IceBrand Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 Well I thought about it. I plan on going to a community College to get an associate degree then work up to masters at another College. Will my student loan be high? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Odinson Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Depends on the school and amount of scholarships. I go to a uni that's pretty cheap (for america) for its quality, and my per-semester's tuition's 6k before accounting for scholarships and other deductions. I get 1k per semester from the school for having a good enough GPA, and my job, because it's tied to the school, reimburses some tuition along with having pretty sweet pay. If you end up doing masters at a private school your loans will be very high unless you can get a really good scholarship, but state schools generally are okay given that you're in-state. still depends on the school, though. Friend of mine is from out of state but apparently going to a state school in his home state is more expensive than the out of state tuition in mine, and it's not even as good of a school. community colleges tend to be cheaper than state schools, and I know a lot of people also like to get their gen eds out of the way at community colleges while doing their actual major work at a different college since it's cheaper that way. Whatever you choose, I'd recommend if you can and if it's not affecting your mental health too badly, try to stick it out in one go--like, taking a break sometimes might sound tempting, but several of my friends who have done that don't really recommend it, since getting back into the school mindset is a lot harder once you took some time off it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 (edited) buy a good notebook and a few pens bring a few cheaper pens to lectures and loan them out to people who forget theirs also, highlighters. you can use them to make key words stand out more, circle specific paragraphs, etc. don't forget to put some effort into your appearance, and don't be that guy who is weird and doesn't socialise/interact with others i would also personally advise against getting blackout-drunk. not remembering the events of a night out is kind of against the point of going out in the first place, is it not Edited February 4, 2016 by Raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karasz Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 (edited) I just finished my bachelor's degree in college, so here's my advice to you: Always talk to your professors if you're having trouble. More than anything else, while professors do care about what grades you're making, above everything else, they care the most about whether or not you're understanding the material. If you don't understand something, don't be afraid to ask questions. There are no stupid questions. Only stupid people. On this note... Never be afraid to ask for help. Sounds similar to the previous thing, but this is more of a general piece of advice. You may not know what you're doing, but that's okay, because no one else does, to be honest. I'm hardly the definition of a fully functioning adult, but that's a different story. My point is, talk to people! Friends, family, co-workers, strangers, there's always someone to help guide you at any point. Always helps to keep an open mind and spirit about these things. Just do yourself a favor and don't give homeless people money. Collaborate with your classmates if you can. Don't be afraid to reach out to your classmates, too, if you're having trouble. Odds are, if they understand something you don't, they'd be willing to help out because they're all in the same boat. And it's just as likely they'll be reaching out to you for help if you understand something they don't. You might make new connections this way, or you might not, but at least you'll paint yourself out to be reliable if you end up helping them. Sleep, dammit! Never pull all nighters. That's honestly one of the worst things you can do. A lack of sleep can fuddle the brain and generally fuck up your cognition and thought process. If you're worried about projects, then a good night's sleep will help you clear your head so you can go back into it feeling refreshed. Which brings me to my next point. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. This is even worse than all nighters. Seriously, don't do it. It's better to be wrong than having not done anything. On the plus side of procrastination, even if you don't start something until the last minute, doing something incorrectly is still better than not doing it at all. You can still get partial credit for turning incorrect work in. Sure, your grade might suffer, but at least your grade will suffer less if you turn something in that's wrong than not turning something in at all. Honestly, this works in a number of situations, too. Always wear condoms. Pretty self-explanatory. Don't be afraid to explore your new setting. If you want to go to college out of state like I did (I moved from Atlanta to Chicago, and I don't regret it), make sure you take some time to explore your new setting. Walk around! See the sights! Go to places outside your comfort zone! Try new things! Meet new people! Just do anything you can to get as acclimated in your new setting as you possibly can. Honestly, there's more that can be said, but I'll leave it at this for now. Edited February 5, 2016 by Karasz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmola Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 (edited) My experience from when i took comunity college courses during high school was that it was like 10% of the price of the private schools i went to latter. A minimum wage summer job would have paid all or most of the tuition at these places. Part of this is because private schools have all kinds of extras like heavily funded student groups, shuttles to local destinations, reasonably full featured medical services ect, which comunity college does not have. Also consider going to a state school for your masters, as they are cheaper. There are also many one year masters programs (although my experience with those is that you learn less). One of the major advantages of private schools (and the best state schools) is that they help you get connections, although you have to take advantage of the opportunities provided. If you plan to go into the family business, don't bother. Perhaps the most important college advice i could give is that it is the means to a career and an education, not an end in and of itself. Focus your classes on how they either help you in your career or help you develop as a person. Also make sure to keep on top of your requirements so that you really graduate in the time allotted. Also, check if it is realistic to jump from an associate's to a masters without a bachelor's first. I've never heard of anyone doing that. One last thing: never do anything sexual with drunk people, as that can count as rape, and you could get in a ton of trouble for it. Such incidents were all over the campus news during my time at college. Edited February 5, 2016 by sirmola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specta Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Sleep, dammit! Never pull all nighters. That's honestly one of the worst things you can do. A lack of sleep can fuddle the brain and generally fuck up your cognition and thought process. If you're worried about projects, then a good night's sleep will help you clear your head so you can go back into it feeling refreshed. Which brings me to my next point. all the advice here is good but i wanted to add extra emphasis here because this is very important and often overlooked a fucked up sleep schedule is not a habit to get into including a healthy and regular sleep schedule in your plans can help on so many levels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specta Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 a problem being that college students often (in my experience) fall into a trap of 'well, we're college students, we never get enough sleep hahaha :)' and they laugh and it's almost a competition to see who's suffering the most on the sleep front it's very sad and not a good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Odinson Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 An addendum to the sleep point: If you're in a school that lets you pick your own classes, try to find out about the workload of each to get a good, medium-load set up. I'm kinda ridiculously fucked up in terms of sleep schedule, but that's because I never learn and keep on scheduling myself 3+ programming project courses in one semester (especially at grad school, in addition to having a job) and then I have enough projects and deadlines just keep on cycling up where reasonable amounts of sleep is no longer an option. Don't deadlock yourself into that. Pick reasonable course loads. The one semester where I decided I needed a break from shoving project deadlines down my throat and picked a fairly easy programming course as my only programming course I got plenty of sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karasz Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 More advice: Keep it clean as much as you can. Bottom line for this one is don't do stupid shit until you're 21. If you're smart enough to do stuff and not get caught, more power to you. But keeping it clean, especially with alcohol, saves you and everyone else that is involved or needs to be involved a hell of a lot of hassle. Branching off of this... No means no. If for whatever reason you find yourself in a situation where you can get slapped with rape charges, do yourself a favor and don't fucking do it. Period. End of story. No exceptions. As for what actually HAPPENS should you fuck up, Cracked wrote an article months ago about how colleges and universities get involved in this process. Be wary of people asking for handouts. Depending on where you go for college, you're going to see two (out of many) sets of people: Social workers and the homeless. I may sound like an asshole for advocating against donating money to these people, but in my experience, money donated to charities goes into the pockets of those advocating a higher cause, and money donated to the homeless goes straight to fueling an alcohol addiction. Of course, this is purely subjective, but all I advise is that you be wary of these people. Seriously, I have a good number of stories as to why I no longer trust these types of people. Some of them are funny! Others are just straight-up saddening. It's okay to not know what you want to major in. Most people really don't have a clue as to what they want to do in life before they head off to college. I never had this problem, as I knew I wanted to be a game designer before I even started, but it's okay if you don't know what you want to do with your life. Experiment around with your classes. If you really enjoy learning something, then go ahead and major in that. If you don't like it, you can always change your major later. Sure, the longer you stay in college, the more you siphon your family's funds / the more student loans you have to take out, but it always manages to work out somehow. Just...do yourself a favor and make sure your degree isn't worthless. Seriously. Take advantage of clubs and organizations. They say college is the best time to meet people, and with good reason! Similar to rule 34 (whyyy), if you can think of a club, your school probably has it. This is a good way to meet people, make friends and connections, and branch out in your hobbies and activities. You might even learn something new or gain a new skill! And if your club doesn't exist, make one! Seriously, just search around and see what happens. Group work can be a pain. Yeah, this one is quite a doozy. Staying on top of group work can be a rightful pain in the goddamn ass if you're the only one pulling their weight in the team. If you're the leader, don't hesitate to yell at your team members to get their stuff into you so you can make revisions and submit everything. If you're not the leader, make sure to get your stuff in on time, but also don't be afraid to get at people to finish their stuff, too. Also, don't be that one guy that drags the whole team down by either not doing something or doing something wrong, because then everyone suffers. It's never fun. But if you enjoy the company of your teammates, then this is all quite irrelevant. Mix school life with real life accordingly. Sure, school is important, but this will be the first time you're away from your family. Similar to my earlier advice of getting acclimated in your new setting, make sure you're getting out there and living life, but don't overdo it to the point of procrastination until the last minute. Similarly, don't stay shut inside the whole time studying. Just get out there and make the most of everything available. Learn to cook. Yeah, this is pretty self-explanatory. Can you really expect to subsist off a college meal plan with questionable food options that just might clog up your toilet? Well, if your bowels can take it, fine. Otherwise, learn how to cook, 'cause anything you make for yourself is much healthier in the long run. And remember, the freshman 15 is not a life sentence. Only bring the essentials with you. Odds are, if you're going away to college, you may end up living in a dorm your first year. Even if you're living in an apartment, this also applies. Only bring with you anything you need to actually survive. The rule of thumb I use is "Only bring anything you can fit into a single suitcase and two airplane carryon bags." You're not going to have a lot of space in your place to fit everything you want, and monthly storage fees are a bitch should you bring too much stuff with you. Just make sure you have the essentials, such as clothes, toiletries, a laptop computer, etc. LOCK YOUR DOORS ALWAYS. This is a big one. No matter what kind of place you're living in, college campuses are ripe for robbers to simply walk into any residence complex, dorm, apartment, or otherwise, and take anything they want that's not their's. Always keep your door locked. Always make sure your stuff is exactly where you left it. If you were robbed...well, college officials can't do anything to help you, and neither can the police. If you have a 3DS, keep it with you always. I have to bring this up because we're on a Fire Emblem forum. Keeping your 3DS asleep in your backpack while you're attending classes or just walking around campus is a good way to get streetpasses for your games. Seriously, it's really convenient and nifty. Some days might be dry spells, but other days you can max out your streetpasses for certain games, easily. The same can be said about anime conventions, but that's on a much larger scale. Try it out and see what happens! Maybe I'll have more for you later, Majestic Paladin? I hope you're taking note of at least a small part of this. a problem being that college students often (in my experience) fall into a trap of 'well, we're college students, we never get enough sleep hahaha :)' and they laugh and it's almost a competition to see who's suffering the most on the sleep frontit's very sad and not a good Honestly speaking, as much sleep as I managed to get per night, college screwed up my sleep schedule. Nowadays I don't end up falling asleep until around 1:30 or 2 in the morning. Granted, I'm currently unemployed, and all my master's classes are at night, but it's still pretty bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansem Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 i agree with the homeless point. if anyone is ever in nyc never give out to beggars. if you want to throw away your money there are classier ways of doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peener weener Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 More advice: No means no. If for whatever reason you find yourself in a situation where you can get slapped with rape charges, do yourself a favor and don't fucking do it. Period. End of story. No exceptions. As for what actually HAPPENS should you fuck up, Cracked wrote an article months ago about how colleges and universities get involved in this process. really? don't find yourself in a situation where you might get "slapped with rape charges"? as in, don't fucking commit rape? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciarre Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 or more like don't fuck a drunk or otherwise intoxicated person while ur sober bc that too is considered rape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karasz Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 or more like don't fuck a drunk or otherwise intoxicated person while ur sober bc that too is considered rape My point exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safyrya Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 >Fight >Act >Item >Mercy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safyrya Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 >Fight >Act >Item >Mercy Wait sry didn't realize this was a serious thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceBrand Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 I've taken everything you guys said into consideration; it's definitely useful. Quick question though, is College food any better or worse than regular high school public meals? Cooking is a skill I really need to learn but am not good at. Instant noodles is like my lunch and dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specta Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 in my experience better, but i wouldn't recommend relying on it not the cheapest way to go about it, chances are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Odinson Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Better but still awful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karasz Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I've taken everything you guys said into consideration; it's definitely useful. Quick question though, is College food any better or worse than regular high school public meals? Cooking is a skill I really need to learn but am not good at. Instant noodles is like my lunch and dinner. It's moderately decent, but don't rely on it so much. Those who rely too much on college campus food are usually subject to gaining the freshman fifteen fairly quickly. Just don't eat a lot of it often, and you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmola Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 (edited) I've taken everything you guys said into consideration; it's definitely useful. Quick question though, is College food any better or worse than regular high school public meals? Cooking is a skill I really need to learn but am not good at. Instant noodles is like my lunch and dinner. IN My experience, It's REALLY expensive (like 10 bucks a meal at least) And also unhealthy. Unless you college forces you into a meal plan, i recomend avoiding it if you have the time. When i started going somewhere in commute distance, i packed bag lunches, which are cheaper and possably healthier. And i don't mean anything complicated either. I usualy have sandwiches, cut fruit and vegetables, a yogurt, and crackers. Edited February 7, 2016 by sirmola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrhesia Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Doesn't matter, learn how to cook anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansem Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Better but still awful yes tbf you'll probably think its amazing coming out of HS, but then you start living on campus and its the only thing you can eat and the menu seldom changes and it sucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 It's alright but lacks variety,and rarely is it any good for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmola Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Although i find that there tends to be a vegetarian option that's healthier, it usualy has a even less variety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Karnage Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 college is a lot like Dark Souls That first boss is super hard, like your first classes and then you realize that first boss was a cakewalk compared to everything ahead you'll die plenty of times loose your humanity and every thing is out there to kill you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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