Looking at Colleges!

[TheHarlequinnCat]

Oh! The horror! It's all so much more real now, I haven't even taken my SATS yet (soon though) and I've already been looking at colleges. I'm going into the arts, the majors Illustration and/or Commercial Art and Design (from what I'm assuming so far). This puts me at a disadvantage because art is a scary thing to go into... How is everyone else doing on their college decisions?


Personally, I have a substantial list of things I could apply to offering my majors within a reasonable distance for me to get there (not necessarily the tuition, but I haven't taken any SAT, applied for scholarships/financial aid/visited campus so I was told not to knock something off my list due to price). My problem now is realizing that I'm meant to be applying S1 of my senior year, so this summer? I was originally going to work as much as I could to get a lot of money for my personal finances, but funny story, art colleges require portfolios. I need to work on portfolios. I would much rather send in a kick-ass portfolio for the 8 different schools I intend to apply for (I mean plus the essays 'n stuff) and the job I will currently go back to is a big summer-season job (starts April vacation and goes till winter) but the hours are horrible, the girls are bitchy and unhelpful (I would hardly be able to switch shifts) and everyone I knew there is not working there anymore. My mother thinks I should quit and sign onto some pre-college art courses to help me set up my portfolio(s) for these colleges. I'm just nervous (besides the anxiety disorder) about my personal financing, already I feel hopeless about money... Just, I don't want to be a complete mooch off my parents, but the only way I'm getting a good ride to college is by scholarships.


So, I'm weighing the opinions here....


The colleges I'm considering an application to:


- Arcadia University (I haven't heard much about this one, I just figured it couldn't hurt to apply)


- Maryland Institute College of Art (God! Is this one expensive! Thankfully, I'm not too crazy interested... It's a big campus, in a big city, and it costs a lot. But, sometimes the most expensive colleges offer up to full-ride scholarships BASED ON YOUR PORTFOLIO.)


- Marywood University (I've never heard of this school till I actually went on CollegeBoard.org... But it offers the majors I want, and it's in Vermont; the safest state in all of America... That's a perk )


- Pace University NYC (in the middle of New York City, kill me now... It only offers Commercial Art and Design; but that's what I think is a good profit-maker, and if it's in the city it can't be hard to get a job during or right out of college.)


- Ringling College of Art and Design (Currently, I really love this college. It's location is nice, it's not too far a ride from home in the long-term as opposed to the CA schools I'm getting relayed to. I was actually selected to enter a competition that could earn me a full-ride pre-college scholarship, but funny story, they forgot to tell me until today... The deadline is in 10 days.)


- Savannah College of Art and Design (A man came and talked to me about going to this school today, it's 3 hours from Orlando, FL, and their Atlanta location is across the street from Warner Bros or something. A lot of students apparently can get hooked onto Cartoon Network jobs or something during their time, but a lot of the RCAD kids end up working for Disney. They offer full-ride scholarships based on PORTFOLIOS. But otherwise, too expensive.)


- Syracuse University (ah, yes, the #1 party school in America. Surprised? Me too. I probably won't get the SAT math scores to get even considered for the application, but I'm not going into math, am I? They offer both majors I'm interested in, the campus is freakin MASSIVE, and even though it's smack dab in cold, dead, New York.... I feel like any prestigious school offering my majors is worth a shot in the dark, they probably wouldn't be as interested in my portfolio considering how many majors they affiliate themselves with. But, it couldn't hurt to apply either, right? If my SAT scores are eligible, I'll apply! I can only attend this EXPENSIVE ASS SCHOOL if I got a lot of scholarships, but I feel as though they would not be so gracious as to offer me art-based ones.)


I guess I am a relatively impressive student, in all respects but Chemistry and Math. It's been a reoccurring trend that I am a bad math student, but I have also had a lot of personal and family problems that excuse it (even a problem involving one of my teachers who directly violated my sister's 504 while she was in the hospital... it was a horrible situation, and he can't be described as anything but a bully towards me and my sister. As well as a new math teacher who I got put in the class of, suddenly got a personal vendetta against me?) Again... I have not have good luck in my high school career. I do a lot of extra-curriculars (lots of music, art, theater stuff) and I have been a good English, AP Latin, and Social Studies student. Basically everything but math and (sometimes) science has been all high 80s-90s.

 

[Mordecai]

Hi,


My name is Mordecai and I’m a second year chemistry PhD student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, but I’ve attended two other schools besides UW Madison for my undergraduate and they were the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and University College London. As you might imagine, I've been through the college system a long time, and I'd be happy to offer my advice.


Firstly, and I really hate to say this because it may come off rude, but I think you need an attitude adjustment. Applying for college and working will never be fun, I will say that right now; however, claiming the girls you work with are bitchy and unhelpful will just continue to make you more upset about the situation. Furthermore, it is not your coworkers jobs or responsibility to switch shifts with you whenever you want to. Remember, they have lives, too! They want their planned days off just like you, so, saying “I would hardly be able to switch shifts” because of your coworkers is not being fair to them. Furthermore, if everyone you knew isn’t working there anymore—how can you just assume they’re going to be bitchy and unhelpful? As I read through your post, I saw a lot of negative things you had to say, but very little positives. Unfortunately, being positive will make a huge difference in your application process. Not only will it make you seem like a person that a college would want to have at their campus, but it will also make the process more enjoyable.


Now, if that job isn’t working out for you, why are you limiting yourself to it? There are tons of job opportunities for young students that have a variety of demands and shifts. If you’re worried about not having time to work on your portfolio, have you ever considered applying for a part time position that has more flexibility? When I first started college, I worked a great deal of part time jobs: cashier, barista, receptionist, bartender, farmhand, etc. etc. The great thing about college jobs is they’re just that: college jobs. They’re not careers, they’re not where you’re going to be for the rest of your life, so don’t feel bad about saying Sayonara! to a job and moving on to something that will fit your life schedule a little easier.


Secondly, FAFSA. Since you’re applying to all American schools, I’m going to assume you’re an American. You should really start looking in to FAFSA and scholarships now, not later. FAFSA has covered a great deal of my tuition (I’m a dual citizen, which is how I qualified), and they are a great resource for scholarships, grants, and low/no interest loans. I’m going to tell you this now… you’re probably going to have to take on debt, but you shouldn’t let that scare you. If you’re smart and responsible about your spending and the amount you take on, it really shouldn’t be too much of a burden. NOW is the time to start figuring out application processes not just to college, but also to FAFSA, scholarship programs, etc. etc. Do your research! You can’t just sit and hem and haw about how nervous you are about finances. Do something about it. There are billions and billions of dollars out there in scholarships that are offered both by schools and by private companies.


Looking over your list of colleges, I haven't heard of most of them, but I’m just going to say this: if you’re saying “Kill me now” about a college and you haven’t even applied for it, don’t bother spending the money to apply for it. Most colleges ask you to pay a fee to submit your application and if you’re already that unhappy with the school, there is no point in applying because you’ll just be wasting your time, your money, and the school’s time.


Thirdly, you really need to take your SATs. While schools may offer scholarships based on portfolios, they also base those decisions on SAT scores. Take your test now so if you don’t do as well as you like you can have the opportunity to retake it. Doing well on your SAT can open up a lot of doors for you in terms of scholarships and grants.


The last point I’m going to discuss is your last paragraph. While you do get an essay section to explain why things were the way they were during a college application, I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever make it sound so negative. First off, even if your story of the math teachers is true, anyone and everyone who is applying and didn’t receive a good math grade is going to try and spin it off as “oh, my teacher hated me.” In the end, a college is going to only see you as being responsible for your grades. Admissions officers won’t be able to meet your teacher and won't know your story, but to them, it will sound like your placing blame instead of stepping-up. Instead of mentioning how much your teacher hated you, try and explain that you had some personal family problems going on during that time that resulted in your grades to suffer. Try and highlight how you did better the next year, or that you continued to do well in other areas of your life, like extra curricular activities. See how much better that sounds? It sounds more mature and like you’re taking responsibility. Colleges like that.


When I applied, I also had a particularly rough semester in secondary school. The admission's officer who read my application even sent me a personal note with my acceptance letter saying how refreshing it was to read someone accepting their mistakes and describing how they improved them, instead of just blaming it on the school or a teacher. I'm not saying you're lying or blaming your teacher; I think it's horrible that your teacher did that to you and your sister-- but colleges get a lot of people lying about that sort of things, so, you may accidentally get clumped into that "lying" group.


Anyways, I wish you the best of luck in your application process. I apologise for the length of this post, but if you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to PM me.