How to go to college by youngidealist

"College Is A Rip Off, But It's Worth It."

How I did it: Mistakes:

1- Went to ITT Tech first, thinking that it was going to be cheaper and more to the point of getting work. It wasn't. ITT was more expensive than community college and it was full of meaningless classes. The only good I ever saw there was their use of the popular math software Aleks.

2-After my epic fail with ITT (dropped out because it was too expensive AND useless and I needed work, not because of grades) I lost hope in school and just tried to find work. It turned out that community college is the ideal way to go, but I didn't find out until I was settled into a secure job and took the extra time to go to the local campus and ask questions.

How I Did It:
I walked onto the community college campus and asked to talk to a counselor. I told them where I was coming from and asked what I should do about money and work and everything. I was directed to the financial aid office where they told me to fill out the FAFSA. Then when I did that and returned, they told me what I could do to cover classes with little to no income to start.

 They also connected me to my MGIB benefit, which is really only worth something substantial in the new post 9-11 version that Obama pushed through. I ended up with only one year of that version in university.

Then I decided to walk into the Students With Disabilities Office to inquire about getting tested for some issues that I always knew were holding me back but I was never recognized for as a disability. They tested me themselves and determined that I have a learning disability. They then quickly set me up with fair and awesome accommodations (which I can't say as positively about the university I go to now)

Lessons & tips: 1. Start at community college, even if you have the money and scholarship to go to university. Most high end universities are all hype and not really there to teach you, but to put you though stress and expect you to teach yourself. You'll save money and have more time to search out what university you want to be going to eventually.

*note* You don't have to be a high school graduate to take community college courses. I suggest taking them as much as you can, before graduating, because I also found high school to be useless by comparison.

2. Don't be afraid to walk on campus during business hours to ask about your options and make an appointment with a counselor. 

3. Find the tutoring lab or lounge on campus. That is the place to be if you need help or have plenty of help to offer. 

4. Expect to make the best friends in the most awkward ways in college. People are still developing their social skills at that general age and lot of college goers might have even missed the boat on that one somewhere down the road. Remember, in the real world, nerds for friends are beneficial.

5. If you are starting off in financial problems and weak family ties to support you going to college, try having a minor or a second major in economics or anything else that you know you can straight up make money with. You won't regret having something like that to fall back on.

6. Screw the expected time of 4 years to graduate. Everyone learns at different rates and not every course is taught in an ideal manner. Why expect more out of yourself than your professors can expect out of their own performance?

Resources: Tutoring Lab, Aleks, The Discussions On Blackboard, Online Podcasted Lectures (watched with VLC media player for variable play speed control), Academic Club Lectures that professors involved themselves in, Disabilities Office, Financial Aid, one step at a time.

Also, keep your eyes open for a new revolution in getting the most out of a cheap, even free, education. MIT is about to try a program online called MITx. Students can take courses online, teach themselves, and get tested online for free (or at least the idea is cheap), and ultimately get a certificate of completion that is worth the same as a degree at MIT, minus the hype of cost. 

This kind of idea is long overdue and MIT isn't the only school considering it. Keep on the lookout as this sort of concept is looking to make it possible for ANYONE to go to school, teach themselves (just like they would have to at almost any other school) and do it for free. 


 

Jan 11, 11:53PM PST | 0 comments | 5 cheers


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