YAHT- For those of you who have been to college

[HermDogg]

Ah, its September again, and you know what that means: Homework help! Yep, that's right, I need at least four of you yahoos to answer the quesationnaire at the bottom of this page. Many thanks (and a gmail invite if you need it) to those who help out! Either leave response in this thread or e-mail HermDogg (at) gmail.com. Try to keep the flames, "N00B!", , OMGWTFBBQ comments to a minimum, please (but I know that'll just encourage 'ya 😉) Thanks all!

1. Where did you go to college?
2. How did you find out about that college (Info mailings, from a friend, your girlfriend went there, etc.)?
3. Why did you pick the school you did?
4. Was it the right decisiion? Why/why not?
5. IF you could do it again, what would you do differently?
6. What advice have you for someone who is going through the process?

Again, many thanks to those that help! And a 😛 for the rest of ya....

Oh, what the hell, have a :beer: too.

And I aplogize for implying that anyone is a YAHOO user.

 

[MrChad]

1. University of Maryland, College Park
2. My dad went there
3. I visited campus and stayed overnight. I really enjoyed my time there. Also, their computer science program impressed me and I was offered a full scholarship. I was accepted at Carnegie Mellon and MIT, but I could not afford to attend those schools and did not want to go into massive amounts of debt.
4. Absolutely. Best four years of my life. 🙂
5. Nothing.
6. Visiting campus (and staying overnight if you can) makes a big difference. You can get a much better idea about what the school and student body is like by being immersed in the environment.

 

[TheAudit]

1. University of New Hampshire/Manchester
2. Research
3. Cheap, away from home, cheap, had the major that I wanted, cheap and away from home.
4. Worked out fine. I graduated and had a great experience.
5. No, would not want to.
6. Do the research, at the minimum I would visit the campus.

 

[pyonir]

1. St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
2. I toured the college when i was in 8th grade and found out they had a good CJ program. So that is the only school i wanted to go to.
3. See above. The CJ program.
4. Kinda. I didn't get a degree in CJ because my GPA was too low. My fault.
5. I would have worked harder in freshman and sophomore years...to get my GPA high.
6. Don't slack too much in the first two years. It isn't easy to make it up later on.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

1) Virginia Tech (still here)
2) Researching the best engineering schools. VT is in the top 20, as were a few others I considered.
3) Nice campus, excellent engineering program.
4) I think so. Its a great school, and suits me well.... not that I don't have anything to complain about, but I think my issues with it would apply to any large university. Only problem I have with it in particular is that its totally in the middle of nowhere.
5) I would apply to fewer schools. I applied to 10 (to shut my parents up), and as a result all the applications suffered from a lack of individual attention. Take my advice: apply to no more than 5, and make at least 2 of them schools you are confident of being accepted at. Don't let anyone tell you you're "limiting your options"; you are, in fact, giving yourself more focus and improving your chances with the options you've chosen.
6) Express interest in every school you apply to (call them a few times after you send your application to make sure they got it, ask a few good questions about the school, etc. They do keep track of which students are more interested, and it does affect admissions). Be open with your interviewers and sell yourself well; tell them what makes you unique.

 

[biostud]

1. University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2. There only two universities in Copenhagen, and the otherone is based 100% around groupwork
3. I thought it would be the best.
4. I think so, I've done pretty well.
5. Not much I think.
6. Study, and relax when done 😛

 

[deejayshakur]

1. Where did you go to college?
ucla
2. How did you find out about that college (Info mailings, from a friend, your girlfriend went there, etc.)?
relatively famous university.
3. Why did you pick the school you did?
they offered me a full ride. i was choosing between ucla and ucsd.
4. Was it the right decisiion? Why/why not?
hm, i guess. uc's are competitive in general, and perhaps my grades would have been better had i gone to a private university (washington university in st. louis). i met a lotta people, had my college experience, etc. all in all, not bad.
5. IF you could do it again, what would you do differently?
grades are a big deal if you plan to go to grad/professional school. and the rumors are that private schools usually "help" you more in that area. otherwise, if you plan to work right out of college, grades aren't too vital. just get lots of work/research experience.
6. What advice have you for someone who is going through the process?
enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[JDub02]

1. Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
2. A friend who went there
3. Bucknell gave me the best financial aid package
4. I guess so. I got a good job from it.
5. I'd study a little harder and do more social activities ... who am I kidding? I'm an engineer. I studied my butt off and had no social life.
6. Visit the campus. Talk to students apart from the admissions office. Sit in on a lecture, if possible. Talk to professors in the college of your desired major. Remember that it's only 4 years. But the result of these 4 years sets up the rest of your life. Make the most of it.

 

[Chaotic42]

1a. University of Mississppi (1998)
1b. Pearl River Community College (2004)
2a. UoM: It's hard not to hear of it living in Mississippi. Ole Miss is steeped in history.
2b. PRCC: From a pamphlet I found on my desk at work.
3a. Scholarship and I had 2 friends going there.
3b. I heard good things about the science staff (all of which were true), it fit my budget, and I can transfer to Miss State easily.
4a. No. Ole Miss is a bad school in just about every regard (except for the girls)
4b. Yes. PRCC has the most caring professors I've seen.
5a. Gone to LSU
5b. Nothing.
6. Go to Community College first.

 

[Bowmaster]

1. Purdue
2. State school 2 hours from home.
3. Good, cheap school.
4. NO - far to big and impersonal. Mostly foreign TAs to teach classes the Profs didn't have time for, no one to care how you were doing.
5. Go to a smaller undergraduate school, then go on to a prestigious grad school.
6. Find a school where the faculty and other students seem to care about you.

 

[torpid]

1. University of Wisconsin - Madison
2. Research
3. It was a top 10 comp sci school, but fairly laid back, and far away enough from home to feel independant
4. Not sure. I would have preferred a lot smaller class sizes / individual attention
6. Don't place too much emphasis on top x lists and stuff like that. There are a lot more important things than how high it ranks on some list.

 

[amdskip]

1. Western Illinois University (still here)
2. from friends going there
3. cheap and close enough to home
4. yes, happy here
5. I would have started here and not transferred in
6. Go visit the campus with friends if they go there to get a feel for it.

 

[erub]

1. Texas A&M
2. Grandfather went there, huge state school, lots of info mailings, etc
3. Very nice scholarship, good engineering program, I felt comfortable there
4. Definitely - wouldn't have gone anywhere else. i have a great time
5. still doin it 😛
6. i only applied to 2 schools, because i knew i was for sure into either of them..figure out what you want then apply

 

[HermDogg]

Thanks to all who replied! And like I said, if you need a GMAIL invite for participating, just drop me a line 😉. Thanks again!

 

[theNEOone]

1. cornell - ithaca, ny
2. i don't remember
3. ivy, big school, has a little of everything (except hot girls)
4. absolutely
5. maybe focus less on theory and get some real world application in areas outside my major
6. depends on what you want. if you're looking to get into top grad schools or companies, try to get in the most prestigious school possible. although it's not critical for grad school, it'll make finding a job alot easier, especially in this job market (who know what it'll be like in 4 years though). many top tier firms will only recruit from top schools.


=|

 

[cchen]

1. Columbia University
2. reputation, friends advice
3. massive financial aid, New York City, Ivy education, core curriculum
4. Yes - I love the campus, and the breadth of subjects that I can study
5. Try to make more friends in different groups, be a little more involved
6. Always visit the schools you're applying to... you don't want to be miserable for 4 years