EPT...[edit]...
EDIT: Thanks for the input to everyone who commented. Always appreciated, cheers to all.
College Help
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im a roc
United States745 Posts
...[edit]... EDIT: Thanks for the input to everyone who commented. Always appreciated, cheers to all. | ||
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MysteryMeat1
United States3292 Posts
This way you can come up with the 25k a year which both of those qualify for. The next step after narrowing it down would be to decide, do you want to make your living as a singer or as a physicist. If you want to do physics then choose UW Madison if you want to do singing then choose the other one. Also some private schools will shell out additional scholarships based on your gpa. SPU over here will give you 5k-15k based on gpa and some additional stuff for which department your applying to. As for the city thing, the bigger the city the more chance to party and find new people, while the other school your options are a little limited but you should still find a close group of friends pretty easy. I think you will find that no matter which school you choose you will find some where/one to hang out FINAL EDIT: If you don't know exactly what you want to do choosing a bigger school gives you a wider access to courses | ||
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jrkirby
United States1510 Posts
While singing is a lot of fun, and I'm sure you enjoy it, I would recommend not doing it as more than a hobby unless you're really, really good at it. Music is one of those things where you really have to invest yourself in completely to make any real occupation at all, and even then, it'll still not be very high paying unless you're both really talented and really lucky. Physics is a bit better than a music major, but you might as well get an engineering degree instead, unless you want to teach or something. A lot of the coursework is the same. So yeah, I definitely recommend taking a CS class your first semester and seeing how much you like it if you're not completely sure what you want to do. | ||
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randommuch
United States370 Posts
Btw, Lawrence university will be rough if you go there. I have a close friend attending there and let me tell you the amount of time studying for gen eds and major classes seriously outweighs the time spent socializing; that school is rigorous. If you're into that though, great school for you. One of the best music/science programs too which fits your singing/physics majors perfectly. UW madison being such a big school you wont get the same attention from your professors as you may like coming from such a small high school. However on the other hand going to a school with less than a couple thousand students may seem sort of isolating in terms of that college experience of being able to meet tons of new people without issues. I know it may seem weird saying that with 2000+ people at a school, but I currently go to a uni with 12k students and you start seeing a lot of familiar faces faster than you'd expect. In all honesty, the first two years of college really don't matter. You're going to be doing gen eds no matter where you go and they're practically the same at every college. Put yourself someplace new, why not? You don't really have any other chance in life to have this many options on places to live and the different cultures to experience. If you end up not liking where you go, just transfer. My 2 cents ^.^ Cheers in choosing your school. | ||
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ieatkids5
United States4628 Posts
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Juliette
United States6003 Posts
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BirdKiller
United States428 Posts
Initially you'll be mindful about the reputation and rigor a university offers, but then beginning in your second or third year, you won't give a damn as you're going to be too worried trying to keep your grades up. | ||
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Recognizable
Netherlands1552 Posts
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States45431 Posts
But let's assume that you don't want to be a singer or in a music program, because you'd need to be much better than you actually are right now (based on how you're saying that you're decent at singing... you're not nearly as good as the applicants who are deadset on music programs). Either way, they're all comparable colleges at face value, so take the one that's half the price of the others (UW Madison) and then enjoy learning city life. You don't want to be in twice as much debt when you get out of your four years, and you never know if you want to end up pursuing a higher degree that may cost even more money. If you actually get $25,000 per year (via scholarships or whatever), then you're looking at $100,000 in debt for three of those colleges, versus $0 debt. College is largely what you make of it, and as far as large vs. small class sizes are concerned, all introductory classes are going to be big and then your class sizes get smaller as you take higher-level and more focused courses. That's the case for all colleges in general. While it sucks to be treated like a statistic instead of a person, that's a reality for many classes (and it's not the case for many others), so that shouldn't hold you back too much. Half-price, but ~same education = do it. Especially since you don't have a particular passion (to the point of knowing exactly what your major is) and you considered all of these good colleges at face value. UW Madison. | ||
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Burrfoot
United States1176 Posts
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jamesr12
United States1549 Posts
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RDaneelOlivaw
Vatican City State733 Posts
On March 30 2013 20:31 Burrfoot wrote: Madison, no contest. Having had a weird ass interview with some medical software company there, the city is pretty nice. Haha Epic? Ya, weird company. The pay they offer is so ridiculous though | ||
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Servius_Fulvius
United States947 Posts
On March 30 2013 15:46 im a roc wrote: [edit] First of all, dump the "I'm above my peers consistently" attitude. You're a big fish in a small pond. Good job on the accomplishments, but leave it at high school. It seems like the liberal arts schools are in the mix because you want to sing with them. Do you plan on making music your major? If not, then the liberal arts schools probably aren't for you, academically speaking. Ultimately, you have to go with what feels most right. Assuming you've visited all the schools, you need to ask yourself: "Where am I most comfortable?" "Where can I see myself in three years?" "What fit with my personality the best?". Saving a ton of money at state school doesn't mean crap if you're miserable, and taking out $150,000 in loans may be worth it if you're unhappy (edited). Let your emotions have a say in the matter! It's ok if you're worried about giving up singing or putting it on the backburner, I was a beastly trombonist in high school and loved every minute of it. I majored in engineering and had to pick between one school which would let me do marching/concert band and another that wouldn't. The first school was Big 10 and the second was a nobody-state school. I picked the latter because the people and the campus atmosphere meshed so well with my personality that I felt right at home. Sure, I gave up playing trombone, but I had a FANTASTIC undergrad experience. Now I'm in grad school and yeah, I may have gotten into a school higher than top 50 had I gone elsewhere, but that's a big "maybe" that means nothing in the long-run. | ||
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
[edit] First, your last school is confusing. Luther is in Decorah, Iowa, and as far as I know, there is no Luther in the Twin Cities and I live here. Oh, I see you meant Macalester. Macalester is a nice school and the Twin Cities is honestly one of the best places in the country to live (arts, sports, theatre, music, recreation, etc. You name it, the Twin Cities has it and does it well. Low crime, clean, very green for a metro area, very easy to get out into the Minnesota wilderness and enjoy the great weather, etc. etc. etc). Furthermore, it's not like it's easy academically (I'm surprised you think UW Madison is higher than it). However, you are right; there isn't much of a music program and, overall, there aren't as many opportunities. If you're going to do a liberal arts college, do something like St. Olaf (bias alert!) or Luther. That said, I am incredibly biased (I go to St. Olaf College), but I'd say go to Luther. It's highly respected academically and it has a fantastic music program that's very well-respected (doing music at Luther won't really lose you anything, since you're not focusing on it). You'll get a huge amount of opportunities for things like sports, music, extracurricular activities, and studying abroad. Furthermore, my best friend from childhood goes there, and I here awesome things about it all the time. Again, I'm probably biased, but I wouldn't recommend UW Madison. It's a huge university and it's academics are good for a university, but since you're staying in the Midwest, if you really want to go all out on academic value, I'd definitely aim for a liberal arts college. They're all very rigorous academically (at least here in the upper Midwest) and the liberal arts degree will get you a lot of intangibles/experience that actually translates quite well after college (if you actually make it work; the bonus of a liberal arts degree doesn't just fall into your lap. You have to actually put it to use). A liberal arts degree isn't the most common thing in the world, and if you can make something out of it, you will get very far with it. Employers and graduate schools alike actually have a good amount of respect for them, especially from more well-known liberal arts schools like Luther. As for living in a big city, it'll make you a lot more independent. Schools like Luther, St. Olaf, Lawrence, Carleton, etc. definitely give you opportunities to be more independent, but generally, you'll have a more general residential experience that is in a slight "bubble" (unless you really try to escape it). Going to a larger city will force you to be more independent. Conversely, schools in larger cities don't have the cohesive sense of community that these other schools do. A note about finances; while it's very smart to try to avoid student debt, I wouldn't limit yourself to UW Madison just because of finances. While student loans fucking suck, the liberal arts colleges you're considering are awesome and your college experience there will be so unlike a large university that you won't even recognize it. The incredibly intimate residential experience, the fact that you can get so much interaction with professors, the huge amount of opportunities with extracurriculars, the fantastic study abroad options, will really be worth it, even if you have to take some debt. Obviously if it just isn't feasible to take debt, don't do it, but you shouldn't rule out student loans. I am quite a bit into student debt by going to St. Olaf, and I can easily tell you that every penny was worth it. Oh, and no, you won't end up $100,000 in debt unless you're a complete moron. Debt sucks, but is manageable. Another random note; on liberal arts degrees. If you go to a liberal arts school, for the love of God, do other things. You cannot just sit in your room and do homework. You need to be involved in a variety of things; music/sports, various clubs (for instance, I swing dance, and I teach it here since I've been doing it for a while. I also play Taiko drums), study abroad (this is a BIG opportunity), do internships, volunteer work, etc. Especially if you go into the sciences, one of the huge boons of doing a liberal arts degree is that not only can you talk about why you're degree is good for a job, but why it has helped you develop into a better person overall. The last great note about a liberal arts college is that it's a fantastic place to double major. You have no idea how many philosophy/pre-med people I know, or music/pre-med, or whatever weird ass combination you can think of (nursing/studio art, a language with just about anything, economics and philosophy, all kinds of cool combinations). Having this kind of background can get you some surprising opportunities. Not only this, you aren't tied down. I've switched degrees about 6 times and I'm still graduating in four years with plenty of opportunities. You can try a LOT of this at a liberal arts college that you just can't at a big university. That said, if you are very single-track-minded and just want to railroad your way into physics, UW Madison is probably your best bet. Liberal arts schools are for people to expand their horizons (cheesy, I know), get a lot of varied experience in different things, and generally just develop as people and explore. Liberal arts colleges really can't be beat for this, but if you're sure on where you want to go, bigger universities are really good at getting you there. The other main advantage that a large university will have is in the job department. Liberal arts degrees can definitely serve well in getting a job, but a bigger university degree will probably do better (partly due to the recognition factor). By contrast, unless it's really a TOP public university, a liberal arts degree will almost always serve you better if you are going to graduate school. Graduate admissions people look for more development than just "can I do this job". Furthermore, your average liberal arts school is regarded as more academically rigorous than your average public university. Sorry for the jumbled response, I'm watching a soccer game while typing this and I just threw down my thoughts rather incoherently. If you have any more questions about a liberal arts school, post or send me a PM. I'm just about to graduate from one, so I can give you a lot of info, especially about the ones around the upper Midwest. | ||
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goofyballer
United States136 Posts
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
On March 31 2013 02:16 goofyballer wrote: I have to imagine you'll get laid way more at UW Madison than any of the other choices, how has this not been discussed yet??? You'd be surprised what a bunch of "conservative" Lutheran girls will do... | ||
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farvacola
United States18856 Posts
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babylon
8765 Posts
On March 30 2013 23:18 RDaneelOlivaw wrote: Haha Epic? Ya, weird company. The pay they offer is so ridiculous though My friend just turned down an offer @ Epic to go work elsewhere (-$15k but better career prep for her path and more prestige). I do agree they pay absurdly well though. | ||
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docvoc
United States5491 Posts
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Burrfoot
United States1176 Posts
On March 31 2013 03:46 babylon wrote: My friend just turned down an offer @ Epic to go work elsewhere (-$15k but better career prep for her path and more prestige). I do agree they pay absurdly well though. Not to get too far off topic, but I wasn't a programmer but they wanted me to do programming or seomthing, so their offer to me was pretty terrible. Good for a new grad I guess, but I agree, that company doesn't have much upside for career options from what I saw. To the OP: don't listen to all the dreamers saying "do what you love man!". Do what makes money. Do what you love on the weekends. If those are really your only 4 options, have fun in Madison! | ||
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
On March 31 2013 05:07 Burrfoot wrote: Not to get too far off topic, but I wasn't a programmer but they wanted me to do programming or seomthing, so their offer to me was pretty terrible. Good for a new grad I guess, but I agree, that company doesn't have much upside for career options from what I saw. To the OP: don't listen to all the dreamers saying "do what you love man!". Do what makes money. Do what you love on the weekends. If those are really your only 4 options, have fun in Madison! Do this, and enjoy two days of your week for the rest of your life. Great plan. | ||
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Therapist.
United States207 Posts
Good luck with whatever you choose! | ||
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jamesr12
United States1549 Posts
On March 31 2013 05:15 Stratos_speAr wrote: Do this, and enjoy two days of your week for the rest of your life. Great plan. better then being poor and on welfare and hating everyday of your life | ||
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farvacola
United States18856 Posts
On March 31 2013 05:34 jamesr12 wrote: better then being poor and on welfare and hating everyday of your life As if that is the only other option.....lol | ||
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
On March 31 2013 05:18 Therapist. wrote: I just wanted to drop in to say that no school is truly worth going 150-200k in debt. If you can't get grants or scholarships to expensive schools and have to handle them on pure loans, then I would highly recommend not doing so. I know multiple people who have graduated with 200k in debt and the reality it is that they have to pay $2000/mo in loans alone. If you don't end up getting a great job right away, then good luck getting your life going with debt like that. Good luck with whatever you choose! Who the fuck are these people and how are they so financially irresponsible? I go to an expensive institution (~$50k a year) and I have a LOT of debt (more than the vast majority here) and I'm not even close to $100k. Any respectable school should be giving you enough need-based financial aid to not get even close to $100k in debt. better then being poor and on welfare and hating everyday of your life Well, if you're lazy and don't want to strive for happiness, then that might be the only other option... | ||
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CatNzHat
United States1599 Posts
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States45431 Posts
On March 31 2013 05:44 Stratos_speAr wrote: Who the fuck are these people and how are they so financially irresponsible? I go to an expensive institution (~$50k a year) and I have a LOT of debt (more than the vast majority here) and I'm not even close to $100k. Any respectable school should be giving you enough need-based financial aid to not get even close to $100k in debt. Graduate/ medical/ other post-graduation continuations of school  But if you're only going four years and then stopping, I agree with you that you really shouldn't have over 100K in debt. | ||
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BirdKiller
United States428 Posts
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
On March 31 2013 07:53 CatNzHat wrote: I think you need to broaden your horizons, the midwest can be ok I guess for some things (chicago's cool), but seriously, the coasts are where it's at (go west for nicer people, go east for meaner people) I wouldn't recommend this at all. The school is far more important than the location, and some of these schools around here are pretty awesome. Besides, other locations can be quite overrated (seriously, people really don't get how great the Twin Cities or Chicago are to live in), and it can also be rather expensive and difficult to go to school so far away from home. Don't go far away just to be far away. Go for a real purpose. | ||
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babylon
8765 Posts
On March 31 2013 05:34 jamesr12 wrote: better then being poor and on welfare and hating everyday of your life If nothing else, teach English in Korea, right? | ||
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im a roc
United States745 Posts
On March 31 2013 02:45 Stratos_speAr wrote: You'd be surprised what a bunch of "conservative" Lutheran girls will do... This. If this was the only deciding factor I'd go to Luther, the partying is crazy. @Stratos: Thanks a ton for taking the time to write that up (and for catching my typo) I agree with your mentality about liberal arts schools against something like Madison; I see the smaller classes and the closer community as a benefit over a state school, but I also understand that that kind of limits the diversity/opportunities that a bigger school would have. Since I'm still not fully set on a major or path yet, I really think it's important to keep the horizons as broad as possible. In that interest, would you see Macalester as the best option, since it's a liberal arts school in a larger city? And if so, would it be worth the $30,000 difference? Mac is the only campus I haven't visited, so it's the one I know the least about. Anything you or anyone else knows about it, I'd love to hear. Thanks for the input so far guys! | ||
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
First, visit Macalester before you choose. This isn't even a discussion; you need to visit it. Actually visiting campus is so crucial to a decision that I cannot express how important this is. Second, unless you really want to have that big city experience, I would recommend Luther over Macalester. Macalester isn't bad by any means, but Luther is a great school, as long as the financial difference doesn't break you. That said, if the difference in cost and the fact that you'll be in a smaller town are really a factor for you, then as long as you like the Macalester campus, that isn't a bad choice. | ||
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im a roc
United States745 Posts
[edit] @Stratos: [edit] Thanks for the input so far guys! [edit] [edit] | ||
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Stratos_speAr
United States6959 Posts
On March 31 2013 12:06 im a roc wrote: [edit] I wouldn't really consider Luther weak academically (and I've never heard anyone talk of it as such), but again, it's up to you. My friend that goes to Luther's dad is actually a Macalester graduate, and I've heard good things about the school as well. Great academics and (again) it's actually IN the Twin Cities, and there's so much there. I guess the only thing you have to do is 1) Compare how you like the campuses 2) Compare the financial situations 3) Look into the singing possibilities at each and decide how much that means to you Academically, you won't suffer by picking either. It's the things beyond that that you should focus on. | ||
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im a roc
United States745 Posts
[edit] Alright, thanks again. [edit] | ||
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