[CHOMP!]

Hi guys, I hope this is in the right section since it's targeted more towards those who are already in college :x

What do you guys wish you knew when applying to college?
I'll be sending in applications soon and I'm freaking out a bit to say the least. I just went to some seminar where one of the speakers convinced me that I will not get into any school I apply to -.- unless I enroll in their college application class, which costs $10,000 -- yes TEN GRAND Since I do not have ten thousand dollars just lying around, I'm hoping Soompi can help me a little bit, for free (:

Please share any tips about the application process, picking colleges/majors, or anything college related. Is there anything that will make you stand out as an applicant? Any tricks I should know?


Thanks so much :X

[superdj]

What kind of freaky school is this? All i know is that you shouldnt pay 10 grand for some stupid college app course. Just ask older people to help you. One thing you have to be aware of is that when applying for colleges, college apps aren't the only thing that you actually have to worry about. There's FAFSA, Midyear and Graduation Reports, Immunizations and etc. Just know that you arent done yet just because you've sent you applcation in

Oh. And no matter what, if you want to get into a school, apply. Even if you think or know that you cant get in, still apply and you might get lucky!

[SOCKBUNNY]

10k for some class? What kind of scam are they running? That's half of my total cost for 1 yr of college already.

Umm... some general tips....

- Apply early. Some schools offer Early Action, definitely helps to apply early, you find out decision sooner and forces you not to procrastinate. Early Decision is similar, but it's binding, only do that if you absolutely for certain want to go there. Doing it early save you stress later on, I received my acceptance letter even before my friend applied.

-Write a great essay, it can help you A LOT. Don't procrastinate, put A LOT of time into it. Have other people read it. Write different versions... or just totally different essays. Then pick one and finalize. Perfect it. One thing I always asked myself was, "is this boring?" and make sure I stay away from boring (dunno if it really helps haha). If the subject you're writing about seems totally cliche... that doesn't mean it can't be interesting.

-Be realistic about what you can afford. Apply for tons of financial aid. Especially if you're applying to out-of-state public schools, they're not the best at giving aid to oos students. There's nothing like the crushing blow of being accepted into a top school then realizing that you can't go because you can't afford it

-Make sure your safety school is somewhere you won't mind going to (and one you can afford too).

Hmm... that's all I can think of right now.

If you didn't know already, this forum is ALL ABOUT college: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ lots of advice there too.

[phalken]

^ like what they said: 10K for a program like that is a ripoff, don't do it. Decent colleges don't run sketchy programs like that

Something really important I think you should look at is what kind of extracurricular activities they have, especially if you're actively interested in things besides academics, which most people are >_> Personally, I have a LOT of pretty strange interests all over the place, and I lucked out that my uni is really good so it has literally hundreds of clubs. For example, I'm taking figure skating lessons and hip hop dance lessons, but I'm also spinning poi/glowsticks in juggling club, playing flute in wind ensemble, and learning go in go club. As far as I know, almost NO OTHER COLLEGE has the variety of activities as mine.

Point being, make sure your college can support your hobbies, especially if you're really serious about them, like art or music or sports or anything else. Or else college wouldn't be as fulfilling an experience as it should be =/

[ladyatakari]

mmMm well....it's what you do in college that matters more so than the name really. The name helps in some regard, but it's what you make of the experience that really makes you well, you. The most inspirational and brightest people I've met go to colleges that aren't really that big in name. The one thing I notice is that they not only like what they do, but they work very hard to get to where they are. They enjoy their lives and are really into what they are learning.

Try out different things - apply for lots of internships when you get to college. Even a part-time job might show you some light on what you want to do. Ultimately you want to find something you're good at and what you like to do. Don't be intimidated by what everyone else is doing around you and feel like you should do it too because of that. You might go far, but it doesn't mean you'll be happy with what you're doing.

Also, avoid loans like the plague. Student debt can hinder you soooo much in your future goals whether it's getting a car, living in an apartment, etc. The common thought process is take loans, graduate, find a job and pay those loans off. But most people don't realize just how hard it is - it stops people from getting houses, having kids, etc simply b/c there's so much stress about paying off the loans.

In regards to getting into college...make sure you have a good personal statement and that it stands out by ultimately showing them how -you- will be a beneficial asset to -them- lol.

Best of luck! =)

[pepe.RO]

don't you have a guidance counselor at your school who can help you? o.O

[felinius]

Please share any tips about the application process, picking colleges/majors, or anything college related. Is there anything that will make you stand out as an applicant? Any tricks I should know?

What do you want to study? Determine a college based on that.

I just transferred from a community college so I had a better chance of getting into a college. There's a smaller base of applicants and you get to do 2 years for a whole lot cheaper.

[Lebanese_Blonde]

unless you've already found your life's passion...something you might wanna do that I didn't is to apply with an undeclared major. like the average individual i changed my major 2-3 times while in college and realize that the program i finally decided on was fortunately pretty well taught at my school. i also think picking a major with a limitation on how many students they're willing to accept for that program would jeopardize your chance of getting into that school where you might have ended up taking up a different major in the end.

and i feel like as far as picking a school i wish that I had really put more thought into the city/place the school is located. i figured I could get along anywhere that had a beach, and beautiful trees/wildlife but turns out i truly am a city person and these last 4 years have been sort of...well...a confirmation that I frequently become depressed without the big city life. it's a life lesson..

[LennyRin]

I'm taking figure skating lessons and hip hop dance lessons, but I'm also spinning poi/glowsticks in juggling club, playing flute in wind ensemble, and learning go in go club. As far as I know, almost NO OTHER COLLEGE has the variety of activities as mine.

at my uni any club or organization can be created with enough interest.. if two people are interested enough in something and want to create a club for it then they do it.. at our org fair there were numerous clubs that ive never even heard of.. so to say that your uni is a bit ... not accurate...but who knows, we could possibly be giong to the same one lol although i doubt that

anywho back on subject.. pretty much what everyone else said:
- make sure they have your major or subject of interest
- apply early.. .when i first applied i almost missed the deadline
- apply early for FAFSA and apply for alot.. i got a lot of loans my first year because my family was considered middle class.. and supposedly my parents earned enough to support me.. but when my sister entered school this past year we got more grants =]
- even if you think you wont get in or someone tells you that, still apply.
- spend time on your essay.. i didnt on mine lol... but im good when it comes to procrastination XP
- dont fall for scams like that 10k one.. wth?

lol.. i pretty much repeated what others said XP BUT i hope you get in to the school you want to =]

[masturyan]

This only applies if you're unsure about your major:

I would go to a community college, get GE classes out of the way and possibly discover/think about what you want to major in, then transfer to a 4 year college. You'll save a lot of your money that way...as an example, I'm a junior and I finally "settled" on a major. But I suppose all that money wasn't wasted in some ways because I got to meet some cool people along the way, and I met my amazing girlfriend!

And general advice if you don't have a scholarship and aren't rich:

Don't worry about the name of the college; choose your college based on what you want to major in. Research which colleges have good programs for things you're interested in. Just because a college has a higher tuition doesn't mean you'll get a better education there compared to a cheaper tuition college.

[erure]

I wish I had written out applications early. I procrastinated and totally wrote my essay the day before it was due or something like that -.-a

Also, I wish I had applied to more places. It's better to know you applied and didn't get in instead of forever asking yourself "What if?"

[Angel_luvusa]

My advice to you is to apply to many schools.. Ones you want to go to, reach schools, and a safety school. Don't be cheap (like me) and only apply to one school.. lol. Even if you get accepted to it, you might wish later on that you had more choices.

Also, apply early.. most schools have a early decision program.

Finally, don't not apply to a school just because of money.. There's student loans, work study programs, grants, scholarships, and ect.

=]

[CHOMP!]

Thanks for the tips everyone (:
Yeah, $10k seems a lot ridiculous.

Thanks for the help minus the ten grand haha.
Keep them coming !

[phalken]

at my uni any club or organization can be created with enough interest.. if two people are interested enough in something and want to create a club for it then they do it.. at our org fair there were numerous clubs that ive never even heard of.. so to say that your uni is a bit ... not accurate...but who knows, we could possibly be giong to the same one lol although i doubt that

Lol sorry I phrased that badly. I didn't mean to make it sound like other universities don't have a variety of activities, it's just I personally don't know of any that have quite the extent of clubs as mine offers, bar maybe one or two. My point is just that I could have easily chosen another university and lost my opportunities at learning what I wanted, except that I got really lucky and ended up at one that had so. much. stuff. haha.

As for being able to start clubs.. yes, that's true. A lot of uni's will let you start clubs with enough interest, but the problem is it's hard to start a club when you don't have someone who's GOOD at whatever the club needs, or the school may not have the resources for it. For example, if you want to learn how to ice skate, but your school ends up not having an ice rink, then that's a problem. Or if you want to learn to juggle, but you're a freshmen and don't know anyone yet and jugglers I know tend to be a bit reclusive anyways, it'll be very difficult getting a club going where people will teach. And as for more unique interests, like learning Go, you'd have to count on the fact that there's someone at the university who CAN teach you.

College is a great time to start learning all those things you were ever curious about. You generally have the freedom of choosing your own schedule, the classes are cheaper [i.e. my figure skating classes for 12 weeks [24 hours of class total] is 50 dollars, but private instructor outside of uni's run up to around 40 dollars PER HOUR]. And it's generally easier and more fun to learn from your peers than it is to learn from.. well, older and more professional people =/

But this all depends on if extracurriculars are important to you lol. Not everyone decides to take this chance to learn what they will probably never have a chance to learn ever again, and I find that a shame =/

[heartdrops]

For me, it's definitely pay attention to the cost of college. When I applied for colleges, I never cared about the price of tuition, room and board, meal plans and such. I thought.. whatever I just need to apply to the colleges I like and hope to get in. It wasn't until after I got the acceptance letters AND the estimated costs that I was surprised. I was debating between 2 colleges and I had to chose the cheaper one (as in cost) because the other one was just wayyyyy too expensive for me. So be sure how much each college costs.. or get an estimate.

And also, APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS! I regret applying to so little. I never knew college books were SO FREAKING expensive. (Darn you brother, you never told me anything about cost of books.) Take advantage of your school/community's local scholarships and national ones from fastweb. It will definitely come in handy.

Good luck!

[xxxxxxx]

don't go to that scamming application class!
What I did was write it, have a lot of people look over it and give feedback and everything.
Make sure that it sounds like YOU

Apply for scholarships .. even though they're a pain to do but you could always recycle. hahaha
scholarships.com is a great site!

I recommend you go to a JC during your spring semester after you're done with testing and applications.
I did that because I had a lot of "freetime" . I got some GE's out of the way so that also saves you money.