OT Colleges :)

[SmileCat]

I've been visiting schools, too. I have a tour planned for August 10th for UCF so I'll get my first REAL experience of it then.

That's my birthday! haha
& You'll LOVE UCF's campus! It's absolutely gorgeous. My friend is actually moving over there soon for school this year so I hope I can visit a lot because I just love it over there :)
Have fun!!

 

[TinyBlondie15]

That's my birthday! haha
& You'll LOVE UCF's campus! It's absolutely gorgeous. My friend is actually moving over there soon for school this year so I hope I can visit a lot because I just love it over there :)
Have fun!!

haha :) Thanks! And Happy Early Birthday! :)

 

[AshleyErin]

I have a question, are universities and colleges equal to each other in terms of prestige in the US? I'm from Canada so and I think it may differ slightly from here just based on what I've read in this thread :p

 

[mccracal]

I have a question, are universities and colleges equal to each other in terms of prestige in the US? I'm from Canada so and I think it may differ slightly from here just based on what I've read in this thread :p

There's definitely a difference between community colleges and universities, but in general most people in the US use "college" and "university" interchangeably. Of course, there are definitely differences between large research universities like UCLA and small liberal arts colleges like Amherst. Generally speaking, liberal arts colleges are a lot smaller than national universities, and grant very few, if any, postgraduate or doctoral degrees. There's definitely not necessarily a diffence in prestige between the two, they just tend to provide different atmospheres for living/learning.

 

[ErinS]

I just graduated in May from Kent State in Ohio, in three years with my bachelors, and your mothers are all about to kill me but my advice is this: do not do what i did! As much as it was a great accomplishment, and I did get to have a good amount of fun with my friends, now that is it over, i regret all the times that I stayed in cramming because I took 21 credit hours. I am not telling you to fail out or do things that are unsafe, instead I am telling you to go to class, study regularly, but every once in a while, do the stupid things that you think you might regret, go out on a tuesday night, binge on pizza and dont care if you gain the freshman 15, make your 4 years memorable because never again in life will it be socially acceptable to do these things again. I am about to start graduate school at the University of Alabama, and instead of feeling like school, it is more like a job for young professionals - no sweatpants to class, your professors are like your boss, it is simply not the same. Make your 4 years memorable!

I finished Undergrad in 3 years as well (never went to summer school). I didn't stay in cramming, I just always took 1 or 2 extra classes and saved my 2 hardest classes for my "senior year"..so when year 4 rolled around I took hard class #1 in the fall and hard class # 2...and i filled up the rest of the time with silly classes and an internship...My adviser suggested i just finish my minor as a second major...and I was like no...I deliberately did this so that I could do nothing senior year.

As far as grad school (University of South Carolina). It didn't feel like a job. It obvs wasn't undergrad but not a job either (maybe because I'd spent time working fulltime before going...and for my first semester I went to school full time and worked full time). I didn't wear sweatpants to class in undergrad so it didn't cross my mind in grad school.

And again. I finished my 36 hr grad program in 3 semesters...and took an additional 3 grad level education classes

 

[TinyBlondie15]

Bringing back this thread. Anyone heard of Lenior-Rhyne University? They're in NC and I've been looking at all their stuff they've sent me and their website and thinking of applying. Anyone here go there/applied there/know someone who went/goes there or really just anything about them that would help?

 

[melisssaacheerfreakk]

Has anyone here gone to NYU? I'm interested in their nursing school, and I'm wondering what it's like going to college in a city.

 

[cheeromgbre]

So I know college apps are starting to become available, where is everyone applying? What's your first choice?

 

[mkatherine13]

I'm applying to Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton, College of William and Mary, and University of Michigan Ann Arbor. William and Mary was my absolute first choice, but now I'm not so sure. And Yale is basically my dream school, but I haven't decided if I'm going to apply there or not. This whole process has made me realize I really don't know what I want to do with my life.... I'm so stressed out :(

 

[cheerheart4life]

I'm applying to Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton, College of William and Mary, and University of Michigan Ann Arbor. William and Mary was my absolute first choice, but now I'm not so sure. And Yale is basically my dream school, but I haven't decided if I'm going to apply there or not. This whole process has made me realize I really don't know what I want to do with my life.... I'm so stressed out :(

I'm in Ann Arbor right now! It's a really nice area!

 

[alliebby33]

I'm applying to Miami University of Ohio, University of Kentucky, and University of South Florida. I know. Big range of schools. I visited 8 over spring break and these are the ones I narrowed it down to. I think Miami is my first choice right now, mostly because I can either cheer or play hockey (UK I couldn't do either, and USF there's a slight chance I'd be able to do either) and Miami would be in state tuition. They all have decent programs for the major I'm interested in so I'm getting down to basing choices off the details.

 

[mccracal]

I'm applying to Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton, College of William and Mary, and University of Michigan Ann Arbor. William and Mary was my absolute first choice, but now I'm not so sure. And Yale is basically my dream school, but I haven't decided if I'm going to apply there or not. This whole process has made me realize I really don't know what I want to do with my life.... I'm so stressed out :(

Hey, I applied to a lot of those schools; they're all great! I think I felt a lot of what you were feeling when I was applying last year. It really is an incredibly overwhelming process, and there are just so many schools out there! I ended up applying to 16 places, which in hindsight was both good and bad. I don't regret the number so much as my final selection. I highly recommend visiting a lot of the places you want to apply and talk to the students there; it can really help you get a feel for the general atmosphere of the school and you can get a rough understanding of if you'll be a good fit there. I think I kind of ignored some of my more negative feelings about some of the most prestigious schools. Like, within a few minutes of visiting Princeton I knew that it didn't suit my personality, but I ended up applying because it's insanely beautiful and I loved the idea of being able to go there. If you can't visit all of the schools, try to talk to any of the students and do a thorough online tour. Of course, there's only so much you can get out of a website, and they may seem to blend together at some point, but it'll definitely help you at least a little!

One of the things that really could have helped me reduce my stress was just staying on top of things. I got my recommendation and general application done fairly quickly, but the supplements were just so daunting that I was almost too afraid to look through them all early. Don't be! Sometimes just the topic of the supplements can really help you in deciding if it's the school for you. My initial list of places I wanted to apply was at least twice as long as the list of places I actually ended up applying, and a lot of that was just looking at the essay topics. There are a lot of "Why Such and Such University" essay topics, and if you really find yourself struggling to answer that question with that university (or any of their other topics), then don't apply and save yourself some stress and a hefty application fee!

I also can't stress highly enough that if worst comes to worst, remember that rejection, especially in the case of where you're applying, is NOT a reflection of you as a person! I know that sounds so obvious, and I'm sure people had mentioned that to me before I got all my decisions, but it's so, so critical to remember that in these top tier schools, SO much of the final decision is random. There's just such a high number of kids with top 1% SAT scores who are incredibly involved and can write superb essays, that it can be pretty near impossible to make yourself stand out enough so that every college wants you. I have a friend who got into Yale but got waitlisted from Vanderbilt, whereas I got rejected from Yale (...and Brown and Columbia and Dartmouth and Harvard and Penn and Princeton and Stanford) but got into Vanderbilt a month early when one of their admissions counselors personally called me to tell me that she really enjoyed my application. Go figure. (Of course, I couldn't even go there because it was so damn expensive!)

It's late and I'm tired, so I'm sorry if this was convoluted and hope this was at least a little helpful. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any specific questions about the process or the schools you're considering! I can also speak from experience that F!ERCE is also really knowledgeable about the process and will probably be able to tell you a thing or two about Duke! :D

PS: Based on where you're applying, you should totally apply to USC (Southern Cal, not South Carolina haha) because it's beautiful and feels smaller than it is and has perfect weather year round and they're amazing with merit aid and I'm starting there this fall!

Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 1556]

College Fiercers: it's textbook time. Where do you get yours? I want to rent them to get them as cheap as possible, and would love some help trying to figure out how to go about them!:D

 

[fiercerando88]

College Fiercers: it's textbook time. Where do you get yours? I want to rent them to get them as cheap as possible, and would love some help trying to figure out how to go about them!:D

A lot of schools have renting programs now, but not sure how much cheaper that will be. I got mine on half.com, ebay, or amazon. If you do go with the renting route, just remember to send it back. I forgot once and ended up being charged full price. That was a nice little surprise on my card. One other thing, if it's a book you think will be beneficial to your career, I suggest buying, not renting so you can keep it for references and such.

 

[F!ERCE]

I'm applying to Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, Princeton, College of William and Mary, and University of Michigan Ann Arbor. William and Mary was my absolute first choice, but now I'm not so sure. And Yale is basically my dream school, but I haven't decided if I'm going to apply there or not. This whole process has made me realize I really don't know what I want to do with my life.... I'm so stressed out :(

DUKE :D

Haha, if there's anything you wanna know about Duke specifically, message me! :) Or in general. lol. And don't worry about not knowing what you want...a lot of people will graduate college without even knowing what they wanna do, so you've got plenty of time!