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Need help deciding what college to attend
- Thread starter iBookG4user
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Well I live ~3000 miles away from her right now, so I would really like to live within 10 minutes or so of her.
That could be an option, but 20 minutes is still a long ways. Yes, I am an impatient person.
Well as I said before, I live about 3000 miles away from her right now and I'd really like to live within 10 minutes. I know 3000 miles is a long ways away from her and that 40 miles is a lot less. But by the time I go to college it will have been 2 1/2 years that we've been living that far apart and it would be nice to see her more than just on the weekends. Even though a college that I could attend is just out of state, it is still in another state. And the relationship with my Girlfriend is very strong right now, but if we lived within a distance where I could see her more than just twice a week it would be a lot stronger.
You know that State lines are artificial, right? There's no difference between Massachusetts (sorry about the spelling.....I'm not American) and New Hampshire, and a uni in New Hampshire may be further away from her uni than one on Boston.
I know, but that doesn't stop you two from living directly in between both unis
(ie: live 5 minutes or 5 miles apart) then commuting the other 15 miles to uni.
But yes, I understand that you want to live closer to her. You didn't move 2500 miles to NH to live a smaller distance apart. You want to move there to be together. I guess if you can convince her to live in Keene, then it would be good.
I know, but that doesn't stop you two from living directly in between both unis
(ie: live 5 minutes or 5 miles apart) then commuting the other 15 miles to uni.
But yes, I understand that you want to live closer to her. You didn't move 2500 miles to NH to live a smaller distance apart. You want to move there to be together. I guess if you can convince her to live in Keene, then it would be good.
i would say a bit better than Pratt, but again its a NYC design school mentality which seems to be geared more to getting a job than being a good designer; which is not to say that you cannot be both from one of those schools. i would also consider Cooper Union.
ultimately, any program can be good and rewarding if you are willing to put the time and effort into it.
Except for their age difference, he could be over 18 and she could be under 18, which could lead to a charge of transporting a minor across state lines.
For what it's worth...considering it's a long distance relationship now, you might want to start out an hour away and slowly move in closer...nothing can throw a relationship for a loop more than suddenly being around a person 10 to 20 times more than you are used to. Play it like a golf hole.
you mean, try to have as few strokes as possible, watch out for hazards and be sure to wash your balls a lot?
you mean, watch out for hazards and be sure to wash your balls a lot?
I was thinking more along the lines of don't try to sink it in the hole with one shot or you'll land in the water.
Anyways...the point is that it isn't always easy transitioning from a long-distance relationship to one with frequent visual and physical contact.
iBookG4User,
40 minutes is definitely not a long trip! And don't be in a rush. There really isn't a huge different between 10 minutes and even an hour, when you're comparing it to 3000 miles - what currently separates you.
You're much better off studying in Boston in general (again really close to NH!) in case you decide to major in something else, but also because the job prospects here are much better! A 3.3 GPA isn't great, but it isn't bad either. And when I applied to college, they said to have categories, "safetys", "reach schools" etc. I'd say make Keene your safety, but apply for some good "reach" schools in Boston, that have MUCH BETTER graphic design programs.
The Art Institute of Boston is good, Boston University just opened up a Center for Digital Arts just west of Boston in Waltham, which I heard about from Dan Cedarholm of simplebits.com. You might want to check that out too.
Re College Search, Princeton Review has a thing called Counselor-O-Matic. While I wouldn't recommend basing your entire search on it, run through the 20 minute survey and see what results they offer you. I used it in high school and I couldn't believe what school they gave me as the "best fit." It wasn't my first choice school by far, but I'm graduating in May from there and couldn't be happier
40 minutes is definitely not a long trip! And don't be in a rush. There really isn't a huge different between 10 minutes and even an hour, when you're comparing it to 3000 miles - what currently separates you.
You're much better off studying in Boston in general (again really close to NH!) in case you decide to major in something else, but also because the job prospects here are much better! A 3.3 GPA isn't great, but it isn't bad either. And when I applied to college, they said to have categories, "safetys", "reach schools" etc. I'd say make Keene your safety, but apply for some good "reach" schools in Boston, that have MUCH BETTER graphic design programs.
The Art Institute of Boston is good, Boston University just opened up a Center for Digital Arts just west of Boston in Waltham, which I heard about from Dan Cedarholm of simplebits.com. You might want to check that out too.
Re College Search, Princeton Review has a thing called Counselor-O-Matic. While I wouldn't recommend basing your entire search on it, run through the 20 minute survey and see what results they offer you. I used it in high school and I couldn't believe what school they gave me as the "best fit." It wasn't my first choice school by far, but I'm graduating in May from there and couldn't be happier
Quite honestly, if one of those schools you were alluding to possibly getting into was RISD, I don't think there is any question. For anyone I know that's gotten into RISD, they went there. And loved it. And with the exception of one very sad little friend, they're all making sick bank. Plus, the girl/guy enrollment is like 70/30. I know you have a "girl," but nothing wrong with something to look at for a few years!
Getting into RISD for an artist is like anyone else getting into Harvard, MIT or Sanford.
I live in Massachusetts and our daughter just went through this and is now at Tufts. I would suggest making several lists.
1. Do I want a large, mid-size or small college?
2. Country, Suburb, or City location?
3. Do I want a school that has a well known (put your major here) program?
Using the answers above make 3 lists:
Reach Schools: Hard to get into (Harvard, MIT, Sanford, RISD)
Good Chance: UNH, BU, UMASS
Safety Schools: (easy for me to get into) Keene etc.
Apply to 2 or 3 from each list as you never know. You should use this summer to visit some schools. Good luck on your SAT's. Forget what anyone else tells you. A high SAT score means everything. It might not get you into Harvard but if you apply to several reach schools and have a high SAT school you will get into one of them.
I live in Massachusetts and our daughter just went through this and is now at Tufts. I would suggest making several lists.
1. Do I want a large, mid-size or small college?
2. Country, Suburb, or City location?
3. Do I want a school that has a well known (put your major here) program?
Using the answers above make 3 lists:
Reach Schools: Hard to get into (Harvard, MIT, Sanford, RISD)
Good Chance: UNH, BU, UMASS
Safety Schools: (easy for me to get into) Keene etc.
Apply to 2 or 3 from each list as you never know. You should use this summer to visit some schools. Good luck on your SAT's. Forget what anyone else tells you. A high SAT score means everything. It might not get you into Harvard but if you apply to several reach schools and have a high SAT school you will get into one of them.
Cooper Union has a great program... and best of all it's free. If out of state tuition is going to be an issue for your girlfriend you could both apply there. It's quite hard to get into but it's certainly worth a try.
This is great advice. I was told this countless times by my college counselors, parents, and people in the design industry.
RISD has a great Graphic Design department... probably the best in the country. NCSU's is probably 4th or 5th depending on where you look. RISD isn't that much better and 4 years at NCSU including tuition and board will cost me less then just one year's tuition at RISD.
Most of my friends at NCSU who applied to RISD got in but elected not to attend. It was mostly a money issue. I figure I can get a similar education and not have to pay off college loans for the next 20 years.
One more thing to note. If you're not positive you want to be a design major RISD might not be the best place for you. If you attend a larger university and discover that you're not interested in Design switching majors will be relatively painless. You can also take other non-art classes at a larger university and might discover something else that you want to study.
MA boarders NH. Depending on where your GF is and what college you go to, you might not be too far away. Honestly, to have a girl get in the way of deciding which college you want to go to, its just stupid. My sister goes to school in Medford, Ma (right outside of Boston). Her BF goes to school in Hartford CT. Thats like a 2.5hr drive, yet they are still together. Actually, my sister is spending the semster in ireland, so they are like 3,000 miles away, separated by the Atlantic and $1000 flights.
There is also another question related to the colleges. The out of state tuition is going to be very expensive for me so I was wondering if there was a way to get residency in the state that I'll be attending the college. Right now I am considering taking several classes this summer and next summer (my last summer before I go to college) at my local junior college so that I have ideally at least a Semester of college credits. Then move to the state and emancipate myself from my parents and my parents said that it takes a year or more to gain residency in the state, so I take the first semester off school and work to earn more money for college and then go to college for the second semester. That way I would only have to pay for one semester of out of state tuition and rest would be in state. But then I have to get car insurance, health insurance and all that myself and that would be expensive, but I assume it can't be as expensive as paying for out of state tuition. Is my plan reasonable?
I've already stated that I do not want criticism that my Girlfriend is influencing my college choice, there are other things that lead me to what state I would like to go to also.
The SAT is hardly everything. Does your score matter, yes, should you try to score well, yes. I've seen plenty of my peers get into schools like UC Berkeley, Harvard, UCLA, USC, and Georgetown with SAT scores that were not extremely stellar. I've also seen my peers get denied at the same schools with SAT scores in the 2100-2200s. The SAT is not the magic secret to getting into any school; yes, most schools look at SATs as a level indicator between you and other students, but it is not everything, more than likely you will not be cut just because your SAT score is below a schools average. If you make up for your lower than school average SAT score with a good essay, a high GPA, and a solid committment to public service you stand just as good of a chance as most of the other applicants, well other than the ones with high SATs, a good essay, a high GPA, and a solid committment to public service.
Most schools will give you health insurance or sell it to you relatively cheaply, somewhere between $1000-$2000/yr depending on the school.
FYI, as of 2007, every resident in MA must have health insurance. In case the school doesn't give it to you, you can buy from the state or state subsidized insurance for anywhere from $0 - $300/mo.
Summer courses are expensive and I wouldn't do it before you decide where you going, the reason being that schools won't necessarily accept them. My school's really tight about math requirements and they don't care if you took statistics at another university - it will not count towards your foundation requirements unless you do it here. So that would be a waste of money.
Residency only helps you if you're going to a state school. At most private institutions (and I prefer private institutions), in state out of state, they could care less.
Wouldn't residency be the difference between paying in-state tuition and out of state tuition? And for the summer courses I was thinking of taking general classes more so than Graphic Design classes. I thought that the classes at a junior college were easily transferable to a regular college, at least that's what my mom and counselor seemed to suggest.
residency is irrelevant at any private institution. junior college credits sometimes transfer, but you need to check with the school you are applying to and make sure before you take any. there is no hard and fast general rule on that no matter what a counselor has told you.
what about the ACT's?
but other than that, that's what they are looking for.
and i suggest you make sure you will be happy even if you guys break up (as in you can't go to the school anymore because you are thinking about her everyday at school). make sure there's something for you instead of just the girl, but that's been mentioned already.
I haven't considered that, but living together before marriage is against my beliefs, so I really can't consider that.
Only at a public school, like Keene State, $13,600 vs $6000.
My guess is that it would cost you more than $7000 to live in NH for one year (to get residency) so it is really worth it? IMO, Keene state is not a great deal at all at $13,600. UMASS Amherst is $9000 for out of state.
Btw, you would probably get better aid (in general) at a private school. Aid is also tied to family income, academics, etc..
My example was math. And like I said, statistics at another school, regardless of how great, won't count for basic math foundation requirement at mine. Maybe if you did calculus, but that's made on a case by case basis by say, the math dept. for math reqs, etc.
Also, schools tend to be strict about granting kids credits from other universities especially junior colleges, because schools do want to make money, you know.
Many schools thus have 8 semester requirement to graduate. Although it's possible to have junior standing when you enter, most (if not all) attain it through AP tests, IBs, etc, not through courses from junior colleges.
My friend took physics, chem, orgo, etc at Harvard Extension (essentially a college course). Did he get credit for them at College? Nope.