What do you wish you knew before undergrad?
You can take fewer courses each term.
One thing I wish I knew in undergrad was that you can drop courses.
Taking five or six courses in a semester is a lot. If you feel like you are working all the time with no time for yourself, consider dropping a course. You may find that taking four courses allows you time to learn and time to live. While taking five courses per semester might be "normal", that doesn't mean you have to take five courses and hate life. You don't need to be "normal".
During my undergraduate program, I switched to taking four courses per term.
I found that five courses was slightly too much. As a result, I would not quite get everything done. I was taking a third year computer science course in second year and that one course was so challenging that I didn't have time to do all my assignments in every course. Each week, I decided that I would skip an assignment, usually from my easiest course of the term, which was my physics course. This backfired: after skipping so many physics assignments, I ended up failing my physics course even though it had been easier than my other courses! I simply didn't have time to learn when I was taking five courses.
Nobody told me that I was allowed to drop courses so I had no idea.
Once I figured out that I was allowed, I completely changed my schedule and I was a very happy student from then on. I had time to work, relax, and actually learn. Sure, my undergraduate degree took a few more semesters to complete, but a few semesters in your early twenties is nothing in the timeline of a whole life. Consider what comes after undergrad: working for forty years or until you retire! Does it really matter if you put off working for one more year? I don't think so. In fact, in the end, I think you'd be glad to have actually had the time and would be more likely to remember undergraduate years fondly, as I do.
Taking fewer courses per semester also helped my grades, which dramatically improved!
I had time to do everything my courses required and to enjoy my life. I didn't sacrifice my life for school. It is possible to succeed, you just need to find your way through the system. That way isn't always told to you. That way isn't always the road most travelled or the most obvious path. Sometimes you need to consider unconventional options to make the system work for you.
You will probably work more than one job.
Most people in the 21st century change careers at least a couple times.
Don't get stuck on "will I do this forever". Think in concrete chunks of time: what are you going to spend the next 15 years of your life doing for money? What are you going to spend the next 5–10 years doing for fun and personal development?
Don't assume you need this degree. Ask!
If you're interested in career X, find people that do career X!
Email them or call them and ask if you can talk to them about their career. It is uncommon, but try it. People are often happy to talk about themselves, especially if you pick up the bill for coffee or lunch. Prepare some questions about what that person did to get where they are, the best part of the job, the worst part, etc. And always finish by asking, "What should I be asking that I would not know to ask? As someone not in the field, I don't know everything about it, so there's probably something important that I would not even think to ask about. What sort of unexpected aspects or "hidden rules" are there in this career?" Try to ask a few different people so you get multiple answers and don't over-generalize from one person's perspective.
Ideally, find a way to offer value to them when you're asking them to chat. They'd be doing you a favour and giving you some of their time. Make it worthwhile for them, if you can. Be grateful.
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