I just finished my undergrad and have two weeks or so before I start my Master's program. What colleges are you looking at? I came from the SF Bay Area and exclusively looked at small liberal arts schools in the Northeast that had International Relations/Studies programs and Semitic foreign languages. My short list wound up being NYU, Northeastern, Clark, Goucher, American University, and George Washington University. Got into all of them except GWU but at that point, it was an easy choice to go to AU. It has one of the strongest programs in the country for International Relations, had the foreign languages I was interested in, a great career networking service and it's located right in DC. It was 100% the right place for me. I loved it from the moment I got there and made sure to try different things if I was worried about stagnating.

I'm kind of type A so I really didn't party very much except as bookends to my semester. I'd go crazy the first week or so back and the last week. I joined a sorority my sophomore year and, contrarily, slowed down my partying. It spread out over the semester more, usually one weekend a month, and was significantly tamer. Greek life isn't for everyone and it's also not like it's depicted in movies. Give it a shot or don't. It's not something I ever saw myself taking part in and wound up doing it on a whim. It expanded my social circle greatly.

I worked as a Hebrew school teacher my first two years of school which was pretty decent money but it was soul sucking because I really don't like children. I got a student job pushing paper as a baby bureaucrat at the State Department through my university, and I've tried a few different unpaid internships on the side as well.

I really don't think I would have changed much. The only thing I would recommend is getting a grasp on your mental health EARLY. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in my sophomore year and getting medicated significantly improved my quality of life, and I really should have received some sort of treatment in high school but it was easier to hide it.

Graduated magna cum laude, honors in my major, and Phi Beta Kappa and I'm going to Georgetown for my MA. So. I'd say my experience was very rewarding :)