Ask us about college/university

Instead of making a new thread. I have decided that it would be more proper to post in this thread. I hope you guys don't mind this.

Here is my question for anyone and everyone to answer if they see fit:


Besides getting good grades, how might someone increase their chances of getting into a top-notch/Ivy league University?

I am aware of some aspects of the process, like extra curricular activities, but my knowledge is only superficial. I would appreciate as detailed a response as I could get of this process(including on extra curricular activities.

Regards,

SKa-DaRk_Che

Only question that comes to mind:

How in the world do you pay for college? I've gotten accepted into my dream uni, but really have no idea how I'm going to be paying for it. It's not super expensive or anything, like 11k per year (which isn't expensive compared to private colleges). Would you guys advise just taking out a student loan?

Oh, America. :roll:

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Originally Posted by XeL

Oh, America. :roll:

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Yeah, tell me about it. :P

Hey...

I'm starting in september (college) and I'm wondering what the set-up is as far as classes. First term I have 6 classes, 3 of which have field study... and second term I have 5 classes, 3 of which also have field study. So how do they break up the classes in each term? Do I attend certain classes certain days, and is that schedule the same all term? I actually potentially have 8 full terms I may be attending... but I'll decide on the other two terms after I finish the first two.

Anyways, how is my class load for a term broken up day to day?

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Originally Posted by SkA_DaRk_Che

Besides getting good grades, how might someone increase their chances of getting into a top-notch/Ivy league University?

I am aware of some aspects of the process, like extra curricular activities, but my knowledge is only superficial. I would appreciate as detailed a response as I could get of this process(including on extra curricular activities.

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I don't think any universities place as much weight on extra-curriculars as some people would have you believe. They might help a little, but no school is going to reject you citing your lack of high school club memberships. You should be more concerned with getting good test grades. My somewhat predictable advice with regards to that is to study your ass off. It sounds obvious but in my experience most students study little or none and just wing it on the test. Trust me: studying helps a lot. I always say that most academic tests don't measure what they are intending to measure (trivia, apparently) so much as they measure your ability to take that particular academic test.

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Originally Posted by Xox

Only question that comes to mind:

How in the world do you pay for college? I've gotten accepted into my dream uni, but really have no idea how I'm going to be paying for it. It's not super expensive or anything, like 11k per year (which isn't expensive compared to private colleges). Would you guys advise just taking out a student loan?

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You don't really have a choice. No job that you can get at 18 is going to be able to cover your education. Apply for federal student loans -- NOT bank loans!

What many people do is spend their first year or two at a community college before transferring to a university. The idea is that you will save money (especially if you're living at home as well), you'll only be taking intro-level and gen-ed courses anyway, and if you make good grades there then you're more likely to be offered scholarships when you apply to universities. Schools are more impressed by good college grades than by good high school grades.

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Originally Posted by mindwanderer

Hey...

I'm starting in september (college) and I'm wondering what the set-up is as far as classes. First term I have 6 classes, 3 of which have field study... and second term I have 5 classes, 3 of which also have field study. So how do they break up the classes in each term? Do I attend certain classes certain days, and is that schedule the same all term? I actually potentially have 8 full terms I may be attending... but I'll decide on the other two terms after I finish the first two.

Anyways, how is my class load for a term broken up day to day?

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Compared to high school, your college class schedule will seem crazy at first. Each class typically meets 2 or 3 days per week (although 1 day is not uncommon) for 1 to 1.5 hours at a time. Rarely will you be lucky enough to have your classes in nice, organized blocks of the day. More typically you'll have something in the morning, an hour or two to kill where you're not sure if you should walk home for lunch or just hang out at the student center, a couple classes in the afternoon, and then maybe a lab in the evening. Also, your schedule will be different each day of the week. I'm sort of a nerd so I found it helpful to write out my class schedule in an Excel spreadsheet. I actually still have my spreadsheet from last semester, take a look.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/4213/schedule.png

I'm in a graduate program so this wont be completely representative of what your schedule might look like, but it's not too far off. The main difference is that grad programs tend to have fewer, more demanding classes rather than a larger number of relatively easy classes. Anyway, the main thing to notice about this schedule (and college schedules in general) is how erratic it is. By chance I happened to have several back-to-back engagements on Wednesdays that took up most of the day, but for the most part things are pretty spread out. There are large stretches of time on some days between classes, and the question there is what to do with yourself. Finally, I managed to keep Fridays completely free. Within certain constraints, you have a bit of freedom to set your own schedule in college, so if you're clever and you enroll early you can often set yourself up nicely like that.

Cool! Thanks... I'm living on campus anyways... so it won't be far to go. Hopefully it won't be too crazy! Some of my terms have soo many classes... it'll be nuts!

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Originally Posted by SkA_DaRk_Che

Instead of making a new thread. I have decided that it would be more proper to post in this thread. I hope you guys don't mind this.

Here is my question for anyone and everyone to answer if they see fit:


Besides getting good grades, how might someone increase their chances of getting into a top-notch/Ivy league University?

I am aware of some aspects of the process, like extra curricular activities, but my knowledge is only superficial. I would appreciate as detailed a response as I could get of this process(including on extra curricular activities.

Regards,

SKa-DaRk_Che

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It really depends on your course. I'm reading maths at Cambridge and there are really are a lot of rumours about the admissions process which are total bunk.

The main and sometimes the only thing they're looking for is academic ability. This means high grades and being able to perform well in interview, which involves asking tricky and novel questions.

Extra curricular activities, as far as I can tell, don't make a difference for the most part for academic subjects. If you want to read science for instance, the admissions staff couldn't care less how long you've been playing tennis for (this is actually paraphrasing an admissions tutor). They care how good you are at science.

The only important extra curricular activities are those related to your subject; they are interested in what kind of books you've read around your subject, etcetera. Basically, showing an interest and being able to discuss it is very important.

The final thing I'd say is be interesting. Have something interesting to say about your subject. I talked quite a lot in my personal statement about being interested in mathematical neuroscience which is quite unusual and might have helped to get me in (alongside the head of admissions being a mathematical biologist, lol...).

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I'm sort of a nerd so I found it helpful to write out my class schedule in an Excel spreadsheet.

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Google calendar is where it's at!

Seriously that thing is brilliant.

Google Calendar is very neat. It's very useful for making public calendars to share with groups of people. However, I find that creating all those individual events can be a bit tedious, so when I'm making something for my eyes only, I typically fall back on Excel. If necessary I can always upload the spreadsheet to Google Docs and then share it (another of Google's very cool services).

Lots of good info here, I'm learning a lot!

So I finally decided to go to college, something I thought I'd never do. Planning to move to Mississippi in June, get an apartment with a friend (and fellow DV member) and go to community college. According to all the info I've gotten, I can establish residency easily, and not have to pay out-of-state tuition, so long as I have a bit of paperwork. So it'll actually be cheaper than anything in-state for me, plus I get to go with friends.

However, there are a few things that I'm still not sure about, so maybe you can help. I need high school transcripts to send to the college, but since I was home-schooled, and we didn't keep transcripts, I've been told I can make them up and have them notarized, then signed by my parents. Thing is, I have no idea how to go about doing this, or even what transcripts should consist of. Is it just a list of subjects I took and passing grades? Or something more? :panic:

Also, I'm going to be needing to work while I go to school, in order to pay rent and utilities. Is there any way I can ensure that my class schedule won't conflict with my job (hopefully something working nights)?

I'm going to be taking a two-year Graphic Design course, to get my Associates. I'm pretty pumped.

Oh, and should I go ahead and fill out the FASFA now, or should I wait until I actually get a job (sometime in the next week or two, I hope)? I know the government expects something like 30% of a student's income to go towards their tuition costs (according to a probably outdated book I found at the library), but would it be dishonest or otherwise bad to put in my FASFA before I have income to put down for this reason?

Oh, and is it true that the college placement tests are often easier/more forgiving than the ACT?

This is all very new and somewhat scary to me. Any help much appreciated!

Anyone here at/near Manchester? How's the night life?

Considering members here are from all over the world, that's unlikely.

Go to thestudentroom.com.

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Google Calendar is very neat. It's very useful for making public calendars to share with groups of people. However, I find that creating all those individual events can be a bit tedious, so when I'm making something for my eyes only, I typically fall back on Excel. If necessary I can always upload the spreadsheet to Google Docs and then share it (another of Google's very cool services).

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I used to use Excel but it just takes ages to sort out the layout and then manually add every single event for every single day... I've got quite a regular schedule, so it's really a miracle when you create a new event and in three clicks you say when it is, how often, and until what date.

Google. <3

I might not be the best person to answer this, but I'll shoot anyway! Others. feel free to answer Josh's questions.

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However, there are a few things that I'm still not sure about, so maybe you can help. I need high school transcripts to send to the college, but since I was home-schooled, and we didn't keep transcripts, I've been told I can make them up and have them notarized, then signed by my parents. Thing is, I have no idea how to go about doing this, or even what transcripts should consist of. Is it just a list of subjects I took and passing grades? Or something more?

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Make a grand list of all the stuff you have taken in secondary school. Go by memory, of course. You might want to have me look over it once it's done. Do it by grade (9th grade: X Classes), and it would be best if you can find specific grades. Use letter grades, that way you're not estimating numbers. I'm sure you can recall what letter grade or around what letter grade you earned.

Spoiler for transc:

https://www.gedoptions.com/images/largetrans.gif

That's pretty small, but you'll get the idea. Establish a credits system if you feel like it, earning one credit for every class you took. Calculate your GPA, which you can just ask me about if you have any questions.

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Also, I'm going to be needing to work while I go to school, in order to pay rent and utilities. Is there any way I can ensure that my class schedule won't conflict with my job (hopefully something working nights)?

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You pretty much set up your own schedule, so hopefully you'll get your job first and THEN set up your schedule. It's easy to do, a lot of student have part time jobs..but are you going fulltime or part? Also, look into "work-study programs." They're offered by most schools, and are quite convenient in terms of paying for college AND getting a job compatible with school.

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Oh, and should I go ahead and fill out the FASFA now, or should I wait until I actually get a job (sometime in the next week or two, I hope)? I know the government expects something like 30% of a student's income to go towards their tuition costs (according to a probably outdated book I found at the library), but would it be dishonest or otherwise bad to put in my FASFA before I have income to put down for this reason?

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30%?? The financial aid advisor that came to my school said that most students who file the FAFSA and support themselves usually get 100% covered. She might've been wrong, though I doubt so, and 30% sounds a bit high. Anyway, it doesn't matter when you file it, but file it ASAP. The FAFSA is based off of last year, so as long as you have last years tax returns and w-2, you can file it. It doesn't much matter whether you get a job right now.

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Oh, and is it true that the college placement tests are often easier/more forgiving than the ACT?

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For sure. I haven't taken the ACT, took the SAT, but I have taken an English and Math placement test for DE courses. They're actually from the ACT, the placement course I took anyway, but it was really easy. A joke compared to the SAT.

Since we were recently talking about extra curriculars, the latest XKCD comic seems relevant...
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/honor_societies.png

Also, to answer the question about placement tests, they are definitely easier than ACT/SAT. However, you're not going be offered any sort of scholarship based on your placement test score, whereas you might be offered something based on legit academic test scores. Food for thought.

I think the admissions essay is immensely important too. It's sort of as important as the interview would be in say, England. Most uni's in the US don't have enough time to do interviews. I'm pretty sure my admissions essays were what got me into every uni I applied to. I suggest looking up the admissions essays for the uni's you're going to apply to, and then write them in the summer. I have tons of admissions essay advice though (researched it like mad last year), so if you want it just PM me..

I personally think the SAT is very important as well. If you're wanting to get into Ivy league, your score should be at least over 2000. Try to get it as high as you can, take it a couple of times. Aim for around 2200. You want to make your score competitive. I know a school nearby (VA Tech) has a cut off score of 500. That is, the applicant needs to have at least a 500 in each section to even be considered. Now, a 500 isn't that high at all, and I doubt that most uni's do this, but still. It's important. Take your SAT as early as you can, you don't have to send the score reports if you don't want to. If you take it early, you'll get an idea about the test and of your strengths so that you can improve. I have a few useful SAT tips as well, PM me for them. Anyway, if you get a low SAT, don't panic either, there are other ways to stand out.

Ivy/top uni applicants usually have the same stuff going for them: perfect grades, the same AP classes, high SAT score, blah blah. You need to stand out, and the way to stand out is to right a kick-ass essay.

Extra-carics are not really that important, but at the same time you need to be doing something. A lot of colleges want to see that you're involved with the community (and ESPECIALLY scholarship peeps), try finding some volunteer work to do. And as someone stated, make your extra-carics relate to your intended major. e.g. intended psych - volunteered at the mental health institution.

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Originally Posted by DuB

Since we were recently talking about extra curriculars, the latest XKCD comic seems relevant...
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/honor_societies.png

Also, to answer the question about placement tests, they are definitely easier than ACT/SAT. However, you're not going be offered any sort of scholarship based on your placement test score, whereas you might be offered something based on legit academic test scores. Food for thought.

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Haha that's one of the best xckd's I've ever seen. The Fightclub reference, haha.

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Originally Posted by Xox

You need to stand out, and the way to stand out is to right a kick-ass essay.

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:3

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Originally Posted by XeL

:3

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I. Was. Sleep. Deprived.

>:{ Don't look at me like that!

Dohohoho.

Women writing. Whatever next.

Woo, thanks for all the info, Xox! I guess I'll get started on the FAFSA and transcripts. :banana:

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Originally Posted by Man of Steel

However, there are a few things that I'm still not sure about, so maybe you can help. I need high school transcripts to send to the college, but since I was home-schooled, and we didn't keep transcripts, I've been told I can make them up and have them notarized, then signed by my parents. Thing is, I have no idea how to go about doing this, or even what transcripts should consist of. Is it just a list of subjects I took and passing grades? Or something more? :panic:

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I don't have much to add to what's been said, but as far as your transcript goes, I'd ask the office of Admission what you should do. It's better to ask than send something in and have it returned or have them call you about it.

Has anyone done a transfer from one college to another, and if you did... was it awkward making new friends, seeing as Juniors already have an established group.

I transferred schools between my 3rd and 4th semesters. It was not a big deal. Obviously I'm just one person and my experience won't hold for everyone, but I made new friends very quickly. In fact, I made probably the best friends of my life immediately after that transfer--the only "old friends" that I bother to keep up with nowadays (and I've been through more sets of friends than is typical for someone of my relatively modest age). I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be true for you as well. It's a happy fact that the world is full of very cool people, and as long as you have a good attitude, there's no reason for you to have any trouble making great friends wherever you go. That being the case, if you have a good reason for transferring schools, then just do it and don't worry about your social situation; it'll work out just fine. Trust me.

This reminds me of one of my very favorite quotes... it happens to be referring to homosexual men, but I like to think that it's significant in a much broader sense:
Harvey Milk: [to Cleve Jones] You're going to meet the most extraordinary men, the sexiest, brightest, funniest men, and you're going to fall in love with so many of them, and you won't know until the end of your life who your greatest friends were or your greatest love was.