Putting forth questions that Help/Newbs was never meant to answer!

[Paladin-01]

Wow, looking at all the other questions in this forum, I feel kind of emo/drama-ey asking questions this serious vs "hai my monitor's borked".

Oh well, this is sadly the most intelligent forum I know, and I do not have a worthy person to turn to offline.

I want to go to college. Very very very very very much. ;_; Creative writing and business managment if its important. The thing is, I... honestly have no idea what to do. I was home schooled for a good majority of my life, and college prep was not involved. I'm working at obtaining a GED, which I know is required for federal financial aid, but... I'm bumfucked on what else is involved, I know its not as simple as applying and getting in the car.

Man, I feel so amazingly stupid asking this.

[zircon]

Well, actually, it really is pretty simple. Most colleges have their own specific application process, though there are an increasing number using something called the "common app" (Google it). This lets you submit the same template application to many colleges, and then if they require extra materials you can send those separately. When I applied for school I did 6 in one fell swoop - very easy!

Of course, before applying to any school, you will want to research each one. Get the Princeton Review guide as well as the latest US News college report. Read about your school, read rankings, look online for student reviews.. take everything with a grain of salt, of course, but use these tools as a general guide. Visit all the schools you are seriously considering in person; if you can't do that, try to talk to friends/family that have already gone there, even acquaintances. Hell, ask anyone, even these forums. Take the "virtual tour" if you can and call up the school itself to get info.

Once you've decided on all the schools you could see yourself in, send your application - common app, school-specific app, whatever. Then, you just hope for the best.

As for financial aid... there are federal, state, and regional packages. You will need to research all of your options. EG. Your town might offer a $1000 scholarship if you write an essay and submit it to (X) by (Y) date. Different schools will also offer varying amounts of need-based (your income + family income) scholarships and merit-based (your grades etc) scholarships. Again, this all requires research. The Internet is your friend, as are the financial aid offices of all the places you're applying.

Hope that helped.

[Dhsu]

Don't forget to fill out a FAFSA. Lots of other good info on that site.

You'll also want to take the SAT and/or ACT at some point. You can register for the SAT at The College Board web site. They also have some nice articles to help with planning for college.

Also, as a homeschooler myself, I found it was helpful to take community college classes. Lots of colleges accept them as transfer credit, and they're easier and less expensive than their 4-year college equivalents.

[Gollgagh]

Also, as a homeschooler myself, I found it was helpful to take community college classes. Lots of colleges accept them as transfer credit, and they're easier and less expensive than their 4-year college equivalents.

That and it makes for a pretty good transition instead of jumping straight into college courses and all of that stuff.