Okay, since it's the time of year that people are starting college and also people are starting to look at colleges, I thought I'd post a few tips and pointers that I found helpful in my college search and college days. Other college students/grads, feel free to add your own tips!!

*Seriously look at staying in-state for school. Out of state tuition is a bear. I paid $5000 a year for Washington State. Those who don't have residency in the state pay the full brunt of the cost (which is around $13,000) and that's just tuition.

*Your first two years are going to be the same whether or not you're at Harvard or at Podunk Community College. English, Math, etc. it's all the same stuff.

*Most companies don't care where you got your degree from, just as long as you have it. Just make sure that they are an accredited schoool, though (you can ask the admissions office and they should be able to tell you who they are accredited by). If you're still unsure Council on Higher Education Accreditation Directory.

*Visit, visit, visit.

*If you go there while school is in session, ask if you can sit in on classes.

*Spend a half day or so on campus and talk to students. Not the ones that give you the tour, though. They'll tell you what they think you want to hear. Talk to students in the cafeteria and ask them what they're majoring in, what they think of the school, things like that.

*Make sure YOU feel right there. If you walk onto campus and have a funny feeling like "I shouldn't be going here," then you're probably right. That school isn't the place for you. I had that feeling walking onto the Evergreen State College campus (no offense to anyone who goes there) and I wasn't even going to check out the school. I was going to use their library (my first college's library and their library had an agreement to let each others students use their libraries)!!!

*Don't apply to just one college. Even if you're sure you'll get in.

*Don't get your hopes set on getting admitted to your "dream" school.

*Be aware. Professors like conscientious students. Trust me. Showing up for class, doing your assignments, etc. will benefit you, especially if they grade on a curve and you're sitting right on the borderline of the next highest grade.

*If you sell your books back, choose so selectively. Think you're going to use your Psych 101 text? Keep it. If you don't use it, you can always sell it online.

*The financial aid package. Can you afford the difference, if any, between the cost of tuition, room and board and books?

*Scholarships. There's scholarship money out there. http://www.fastweb.com is a great FREE scholarship resource. Also, there are institutional scholarships, community scholarships. If you're still in high school, talk to your guidance counselor. They should have a list of available scholarships in your community.

*Try contacting the specific program you want to major in. Sometimes they have information on the programs (I used to work in the Education office at my first college and we had a stock of program information on hand) and they might be more of a help to you than the admissions office.

*Internships. If your major program offers them, do it! They are extremely valuable and believe me, when you go out looking for a job, especially if your internship was in your chosen career field, you will be grateful for the experience.

*Sometimes, the school like ITT Technical Institute and DeVry Institute may say that your credits will transfer to a local Community College, but CHECK WITH THE OTHER COLLEGE THAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT TRANSFERRING TO. A majority of the time, the credits don't transfer.

*If you transfer schools, don't freak if not all your credits transfer. All classes lower than 100 level don't transfer (at least in the State of Washington, this is true), and some at the 100+ level don't transfer, either.

thanks!!!! cuz im gonna be sending out the college applications this year!!!

In the sciences/engineering fields, the place your degree is from **DOES** count. Not nearly as much as the fact that you've got the degree. But it DOES count for something.

Get your applications in EARLY! Then you can rest easily.

Transferring is a viable option. It saves on the $$$. I know many current engineering students who did their first two years at a technical college, then transferred to the University of Minnesota for the last two years. But make sure the credits will transfer!

Most importantly, when you get to college, hit the ground running. Don't get behind the first week. I'm a 3-semesters-running Dean's list student. Do the work. You will be rewarded. Even though it may not seem like it, the professors DO know who's doing the work and coming to class.

David

Learn something new everyday...

I seriously didn't know that. I have a B.S. in Psych and was like 5 credits from an AA in Business Admin. My Accounting prof. was the one that said it didn't matter.

thanks for the tips guys!! i start on the 29th and im a bit nervous but each lil bit of advice is helping!!

No problem!

i agree with our token male, there. the reason you should go to a GOOD school for sciences and engineering is because good schools have the money to have GOOD facilities. and thats where it counts. you can go to a school with a great program, but if they don't have the best technology, then it won't cut it once you go into the industry for a job or to grad school. i can't stress that enough to people who take their gen eds and lower level science classes at a CC. with that, you miss out on the basic instruction of how to use some of the great technology and instruments available at major universities. my school, grand valley, we aren't known for having a great chemistry program. but when the pfizer plant in holland closed, we got all of their analysis tools (multi-million dollars worth). and when i send in a resume somewhere i can say i have experience running these kind of instruments. people like that.

as for everyone together, get involved in something. not alot of things, but play IM soccer or soemthing. go to football games. and live in a dorm for a year. thats the easiest way to make friends and meet people and become involved and feel like you're a part of the school.

stock up on real food, because often times you'll either be too lazy to go to a caf or its too cold to walk there, or you slept through the times it was open for dinner, or whatever (been there done that all three excuses).

GET A LOFT IF YOU LIVE IN A DORM. get a futon to put under your loft. buy lots of christmas lights. buy funny inflatable things (i have an astronaut). get a phone book (hello pizza).

find a place thats not your room to hang out at. soon enough youll be a regular and thats a great feeling of belonging.

once in awhile, screw the paper you have to write and go out with friends and stay out late. youll remember the fun you had, not staying home to write a paper. just dont do it all the time.

find an environment you can write in. for me, i sit down and listen to atmosphere or godspeed you! black emperor with dimmed lights and snack food handy. and i sit and write out the whole damn paper at once, that way even if its bad, it still flows.

participate in class. don't just show up and do the work. i can't stress it enough, even if you think youre wrong or you sound stupid or you cant figure out how to word things or whatever. just speak up. and go to office hours. don't be afraid to ask for help. seriously, from someone who TUTORS. ask for help. get a tutor if youre afraid, you can always drop tutoring sessions, its usually free for you and they get paid ^_^. but really, i struggled through a year of p chem, barely got a B after many months of nearly crying (and a shitload of time in office hours)... and now the prof comes up to me and personally asks me to join the special topics p chem class that hes teaching. become friendly with your profs (its easier as you get farther along because youll have them and see them more once you take the more specialized classes in your major)... friendly profs = great letters of reccomendation. and grad schools require three.

be chatty with people and sit by them all the time in class so you form a group. study with them. or, well, "study" which involved half studying half laughing your asses off. either way. this also gets easier as your classes are more specialized because you become part of a group by default, you all share the same major and youll see each other alot more in the same classes.

dont live with a best friend. they will not be your best friend anymore. dont be afraid of the housing lottery or answering an ad in the newspaper.

don't slack on taking the MCAT or your GRE or whatever else you need for graduate school. don't slack and take them as early as possible, that way you can always re-take if you suck.

don't try to graduate in four years. who gives a shit? why would you want to rush into the 8-5 world? do the same thing every day. boo that. don't rush college and try and get out as soon as possible with 18 credits every semester. guess what? i'm taking 12 (bare minimum) each semester. busting my behind for those 12, but still. i do well because im not overloading myself. and take summer classes. if theres something youre deathly afraid of (physics!), take it over the summer. accelerated classes are great because they arent as much work overall (seems like more until you think about it) and theyre 6 or 7 weeks long. and in the summer, you dont have a bunch of other classes to worry about, and profs are WAY nicer and happier in the summer. exponentially more relaxed.

internships, research, and REUs. your best friends. if youre a science major of any sort, do research. grad schools and jobs look for that specifically. and apply for an REU somewhere: they ship you off and room is paid for at another major university where you get paid approx. $3500 for 10 weeks of 8-5 lab work. great way to check out a potential grad school and get your feet wet in more specialized fields, meet other people, etc. the pay is absolute shit, but its practically a guaranteed in to grad school if you REU somewhere and have an okay GRE score.

never ever ever ever ever wear your dorm key on a lanyard around your neck. this is akin to writing "omgz!! L0L0Lololorz!!!! i'm a freshman!!!!!!!!!!" on our forehead. guaranteed, people will treat you differently. they will look down upon you. even if they aren't trying, it just happens.

much like you can sometimes spot freshmen, you can also spot the student that is about to graduate. they sit in the back of the class, take notes only on what they need, say profound things but rarely speak, and they ace the class. talk to these people, they've been where you are and they can advise you on what profs and classes really suck. but thats their opinion... but its still good to have.

www.ratemyprofessor.com ... good way to have an idea of how profs are for certain classes. don't use the comments as law, but its good to have an idea of things. similarly, some schools have www.pickaprof.com as well, which shows you the breakdown of all grades for each class section and everything. very handy.

freshman year: 2am elimidate marathons = awesome.

but overall, just dont be afraid to ask. dont be afraid of looking like the dumb freshman who doesnt know anything. i was that kid, and my freshman year kind of sucked becaus of it. i got dicked around for financial aid because i just let thigns ride cos i thought the school would take care of everything (NO). got dicked around with classes and scheduling too (want to get into something thats closed? email the prof and beg nicely. or stalk the class on the tuition payment dats -- a friday at 5pm when unpaid folks are dropped from classes!)... now, hell, i go to student services ALL the time, i go to office hours whenever i have problems with a class (usually making it harder than it needs to be), i talk to my advisor/mentor all the time (but i do my own scheduling now)....


if anyone has questions, i've run the gamut of any and every thing to happen to a college student. i've lived on campus, off campus in a house, off campus in an apartment, off campus alone.... i've gone to three major universities, i have classes on two different campuses... trust me.


OH and if you get full financial aid, first day of class... go to student services and see if you get a check for excess financial aid. i didnt know this happened when i got to GVSU, and had a check for $2g sitting there for three months. excess financial aid now pays for my off-campus housing every semester ^_^

Um yeah.. I KNEW that and still flipped out... and I'm still bitter LOL!!

I personally went to community college for the first year... beacuase as you said the first two years at a university you do all the same things... and I know in Oergon they do work w/ universities in Oregon and Washington (I believe washington is included) with a Transfer degree basically it's 90 credits of everything you'd do in your first year and if you Transfer w/ it you are still considered a JR... unfortunatly for me I didn't know about that program (even though i specifcally told my counslor my plans to transfer to U of O) So if you do go to Community college first (and don't be sad about that) ask about any transfer programs they do w/ universities....

Also Community college at least here in oregon was costing about $3,000 a year (give or take) where at The University of Oregon (according to my financial aid package) is gonna cost me $16,000 this year (but that's including EVERYTHING room and board, and all that jazz) so it's a good option if you wanna save some cash!

But like Alina said ASK QUESTIONS... ASK THE SAME QUESTIONS... if you talk to one adviser... talk to another kind of like a second opinon so you aren't wasting time and money.

SO true! specially when you get in your major and see the same 10-20 people over and over.

not to mention being good buddies puts in a different viewpt of the class. In group projects or those Group class assignments people are fighting to have YOU in their group, and the teacher DEFINATELY knows who is trying and who is not.

I am usually the shy one and every year i break out of my shell more and more. makes me wonder why i was shy to begin with lol

Ohh yeah the don't worry about grad in 4 years....some majors LIKE MINE!! have a sequence! that means classes are ONLY offered certain semesters and sometimes once you reach a certain status (soph, junior, senior) so even though i took 2 1/2 yrs of comm college i will still be here (UTK) for 4 years. I just won't be full time my last 3 semesters cause all my credits that transferred.
SO check on that if you NEED to be full time, maybe it iwll leave room for you to minor in something.

buy food YES

have a micorwave

participate in class

try not to get to stressed out it will just well i did it many times

STUDY HARD!!!!

dont take 18 credits at once unless you can handle that dont do it just to get it done in 4 years its gonna take me about 5 1/2

steal food from the cafe lol its already paid for

and remember all will be ok

not much I can add to that.

microwaves and refrigerators really come in handy if you have short breaks that you can't go home for.

if you don't have a car, there's bound to be someone in the dorms that has one.

get to know the people on your dorm floor (in you live in a dorm). I still talk to the people I lived on the same floor with my freshman year (i'm a senior now)

coed dorms are awesome, coed floors are even better

talk to your professors, they really aren't that scary, most of them are pretty cool. (they'll even help with recommendations for grad school)

study groups are awesome. I usually study with the same people since we're all in the same major, we have to take the same classes.

take notes in class, I've found that a lot of test material comes from the notes, not the book

powerpoint will become your friend

when reading from your textbooks, I've found that it's better to underline in pen rather than highliter. (one of my professors recommended that and it helped a lot.)

read the text so you know what's going on in class (and print off powerpoints ahead of time if at all possible)

if you have to do a senior thesis (which most will), take the professor's advice and start early (usually the semester before you take senior sem. or the summer if you take it in the fall).

most of all, have fun, college is a great place to meet new people and make great friends

ok..what the person said about sciences & engineering...i have friends that got there engineering degree from a state school, and private school...both have great jobs...

any school can be considered to be a party school from asu to ucla to harvard...just depends on what type of people u hang around w/

internships are a must...it's one of the ways to get the most out of college...don't stop at one..it looks better if u have more than one

do study-abroad if u can..another priceless experience