Young Writers Society

So's I'm going to be diving into the college process this year. yay? eep? I don't know yet. Any words of advice from those who've survived? Anyone in the same boat?

Try and stay in your own state. Expenses are cheaper. And try to go to a community college. They are the best place to start. Get your AA and get the general education out of the way.

I highly recommend getting at least a part time job and start saving up so you can survive when you transfer to another school.

Dont be afraid to change your major if you go to a community college. Sense you are only getting general education it wont kill you to change it there.

Dont go to any Florida schools. They have frozen all freshmen enrollmet for like the next three years due to budget cuts.

Apply for all the scholarships you can. Grants are a great thing. Dont get a loan. You dont want to come out of college with a massive debt. Try and avoid credit cards as well.

I feel like a parent....

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, Adam. I'm hoping to take enough college credits senior year that I get many of my first year courses out of the way.

*walks wayyy around Florida*

Any other opinions?

Right now, it's anything and everything. Within a five hour range of my hometown, that is

1. Scholarships are your best friend.

2. So are comfort foods. Do what makes you feel good, because chances are you're going to get very stressed with the application process and whatnot. I know I was.

3. Don't be afraid to switch majors, or transfer schools. It can be a little messy, yeah, but what's a lifetime's worth of happiness--or at least a few years' worth--compared to a little more paperwork?

4. Make your own decisions. So your best friend hated this college; maybe it'll be perfect for you. Or your advisor doesn't think this'll be a good match--but when you set on campus, you fall in love. Listen to your own instincts (though use your head, too), not those of others.

I'm in the same boat.

In addition to collegeboard.com, fastweb.com is another good site to look over. And princetonreview.com.

Our high school is linked to the "Naviance" web. Though your guidance department has to set up the space before you can use it.


How many schools is too few to apply to? Other than one, somewhat obviously.

Gah, college. As much as I'm looking forward to leaving town, the application process kind of scares me.

Fastweb.com is where I started. It helped with not only comparing colleges, but they have scholarships up the wazoo.

I've been narrowed down to my top two choices for a while, but I'm kind of wondering about the "too few" question, as well.

Ooo college advice:

Apply for early admission to any very competitive colleges you are looking at. Usually early admission ends Feb 1st. If you have all your Early Apps done and sent through your guidance counselor (for the transcript, of course) by the time you leave for your Christmas break you will enjoy your break SO much more. (Mine, was miserable )

Scholarships really are your bestfriend. I'd try FastWeb for those, and definitely check with your guidance counselor on anything school or district specific--you are more likely to get those. And, even though they are a pain, do the ones that require essays....no one else does.

Unless you are going to go to school to be something that will make you at least 50k a year starting out, you really don't want a huge amount of college debt. And by huge amount...I mean like $40-50k worth of college loans/debt is too much and will swallow you whole when you graduate. I try to keep my loans under $5k a year (although, I'm about to go over my limit). Depending on your loan, you will probably only have like 10 years after graduation to pay your loans back (which sucks even more if you go directly into Grad school from college...your loans don't get pushed back).

Make sure if you do take loans that you pay the interest every few months that accurs on it. If you don't, when you graduate this is how your payments will work: (your original payment+the interest over four years)+interest for the next ten years=your total owed amount. You don't want to be paying interest on top of your interest.

It is alright to take your first semester and go through without a job just to be acclumated, but after that it is smart to get a job.

Don't go to a school just because it is cheap, make sure it gives you a challenge or you will be bored out your butt.

Know that you may hate it and beg to transfer your first few months, but if you give it a chance you'll probably love it.

If you don't know what you want to major in, pick a school with many majors (or at least all the ones you are thinking of) so you don't have to transfer if you change your mind.


Helpful I hope?? =]



OH! And if you don't know what colleges you are looking at I'd try princetonreview.com. You fill out a profile of what you are looking for (price, size, location, majors, etc.) and your GPA and your SAT/ACT scores and all and they give you lists of "good" "reach" and "safety" schools that match you. It's pretty good! But, don't take the tuition it says for certain, check on the site because they put in-state tuition from last season on their pages.

A friend referred fastweb to me, but I was wondering if it was really legitimate. Has anyone actually received a scholarship (via the site) before?

Hey Amelia,

I've been through and am at the tail-end of the whole college admissions mess as well, albeit a year or two earlier than yourself. I'm not exactly deft with the college application proccess, but if you'd like some thoughts or answers to specific questions, you might email me, here - morn-hyland@hotmail.com - and I'll do the best I can to give you some input. ^_^

early admission ends Feb 1st.

Ick; I think my guidance department requires them by December first. Or maybe they just know us too well

I found the Princeton Review site to be helpful.

How much do SAT scores factor into the process? I can't make heads or tails of mine.

... can't make heads or tails of your SAT scores?

Well, they are important. Usually a college will have range of the SAT scores that they find acceptable. An average conglomerate score is somewhere around 1500, I believe - tops is 2400, and anything below 1200 doesn't look good.

For the most part, though, your Mathematics, Critical Reading and Writing scores will stand separately.

Collegeboard.com generally gives the range of what each college requires, as far as SAT scores go. As so, an example:

Lock Haven University SAT / ACT Requirements


Test Scores - Middle 50% of First-Year Students:


SAT Critical Reading: 420 - 510
SAT Math: 420 - 520
SAT Writing: 360 - 463
ACT Composite: 17 - 22

Collegeboard.com wrote:SAT Reasoning Test: The Average (Mean) Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing Scores
Average scores are based upon the most recent SAT scores of all students of a particular graduating class.

2006 College-Bound Seniors' Average Scores
Critical reading: 503
Mathematics: 518
Writing: 497

Heheh, I'm going to half-answer my own question...or at least add to the general knowledge base. The reason I was/am confused is because my friends are very smart, and as such, got very good scores. As a result, comparing with them leaves me with a semi-distorted perception of what is acceptable grade-wise. Which is either good or bad, depending on your perspective.

My next batch of questions:

Is there anything you wish you'd known before you applied to/chose a college?