Welcome to College: Selecting the Right School for You

So, I realize this is a little late for anyone hoping to apply to college for 2011-2012.  Most schools want applications in by January.  Of course I don't know every college in America, or even most of them, because, you know, there's approximately 100 million, billion colleges in the United States (I exaggerate).

image source: http://www.zazzle.com/kaplan_newsweek-248680707201413629 but my advice is mine (and free)

With so many colleges across the country, it can be hard to decipher where you should go.  There are many things to consider.  Let's start with Community College, Private Colleges, and Public Universities.




Community colleges generally offer Associate's (2-year) degrees, and are a great place to get some undergrad credits in.  The education at a community college is just as good, sometimes better, than a more traditional university.  It can be just as rigorous and challenging or laid-back and easy as the potential of any public university.

image source: http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc45538.php

I really recommend anyone take some of their classes at their local community college.  Community college is cheaper than a university, so you save some money.  The nice thing is that you also do not need to be accepted to the university -enrollment is open as long as you make sure to register with the college.  This can be quite helpful to those who missed application deadlines, want to start sooner, or whatever your circumstance might be.


However, a word of caution on your community college - make sure that your credits will transfer if you plan to attend a public (or private) university.  For example, I took classes at my local community college back home before I moved to this state for college.  At that school, it was on the semester system (2 terms a year plus summer), and each class was 5 credits (I think, it's been a while) at that institution.  My current school is on the quarter system (4 terms a year including summer), and so the credits were calculated down to 4.5.


Actually, though, this is good advice in general -whatever college you first attend, if you transfer elsewhere, not all your classes will "count" at your new school.  In some cases, the new school does not require certain classes that the old one did, so if you transfer, you may have to repeat classes, or take more classes than your Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior ranking should suggest.  Do NOT let that deter you from transferring institutions if you feel the need to -just use it to make an informed decision.

I'm not mentioning technical schools here because I don't know very much about them -but if that's what's right for you, look into it!  I know many people who benefited from getting a 2 year degree at a technical school, and there are many around.





Private Colleges/Universities are often the most elite of American schools.  Some of them are affiliated with religion, but you don't have to be religious/of that religion to attend them (it might help though).  If you were asked to name a college off the top of your head, you would probably mention a private school -Harvard, Yale, Reed.  Many private universities are very prestigious, but not all.

image source: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/10/1023_college_tutions/source/1.htm

The biggest problem with private schools is the cost.  Because they do not receive government money, they must fund themselves through tuition, what you pay.  These schools, especially the prestigious ones, can be extremely expensive -we're taking $40k a year.  On the other hand, because these schools have many wealthy contributors, they are also more able to give better scholarships.


In my experience, back when I was applying to colleges, I applied to two (I think?) private schools, both of which were going to be about $37,000 a year.  There is no way I could have paid that, even with student loans.  Nice thing was, I applied for scholarships/financial aid to those schools, and they were willing to give me about $16,000 a year.  Wow!  Sounds like a lot!  Actually, though, the price between going out of state (where I really wanted to go and eventually wound up) was about equal once you do the math.


Private schools are also generally smaller and much more selective in who they accept.  This means that private schools are generally harder to get into, so you'd better start writing some amazing application essays, get some great references, and look your smartest for an interview.  Still, lots of people get accepted into private schools just fine, so if it's up your alley, I would highly recommend giving it a shot.




Public Universities are the last general type of school I'm going to talk about here.  Public universities are the higher education equivalent of public school for K-12, but not the same.  I'll talk more about in-state vs. out-of-state next post, so for now just assume I mean in-state.  Public universities receive government funding, so tuition is cheaper.  It's really varied on the amount of prestige awarded to the public university -some can be very highly regarded, while others (ahem, mine) tend to get overlooked.  The education is usually all good, though.

image source: http://photos-university.blogspot.com/

Public universities usually have more students, some can be as big as about 30,000, and some institutions offer degrees in dozens of areas.  Some programs, like music, art, engineering, or architecture, might be more selective, and not all public universities are easy to get into, but it's generally easier to get into public university than private.  Most people with sufficient academic background can get into the less-prestigious public universities.


If you're worried about not being as challenged, most schools have honors programs (private and public, I think) that you could apply to for extra work and stress and possibly education.  I was accepted into my school's honors program and lasted 1 month.  I was highly displeased with it, but I love the university studies system that most people here take.  By the way, useful hint: schools with "state" in the name are state schools => public schools :)




OK so those are the types of universities.  Where you go from there depends on what you want, or what you think you want.  Some private colleges have unusual grading systems, and some have unusual schedules (for example, the 3-week intensive program at Colorado College).  If you want a challenging school, you can look up the top-college rankings in various magazines -just check your local library or bookstore if you need one, I'm lazy.

source: http://www.dipity.com/timeline/U-s-News-And-World-Report-College-Rankings/

What you might want to look for are: social life (sororities/frats, sports, campus events), student retention (how many students go all 4 years to that university, closer to 100% is better but rare), cost, location, and of course if they have what you want to study.  There isn't much point to attending a school that doesn't have the program you want!  If you don't know what you want, consider taking some general/interesting courses at your local community college to get a feel for what you're interested in.


Once you know the gist of what you're looking for, start looking into colleges that fit those criteria.  You might find some that have fun clubs, 75% student retention, offer great scholarships to you, where you want to be, and what you want to study, but have some weird schedule, like the 3 week classes, you might not want to go there.  Or, you might love to go there!


It's also worth it to look into study abroad, internship, workstudy, and career counseling services offered at each college.


Remember that college is what you make it.  If you want to go, you should go somewhere that you really want to, that fits you, and that makes you happy.  This is your life, your money, and your future.  Make the best of it! :)

image source: me!  and not my school.  it's an inside joke but funny

Integrity and Responsibility: Welcome to College (part 2?)

It's Wednesday.  This morning was very rainy, like it's been of late.  I'm a girl, so I don't know how to walk in the rain without soaking the hems of my jeans.  Once upon a time I owned a pair of rainboots, but they fell apart at the heel, so now I've taken to wearing my fancy clearance hiking boots as rainboots.  They aren't waterproof, but they're comfortable, good quality, warm, and keep me dry.  Plus, I can tuck my pant leg into them and keep that drier, although half the time I just wear a dress and sweater tights.

So, this morning I got to class late because I left my house late, almost missed my bus (it came early), and then the bus broke so we all had to pile into another bus.  All this put me in an inexplicably negative mood.  I skipped breakfast, so by the time I got to school, my hunger made me even crabbier.  There was no line at the coffee shop, so I ordered a chocolate croissant (YUM) and a hot tea.  I got my tea bag, and the dumb bitches working at the counter were yapping about unemployment.  It took them way too long to get my damn tea, and I was about ready to tear them a new one.  I went to class instead, and spent most of it eating my croissant.  Chocolatey goodness.

A little birdie by my work last week

For the hour or so after class, I hung out with my friend.  We chatted.  It was fine.  Now she's in her next class and I'm here, merely skirting the existence between the time class ended and I have to go to work later.  If I were a productive student, I would be working on my final paper for my senior project class.  Yeah, I could be doing that.  I even have Word open with my name and the class written down.  I also have the topic of the paper out.  For all intents and purposes, it looks like I'm working on my homework.

my kitties love each other

I'm not.  Clearly, I'm here writing this instead.  There's also Facebook.  Welcome to College.  Time management is a skill I've learned -theoretically, I can manage my time perfectly.  It's motivation that's the problem.  I don't want to do my homework.  So I'm not.  I'm here, using up an open computer when there might be other people who need it.  I don't care.  There are at least 3 other open computers.  The best part is that to anyone not reading this over my shoulder, I could be doing legitimate homework.  Hi, creeper.

the city at night

I'll go to work in a while, grab some lunch (on my $10 budget; thank God it's payday).  Until then, I'm here just dicking around.  That's basically what college is like.  I'm really going to regret this later, but I live for the here and now, instant gratification, procrastination, and apathy.  I'll probably not write my paper at all.  Even if I could spit it out rather quickly.

it was really rainy yesterday

That's the way college really is, don't let any achievers tell you differently.  Sometimes you do a paper on time, but for the most part, college feels like a game where I see how much I can possibly get away with using as little effort as possible.  I acknowledge the foolishness of this philosophy -I'm paying big bucks for school to what, be mediocre?  I encourage anyone to put forth the effort it takes to be amazing.  I probably will resent you for my own short comings, but don't let that stop you.

at the park

It's not only me that is this lazy.  I know of at least three more people equally as lazy.  Some are even lazier, but I've found a beautiful balance on the precipice, teetering between extreme procrastination and utter failure.  I get OK grades.  I think if I put in any less effort, I'd get bad grades.  I think I should put in more effort.  "I should," though, is not a convincing argument.  Logic fails to reason with my sleepy brain.

So it goes.

And so I go to lunch now.

Welcome to College Part 1: Destitution

I remember a few years ago (seems so recent and yet so long ago) when I first started college. I was so excited! I was going to be fashionable, make lots of friends, do fun things, get great grades, lose weight, party, work, and blah blah blah. And, to be fair, freshman year I did do most of that -I lived in the dorms, which makes it easy to make friends. I still dressed like a goth girl, and wore make up daily. I went out at all hours of the night, doing stupid things like walk by myself past midnight in a notoriously bad part of town. I didn't lose weight, and since I didn't study, I didn't get good grades. I did alright. And I definitely partied, if by "party" you mean got drunk on Pabst all night with some guys I wasn't exactly friends with but were fun to drink with. Oh boy, my grades suffered that term!

College is nothing like you see in movies. Not that I've seen a lot of movies about college; not really my taste. But still, we have this ideal that the girls are hot and dress up, the guys are cool, everybody's in a frat or sorority, everybody has wiiiiild parties, big football games, school spirit, rah rah rah, you know the cliches. I'm telling you, none of that is true. This is the first in a We'll-See-When-I-Get-Bored-Of-It series explaining what college is really like for me, an Average Student :)


So, what's it like being a college student? For one, everybody's pretty damn poor. Everyone I know has money problems -student loans, FAFSA (the biggest bullshit you'd ever believe), rent, books, you name it. I don't know ANYONE who can afford to regularly party, do drugs, drink, wear fancy clothes, drive nice cars, go places, buy the most recent electronics, or eat regularly/healthily.

Seriously. College is all about staving off complete destitution long enough to graduate. On a typical Saturday night, if I ask myself, "What do I want to do today?" the answer is something along the lines of "I have 37 cents. Let's stay home and sleep." Right now, after rent and before payday, I have a total of $8.50 to live off of. If I'm going to eat, it's whatever's in my freezer or cabinets

I'm vegetarian, so I don't have to worry about buying that expensive "meat" other people crave. I just buy frozen vegetables on sale, and rice in bulk, so when supplies get low, I can make a tasty stir fry and rice dish. Or I can make just rice and veggies. Or rice and cheese. Cheese is a common college staple, along with tortillas, eggs, milk, cereal, chips, popsicles, potatoes, pasta, butter, cookies, and a huge bag of baking chips. In our house, we thrive primarily on bagels and cream cheese. Two weeks' worth of groceries costs me usually about $30, if I go somewhere cheap like Winco.

Obviously a diet based largely on boxed foods, frozen foods, preserved foods, grease, salt, sugar, and fat is NOT healthy. Hence, the Freshmen 15, the Sophomore 25, the Junior 35, and the Senior 45. At least if you go to Grad School, you'll be too stressed out to eat. Anyway, all this poverty puts the stereotypical college food Pizza out of our range. Sometimes salad is affordable, and when it is, I get that.

Thanks to this poverty, college students LOVE free stuff. Just today, I picked up a half-broken, wobbly old stereo cabinet that my neighbor was giving away. I was stoked! I can use it to store some of my crap. My roommate's mom got us a killer free coffeetable a few weeks ago. Basically, if it's in even remotely usable condition, and you can get it home, if it's free, a college student will jump on that like flies on shit and drag it home. You can figure out what to do with it once you've got it home.

Similarly, I love deals. I will nitpick for the best deals in Winco. I won't buy things I don't really want, or usually need, but I can spend fifteen minutes deciding on which box of pasta gives the most bang for buck. Coupons? Awesome! What I won't do to save 15 cents a pound. Your standards, when you're a poor college student, also take a dive. It usually goes name brand > store brand > generic brand > sub-generic brand. Winco sells stuff that is literally called "Cat Clay." "Cat Food." "Dog Food." It's a plain white or yellow bag with black lettering. For me, I can handle the sub-generic brand stuff usually, although I won't buy stuff that tastes nasty. And I won't buy my pets anything less than store brand.

Being poor as I am, I did get rid of cable, and I'm on the cheapest internet (still expensive). I take advantage of every deal I can. Thrift stores and Old Navy are great for cheap deals. I won't spend more than $10 for a shirt, and no more than $20 for pants. Actually, thrift stores rock in general. So much shit for so cheap! Unfortunately, there are better thrift stores back in my hometown than my new town. Subsequently, I have a hard time throwing anything away. "Oh, clothes that don't fit me? Hrm...I could lose weight! They only have one hole in them." You get it. I make an excuse to keep everything.

The worst part of being a poor college student, though, is the working. You have to work to pay for your life, but working interferes with school. Yes, students who work are better at time management, but my job is infuriatingly inflexible. I can't afford to quit, especially with the promise of full-time employment right after graduation, but I will never graduate if I can't take core classes because they interfere with my work schedule. It's such an annoying conundrum.

But, the upside to this destitution is the creativity that you have to draw from the depths of your soul. You'll find yourself making strange meals that are surprisingly delicious. You'll find some use for the torn up old robe you kept for some reason (it's our bathroom curtains). An old fishbowl is now a pot for a plant. Nothing to do? Let's clean. Let's sleep. Or, let's study. Hate your job? Think of it as the place with free AC or heat. Plus, if you're really looking for something to do, you can go to free school events.

Yes, the college life is a constant battle of being completely broke, getting paid, paying rent, and being broke again. And if you're like me, the poverty will carry on after graduation thanks to a huge debt left by student loans that are only growing interest. Such is life, and college is great training for how to be poor. It's even actually pretty fun sometimes!