Life goes by so quick, I'm not ready for this.

[princess.chell]

Honestly, wait till your a senior and filling out apps and waiting to hear back from school and then you'll realize how fast time has flown!
My advice...
1) Don't stress. I didn't stress the ACT and scored highh on it. I went into the first one thinking that I had two more chances to get my score and if I didn't get oh well I tried my hardest. I scored 3 points over my projected and goal score on the first try. I also freaked out at the end of my junior year last year when I had to start thinking about colleges and majors and all that. Like legit freaked out, panic attack, crying, the whole 9 yards. My basketball coach talked me down at like 1am via emails back and forth. She helped me realize that not everything is resting on these decisions. You know what you want to do, now is just finding the place to do it. Don't worry that it isn't the right place, you can transfer and its not the end of the world.
2) Don't put anything off. So many of my friends are like "OMG! I still have 5 essays to write and my apps are due in 2 weeks!" I'm done. Granted I applied to 2 schools with no essays required, but I finished the apps early so I wouldn't have to worry about them during the school year. Don't put visits off either. My friends are missing school to go on visits which can get hard. Sure, you get to the see the campus with students on it, but missing school can make it hard to catch up, as I'm sure you know.
3) Scholarships are crazy easy to get. A lot of schools have scholarships that you apply for by applying to the school. For example, based on my GPA and ACT score, I can get in-state tuition at both of the schools I applied to (both are out of state). Try for a scholarship for anything and everything. Since you're a cancer survivor use that. It may seem wrong but use it. My friend had cancer and is totally using it for scholarships. I'm Asian and there are about 50 million Asian American scholarships out there.
Good luck girl! You'll figure it out eventually =)

 

[Sparx]

Honestly, wait till your a senior and filling out apps and waiting to hear back from school and then you'll realize how fast time has flown!
My advice...
1) Don't stress. I didn't stress the ACT and scored highh on it. I went into the first one thinking that I had two more chances to get my score and if I didn't get oh well I tried my hardest. I scored 3 points over my projected and goal score on the first try. I also freaked out at the end of my junior year last year when I had to start thinking about colleges and majors and all that. Like legit freaked out, panic attack, crying, the whole 9 yards. My basketball coach talked me down at like 1am via emails back and forth. She helped me realize that not everything is resting on these decisions. You know what you want to do, now is just finding the place to do it. Don't worry that it isn't the right place, you can transfer and its not the end of the world.
2) Don't put anything off. So many of my friends are like "OMG! I still have 5 essays to write and my apps are due in 2 weeks!" I'm done. Granted I applied to 2 schools with no essays required, but I finished the apps early so I wouldn't have to worry about them during the school year. Don't put visits off either. My friends are missing school to go on visits which can get hard. Sure, you get to the see the campus with students on it, but missing school can make it hard to catch up, as I'm sure you know.
3) Scholarships are crazy easy to get. A lot of schools have scholarships that you apply for by applying to the school. For example, based on my GPA and ACT score, I can get in-state tuition at both of the schools I applied to (both are out of state). Try for a scholarship for anything and everything. Since you're a cancer survivor use that. It may seem wrong but use it. My friend had cancer and is totally using it for scholarships. I'm Asian and there are about 50 million Asian American scholarships out there.
Good luck girl! You'll figure it out eventually =)

i got one essay scholarship from my school for being "diverse"
but i applied for a good 50 scholarships, about half of which required essays, and most weren't need-based. i did get a lot of need based aid from the government, but there's a scholarship out there for everything, if you just look hard enough for them.

 

[imabrat]

Why? She wants to move here too?

The presidential scholarship gives you a full ride (all tuition paid to your state's universities), plus some extra. You have to have a 4.0 GPA.

The flynn is the same except they give you money for doing a semester abroad (where-ever you want to go), and some other things are paid, and I'm not sure what but its super competitive, and like only 1 student in the entire state gets it. I think you also have to have some volunteer hours as well.

Unlikely, I only have a 3.8. Not sure if I want to do a semester abroad yet either. I'm PRAYING that I get into an Ivy League, but it's very, very, VERY unlikely. If I did, I'd get a full ride though.

 

[imabrat]

Honestly, wait till your a senior and filling out apps and waiting to hear back from school and then you'll realize how fast time has flown!
My advice...
1) Don't stress. I didn't stress the ACT and scored highh on it. I went into the first one thinking that I had two more chances to get my score and if I didn't get oh well I tried my hardest. I scored 3 points over my projected and goal score on the first try. I also freaked out at the end of my junior year last year when I had to start thinking about colleges and majors and all that. Like legit freaked out, panic attack, crying, the whole 9 yards. My basketball coach talked me down at like 1am via emails back and forth. She helped me realize that not everything is resting on these decisions. You know what you want to do, now is just finding the place to do it. Don't worry that it isn't the right place, you can transfer and its not the end of the world.
2) Don't put anything off. So many of my friends are like "OMG! I still have 5 essays to write and my apps are due in 2 weeks!" I'm done. Granted I applied to 2 schools with no essays required, but I finished the apps early so I wouldn't have to worry about them during the school year. Don't put visits off either. My friends are missing school to go on visits which can get hard. Sure, you get to the see the campus with students on it, but missing school can make it hard to catch up, as I'm sure you know.
3) Scholarships are crazy easy to get. A lot of schools have scholarships that you apply for by applying to the school. For example, based on my GPA and ACT score, I can get in-state tuition at both of the schools I applied to (both are out of state). Try for a scholarship for anything and everything. Since you're a cancer survivor use that. It may seem wrong but use it. My friend had cancer and is totally using it for scholarships. I'm Asian and there are about 50 million Asian American scholarships out there.
Good luck girl! You'll figure it out eventually =)

Name drop por favor!

 

[princess.chell]

i definitely wouldn't go out of state if you have nothing saved. i'm sure someone is going to come say the exact opposite of what i'm saying now, but trust me, i'm living on my own with ONLY my financial aid to support two people. its harder than hell. if i had went out of state, not only would i have to support myself somehow, but i wouldn't have gotten enough aid to pay for my schooling.

do your fafsa in the january of your senior year. i don't care if i'm the only person who's ever said those words to you (and i know i have been to at least two or three disers, so i know its not widely pushed in some areas) but your fafsa is your ticket to all the "free" money out there. you might not get much, but you should at least get something. and even if you don't, it was worth trying.

look for all the scholarships you can, outside scholarships, local scholarships and school scholarships (the fafsa is the way you get a pell grant and things like that, its not academic at all, strictly need based.)

honestly, i would check into some "cancer survivor scholarships". i'm sure they're out there.

and the thing about colleges is, while you may think they're "crappy" over all, sometimes they happen to be good in one certain area. like my college has the best aerospace program in the world (thats why our mascot is a pegasus.) so i would look for state colleges that have newer (usually means better) nursing programs. i know my school just built a new building a few years ago, and that usually means they revamped the program.

i didn't have a junior year, so i went straight from being a clueless sophomore to having to do college applications pretty much over night. so i completely know how you feel. try not to let it overwhelm you though, look at one or two colleges at a time, and look for things that you absolutely have to have in a college, like the degree you want. and narrow it down from there.

=) Here I am to go against that. My family doesn't have much money saved for my college education; it got spend on more pressing, important family needs. I myself, from 17 months of working, have only about $7,000 so far (I spend a little too much ). But the only schools I am looking at are out of state.
Nearly every state school has scholarships in place to cut out out of state tuition for those who qualify based on merit. Especially check out schools in states near you, sometimes states make "deals" with other states giving residents from both states in state tuition (Michigan schools give Wisconsin kids in state and vise versa, just an example not sure that exactly is true). Central Michigan University is giving me in state because I'm from Illinois, plus the opportunity to win $40,000 more in their scholarship competition. University of Minnesota is offering in state tuition because of my GPA and grades. A lot of public state schools want smart out of state kids.
While my parents' income (or I guess now my dad's income) probably won't get me much from the government in terms of aid, scholarships are becoming my saving grace for college.
Don't rule out any possibilities.

 

[princess.chell]

Name drop por favor!

She's not on here. She's one of my friends IRL. I can ask her about it though; we talk about college and this stuff all the time. And since we are both in similar financial situations (my mom had cancer too yay for medical bills) the subject of scholarships and aid comes up a lot.

 

[pigletgirl]

university of arizona is a public ivy league.

But, I really hope you get into the school of your choice! Can't wait to hear how it all turns out.

Right now I'm looking at the midwest/southeastern region for med school.

My top 3 at the moment are vanderbilt, washington university (in st louis mo) and the university of kansas. I am also open to colorado, and the university of florida (my mom went there)

 

[m!ssemmx0]

I'm only a sophomore, but I'm already thinking about college. My school offers the PSATs to everyone, and I'm probably going to take it, just to see where I stand. I know what I'm most likely going to major and minor in (library science and creative writing/English), but I'm not sure on schools yet. My parents want me to go to a SUNY school, since it's a lot cheaper, but all the SUNY schools are upstate (read: freezing cold!), except for one that's practically in my neighborhood. If I had to stay in NY, I'd rather go to a school like Hofstra or CW Post, but those are insane expensive. I'm probably going to end up applying for scholarships too.

 

[::Snow_White::]

Boo. I have a 3.9 GPA, so close. My school has weighted gpa and we were talking in honors since colleges don't accept them why does our school have them and what the advantages were. Most of it I think had to do with just high school things.

My teacher told me that if I scored 1 more higher on my ACT I could possibly get a full ride scholarship to an ivy league college!

Does anyone know if a lot of the ivy league colleges take a lot of interest in extra cirriculars? I've heard of people having outstanding grades but still didn't make it in (Tv shows and stuff) and I think it's because they didn't have anything they were doing outside of school. I'm in tons of clubs and things so I'm hoping that'll help out.

I'm really hoping to get a lot of scholarships because my colleges I'm interested are all out of state.

 

[pigletgirl]

I applied for like 20 scholarships I think?? I was awarded 3 of them. The more the merrier!

 

[DramaQueen]

applying for college in america sounds wayyy more complicated than in canada!!!! i didn't really have to start thinking about applying til the beginning of my senior year, and we don't have to do SATs or anything like that, it's just all based on you grades 11 & 12 marks, extracurriculars, sometimes interviews/auditions (i had to go through all that for theatre)

i can't get over how expensive college is in america!!!!

good luck with applying for scholarships!! you should definitely apply for as many as possible! no harm in trying!!

 

[pigletgirl]

Boo. I have a 3.9 GPA, so close. My school has weighted gpa and we were talking in honors since colleges don't accept them why does our school have them and what the advantages were. Most of it I think had to do with just high school things.

My teacher told me that if I scored 1 more higher on my ACT I could possibly get a full ride scholarship to an ivy league college!

Does anyone know if a lot of the ivy league colleges take a lot of interest in extra cirriculars? I've heard of people having outstanding grades but still didn't make it in (Tv shows and stuff) and I think it's because they didn't have anything they were doing outside of school. I'm in tons of clubs and things so I'm hoping that'll help out.

I'm really hoping to get a lot of scholarships because my colleges I'm interested are all out of state.

Yeah, they do take alot of pride in students who go above and beyond their school work.

Does your school have AP exams? Depending on how you score, I have heard, can also weigh your GPA, plus get you into an honors college and maybe even skipping things like english 101.

 

[m!ssemmx0]

Also, I'm hoping I can some kind of aid or something since I'm disabled.

 

[imabrat]

She's not on here. She's one of my friends IRL. I can ask her about it though; we talk about college and this stuff all the time. And since we are both in similar financial situations (my mom had cancer too yay for medical bills) the subject of scholarships and aid comes up a lot.

LOL no I meant the scholarship funds. I'm going to apply for any and all of them that I can. Are there certain limits on the number of scholarships you can apply for?

 

[::Snow_White::]

Yeah, they do take alot of pride in students who go above and beyond their school work.

Does your school have AP exams? Depending on how you score, I have heard, can also weigh your GPA, plus get you into an honors college and maybe even skipping things like english 101.

That's good.

No we don't have AP exams. I think Physics is our only AP class but it won't be next year.
We only have honors classes and that's just where we do a little more work and indepth things.

I'm planning on taking college courses over the summer to get some of my core classes out of the way.
I'm taking 2 classes right now for college credit and HS credit.

 

[Sparx]

LOL no I meant the scholarship funds. I'm going to apply for any and all of them that I can. Are there certain limits on the number of scholarships you can apply for?

no, not at all. apply for EVERYTHING. even if you're not sure if you qualify or not. (i applied for like three from stores like lowes and home depot! lol)

 

[pigletgirl]

LOL no I meant the scholarship funds. I'm going to apply for any and all of them that I can. Are there certain limits on the number of scholarships you can apply for?

I don't know the answer to that. I'm guessing no! The worst thing they can do is deny you.

That's good.

No we don't have AP exams. I think Physics is our only AP class.
We only have honors classes and that's just where we do a little more work and indepth things.

I'm planning on taking college courses over the summer to get some of my core classes out of the way.

Yeah, thats a good plan.

FWIW.....
Your undergrad school does not necessarily need to be top notch. If you're planning to do grad school, the recruiters will find you!! So, if you do not get into the school of your choice, don't panic.

 

[AliceinHalloweentown]

I just went through about 7 essays and 5 activities forms and 2 recommendation forms for NHS... so I'm hoping that, plus French Honors Society, plus the 360 hrs I put into the two plays every year, counts for something.

 

[Sparx]

Also, I'm hoping I can some kind of aid or something since I'm disabled.

i think it would really depend on the disability you have. if you could look up the national foundation for your disability, i'm sure they offer scholarships.

i know my school does diversity and enrichment scholarships to students who are "different." usually essay scholarships. so i would look for things like that.

my school also has "disabled student services" which is an advocacy center for all sorts of physical and mental disabilities. i think they MAY offer a scholarship.

i'm sure you could find some, you just have to keep an eye out, and know where to look.

 

[imabrat]

no, not at all. apply for EVERYTHING. even if you're not sure if you qualify or not. (i applied for like three from stores like lowes and home depot! lol)

Thank God! What do you mean Lowes and Home Depot?