POV: You're a college freshman again. What would you do differently?

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Put all my money into doge and Bitcoin.

Hit the gym and socialize more. I probably would've taken a career different path as well. 

Try to learn more when possible maybe

firstly, i would hit up my nympho female friend (smoking hot European girl who badly wanted to fuck me,and would proceed to tell my friends that I wouldn't and couldn't figure out why--my biggest regret in college)

secondly, take easier classes, no one gives a shit about the classes you took in college in the finance field.

Wish I had worked harder at getting a decent internship freshman year instead of focusing too much on classes. I drank the kool aid from professors about how their classes were so important which I regret in hindsight. In the end things turned out fine but later years were a lot more stressful due to me not setting myself up young.

Edit: I second Pizz on the take the easiest classes possible in your concentration 

I would: 

• Lift weights every morning M-F
• Go to class/work on schoolwork during the day like it was a 9-5 job 
• Remain single the entire time

Otherwise I'd do everything the exact same. 

Honestly, I’m pretty happy with where I am. But if could go back, I would socialize more my first year. Not to sound like Pizz, but there was this one Brazilian girl, who was so hot, like seriously 10/10 and I think she was into me but my dumbass never made the move. Had I only lost my faith earlier. There was also this chubby girl who asked me out as well and she could’ve been fun but my religion got in the way.

I moved in on the last day of move-ins (there was something like a 5-day move-in period). My biggest mistake was not moving in on day 1. A ton of friendships had already been forged by the time I had moved in. I spent the first month or so eating alone.

Do not under any circumstances let big4 recruiters sign your life away when sophomore with a 4.0. It will be the biggest regret of your life.

Overall, I am very happy with where I am right now (MBB offer, high GPA, great friends, no major insecurities), so I have no real regrets.  But sometimes I think of ways I could have done things differently. 

Academically, I would have not started as premed and taken some comp sci classes, maybe looking into getting into the quant side of things if I liked computer science.  I wasted my entire first year as a premed, which caused me to miss out on a lot of the typical college "take a variety of classes and see what you like."  That way, instead of doing bio, chem, and labs, I could've dipped into a lot of subjects like accounting, comp sci, econ, etc... and figured out what I liked and what I did not like.  It's hard to be mad at myself for doing premed though, because at the time I was serious about becoming a doctor.

Socially, I was very innocent/sheltered coming into college.  I wish I could have lost my innocence quicker with regards to girls, drinking, fashion, and general social behavior.  Now as upperclassmen, I am still a virgin :/, not because I am incapable and ugly, but because I did not understand how things worked socially until my sophomore year, which was right before COVID-19 hit.  I also befriended a few traditional religious conservatives who think very differently about sex than most others, and although they're great people who I love hanging out with, I sometimes felt this religious guilt with regards to sex, so when an opportunity arose, I would be very conflicted.  Being at home and isolated from school really helped me shake that off.  I'm honestly pumped for return to campus in the fall because I've been getting shredded at the gym and feel better about myself than I ever have.   

That being said, I have no regrets, because quite frankly, I do believe in the domino effect.  For example, had I taken more computer science classes, my GPA might be much lower so I wouldn't have been able to land my consulting offer.  If I had a girlfriend earlier in college, I would have been less motivated to go to the gym, and therefore wouldn't be benching 80 pound dumbbells.  I truly believe everything happens for a reason! 

id drop out, do porn, and buy property

Transfer to a target right away instead of trying to have as much fun as possible freshman fall/winter. Even though I went to a semi-target and am in a FO role at a top firm, I keep thinking to myself about all the opportunities I missed by not attending a school like Dartmouth etc. My younger brother goes to a target and I know I'm just as smart as he is. Still happy for him though. 

Definitely would do a lot differently.

First, I was in such a shitty relationship from high school. I used to really hate change and discomfort, so I stayed in it knowing it was terrible (I broke it off literally 2 weeks after graduating college). I would have actually tried enjoying myself with friends and girls and just enjoy myself and live healthier with better mental health.

Second, I would have focused much more on what I wanted to do for a career. If I had, I could have had a solid internship after junior year and be sitting FT where I want to be. I spent more time in the theatre department with my ex. I found I really liked private wealth during my senior year (c/o 2019) but missed recruitment, and by the time I was really close to getting an offer, COVID hit. Now I'm 24 and still working in corporate finance cause no one from the banks I've recruited with is hiring externally atm.

At the end of the day, though, I'm super grateful for what I have. Never lost my job due to covid, have a new girlfriend that is WORLDS beyond what I could have ever hoped for myself, getting back into working out, and having great conversations with the private banks on recruitment. Mental health and physical health are super important now and I'm glad to have a positive outlook for once.

1) breakup with HS girlfriend asap...it was nice...but a waste of time to string it out...date LOTS of girls in college..flex those socializing muscles

2) take ADHD meds consistently every morning, study early, so evenings are free for socializing...straight A's should be easy if you just try a little, and will setup your career for life

3) join more clubs, you don't have to be a rockstar, just join clubs where you might want to be friends with people who enjoy that activity..that's the real purpose of clubs..to socialize

4) learn how to dress nice for cheap - looks matter, but don't need to be expensive..don't wear ratty clothes with holes

5) shower every morning day, and keep yourself presentable...get into the habit of waking up early and eating breakfast

Worked less hard in classes, spent more time partying/improving social skills and networked a lot more

Probably chill a little more. I had screwed around with academics a lot in high school so when I got to my non-target uni a switch flipped and I became hyper-focused on making sure I was on the right track. The grind paid off and I’ll be starting my internship at a top group in 20 days but I gave up on other stuff. For example, I am pretty awkward when it comes to social things, and very introverted. You can ask me about what’s going around in the world and in finance and whatnot and I’ll get that but i can’t make small talk effectively and also haven’t dated anyone in 1.5 years now. I think if I took stuff a little less seriously I could have been better rounded and I am actively trying to do that now but I feel like I missed out on 3 years of college.

Wouldn’t have done a thing different except lift more

1. Maximized my social life earlier on and not been as worried about landing an IB offer. Didn't really find my stride until Junior year where I was going out 4-6 nights a week and maintained 3.5+ GPA at my non target. I landed SA IB offers 3 of my 4 years on campus and likely would have gotten the same opportunities if I was just less intense about it overall. 

2. Been less afraid of networking. It's honestly not that bad but I would freak myself out before calls thinking that I had to know everything or else nobody would give me the time of day from a non target. 

3. Not broken up with my ex near a staircase. She pushed me down it while I was hammered and I was totally not expecting it (ended my athletic career). 

4. Pushed myself to take more academically rigorous courses instead of taking music courses and getting easy A's (think Machine Learnings, Genomics, Bayesian Methods, etc).

5. Double majored in Finance and CS. Would have given me more options career wise if I ever wanted to bolt to be a SWE when I settle down or if I'm not able to stay on the buyside for 10+ years. 

pickup a hobby that I was really passionate about rather than party. I'm talking like music production, learning game design for fun, art. say whatever you want but people who have hobbies that they are truly fulfilled by outside of work tend to have much better mental health and happiness, and are better able to endure terrible work culture because they have something else going for them. 

Please don't subscribe to this myopic view that you need to be the ultimate hardo to get into MM/MF PE, and cannot have a life outside of finance because alot of those guys are miserable behind closed doors. Pickup something you love and don't let go of it. Your life will be considerably better long-term as a result. 

Bought dogecoin...

Definitely would have focused more on my grades freshman year, digging my GPA out of a hole for the rest of college wasn't fun. It also limited my OCR opportunities. On the flip side, because I was focused more on networking (read: partying and socializing), I made a bunch of connections that have helped me out in tons of ways post-grad. Ultimately, it worked out as these things usually tend to do over time.

I didn't know freshman year that 4.0 was the goal GPA. I didn't get the memo. I did pretty well for grades, but could have done better. I realized the importance Junior year and got mostly As after that. I finished with two degrees and a minor with lots of ECs, so that was somewhat impressive, but I wish I had gone for the 4.0.