Young Writers Society

Okie Dokie. Here it is:

I'm graduating high school this year, right? Right. And... I'm having trouble finding a potential college to attend. The hang-up! I will only be 15 upon my high school graduation and am not permitted by law to attend a campus until 17. And as for those 2 years in between, I 'd like to take some courses or even get an Associates Degree online.

So. I'm looking for a college that has a particularly brilliant math department, so that when I finally AM allowed to attend a campus, I can approach colleges with the backing of a degree from a good school already. But obviously, this college has to offer long distance learning.

And... I'm having trouble finding a decent one.

So... HELP! ^_^

(Note:> And if you say "Why, the University of Pheonix!" I'm going to have to kill you. I am so sick of hearing about the Uni of Pheonix. j/k)

Why are you sick of Phoenix..?

And.. I'll look for you but I don't know much about colleges in the U.S.

Lol, thanks Kay. ^_^

(Because every site I go on, it's "Go to Pheonix!", "Go to Pheonix!" and it really doesn't seem that good... -_-)

Go to your local junior colleges (they may be community colleges) and see what there is there. They teach advanced math classes too -- heck, I'm at one right now! And they allow minors in, with a couple of hurdles.

Come to Canada!

smaur wrote:Come to Canada!

That's your answer to everything, isn't it?

Snoink wrote:That's your answer to everything, isn't it?

Uh ... come to Canada!

Purdue!

That's where I'm going. And I hear they have a good math department. The place is in Northern Indiana, I think.

If you live in a University town, I'd check with them (that is, if you live near a state or private university). I know UNL does classes for high school students.

But I'll certainly ask my math teacher.

Oh dear... I'm a liberal arts girl, m'self... obviously... so none of the schools I looked at focused on math. At all. But my best friend's a total engineering dork, so he knows tons of great schools. I'll ask around. But first a question--

You want it to be in your general vicinity, right? I mean, are you hoping to go to the actual classes, or are you fine with internet classes? Because I can look around at some of these MD schools during my breaks...

Well, it would help us to know what you want your eventual major to be. Like, if you want a major in mathematics, or just want a strong math program to help with say, a mechanical engineering degree.

Okay, now, first advice: Since you cant get onto a campus for two years anyway, go to your local community college (there are plenty out there, and are a good way to save some money) and take some courses toward what you want to do (I'd suggest getting either an AA or AS degrees, 1. It gets you accostomed to college courses and life and 2. almost all major universities will admit people who already have a degree of one kind or another. It kinda says 'I know what Im doing!')

Second, FULLY RESEARCH ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS! This is MUY IMPORTANTE as it is the MAJOR mistake I made, and have regretted it many times since. Research all aspects of your future univerisities: MULTIPLE academic majors/academic programs (in case you change ur mind mid-way through college), campus life, facilities, etc. Visit campus. Basically, make sure you fall in lvoe with where you decide to go, as you will be paying a LOT of money for AT LEAST four years there.

Now, for some suggestions: A word of caution, I'm not a math/science guy, so I'm not sure on all/many of these:

-any of the Ivies
-Cal Tech
-Georgia Tech
-Illinois has a good math departemnt (works in conjunction with the engineering for which it is known) Can you feel the Illi-Noise?!?!?!?!!
-MIT perhaps?

Also, if you feel like going abroad, I HIGHLY suggest the Technion in Haifa. It is the PREIMEIR technology/math/science school in the world.

DD -
I go to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and I don't know if that minors rule applies here, because there were a couple of 16-year-olds in my dorm freshman year. Now, you have a lot of hurdles being so young, and I'm not saying this to offend, but while you are clearly quite intelligent, your emotional maturity is unlikely to be the same as your peers at a university. That's just a statement of fact, from a person who knows. So consider a community college near your house so you can still live at home and see your friends from high school.

Here's my pitch, though: look into the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). We have a stellar honors program (I'm in it), that you could probably get into, and our math/physics department is on par with MIT. How do I know? The CERN lab in Switzerland, which is a huge (we're talking miles and miles of tubes) particle excelerator and they churn out unbelievable amounts of information a year. The lab selected 7 colleges around the world to help process the research, including CalTech, MIT, and UNL. We're the 4th best research university in the nation, and in the Top 50 public schools.

You're now saying, "NEBRASKA?" I know, not exactly a glamourous spot. But the people here are unbelieveably friendly and you still have that small-town, we've-got-your-back feel. It's the American-college experience, with a great football team (and fans who are completely devoted), a Greek system, nice dorms, neat old buildings with the occasional ghost, and what not.

I echo other people's sentiments: RESEARCH. Learn all you can about colleges. Does your high school have a grad center? Mine did, and it had files and files on colleges around the country. Talk to your advisor. Good luck!

Heh, thank you very much Cicero, but there's one little hitch to your plan - ahem. I'm homeschooled. And 15.

Hence the online college courses until 17 and the ability to attend a campus.

I really don't know, as I'm not interested in math. XD But I'd just google "Math degrees for college" or something like that, or get a mathematician's advice. Sorry I'm not much help!

Check out DeVry University Online.

I don't know much about their programs...

but if you go to www.princetonreview.com you can look up the stats on Ave ACT, Ave GPA, Ave SAT and what not and what the top majors are at the colleges. So I'd check there.

Good luck!