College: Both university and community

[Darth Lime]

This thread is about those who are in college or going into college.

I'm a little nervous as far as money for community college. I've done all the FAFSA stuff but I haven't gotten anything back regarding that the school got the information.

Plus I am not prepared as far as transitioning from high school to college. I know there is a program and stuff that helps with that, but it still seems like a daunting task. Also, I don't know what classes to take. I am interested in Psychology and Astronomy, but I am not bright in the field of mathematics at all.

[JCvgluvr]

I'm in Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, IA. Different subject material, same avalanche of work.

[Shadowe]

This thread is about those who are in college or going into college.

I'm a little nervous as far as money for community college. I've done all the FAFSA stuff but I haven't gotten anything back regarding that the school got the information.

Plus I am not prepared as far as transitioning from high school to college. I know there is a program and stuff that helps with that, but it still seems like a daunting task. Also, I don't know what classes to take. I am interested in Psychology and Astronomy, but I am not bright in the field of mathematics at all.

Depending on your school and teachers it's really just SSDD with hopefully more reasonable people.

[SoulinEther]

I'm a little nervous as far as money for community college. I've done all the FAFSA stuff but I haven't gotten anything back regarding that the school got the information.

I filled out my FAFSA in January.. it was due in what, March? I didn't apply to any JCs/Community Colleges but every college gave me a financial aid package to work with. I am assuming you filled yours out then, though, on time.

Make sure you're going to get your money, whether it be Pell grant / state grants / subsidized or unsub loans. Call/speak with your school's financial aid office and ask them to confirm that they have received your information from the FAFSA and that they have a financial aid package available for you - you gotta be more proactive about your education in college than you were in high school. And if college hasn't started yet, you're going to have to make payments on tuition probably after you sign up for your classes, but if you are supposed to receive financial aid, and it's enough to cover the cost of attendance, you probably won't have to pay anything and the school will just take the financial aid money instead.

Community college eh? It's probably pretty cheap, but if your Pell grant, State grants, and scholarships (if any) don't cover the complete cost of attendance, and you've been given the opportunity to get them, you have to fill out some forms (online for me) for the Stafford / Perkins / Federal PLUS loans before you can get them, and there might be a short waiting period before you'll get the money, so make sure you're in communication with your school's financial aid office so you don't get shafted monetarily.

One of my friends wasn't too proactive about her financial aid and maintained a past due balance (for tuition) with a Cal State university for like 3 weeks after she enrolled in her classes and ended up getting all her classes dropped, even though she knew (and I think the school knew too) she was supposed to get financial aid to cover the cost of tuition. Moral of the story: take the initiative and find out before it's too late.

Plus I am not prepared as far as transitioning from high school to college. I know there is a program and stuff that helps with that, but it still seems like a daunting task.

Well, what do you think will be the biggest shock for you? What are your expectations for college student life?

[atmuh]

i go to cooper union in new york city for civil engineering and its like one of the only schools ive ever heard of that doesnt charge tuition to anyone who goes

[Abadoss]

Curtis Institute of Music doesn't charge anyone. Everyone who is admitted is awarded a full-ride talent grant. They assume that if you're not eligible for the grant, you shouldn't be there. Highly competitive... hence why I never got in...

[Jarvi]

I'm going the the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as is someone else on OCR, I forget who though, BCBP major. So far, I haven't had much trouble adjusting, and the extra freedom is nice, and you'll quickly meet people who have same interests as you. Last friday, me and like, 6 people just went to this card shop and did an MTG draft for kicks. It's cool just to be able to go wherever and do whatever (within reason of course). Just don't let it get to you, sleep and study, etc. It's week 2 and I've already had 2 exams (okay, it was the pre-calc test for Calc and the High School Knowledge test for Chem, but still)

[FS]

Plus I am not prepared as far as transitioning from high school to college. I know there is a program and stuff that helps with that, but it still seems like a daunting task. Also, I don't know what classes to take. I am interested in Psychology and Astronomy, but I am not bright in the field of mathematics at all.

Almost any school worth their tuition will have some sort of program geared towards acclimating freshmen to the campus and college life in general. Check with yours and find out what they have available. In a lot of 4-year institutions, they have an entire week before classes start dedicated solely to this task. During such a program, you will only get out of it what you put into it. If anything, it gives you a week before most of the other people arrive to acclimate yourself to the campus.

As far as what classes to take, this is where it helps to setup an appointment with your advisor. I've had advisors who were basically there to authorize any exceptions and sign-off on my degree program (these are the ones to avoid, but you have to learn as you go, sadly), but I've had a couple of advisors who were absolutely above and beyond awesome. They took an interest in my course of study, what I wanted to eventually do, and were able to suggest classes that fit me as a person, not just what I needed to get <insert degree here>.

Finally, you should find and join as many different student organizations as your schedule will permit. People like to say that high school is the "best four years of your life", but they are horribly wrong. I still keep in contact with a grand total of TWO people that I went to HS with (I graduated in 2000).

College is an ENTIRELY different ballgame. Once you get past the 100 and 200 level courses, you end up in classes with people who actually WANT to be there, vs HAVE to be there. Between this and joining whatever student group interests you, the opportunity will be there to make a LOT of connections both social and professional. Even though we have all gone on to different things in the past few years, I still keep in contact with a great many of the people I met, and will most likely continue to do so from here to eternity. A friend I met my first semester in college and I are also currently working on getting a consulting business to take off.

Bottom line is, the transition away from HS can be a daunting thing, but it is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. I don't mean to sound like some overused self-help book on the subject, but really all you have to do is make sure you avail yourself of ALL available opportunities and sources of information/involvement, and you will do just fine. If you stick to yourself for 4 years and do nothing but study and go to class, you will be miserable. It's not just about books. It's about learning who you are and what you really want to do with your life. The degree is, in all honesty, secondary to that. You can graduate with honors in your field and still be a miserable person if you don't explore your own life in addition to your field of study.

[kamoh]

I just graduated from a state school with a BA, relatively cheap and my mother was able to pay for everything I needed. That said, I have seen enough from the rest of the world to know that you really need to watch out...

If your grades are not-so-good then you'll want to consider JCs and CCs...also your SAT scores (although it's over half a decade since I've worried about these things) are going to have some impact on where you get accepted, as well as the size of your graduating class in state and nation. Basically, I have no gauge as to how good you need to be - I got a 1400 on my SAT (pre-essay) and walked in with a 3.7 GPA, and in suburban California that doesn't get you into the school of your choice, but I wasn't fighting through remedial classes - which are another issue.

Basically, I have three pieces of real advice for you:

1) If your goal is a university (not a 4-year vocational), I suggest you go there NOW. Schools on quarters will stress you out but get you out in 4 years if you're on-the-ball. Going to a JC first, or a semester school, will probably doom you to the five-year plan. It took me 5 years to get out, and I was at SJSU the entire time. If I had gone to a JC I would probably still be taking classes.

2) If you don't know what you want to do, go with a throwaway major - in a field that you have good grades in. It helps on the application to appear to know what you want to do. Once you get to school (depending on the school), you can change your major when you get there. If you're not going to be serious about it from the get-go, then you need to change it immediately (and of course make sure that they will LET you change it). I know too many people who wasted time either not knowing what they wanted to do or changing majors in the middle of their college career.

2a) I have a degree in broadcasting. That's really not getting me anywhere - the objective was the B.A., and I also have a minor in political science, which I am planning to turn into a double-major through night classes. Moral of the story: don't change your major in your junior year if you can help it...although I had an easy major...slog it out, get the B.A., and then get a second major if that's what you really want.

3) MONEY. Applications, SATs, AP tests, everything costs money. However, everything that you are doing in your junior and senior years of high-school are one-time fees, and not the real kicker.

The real kicker is LOANS.

Loans are a difficult beast for college students, just like they are after college. Most loans have little nuances that make them different from others, but they (should) follow the same basic formula:

a) Every loan has an interest rate. That's how they get their money.

The "interest due" each month is 1/12th of the APR times the remaining balance. This means that if you have a 20k loan at 12% APR, you will owe the loaner $200 in month one, plus the $20,000 over the life of the loan. If you don't pay this $200, then you will owe $20,200...and then for interest you will owe $202 in month 2. And the vicious cycle continues. Some loans calculate differently, so be aware.

c) Some college loans will "defer payment" until after you graduate, or 6 months after - or at least they say that. I don't really know. If I was a loaner, I would be stacking up interest on you while you're still in school. It's immoral, it's wrong, and it's capitalism. But it's pretty much legal - read the hidden text and don't let a loaner do ANYTHING for you - do it all yourself.

d) "Co-signing" and "my parents signed for the loan too so I can get more money" means that if you don't pay your loan back when you graduate, they take your parents house. No joke. So you won't even have a place to go back to when you fuck up.

There are some loans that are alright, I'm assuming, but financial aid is some tricky business, and I wouldn't trust anyone except for the people that work at your school - and only after you've asked a nauseating number of questions to fully understand the situation. Keep asking - it's their job to tell you, and if they don't know then they're not doing their job right. But if you don't extract the necessary information from them, then the joke's on you.

WATCH OUT COLLEGE IS CRAZY.

So for the neg neg attitude out of this one, college is a lot of fun, especially if you engage in recreational drug use, alcoholism, and promiscuity! Find some friends, have some fun, and ditch that high school shit, cause they're not going to know if you're a freshman or a junior transfer.

[audio fidelity]

not to scare you or anything but your gonna have to study...a lot more than high school.

rule of thumb is 2 hours of study for every 1 hour of class for a C level and it supposed to be 4 hours for an A...but i find that 3 is usually good.

and in just my experience write everything down a teacher ever says...you never know what they might ask on a test. i had a history of recording industry class and i was asked one question out of a 50 question test about an obscure drummer that played in an obscure prog band in the 70's that the teacher fancied. now this was like one sentence out of a two hour lecture, but i had feeling it would come back - and obviously this was not in the textbook.

and don't worry about a major right now. its ok to start undeclared or try a major out for a class and decide if its what you want to do. good luck

[zircon]

Curtis Institute of Music doesn't charge anyone. Everyone who is admitted is awarded a full-ride talent grant. They assume that if you're not eligible for the grant, you shouldn't be there. Highly competitive... hence why I never got in...

Highly competitive is the understatement of the year. Their acceptance rate is something like 7%, compared to about 18% for the University of Pennsylvania for example. Curtis regularly takes undergrads even into their 30s - they REALLY care about ability above everything else.

[sgx]

rule of thumb is 2 hours of study for every 1 hour of class for a C level and it supposed to be 4 hours for an A...but i find that 3 is usually good.

WTF? Maybe for med school or if you are really dumb or something. 100 level courses are generally quite easy and laid back. This is University I'm talking about, not Community College. CC is probably easier. My highschool friend called his first year of CC, "13th Grade".

[The Pezman]

Yeah, it's all circumstantial. Dickinson College (my school) is rising in quality every year. I feel confident saying I'm getting an education on par with that of an Ivy Student (and with none of the apathetic, research-driven professors or TAs), and in some classes I did not have to do much work at all to get a good grade. However, I'm a Computer Science major, and they work you there, even in the lowest levels. You'll pretty much have to find what works for you specifically.

[atmuh]

Highly competitive is the understatement of the year. Their acceptance rate is something like 7%, compared to about 18% for the University of Pennsylvania for example. Curtis regularly takes undergrads even into their 30s - they REALLY care about ability above everything else.

well cooper loves to throw out that they are "by the numbers the most selective college in america" i never bothered to actually check percentages though

[SynthesizedStampede]

Gah, I'm terrified for college too. I'm basically worried about the study load, and how much time I'm going to have to study, because I think I'm going to try and maintain an evening job too 3-5 days a week. Basically I don't want to fail, like every other person out there. But if them AP classes that I took in my senior year of high school are the same as college courses, then I think I'll be able to manage. Doesn't really ease my fear of the stress I might end up getting though. Then again, I am going to a community college...

Anybody take Calculus in both high school/college? Would you say that taking Calculus in high school made the class somewhat easier during college?

[FS]

Anybody take Calculus in both high school/college? Would you say that taking Calculus in high school made the class somewhat easier during college?

Not really. The college level math courses are usually a step above the similarly named HS ones.

Math is one area where the teacher can make all the difference in the world, however. I took Calculus one semester and failed it miserably. This was because the teacher didn't really teach the concepts or anything. His idea of doing derivatives was freehand drawing the new graph based upon the slope of the original.

Fast forward to the re-take a semester later with a new professor. He would start class out by telling us what our assignment was before next time, and would spend about 10 minutes with a few examples. Basically the examples were to show us the shortcut so we could solve all of our assigned problems in a half hour or so. The professor then spent the rest of the class period explaining (in great detail) WHY the shortcuts he gave us worked the way they do. Because of this, we all learned the course material in such a way that, even if we forgot every little shortcut and trick we learned along the way, we could still figure the problems out because we knew the why and the how of the inner workings and could solve it ourselves without any help. I kid you not when I say it was like a completely different course.

Another prime example was my upper level english course. I tested past the entry level and breezed through 200, and 300 was basically a writing/literature course. I was fairly decent at it to begin with, but this professor had such a passion for the material and was so dedicated to teaching it, that even the best writers in the class became even better.

And finally, you can learn a lot even from classes that you don't do so well in. I took Western Civilization my first semester, thinking it would be a breeze (aced it in HS w/o a problem). I was in for the shock of my life. The professor taught ALL his courses (100 level included) like they were 400 level or even graduate courses. Fell on my ass, but I still went every day because of the sheer volume of information this guy could conjure up was astounding. I just wasn't prepared for the workload. A couple years later I took a class w/ that same professor over the Korean and Vietnam wars. Undergrads COULD take it, but it was geared more towards the graduate level students. Knowing what to expect now, I came away with a solid B in the course.

[TehDonut]

My only advice that hasn't been said (i think), is make as many connections as you can...find people in your classes and make friends. It's probably the best resource you can find when you need help. Whether it be help in some homework assignment, or you need some alcohol...now. But...as long as you don't end up at Georgia Tech or something...you will be fine. And if you do go to Gatech...why haven't you pmed me yet? Enjoy your life cause after college, it's nothing but work and sleep...that is, unless you are a genius bastard that can make millions off of a website/business that you started up (highly unlikeley).

[Bahamut]

Whatever school you do get into, I can't stress this enough - work your ass off for the good grades. From all I've seen, GPA is quite possibly the most important thing you carry away with when you're in undergrad, and is the largest aspect considered when you're applying to jobs, or professional/graduate schools.

Having a good social life is also important as well of course, but don't lose sight on keeping that GPA up.

[Lunahorum]

My experience has been that math at the college level is ridiculously easier than high school. *** I have only taken one year of college, and I am no expert in math, but math was easy. Maybe in absolute terms, it was harder; however, relative to the college environment, it was easier. Tutors, professors, study groups, and just plain people that care about your success make everything enjoyable. As long as you abstain from masturbating on youtube everyday, college is fun and easy. On the other hand, I don't have a job so that makes things a lot easier.

*** I would like to add that there is more individual time to do whatever you please in college so it takes a little self motivation to nut up and commit time away to studying. I highly recommend study groups and tutors as they are more time efficient. Never think you are too smart for a tutor. However, it is very common to think you understand something and then not be able to replicate individually for the test.

Hmm another worthless post by me. Well it can all be summed up by this - "Success in college: don't be a dumbass".

[SirChadlyOC]

Whatever school you do get into, I can't stress this enough - work your ass off for the good grades. From all I've seen, GPA is quite possibly the most important thing you carry away with when you're in undergrad, and is the largest aspect considered when you're applying to jobs, or professional/graduate schools.

Sorry, but I disagree with you on this point. GPA is important, but it's more important in college that you did things. Do community service, join a club/greek/honorary group and go for leadership positions. You'd be much better off having a well-rounded resume with a 3.6 GPA than a 4.0 with no activities.

I do agree with this, though: work your ass off. Not necessarily on grades alone, though. Work on meeting and making friends, work on special projects, work on homework and studying, and work on having fun. I also recommend getting an average of 6 hours of sleep each night, not more, because you have too much stuff to do, like trying to find a donut shop at 1:30 in the morning on a school night with 3 of your friends.

Also, stop playing one-player video games and find people to play multiplayer games. Totally worth it.

[TheSnowStorm]

Whatever school you do get into, I can't stress this enough - work your ass off for the good grades. From all I've seen, GPA is quite possibly the most important thing you carry away with when you're in undergrad, and is the largest aspect considered when you're applying to jobs, or professional/graduate schools.

Having a good social life is also important as well of course, but don't lose sight on keeping that GPA up.

Sorry, but I disagree with you on this point. GPA is important, but it's more important in college that you did things. Do community service, join a club/greek/honorary group and go for leadership positions. You'd be much better off having a well-rounded resume with a 3.6 GPA than a 4.0 with no activities.

I have to agree with SirChadly on the GPA. Yes, it is important, however, GPA don't mean shit without the following:

-Leadership Skills

-Internship

-Real-World Experince.

On clubs: It's MUCH better to form and create your own club, being the leader, the president of that named club than to be a member on somebody else club. Form a club that deals with leadership or internship.

[atmuh]

gpa doesnt seem like its gonna mean crap for me

[SirChadlyOC]

On clubs: It's MUCH better to form and create your own club, being the leader, the president of that named club than to be a member on somebody else club. Form a club that deals with leadership or internship.

Ehhh, it depends on the club and institution. If you create the "David Lloyd Pretzel Fan Club" and you're the president, it doesn't mean much. If you join the local community service organization, even if you're never president, that's a pretty big deal, as long as you stay active. Even being on the executive board of a Greek fraternity (or sorority, if you lack the Y chromosome) means that you have experience leading and managing business and people.

I don't know if anybody has told you new college-bound students this or not, but you really can do whatever you want to as long as you work hard at it. The only people who fail at college are the ones who don't do the necessary work. Go to class. Do your homework. Then you should have plenty of time afterward to do everything else.

It's really not nearly as bad or hard as you think it might me. You'll quickly learn what it takes to do the necessary amount of work, and then you'll find you have lots of free time. Free time that you can spend DOING things, like going to lectures or performances, meeting new people, or participating in other cool things.

Just promise me that you won't lock yourself in your room and refuse to talk to people.

[sgx]

Sorry, but I disagree with you on this point. GPA is important, but it's more important in college that you did things. Do community service, join a club/greek/honorary group and go for leadership positions. You'd be much better off having a well-rounded resume with a 3.6 GPA than a 4.0 with no activities.

GPA is mostly only important if your career is in the sciences. Otherwise, most employers will just look at your GPA to see that you are not some idiot irresponsible slacker. Just keep it above 3.0 and you're good. The important things are internships/experience and portfolio items. If you are in the arts, make sure you have portfolio items not just from class; it shows you have drive. See if you can find clubs or activities that will force you to use or develop skills that are important for your career path.

[Jarvi]

Another comment I have is if you go to a somewhat decent school, check up on what kind of research they have going on. You never know what you'll learn or you might find something you're really interested in (I just read an article about some researcher at RPI, the college I'm at, who's speculating that forward facing eyes, such as on humans, gives us the limited ability to see through objects. It seems kind of obvious once you think about it, but it did provide an interesting look at the fact that human eyes are developed for say, a forest, where we'd need to look through leaves to see what's coming, as opposed to the more open world we live in now.) But yea, just find stuff that interests you. Right now, I'm kind of starting off easy, but between Magic the Gathering club, DDR club, and the DotA club that's just starting, I still have tons of time to do homework and still do whatever else I want. I'll probably get more involved eventually, but right now it's fun just to settle in and meet people with the same interests as me.