College choices

[salida]

At Bentley, it is scholarship. In my experience, these schools charge a lot, and then find out if they student can pay. If the family has lots of money they pay full price (many many international students). If not (in most cases) they dont. Also lots of grant money goes out.

 

[riverc0il]

craziness. $44 x 4 you can buy a pretty decent house in these parts for that type of money. makes me appreciate my state school education! four more years and i'll be all paid up.

 

[thetrailboss]

Most people don't pay that. I go to a private upper tier school in new england that lists at 45ish, working in the admissions office at the school, most people only pay about a 1/5 of that a year...

True. His comment was the sticker price and that is up there....it's like flying on a plane...everyone paid a different price for their seat.

 

[smitty77]

craziness. $44 x 4 you can buy a pretty decent house in these parts for that type of money. makes me appreciate my state school education! four more years and i'll be all paid up.

True enough, but I went to a moderate-to-high-priced private school (approx $100,000 for 4 years) and came out with a $21,000 loan. Total bill in year 1 was $23,000 and year 4 was $27,000. I had a lot of scholarship help, and deffered interest federal loans made up the rest. "Out of pocket" costs per year was less than $2,000 for which I could have taken out another loan, but decided to pay because I could. I think sticker price now is about $35,000

I will echo the sentiments of "go where they'll gve you the most money" and "consider the campus as much as the academics", and meld the two thoughts. You will live there for 4 years, maybe 5 or 6 if you pursue grad work, so make sure it is a place you will like or can grow to like. Also, make sure you're not so finacially strapped that you miss out on a lot of fun because you have to work two part-time jobs to keep yourself in school. Strike a balance.

As for your current academic status, I think you've set yourself up for a knockout punch in your final year. As long as you don't falter too bad you should have a fine application to any of those schools. I think they'll look at your application and conclude:
a) Your GPA hasn't fluctuated wildly, so you're a consistent performer with steady improvement each year. Schools like this.
b) You're not a genius, but you're holding your own in advanced level courses.
c) You have a small set of 3 and 4 year extracirrulars which means you can hold a committment to a few interests.
d) Your SATs are average, but maybe it was just an off day. Hopefully he nails the essay on the application.
e) Teacher recommendations are superb. (Hopefully :wink
Overall, a well rounded student. (Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner)

As for the SAT's, take them again if you have time, and check carefully for SAT II or (rarely now) ACT requirements. I only took the SAT once, but my scores on the PSAT (2x) SAT, and SAT II (English and Math) were all within 90 points of each other, and I didn't see huge improvements coming if I took them again, so I didn't bother.

Good luck Austin. You seem well prepared for your final push. Keep your eye on the goal, and on admission requirements and deadlines, and you'll do just fine.

 

[skibum1321]

I will echo the sentiments of "go where they'll gve you the most money" and "consider the campus as much as the academics", and meld the two thoughts. You will live there for 4 years, maybe 5 or 6 if you pursue grad work, so make sure it is a place you will like or can grow to like. Also, make sure you're not so finacially strapped that you miss out on a lot of fun because you have to work two part-time jobs to keep yourself in school. Strike a balance.

He nailed it. Last I knew, SMC is somewhere around $35k, so you would be starting out 10k less than Middlebury right off the bat. I also don't like the vibe of Middlebury - everyone seems rich and stuck up - unfortunately SMC seems to be trending more towards that in recent years as well.

I came out with about $21k in debt after 4 years at St Mikes, which I would say is about average. They tend to give pretty good financial packages, but they screwed up and let in too many students last year, which may throw off future financial aid.

If you want more info on SMC, you can PM me. Good luck.

 

[smitty77]

I'll also add two more thoughts:

Austin, it looks like you made the most of your junior year, and IMHO this is the critical one that colleges look at. I've seen many kids (some of them my peers) treat Junior year like the previous two, and then buckle down and take hard courses their senior year hoping to make an impression. But, if you think about it, colleges can only really look at half of your last year as most application deadlines are in February or so. They seem to look very heavily at that third year, probably because that's when most of the teenage distractions occur such as getting a job, getting a serious girlfriend (because you have money from the job) and getting a car (because you need to take girlfiend on dates). An increase in grades, especially if the course load is difficult, shows your committment to your own education.

Regarding financial aid, the major you chose can have an effect on your aid package. If a school is trying to grow a certain major (at WPI the recent ones were BioMed, Metals Processing, and Fire Protection) they will work harder to attract students interested in those majors. On the flip side, there were tons of students interested in CompSci, so they can take thier pick of the top students with the best ability to pay their own way. My brother and I are examples of this. I got a great aid package (civil engineering) and 5 years later his was dismal (computer science), and he was the better student.

Just some food for thought.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Not sure about major. I like math and science. I'm thinking about environmental. But i kind of hate hippies...

Most kids your age don't know what they want to major in. When you do pick a major you'll most likely change it after the first year. It's important to pick a college that you think is a good fit for you, but alot of students never graduate from the college they start with. All normal stuff for a young adult trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives.

One thing I don't think was mentioned in this thread as something that should be taken into consideration is what your parents are conforable with. Now if you're paying your own way do whatever the heck you want, but if they're going to carry most of the weight, you might want to keep that in mine.

Example: college A = $20,000 a year, college B $32,000 a year.

If they both fit your needs don't pick B cause you think there might be less hippies.

 

[JimG.]

9th grade gpa: 3.8
10th grade gpa: 3.7
11th grade gpa: 4.1

SAT:
570 english
630 math
(yes, I know those scores aren't good compared to my gpa but that is what happens when you go to Lynn public schools)

Not sure about major. I like math and science. I'm thinking about environmental. But i kind of hate hippies...

Reach schools:
Dartmouth
Middlebury

Middle schools (or whatever they are called):
UVM
St. Mikes

Back-up:
U-mass Lowell

Opinions on this?

You seem to be a smart kid Austin...good for you.

There's alot of good advice here like visiting as many schools as you can. I narrowed my choices down alot after my visits just because of location. Schools near bigger cities came off the list quick. Then schools near small cities came off. What was left got narrowed down based on the vibe I got and the types of students I met. All done during visits.

My 2 final choices were Dartmouth and Middlebury. Aside from the obvious academic advantages, can you guess why?

Loved both schools, chose Dartmouth. Still one of the best choices I've made in life. It's been 25 years, but feel free to PM me if you want to discuss this in more detail.

 

[awf170]

If they both fit your needs don't pick B cause you think there might be less hippies.

I don't know about you, but to me $12,000 is a small price to pay to get rid of hippies.:wink: Though, I guess I could just walk around with a boom box playing slayer the whole day, they won't even get within a 100 yards of me.

 

[Marc]

I don't know about you, but to me $12,000 is a small price to pay to get rid of hippies.:wink: Though, I guess I could just walk around with a boom box playing slayer the whole day, they won't even get within a 100 yards of me.

A chainsaw would work too.

 

[JimG.]

A chainsaw would work too.

Or you can threaten them with a shower, haircut, and shave.

 

[riverc0il]

Most kids your age don't know what they want to major in. When you do pick a major you'll most likely change it after the first year. It's important to pick a college that you think is a good fit for you, but alot of students never graduate from the college they start with. All normal stuff for a young adult trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives.

good advice here. i changed majors halfway through my first semester in college. i don't the the exact statistic, but it is significant regarding how many students change major and how often they do so. picking the right college is often times more important than picking the right program or else you could potentially find yourself transferring colleges and that can be messy and troublesome and have a general negative effect on your acadmics in some cases.

regarding the hippies... i don't recall seeing hippies at many colleges these days.every college seems to have a variety of micro sub-stereotypical pockets of culture. i would prefer a diverse college with a broad spectrum of culture and people rather than a college that is mostly WASP. but that is just me, demographics are always something to consider.

 

[bigbog]

.........

awf170,
The more you're pushed mentally in a specific technical endeavor, the more you'll come away with each day...leading up to each month....to each year...8) As mentioned previous...get a solid foundation so that you Will know what you want to do...as far as technical specialization.
Hope that makes a little sense, I hate speeches, especially when I might be giving one...
Some of the more interesting professional people I've worked with..Doing the more interesting work!.. have attended several colleges/universities, with the latter school being the one possessing the more technically specialized curriculum.... Having a good command of math and science in this society will give you more choices of where you want to go later....
$.01

 

[smitty77]

Having a good command of math and science in this society will give you more choices of where you want to go later....

This is so true, though I may be biased. I like Math, especially calculus and trig. Not only will you have more choices, you'll find transitions between majors (if that happens) to be a little easier. Speaking from experience, most of the core courses for Civil and Mechanical Engineering were basically the same for the first year, and some of the second. I'm one of the rare few that didn't change my major, though I came close to going over to Mech Eng. So far I'm glad I didn't.

Also, in Mass having an engineering degree will also qualify you to teach a high school subjet, as long as you attend a 6 week Methods in Teaching course and pass the teachers certification exam.

Always nice to have options.

 

[Grassi21]

regarding the hippies... i don't recall seeing hippies at many colleges these days.every college seems to have a variety of micro sub-stereotypical pockets of culture. i would prefer a diverse college with a broad spectrum of culture and people rather than a college that is mostly WASP. but that is just me, demographics are always something to consider.

I agree with RC. Entering college I had an anti-hippie mentality. I ended up at Ithaca College. Ithaca to this day has a decent amount of hippies running around. Over the course of 4 years I dropped that anti-hippie mentality. At 29 years of age I am more conscious about not being anti any group of people. By observing, or even better, talking to different types of people we can learn so much about them, and more importantly, ourselves. One of the nicest and funniest friends I made at Ithaca was a hippie. Looking forward to hangin' with him up in Ithaca in less than 2 weeks.

PS - AWF, you can still rock the Slayer though....

 

[kcyanks1]

I don't know about you, but to me $12,000 is a small price to pay to get rid of hippies.:wink: Though, I guess I could just walk around with a boom box playing slayer the whole day, they won't even get within a 100 yards of me.

Anyone here watch South Park?

 

[FRITOLAYGUY]

Watch it, hell ive been to the real south park in CO

 

[kbroderick]

On the subject of money, I came away from SMC with about $19k in debt; I'm not sure exactly what my parents put in while I was there vs. what I got for aid. I'd strongly encourage you apply to any schools that (a) seem to be a good fit for you and (b) are realistic in terms of entrance requirements. Thinking about financial issues is important, but base that thinking on the financial aid packages you get offered, not the sticker prices; schools with bigger endowments and financial aid budgets may be able to more than offset a sticker price difference.

As far as choosing based on a major goes, I'd try not to. I went in thinking that I wanted to major in something other than CS (I declared "Exploratory" as my major), and had officially switched to being a CS major by sophomore year. I then added an English major and almost added a math minor (never managed to fit LinAlg into my schedule, though).

As far as c0il's comments re: employers, I don't think that's entirely true. The purpose of a resume is to get an interview; the purpose of an interview is to determine if you want the job and get the company to offer it to you if you do. Having "Dartmouth" or "Middlebury" on your resume is probably going to be more effective in getting the interview than having UVM, SMC, Bates, etc on it (then again, it may not be--if you're interviewing with an SMC alum or a UVM alum, the SMC or UVM diploma might just be your ticket in). And there is a qualitative difference between Dartmouth, Middlebury, and SMC (I toured all three, for what it's worth, and I know more than a couple of Dartmouthites); for some people, the allure of a top-tier school is worth the extra effort and stress. Personally, I felt that SMC was a better choice and am still glad that I went there (well, as opposed to Dartmouth or Middlebury; UMF sounds more attractive now that I'm making loan payments). Once you have some solid out-of-college experience on your resume, the college name is going to matter a lot less.

I'll also second the offer skibum made...if you want to drop me an email about SMC, I'd be happy to tackle any specific questions based on my experience there (though that's slightly dated now...I graduated in '03)

 

[awf170]

well I went to see UVM and St. Mikes this weekend....










I absolutely loved St. Mikes and I'm pretty much convinced I want to go there.

UVM seemed okay, but a little big for my liking, and the kids just didn't seem as social and happy. Also, I was really disappointed in the lack of hippies. I walked around burlington and the college for all of friday and a good amout of saturday and didn't smell weed and hear phish or grateful dead once, they should be ashamed.

 

[BeanoNYC]

I thought you hated hippies. Glad you found something you like.