College

[Warbsywoo]

I'm currently a junior at high school and am obviously approaching senior year, so I'm panicking here. I know we're supposed to be looking at a diverse set of colleges out here, but so far I've only been to a couple.

Plus, there's applications out there that need to be done.
Not to mention financial aid applications, community service hours, and testing (SAT's I hate you!).

Any advice?
I need to calm down and take this all in by the start of next year.

 

[Tielknight]

I know how ya feel. I'm in my junior year of college, and it can be a hassle to get everything started. The best thing to do is to simply go to the college and ask them for help. They will (99% of the time anyways) basically hold your hand through the whole registration, applying for financial aid, etc.

That is the easiest way to do this instead of running around like a headless chicken, wondering what to do next.

 

[Warbsywoo]

How about tuition rates and financial aid though?
I heard those can be real challenging to get through, as obviously my parents can't afford to get me into a four-year college right off the bat.

But then again, there's scholarships....
but there's so many out there, I can't even choose....and some of them only dole out like what... $500.

Any other options?

 

[Moogles]

Well, I go to a community college. It's wayyyyy cheaper, and the classes are identical to those available in 4-year universities. Plus, half of my total costs are covered by my high school (finally...going to Cumberland Valley HS paid off). It's unlikely that you'll be that fortunate, but community college is still a bargain. It gets a bad rep...as if "smart" people only go to high-cost universities.

The plan: go to community college on a 2-year plan, transferring to a university to earn your Bachelor's Degree.

I can't say much for the final two years I'll spend in a university. I'll have quite the large sum to pay back. But for now, the costs are manageable.

 

[Warbsywoo]

My, I haven't even checked my own thread. XD

But yeah, I've been hearing a lot about community colleges, and apparently it's the best choice if you're undecided.
So, is that better, or should go to a 4-year, especially since I have my mind set on Aeronautical Engineering already?

 

[Howl]

My advice to you is to not worry about it at ALL.
Even if you do have any specific area of interest, you can't major in any subject until you've completed a certain amount of prerequired classes.

Typically speaking, you'll spend at least 2 years taking pointless classes like art, english, and cinema...
You don't want to attend university until you've completed your bachelor's degree...university is like double the price of a community college, and CCs give you the same credits.

While you're taking your prerequisite classes (aka obtaining your bachelors), you can take one or two classes of interest to see if you might want to major in that direction or not. =]

EDIT:
As far as tuition costs...you can more than likely recieve financial aid for one reason or another...there are plenty of ways to get financial aid. You'll be lucky if your parents are divorced...that usually gets you a fair chunk of money that you never have to pay back...
Books are the only thing that'll bite you in the ass.

 

[Warbsywoo]

Ah well that's true.....except for the art part.....not pointless

So I take it you're in community college?

Anyway, yeah, that's probably a really good idea. Taking certain classes and whatnot. So all the stuff about AP is untrue then?
I thought I got college credit....all the times I passed those, I thought I saved a lot of money.

But, heck, I'm thinking scholarships as well.
I hope I do fine applying and such.
The essays will be a pain, though.

 

[Howl]

AP classes in highschool? It's true to a certain extent...but it won't matter until you start at university. Once you prove that you're efficient in comunity college, your highschool transcripts won't mean much.

It's different for me though. I dropped out of school a month before graduation. I moved so many times in my senior year that my credits didn't line up correctly and they told me I wouldn't graduate a month before school ended.

I'm attending CC with nothing but a GED...
Once I have a bachelors from a community college, my GED won't make much of a difference. lol.

 

[Ryker]

The best advice I can give you: go to a community college for your first two years. Your first two years of college are going to be the same REGARDLESS of where you go, so don't waste your money paying a student loan for the same two years you'd get for less elsewhere. After that, just transfer to the university that you wanted to go to. If you've got significant financial aid (I live in Georgia so I have the HOPE grant) you might as well let them pay for the first two years so that you can have time to save money for your final two years.

The only thing I see as a bad thing is that you're almost done with your Junior year & you've yet to take your SATs. I would recommend you taking them soon, so that you can take them again (and hopefully learn from your first experience & do better) your Senior year.

Even if the community college in your area doesn't require an SAT score, it's good to have taken it & done well because once you're out of practice, it's going to be hard to come back to it. Not to mention it's a good indicator of what you need to focus more on & where your weak points are.

 

[Warbsywoo]

That's true, SAT's are pretty important.
Especially if my hopes are up.......I get one shot at getting a free ride, though...so I'm hoping for that.

Yeah, I took the SAT, already 3 times since the beginning of this month.
Pretty high scores, I guess.
My list:
Reading - 630
Math - 560
Writing - 680

Don't mind me bragging, it's probably not even that high up. I know someone who missed just 6 problems. *sighs*
I wish I was that smart.

 

[HalfBloodPrincess]

Let me just say that, no matter what, you'll be better prepared than I was at your age.

That having been said, I think you're worrying yourself silly and for no good reason. You haven't even begun your senior year of school yet, right? At this moment in time, you needn't worry about financial aid or your college applications. What I'd do is go to College Board's website and run a matchmaker search ( <-- Kerclick). That way, you'll know more about which colleges you want to visit.

Once you actually start your senior year, talk to your high school counselor. He or she will know what to do and will walk you through it as each school's deadline will be different. For example -- Juniata College's deadline was March 1st. Penn State doesn't have one...but it closed admissions in February last year after they filled up.

Now, onto the SAT's. Don't let them stress you out. The worst part about them, in my opinion, is how long they take. I started fidgeting towards the end and I never usually do that. Drives me nuts. My scores weren't that high so, yeah, I won't be attending Harvard come fall but who cares? Do your best and work with what you get. Retake it if you want to but don't expect so much of yourself that you're severely disappointed in what you do score. It's pointless. Not everyone is a genius and that's just the way things are.

As for attending a community college...watch your step. It can be tricky. If you take the wrong classes, you could lose credits upon transferring. Only go to a community college if you're sure you know what you want to major in because, whatever you choose, that's it. Unless, of course, you're willing to start all over in another field...which would be costly and time consuming. If you're undecided, go to a four year school and enter undecided. Sit in on some classes, look around, see what you like. You'll pay more, yes, but you just may find what it is you want to do. The experience will be well worth it.