Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
Yeah I totally respect that, it was more for the readers following the thread.
Let's Talk About College
- Thread starter GhostWriter16
- Start date
GhostWriter16
Deity
I also want to point out that I'll be unable to take Pre-calc in High School, the best I could do is to complete trig (I moved to a 2 year class because I was doing very poorly in the one year class.)
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Messages
- 13,725
Well you might be able to take it in a summer session of a community college and transfer it for credit to your official college. Just saying, keep your options open and you might reverse the setback.
Whiskey_Lord
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2008
- Messages
- 2,163
I implore you to take advantage of the hookup culture at least once. You will thank me and be better for it. No, this is not a troll.
almost everything in this thread has confused me, really is such a different system, over here we can apply for 6 universities, then later in the process we have to choose a first choice and a back up, if you get into neither of those you can go through whats called clearing, basically matching up left over places with those people
had a great 3 years doing my history degree but three months after graduation i am working in mcdonalds so make of that what you will
had a great 3 years doing my history degree but three months after graduation i am working in mcdonalds so make of that what you will
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Messages
- 13,725
Huh? Is that like the beaker culture, but for easy women?
@dosed, the USA is almost a completely free market, and a confusing mix of Federal government-sponsoring, private schools, state schools, accrediting bodies, online schools, technical certificates, etc.. In my original state, there were two types of public universities: those that were fully paid for by the public to train people in publicly needed jobs (e.g. teachers), and those that were partly funded by the state. And on top of that all the free market private schools.
Kraznaya
Princeps
use collegeconfidential as your resource, not cfc
their sort of somewhere between public and private here, the government pays the universities for your tuition and then you repay the government later, although if you plan to go into some careers like teaching you sometimes won't have to repay your loan
Whiskey_Lord
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2008
- Messages
- 2,163
Whatever they're calling it these days. I don't recommend waiting any longer than age 23 to have a tumble through the hay.
GhostWriter16
Deity
Not a chance. I'm firm in my Christianity and that's that
Now: More talk about education please!
So, question to throw out, what's more important? SAT/ACT scores, or overall grades?
Whiskey_Lord
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2008
- Messages
- 2,163
Won't matter if you take the cheap and easy way in and start at a JC. Screw the tests, they're a scam anyway.
GhostWriter16
Deity
Also, why 23????
Again, depends on the school. CollegeConfidential, Princeton Review, or God forbid, actually calling the admissions department, should clear that up for you.
Very generally speaking, your Test Scores are a little more important if you are attending an out of state college, since those are standardized, and your GPA is not. You want your GPA/test scores to be high in your chosen subject...having poorish grades/scores for math isn't a dealbreaker for a prospective writing student if your english marks are very high.
dwaxe
is not a fanatic
I'm a senior currently applying for college. I have a 3.9 unweighted GPA and something above 4 weighted (different colleges count grades differently). I've taken 7 APs (and I'm taking 6 more this year) and gotten 5s on all the tests. My ACT is 35 and my SAT is 2270. I'll try to tell you what I can about college apps from my perspective.
You need to raise your GPA. 3.0 is just lackluster. You can make up for it in other parts of your application, but there's no way to change that first thing college admissions officers look at unless you start getting As. In terms of AP and honors courses, I would suggest taking as many as you can handle (meaning getting As and Bs in them, and at 4s and 5s on the tests of ones that really interest you).
There's no great secret to studying for SATs or ACTs beyond practice, practice, practice. Take one test prep course to learn the official structure and a few tips and tricks. Then get (buy, beg, borrow, or steal) test prep books and take the practice tests contained therein. The official SAT Study Guide from the College Board is the best, coming with a bunch of great practice tests, but if it's not enough you can always buy Princeton Review or Kaplan or Barrons or whatever else there is on the market.
Your essays are also really important. Since this is still the start of your junior year, you really don't need to be thinking about them right now. But, if you really want to get started, you should look up the essay prompts for the Common Application and the specific ones for the schools you'd really like to get into. But honestly, you really don't have to do anything with them until the summer between Junior and Senior year. People always tell juniors "start thinking about them" when they really mean "realize that they exist and you will have to write a bunch at some point in the future".
Extracurricular activities, volunteering, and work experience are hell nice. My volunteer and work experience are lacking, and that may cost me some schools. Volunteering shows colleges that you are willing to give up time to help society. Extracurriculars are weighted differently by different colleges, but the top are always varsity sports, followed by stuff like Speech and Debate, Academic Decathlon, etc. Since you'd like to be a lawyer, I'd highly suggest interning at a law office and joining your school's Mock Trial and Debate teams. If your school doesn't have one, start one. Extracurriculars are usually a big time commitment, so try them and see what they are all about before you commit yourself.
You need to raise your GPA. 3.0 is just lackluster. You can make up for it in other parts of your application, but there's no way to change that first thing college admissions officers look at unless you start getting As. In terms of AP and honors courses, I would suggest taking as many as you can handle (meaning getting As and Bs in them, and at 4s and 5s on the tests of ones that really interest you).
There's no great secret to studying for SATs or ACTs beyond practice, practice, practice. Take one test prep course to learn the official structure and a few tips and tricks. Then get (buy, beg, borrow, or steal) test prep books and take the practice tests contained therein. The official SAT Study Guide from the College Board is the best, coming with a bunch of great practice tests, but if it's not enough you can always buy Princeton Review or Kaplan or Barrons or whatever else there is on the market.
Your essays are also really important. Since this is still the start of your junior year, you really don't need to be thinking about them right now. But, if you really want to get started, you should look up the essay prompts for the Common Application and the specific ones for the schools you'd really like to get into. But honestly, you really don't have to do anything with them until the summer between Junior and Senior year. People always tell juniors "start thinking about them" when they really mean "realize that they exist and you will have to write a bunch at some point in the future".
Extracurricular activities, volunteering, and work experience are hell nice. My volunteer and work experience are lacking, and that may cost me some schools. Volunteering shows colleges that you are willing to give up time to help society. Extracurriculars are weighted differently by different colleges, but the top are always varsity sports, followed by stuff like Speech and Debate, Academic Decathlon, etc. Since you'd like to be a lawyer, I'd highly suggest interning at a law office and joining your school's Mock Trial and Debate teams. If your school doesn't have one, start one. Extracurriculars are usually a big time commitment, so try them and see what they are all about before you commit yourself.
GhostWriter16
Deity
Yeah, not sure if we really have one, though we'll be getting some of that experience in Law Enforcement.
I'm definitely not the person to start it
dwaxe
is not a fanatic
Why not?
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
Why do you want to go to college?
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Yes, you can. One guy in my class decided to take about 5 more AP exams than AP classes, and I believe he did well enough to get credit for at least a one or two of them (at MIT). (You obviously don't get the benefit of a weighted GPA for doing this, but this guy was in the International Baccalaureate program which also weighted his GPA.)
I didn't realize this was allowed until the second day of AP testing my senior year of high school, which I think was at least a month or two passed the deadline for applying for the exam. My high school covered application and the costs of AP exams if you took the corresponding class, but left you on your own for any additional exams. They also charged the full price to those who took the class but skipped the exam.
dwaxe
is not a fanatic
Wait what? Why would they do this?
