Space is college hunting...

[Space05us]

And I need your help. My plan is to get a PhD in Psychology and a bachelors (sp?) in teaching. This will be the first time Ive sat down and seriously looked at colleges so any advice and help would be highly appreciated.

[Shi Huangdi]

First off, don't go in assuming want you want to major in. You're still in High School, it's too early to know what you want to do in life. Go in based on how strong your school is in terms of your academic interests generally, not a few specific fields. Also as far as teaching(education), at some schools that is only offered as a masters. (As far as undergrad does go, I believe the University of Georgia is excellent for education)

As far as schools go, to help narrow the field, do you know what your stats are in terms of grades/SAT/difficulty of courses taken? Whether you prefer a large school or a small school? Whether you want public or private? What geographic area of the country you are interested in?

[Space05us]

1. my grades suck massive ass on account of my being a lazy high school student. Im capable of straight A's and Ive heard the "if you extend the effort it will pay off in the long run" speech a billion times so theres no need to repeat it

2. havent taking the ACT or SAT yet.

3.difficulty of classes? did you go to private school growing up, all public schools are rediculously simple. Except any english class, thats the only class where my current grade might actually reflect how well I could do provided I try.

4. large or small doesnt matter

5. public or private, whats the difference in college besides price? Probably public though since I dont want my mom paying for my college.

6. And finally I dont care where int he country it is.

[Shi Huangdi]

Hmmmm.. I think right now what you should be doing, rather then looking for specific schools, you should ask yourself what type of school you would like

1. my grades suck massive ass on account of my being a lazy high school student. Im capable of straight A's and Ive heard the "if you extend the effort it will pay off in the long run" speech a billion times so theres no need to repeat it

Ah, ok....

2. havent taking the ACT or SAT yet.

This should be a major determinant as to how good of a school you can get in to. Have you taken the PSAT yet?

3.difficulty of classes? did you go to private school growing up, all public schools are rediculously simple. Except any english class, thats the only class where my current grade might actually reflect how well I could do provided I try.

So no Honors or AP courses?

4. large or small doesnt matter

If you say that you really don't understand the selection process, IMO this is the most important decision you need to make.

First off, it matters in the admissions process. Have you done many extracurricular activites or athletics? Do you think you can get good Teacher Reccomendations? Large schools tend to admit people based on their core stats (GPA/SAT and ACT). Smaller schools will make an attempt to judge "The Whole Person", and will want to see that you were involved at your school, and that you didn't spend your time on your butt playing computer games. If you have good Extracurriculars, you will be given a significant boost when applying for college at a small school. If you don't have much to show in the way of extracurricular activities, smaller schools will be more prejudiced against you and less likely to admit you, making large schools a better fact.

Also keep in mind if you end up with low grades and a high SAT/ACT, smaller schools are more likely to look and say "Oh, an underachiever. We don't want him" Larger schools may do that, but many of the very large ones also plug the grades and SAT into a formula, at those schools you will be the most helped.

It'll also make a difference socially. Do you want a campus wide reputation, and a small social setting where everybody knows everybody? Or would you like to remain anonymus among campus? Now you said you were a geek before. I think if you are not like most other people, it is probably better to go to a large school, since then just by statistics there are more people likely to be like you.

5. public or private, whats the difference in college besides price? Probably public though since I dont want my mom paying for my college.

Price is the big one.

6. And finally I dont care where int he country it is.

Sure? Would the University of Alaska be good for you? Think about whether you would rather live in a big city, a suburb, or a small town. You should also think about the climate, as well as distance from home. (Would be a huge pain traveling home if you went to school in the SouthEast)

[PLATO]

University of Tennessee.
1.) Quality education for public institution at a bargain price.
2.) Large lakes and beautiful mountains within very short drive.
3.) Football Saturdays are beyond compare
4.) Gorgeous women


What else could you want?

[Dis]

you don't want to stay in Alaska?

[Space05us]

you don't want to stay in Alaska?

I dont really care, if I move out of Alaska good, if I dont thats cool.

Shi Huangdi, thank ye for your knowledge.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ever consider Canada?

Way cheaper to get an education here than in the states. Most of Canada will be closer to you in Alaska that the US.

[Q Classic]

(univ. ga) uga's a huge change in temperature from alaska. it's a tad warmer.

athens is a fun town. you can either describe it as a drinking town with a college problem, or that place REM came from.

the school itself is big, but if you get into the honors program, it's good.

[Q Classic]

i myself would've suggested my school, but we don't have a big education department anymore. we used to, but now...

[Ramo]

4. large or small doesnt matter

This is probably the first thing you'll want to look at. Large schools typically are cheaper and have a wider variety of majors and classes. Small schools typically are more liberal arts oriented (which is what you'll be studying with a psychology/education orientation) and have smaller class sizes. If you can definitely afford it, and are certain you want to study these topics (though, it might be tough getting into a psychology grad school with an education degree, so I'd recommend thinking about your decision carefully), a small school is probably the way to go.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
(univ. ga) uga's a huge change in temperature from alaska. it's a tad warmer.

athens is a fun town. you can either describe it as a drinking town with a college problem, or that place REM came from.

the school itself is big, but if you get into the honors program, it's good.

They also have one of the best chinese resturants I've eaten at. Suprising for Georgia. Lake Okonee is only about 30 minutes south. Fun place.

[Imran Siddiqui]

First off, don't go in assuming want you want to major in. You're still in High School, it's too early to know what you want to do in life

Bull****! I went into school knowing what major I wanted and I knew I wanted to do in high school. If you want to do it, Plato, do it. Don't just take random classes, only to end up doing what you wanted in the first place.

[Shi Huangdi]

Bull****! I went into school knowing what major I wanted and I knew I wanted to do in high school. If you want to do it, Plato, do it. Don't just take random classes, only to end up doing what you wanted in the first place.

Good for you. Many people are that way, but the thing is many people aren't. Many go into a major thinking it is what they want but once they take classes they discover they hate it. I guess if he is absolutely sure he wants to be a teacher that is one thing, but you want to avoid a situation where you pick a school for a specific program and you then decide you hate it.

Small schools typically are more liberal arts oriented (which is what you'll be studying with a psychology/education orientation) and have smaller class sizes. If you can definitely afford it, and are certain you want to study these topics (though, it might be tough getting into a psychology grad school with an education degree, so I'd recommend thinking about your decision carefully), a small school is probably the way to go.

Well generally it is true that large schools often focus on math and science, it's not completely true. As I mentioned early, I believe the top school for Education in this country is Univ. of Georgia. Many large schools are often good at Humanities and the Social Sciences, so I wouldn't let an inclination to the liberal arts get to me if I thought a large school would be preferable for admissions/social/price reasons.

[Japher]

Bad grades, or at least not good grades, may influence your decision (unless you get in on AA).

If you know what it is you want to do than work towards that. Chose your school based on the strength of the program and work towards getting there. This may require good grades, which will mean city or community college for a while. Yet, a highly accredited degree is worth a lot more than people who settle think it is, and is worth working for.

US News, IIRC, puts out a ranking and reveiw of every college in the US. Go through that for the past couple of years to help narrow your choices. I think looking back helps to tell if the program is going downhill or uphill.

IMO, the UC system was pretty good, and valued about right. Yet, I think tuition is on the rise. Many states also charge out of state tuition fees. If you decide what school you want to go to, AND don't get in the first time, move to the town/state and go to community/city college there and establish residency, and apply every semester/quarter to the university.

Besides the UCs there are a lot of good colleges in the states, including Alaska. The Northwest might suit you best, and would be still relatively close to home. I would look at Washington (UW, WSU, Conzaga), Idaho (UI, ISU), Oregon (OSU, UO, Willamette), and Montana.