Topic: College Applications

[jrlibrarian]

Hey all,


So I'm currently in the process of applying to 17 colleges. (Yes, I know I'm completely crazy. Friends have already informed me of this.) Is there anyone else here who is also applying for college this year, and if so, what schools are you looking at?

[ThePerm]

No you're not crazy, you're just smart. Get a good scholarship, that way you don't have to pay for anything. This is important. Grants suck, you can pay them back, but the economy is in a hole right now, so no job guarantees.

[Morari]

Um... You don't pay grants back, you pay loans back. Definitely try to stay away from loans if possible. Any extra income you wind up making due to your educational qualifications will just go to pay off painful debt. There is no quicker way to become a wage slave than living under debt, be it student loans, new cars, over indulgent houses, etc.

Just keep in mind that college isn't really necessary for most jobs. Furthermore, it's unlikely that you'll actually learn a lot that you don't already know in your preferred field. That's just the nature of the system though. College is big business anymore, and profits come at the expense of real education. It never hurts to have that little diploma, but it's not the instant passport to success that many make it out to be. Hard work, charisma, and experience is still needed and trumps assumed education every time.

[ThePerm]

err yeah you know what i mean, brain fart. I mean loans, yes Grants good, loans bad.

[nickmitch]

Scholarships/Grants are definitely the way to go. I'm on my second degree now, and I'm seeing a lot of differences between friends who had loans and friends who didn't. You'd be surprised at how one bill waiting for you at graduation affects a person's lifestyle.

[Ceric]

When I went to college the only thing that seemed to matter for Scholarship and Grants where:

1) Are you a Minority?
2) Are you Female?
3) Are you Low Income?

I went at a particular bad time in the system.  I hope things are better now because scholarships and grants are great.  If you do a loan forgiveness program make sure your employer has you as full time.  My mom got messed over because even though she was working 40+ hours as a Nurse the Hospital had found a way to not label her Full time and she didn't get her forgiveness.

[ThePerm]

also how good are your grades? Great grades can get people scholarships too.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, I'm getting $10,000 a year because of my grades. That and the 80% off tuition I get because my mom works at the college means I'm not paying anything out of pocket for my degree.

[jrlibrarian]

I'm doing pretty well in regards to grades. At the end of my junior year (where I fucked up in Calculus first semester), I had a 3.7. With my 4 AP classes and Physics senior year, I'm somehow holding a 4.0 a month into the school year. Go figure.


And the list of colleges to apply to continues to grow as I get emails offering me absolutely free applications to schools like Whitworth and Hofstra. Thank you very much, I will indeed apply to your school and be in contention for your awesome scholarships. Whitworth, for example, is offering to pay $19,000 a year if I'm accepted automatically just because of my GPA/SAT/ACT scores (2020 and 32 atm). I shall be taking the SAT for a 4th time this Saturday.

[jrlibrarian]

Here is a current list of those schools which I have completed my application to:


Dartmouth College
Gonzaga University
Boston College
Western Washington University
Whitworth University
Hofstra University

[Ceric]

That's great.  Yeah, when my son gets to High School I'm going to try to Push him into AP because its a degrading waste of time to do the starting English and like in College.  They don't work on what you really need most of the time (Grammar).

[Nick DiMola]

Whitworth, for example, is offering to pay $19,000 a year if I'm accepted automatically just because of my GPA/SAT/ACT scores (2020 and 32 atm). I shall be taking the SAT for a 4th time this Saturday.

I read that and thought, "Holy ****, how did he get over a 1600?" Then I remembered that it's out of 2400 now. Still a good score regardless. Also, this makes me feel old.

[nintendo1945]

When I went to college the only thing that seemed to matter for Scholarship and Grants where:

1) Are you a Minority?
2) Are you Female?
3) Are you Low Income?

I went at a particular bad time in the system.  I hope things are better now because scholarships and grants are great.  If you do a loan forgiveness program make sure your employer has you as full time.  My mom got messed over because even though she was working 40+ hours as a Nurse the Hospital had found a way to not label her Full time and she didn't get her forgiveness.

I applied for this school year (Penn State whoo!) and I can say that it is not better. It's worse.

[jrlibrarian]

UPDATE:


Accepted to 9/15 schools, all with pretty good scholarships
Whitworth
Willamette
Carroll
Knox
Hofstra
Linfield
TCU
George Fox
Gonzaga


Still waiting to hear back from Boston College (#1 choice atm), Whitman, UW, Western, Yale, and Dartmouth.

[Ceric]

I know nothing about pretty much any of them but, Congrats!