleges. When I applied I thought scholarships were just handed to you; administration would look at your application and then say hey this is how much I will give you. But that is not how it works. If I would have known that back in 2007 I would have submitted scholarship applications.

I wish I had known that getting a job would be very helpful, but very difficult while being a full-time student. Unfortunately when you go away to college it is harder to maintain your bare essentials.

Before I attended Howard University, I wish I would have known more about the community. Howard is located in Washington, D.C., which was quite different from where I am originally from, Dallas, TX. The city and the school has more hustle and bustle than my hometown of Dallas. It took quit a while to get use to. I also would wish I knew about the problems of the Financial Aid building. There were many times when I was quite unsatifised with the information/help I was given and the waiting process.

That college is no longer a 4 year deal...most people need an extra semester or two and that's okay.

I wish I would have known how hard it would be to pay for tuition, get affordable on/off campus housing, and get things completed when dealing with certain advisors and Howard administration.

In actuality, there is nothing that I wish I would have known prior to coming to Howard Univeristy. My parents and I did enough research and talked with enough of its students, professors, and facility to prepare us for anything at Howard University.

I wish I knew the importance of having close friends on campus.

That scholarships can be taken away very quickly if you don't keep your GPA at the required level (even by one semester). And that every activity you join will have its own version of a pledge process to build unity and friendships. And that keeping up a long distance relationship would be insanely hard.

I truly appreciated my college experience, but I wish I was prepared financially. I took out over 90k in student loans to cover this elite school but soon after graduation I found that I couldn't find a job that would pay me nearly enough of what it costs to stay current. My student loan bills are over 1000 per month! I wish I'd known that if I didn't get a scholarship initially that if I worked hard I could earn a full ride in subsequent years.

I wish I would have known not to take Pre-Calculus, and that its ok if I drop classes.

I wish i would have known the administration (financial aid & student accounts) was terrible. I also wish I would have known that the campus and its surrounding areas are relatively unsafe; there is a current average of about 1-2 robberies per week (some have even occuered in broad daylight!) . I also wish that I would have known that campus housing is unavailable to most students after freshman year and that off-campus housing is extremely expensive and hard to find.

that you have to follow the syllabus for every class!

I wish I had known how hard it would be to be so far away from my family and friends back home. It is extrememly difficult to be comfortable and fully enjoy the college experience when you miss so many people so much. However, I have overcome this struggle for 2 1/2 years, and I will continue to overcome for the next year and a half.

I wish I had known about the difficulty with the administration and the lack of on campus housing

I wish I had known or tried to get to know more people during my freshman year. I also wish I had known that housing was not guareented after your freshman year because I had to miss a semester due to that.

They will take your scholarship away, so don't get too carried away with being involved in "campus life".

Before I came to this school, I wish that I would have known more about the African American diasphora as a whole. I am learning so much that I dont know about, simply because I come from a place that is focused more on diversity, rather than getting to know the person that I look at in the mirror everyday. It just appauls me to know so little about my ethnicity, however, I am glad that I have the opportunity to be educated on a level that contains no bias at all. In the classroom we are all one.

Bettere study skills

I wish I had known how hard it is to finance college. As a student that is barely making ends meet due to the price of tuition, and low financial aid awards, I find that it is easy to become financially overwhelmed and burdened due to the sticker price of a private university such as Howard. I wish that someone would have forced and pressed the importance of finding scholarships and grants so that the majority of financial obligations could be taken care of, and so that as a student I would better be able to focus on my schooling.

Before I cam eto this school I wish I had known that as a chemistry major it was not wise to try and work while at the same time on a very rigorous class schedule. I wish I has known just how hard the curriculum is for a chemistry major and how much it takes to stay on task.

I wish I had known that so many freshman would come into the year with credits already.

i wish i had known what i really wanted to do in life because in recently switched majors and reliazed that i mssed out on alot of bonding and friends ships i could have made with people my freshmen because the program i wanted to be in was a group -focused program. i have friends who went through and claim that they learned so much and it made me feel empty because i know i can not go back and participate with them.

Howard politics aka it's all about who you know and not what you know

I wish I knew that I would have to have patience with myself, other people, and with the school itself.

I wish I had know how much of the social environment is dictated by different organizations. Everything that happens on campus is some how influenced by an organization. Its all about who you know on the yard. It is very much a bubble.