What do you regret not doing in undergrad?

[MuscleAndBones4Life]

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Hey all,

To all the practicing PT's and soon to be graduates, what do you regret not doing (or doing) when you were in undergrad? Could be anything like courses in undergrad you chose not to take, PT school choice, etc. Please let me know, just trying to do as much as possible before I graduate!

 

[NewTestament]

I regret that I went to undergraduate school immediately after high school when I had no clue what I wanted to do. Don't let anyone tell you that you have to go to school right away. Take a gap year.

I wish I had participated more. I didn't belong to any organizations or clubs. I didn't make a single friend the entire four years I was there. I can't name a single person I graduated with. My graduate school experience was entirely different.

I wish I hadn't worked during undergraduate school. If you don't have to work, don't. You're better off taking more classes, volunteering, or observing.

 

[callmecrazy]

Totally unrelated to PT, but my biggest regret from undergrad, and probably life in general, was not studying abroad. My school had some well established programs in Rome and Ireland, and I kick myself for not seizing the opportunity. There are some opportunities that aren't going to be there after undergrad, immerse yourself in those while you're there and you can!

 

[starrsgirl]

I regret not doing a lot of shadowing in a variety of health care fields. I regret going to school before I really knew what I wanted to do. I regret going to a school that didn't have a lot of support in terms of advisement for certain fields or for students who needed more help planning their career path. I regret doing too many extracurricular activities (varsity sports, club sports, other clubs) when I should have been a bit more future focused and focused on academics.

 

[bluesareblack]

No regrets. I'm currently in PT school. If anything could be regretted, personally, it would be not getting out and having more fun (which I had plenty of). I, like everyone else who is in or got in to school, had to go through that very stressful process too. But I found a school that didn't get hung up on minor details, rather they were more interested in who you are as a person. I definitely studied hard in undergrad...but I don't regret not having more extracurriculars, not bumping my GPA another .01, or getting another 100 observation hours. These are not bad things to do, obviously...but I never got hung up on it. In my meeting with the faculty they made it clear that I was selected on my life experience and personality. Life's a journey, don't look back and regret missing out on good times with friends and family.

 

[pegasuscvc]

Two things I wish I'd done in undergrad:

1. I wish I'd shadowed the careers I was interested in. I chose a career without ever observing it, and in truth it was a bad fit for me. I didn't discover it until undergrad was over. Now I'm into PT and love it. I could have discovered that earlier and saved a few years of time if I'd shadowed my first career choice and discovered I didn't like it before setting out for the degree.

2. I wish I'd researched and targeted specific PT schools before leaving undergrad. There are some schools that would have been awesome to apply to, but I couldn't because I didn't have their school-specific prereqs. I had the basics - two semesters of chem, physics, A&P, etc. However, there were some schools that required oddballs. One (the only PT program in my home state actually) wanted Medical Terminology. Another wanted an advanced English class. Still another wanted Kinesiology. If I'd researched the schools BEFORE the application process began, decided which ones I specifically wanted to apply to, and double-checked their prereqs, I could have taken one or two of those oddball classes and opened up my options a little better. Some of those programs that have the oddball prereqs are both good programs and low-cost. Getting into them can be of huge benefit financially in the long run, but you can't do that if you don't have their prereqs.

 

[emespt]

If I could go back I would have gotten my undergraduate degree in something that was more directed towards a specific career like Nursing or Athletic Training. That way it would have been a teensy bit easier to find a job during the two years that I wasn't in school. Exercise Science is just a bit too broad.