College/University

[FanSoAp07]

Where did everyone go to college?

Living in New Orleans, I'm considering Tulane, Loyola, & Southeastern.

I have also visited Spring Hill in Mobile, Auburn in Alabama, Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, Wake Forest in North Carolina (LOVED it!), WIlliam & Mary in Virginia (LOVED it!), Villanova in Philly.

This is my Senior year, so it's getting very imporant. I could use some advice.

Oh, btw, I'm in the race for becoming valedictorian!!! Wish me luck for a great school year!

[King]

Mmmmm, my advice would definitely be to visit schools ASAP. Don't be afraid to ask your tour guides or random kids you see on the campus questions. See ALL the dorm rooms! Ask how to get good rooms like living on learning community floors and stuff. Get the applications ASAP because those combined with school and your social life will become REALLY annoying! I'd applied to two easy schools and two reach schools, and then 6 in between schools that I wasn't sure of. I think it's best to be realistic and cautiously optimistic about acceptance letters. And once you hit college, I think you need to give it at least three semesters to really decide if its a good fit for you, JMO, though!

[Sweet_VeeVee24]

I agree, you want to start applying right now for schools so you can get accepted before the cut off date.. Some colleges and universities start their orientation during the last week of August, and begin classes possibly the first/second week of September....

Good luck also in being a possible valedictorian.....

[Ms. Walsh]

I live in the N. East, so my school choices won't help you. But here's what I did senior year:

--My SAT scores and grades were really good. I also had a very good essay, so that all made up for my lousy extracurriculars (I worked throughout HS, so I didn't have time for a lot of stuff).

--I would suggest choosing schools that you could picture yourself attending. No school is perfect. I attend my 1st choice, and when I got there I realized that it wasn't as amazing as I built it up to be. But overall, I have no regrets about going there.

--The most important aspect, if you're not a commuter, is the campus life. You don't want to attend a college with no campus life, or one that's dangerous. Also, look at the dorms, and ask about how difficult it is to get a room change. At my school it's pretty easy, but I know that a lot of schools aren't the same way. Do you want a party school or a quieter college? There's always going to be parties whenever you go (unless it's like a really strict college). Also, do you want a small campus, or a big one? Are you looking for a school with good athletics and ECs?

--Also, the town that the college is in and nearby areas. Will you bring a car? Is there public transportation available? Where is the closest mall or supermarket or Wal-Mart? etc. I swear, I wouldn't have survived if we didn't have free public transportation and a mall nearby.

--Another important factor is the academics. Are you interested in research and technology or humanitities and social sciences? If you're undecided, I would suggest a big liberal arts college. That way, you won't have to apply to a certain area (like they do with big universities). They might not offer a whole lot in the sciences, but at least you'll have options. Also, do you want a school that has strong academics? There are benefits and disadvantages to this. I attend a school that's notorious for its academics and professors, and it's an amazing experience taking classes like those. However, I also don't have much of a social life because the majority of my time is spent studying.

--Another important factor is life after college. I know that it's hard to think about graduating from college when you haven't even graduated from high school. Try to find out about alumni connections, the percentage of grads who go onto grad school, med school, law school, etc. Also, any programs that can advance career opportunities. Internships, volunteering, work study programs, study abroad, etc.

[JER Soaps Fan]

Oh my God, are you kidding me? I went there. GREAT school, ridiculous tuition. But you'll love it. I'm biased, but you'll love it. Now, go!

And congrats on being so wise to 'race for becoming valedictorian!' How honorable!

[Marilyn_M]

Congrats! I hope you have a great senior year. Do not slack off second semester. That can be damaging. You got to keep it going.

[Scott]

Im going into my freshman year of college, so let me tell you applications are not fun. They are so time consuming and for me juggling work, school and life in general made for a stressful first half of the year. But once you send them out and get them done, its a huge weight off of your shoulders. The worst part in my opinion was waiting for the replies. I got my first reply i think before christmas, but only because i sent my application in so early.

Another thing is, don't let money influence where you go. There is always ways to pay for the school. And don't let your parents or anyone else influence where you decide to go. Both my parents badgered me into going to a community school rather than going to my first choose school and let me tell you I am still pissed off about it. There is few harder things than to watch your friends talk about their roommates and what floor they're staying in.

Most importantly is just make your senior year fun. I would go back and do it over again if I could. Yeah there were some bumps along the road and there always will be, but live in the moment. I know you said your in the running for valedictorian, but don't let that stand in your way of having fun. One of the best friends wast he valedictorian and she was always there going out with us every chance she got. So just have fun and your senior year will fly by.

[PMac]

As my avatar shows, I'm an LSU alumni. You're not considering LSU?

Seriously, any of those are fine schools. I have friends that are alumni from Tulane, Loyola, Auburn, and lots of folks I know graduated from Southeastern. For its size, Southeastern really is a great school. Don't know too much about campus life and sororities though, because I think it's mainly a commuter school. Do you know what you may major in? That makes a big difference.

Good luck with your quest to become valedictorian.....that's awesome, and it shows that you should do fine in any of these schools. Where will you graduate high school from? I went to high school on the Northshore, and moved back there after I graduated college and got married.

[FanSoAp07]

Where r u living right now?

I go to Brother Martin High Shcool.

I live in Terrytown (Gretna) on the Westbank!

I want to major in secodary education.

Nah, I don't want to go to LSU bc I want a small to medium size school. Not big like LSU lol!

[JER Soaps Fan]

Small to medium-size, eh? Two words: "Liberal arts."

Two more: "Spring Hill."

[PMac]

We live and work in Covington. I used to work in Metairie, but got tired of driving across the Causeway everyday. Good thing I quit that job, because the building I used to work in flooded after Katrina.

Oops, for some reason, I assumed you were a girl (when I was talking about sororities).......if you go to Brother Martin, you must not be!!!

Small world! A good friend of mine I used to work with lives in Gretna.

Yeah, LSU is big and can be intimidating at first. I majored in accounting, so after the first few years of general studies classes, I pretty much stayed in the business buildings all day. When you get into your core classes, you have a lot of classes with the same folks and can make friends pretty easily - that's what I did.

Small schools are neat, I know what you mean about wanting something small. But none of those other schools have awesome football like LSU!! (yes, I know Tulane has a football team but how can you compare the two?? )

Auburn, Georgia, and Georgia Tech are pretty big, though. Good luck deciding and enjoy it - it's a very fun and exciting time in your life!!

[Dan]

Ugh. Thank God I'm out of that senior year college hell, lol.

BTW, when you *do* get to college, don't let it scare ya. It takes a bit to get used to it, but once you do, it will be a very exciting time.

Ugh, I almost can't wait to go back to school.

[King]

I second Dan. College is not scary in retrospect so don't let it scare you!

[SouthOfSoap]

I think thats an important factor to consider.

Georgia Tech are putting in a huge effort to be research cutting edge like MIT and Caltech. They're already showing impressive gains, so who knows what they will be like in 10, 20 years? It would be impressive to have that on your resume and to say you spotted the trend before others. But since you're into secondary education (i assume that means high school teaching? - what field then?), it may not be as important for your undergrad.

[Actor87]

Living in Northeast Louisiana, I first thought of going to LA Tech University. I changed my mind though when I saw their graphic design program. They had like one class of true graphic design on the computer and it was senior year.

So I changed my mind and pursued my education at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. I'm majoring in Media Prodcution with a minor in either art with a specialization in photography or art with a specialization in graphic design.

I'll be starting my second year/third semester in late August.