Swarthmore 2018 for me! They gave by far the most financial aid—it was cheaper to go there than W&M (instate). I was (and am to some degree) really crushed because Cornell was my dream school (from 7th grade until I visited Caltech), but I'm getting more excited about it by the day.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45078 Posts

May 08 2014 23:05 GMT

#143

On May 08 2014 13:28 catplanetcatplanet wrote:
Swarthmore 2018 for me! They gave by far the most financial aid—it was cheaper to go there than W&M (instate). I was (and am to some degree) really crushed because Cornell was my dream school (from 7th grade until I visited Caltech), but I'm getting more excited about it by the day.

Enjoy! College is what you make of it, so you can have a wonderful time at nearly any university or an awful time

packrat386

United States5077 Posts

May 11 2014 19:11 GMT

#144

I'm with DarkPlasmaBall. Just make sure that you do your best to have some fun ^-^

Chocolate

United States2350 Posts

May 11 2014 23:19 GMT

#145

So is nobody else going to Vanderbilt? x.x

MtlGuitarist97

United States1539 Posts

May 13 2014 10:31 GMT

#146

I got a letter from RPI yesterday saying that I have earned special Candidate's Choice application; does this mean anything? I've heard people say that it's easier to apply to RPI via Candidate's Choice, but do they just give that to everyone and make it sound special to attract attention? I never really considered RPI so I guess it did its job, but I'm pretty sure that from the light reading I've done it means nothing.

Chocolate

United States2350 Posts

May 13 2014 15:49 GMT

#147

If I recall correctly, Candidate's Choice is kind of just a gimmick to get you to apply. I think the only important thing about it is that the application is shorter.

Prepare to get a lot of stuff like that in the future. The college board sells addresses to colleges based on your score threshold (colleges can purchase mailing info for everyone that scores above, say, 2000) and demographic information, if you checked the box that says "Send me information about scholarships, etc."

In general I wouldn't let college spam affect the logical planning you should be doing on your own.

catplanetcatplanet

3830 Posts

May 27 2014 03:44 GMT

#148

Now that all's said and done, any helpful insights or tips from TLers that have been/are going through college?

]343[

United States10328 Posts

May 27 2014 04:16 GMT

#149

Meet new people; have fun; sleep well, eat well, and exercise.

If you're actually looking to learn and get a good job as well...

Take advantage of office hours.
Take advantage of university resources (if you're at a big and/or rich school, there's seriously a lot of stuff the university has that can help you do things like... get a job, travel abroad, etc etc)
Get to know some of your professors well (well enough that they can write a rec.) You can do this by doing research with them, going to office hours a lot, or just participating a lot in class.

Cam Connor

Canada786 Posts

May 27 2014 04:17 GMT

#150

ya have 2 or 3 buddy profs if you plan on getting into grad school

Ideal26

United States185 Posts

May 27 2014 11:24 GMT

#151

On May 27 2014 12:44 catplanetcatplanet wrote:
Now that all's said and done, any helpful insights or tips from TLers that have been/are going through college?

Get to know your professors, particularly those that teach you classes within your major. This was seriously the best decision I made in college. All of my professors loved me because I put a lot of effort into their classes, and it showed. If I ever got stuck on any problem, especially at the beginning of the semester, I would go to them before I'd go to some external source just so I could make sure they knew who I was and that I was taking their class seriously. They appreciate that so much. If they like you, they'll help you get jobs/internships/research positions, or will help you find someone who can help you with those things.

If you're in the STEM fields, get into a lab as soon as you can. You learn sooo much and it'll look good on your CV when you start looking for summer internships and jobs.

Have fun, make lots of friends because you'll meet so many different people. I grew up in a small town and coming to college was the best eye-opener ever. Try new things. Have a few crazy nights. But study hard, get good grades, and get a lot of research experience so you can land a good job after college.

[UoN]Sentinel

United States11320 Posts

May 27 2014 18:47 GMT

#152

How important is a job freshman year? I'm going on a full ride so any work I do is either for grad school or my resume. I'm definitely looking at summer comp sci-related internships for next summer and stepping up my current job as a lifeguard right now for this summer, and I don't know if I want to be looking at work, work-study programs, or internships, or something else for the coming year.

DarkPlasmaBall

United States45078 Posts

May 27 2014 19:14 GMT

#153

On May 28 2014 03:47 [UoN]Sentinel wrote:
How important is a job freshman year? I'm going on a full ride so any work I do is either for grad school or my resume. I'm definitely looking at summer comp sci-related internships for next summer and stepping up my current job as a lifeguard right now for this summer, and I don't know if I want to be looking at work, work-study programs, or internships, or something else for the coming year.

Finding a job or internship related to your major or future career goals can be a fantastic way to network with important and relevant people, and get your foot in the door for when you need to look for jobs after you graduate (or at least a letter of recommendation). The earlier you get involved with your eventual career, the better.

On a more peripheral note, it's obviously nice to have some spend money for college too

Chewbacca.

United States3634 Posts

May 27 2014 21:50 GMT

#154

I absolutely recommend looking into co-op/internship/research programs while you are at school. I just graduated from college and have been on the job hunt and I can tell you that almost every position I've seen that is looking for entry level employees is looking for them to have some sort of relevant work experience while they are at school. Also basically every interview I've had has been largely (easily 70%+) focused on the work that I did while I was on co-ops. I guess I should mention that I was a Chemical Engineering major and that this may be different depending on what you're going for.

As for general school tips...really get out there freshman year and meet people and join school organisations/clubs. I never really did this until my sophomore year as freshman year I was too heavily focused on gaming, and after I did my enjoyment of school increased 10 fold. Joining clubs freshman year is also a good way to get an officer position your junior/senior year which again is normally a pretty good thing to be able to talk about once you start looking for a job.

catplanetcatplanet

3830 Posts

May 28 2014 02:15 GMT

#155

What organizations/clubs did you all enjoy the most? (Not to limit my options, but give me an idea of some things to try out)

Chewbacca.

United States3634 Posts

May 28 2014 02:31 GMT

#156

I was pretty active in AICHE (Chemical Eng Organization), a Poker club, and intramural ultimate frisbee

Edit: Also the outing club, where we did things like hiking/canoeing/rafting

catplanetcatplanet

3830 Posts

September 02 2014 21:38 GMT

#157

how's college treating all of you other new frosh?