First of all, it would help if you gave us a little info on your current situation. AKA, I'm assuming you're in the US, but college on the east coast and west coast are different in some requirements. I see that you've taken the ACT, so I'm assuming you're on the east coast (schools on the west coast tend to require the SAT with the ACT being optional). In state schools are cheap. In state schools tend to favor in state applicants. Public in state schools are the easiest for you to get into (and depending on which state you are in probably the best school in terms of reputation/prestige) and tend to be the biggest bang for your buck. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY OUT OF STATE COSTS THOUGH! Sure they seem outrageous, but in many states, one can apply for state residency after being present in the state for 1 year and thus paying the in-state cost for the next 3 years. Do your homework on this because different states have different rules.

Just a quick question; I heard where you go to undergraduate school doesn't matter all that much unless you're in a super competitive/popular major (aka Business or Pre-Med), which I'm not. I heard what matters is really how many research opportunities the school had that you participated in (for people majoring in one of the sciences, anyway, which is what I want to do.) is this true?

Quote from CPBong

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY OUT OF STATE COSTS THOUGH! Sure they seem outrageous, but in many states, one can apply for state residency after being present in the state for 1 year and thus paying the in-state cost for the next 3 years. Do your homework on this because different states have different rules.

Oh, thanks for this! I never realized this before. 🙂

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?

Quote from Dragonfiremule

Just a quick question; I heard where you go to undergraduate school doesn't matter all that much unless you're in a super competitive/popular major (aka Business or Pre-Med), which I'm not. I heard what matters is really how many research opportunities the school had that you participated in (for people majoring in one of the sciences, anyway, which is what I want to do.) is this true?

That depends on your future goals. If you want to go to work right after your BS/BA, the name of the school will help you get job interviews. However, if you want to continue onto graduate school to get a MBA/PhD/MD a mediocre school name can easily be made up with other stuff like research/standardized test scores/other EC stuff. Also, keep in mind that for the top name schools, the popular majors do have student limits, so if you really want to be in something like computer science or engineering, your chances of being accepted into those majors are more likely in less competitive schools (this may not apply to you since I don't know how competitive you are).

BTW, Pre-med is not a major, it's just a designation for students who want to go on to medical school (which a good 70% or so do not). They just take the medical school pre-reqs (1 year chem/bio/physics/math/ochem) and they could be any major, even art.

Quote from CPBong

First of all, it would help if you gave us a little info on your current situation. AKA, I'm assuming you're in the US, but college on the east coast and west coast are different in some requirements. I see that you've taken the ACT, so I'm assuming you're on the east coast (schools on the west coast tend to require the SAT with the ACT being optional). In state schools are cheap. In state schools tend to favor in state applicants. Public in state schools are the easiest for you to get into (and depending on which state you are in probably the best school in terms of reputation/prestige) and tend to be the biggest bang for your buck. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY OUT OF STATE COSTS THOUGH! Sure they seem outrageous, but in many states, one can apply for state residency after being present in the state for 1 year and thus paying the in-state cost for the next 3 years. Do your homework on this because different states have different rules.

Only one out-of-state university I'm applying to gives in-state residency for qualifying students (based on ACT/SAT score and GPA). ;_; The university that I want to get into the most, which is out-of-state, does not have that option. I live in central U.S.; most of the places I'm applying to have options about the SAT and ACT and you can take either one of them and, with a certain minimum score, get in. They don't require the writing section of either one though, which is nice. I've been taking the ACT and don't care much for the SAT.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/cWeUK2w.png[/img]

Quote from LawX

You are like the dense main character in a shoujo manga.

Quote from Crenshinibon

And you will murder someone one day, pika. If you're my daughter.

Quote from CPBong

Quote from Dragonfiremule

Just a quick question; I heard where you go to undergraduate school doesn't matter all that much unless you're in a super competitive/popular major (aka Business or Pre-Med), which I'm not. I heard what matters is really how many research opportunities the school had that you participated in (for people majoring in one of the sciences, anyway, which is what I want to do.) is this true?

That depends on your future goals. If you want to go to work right after your BS/BA, the name of the school will help you get job interviews. However, if you want to continue onto graduate school to get a MBA/PhD/MD a mediocre school name can easily be made up with other stuff like research/standardized test scores/other EC stuff. Also, keep in mind that for the top name schools, the popular majors do have student limits, so if you really want to be in something like computer science or engineering, your chances of being accepted into those majors are more likely in less competitive schools (this may not apply to you since I don't know how competitive you are).

BTW, Pre-med is not a major, it's just a designation for students who want to go on to medical school (which a good 70% or so do not). They just take the medical school pre-reqs (1 year chem/bio/physics/math/ochem) and they could be any major, even art.

Yeah, I'm planning on at the very least to head off to graduate school, if not to get my PhD.
I'm not interested in Computer Science/Engineering. I want to major in either Botany or Ecology (last year only 40 people majored in Botany throughout the public school systems) which aren't very popular, so I think I'm good in that regard.

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?

Quote from PeachMangoTea

Only one out-of-state university I'm applying to gives in-state residency for qualifying students (based on ACT/SAT score and GPA).

That sounds very suspect to me. State residency is decided by state law, not by the school you are applying to. It will do you very well to research what requirements/laws regarding acquiring state residency for whichever state you wish to go into. Remember, all this in/out state stuff only applies to public state schools. Private schools have no care about what state you come from as long as you bring the bling.

Does anyone know how FAFSAs work? Is it easy to get money from FAFSA? I heard from friends that's it's extremely complicated, but they never explain it to me. 🤢

[img]https://i.imgur.com/cWeUK2w.png[/img]

Quote from LawX

You are like the dense main character in a shoujo manga.

Quote from Crenshinibon

And you will murder someone one day, pika. If you're my daughter.

Quote from Pikapu

Does anyone know how FAFSAs work? Is it easy to get money from FAFSA? I heard from friends that's it's extremely complicated, but they never explain it to me. 🤢

depends on alot of factors the main thing they look at though is if you are a dependent or independent and from there you or your families gross annual income if you make a certain amount you may or may not get it.(more factors gets really complicated just really dumbed it down i suggest you check the FAFSA site for better understanding)

Shmoke!!!!!!

Quote from Shmoke

Quote from Pikapu

Does anyone know how FAFSAs work? Is it easy to get money from FAFSA? I heard from friends that's it's extremely complicated, but they never explain it to me. 🤢

depends on alot of factors the main thing they look at though is if you are a dependent or independent and from there you or your families gross annual income if you make a certain amount you may or may not get it.(more factors gets really complicated just really dumbed it down i suggest you check the FAFSA site for better understanding)

Oh FAFSA... I agree with @Shmoke. They have this formula for determining your financial aid, so it's basically crap for us middle-class families who barely make it over the "financial need" buffer.

As for filling it out, unless you're already working and have experience filling out tax forms, your parents/guardians will answer the tough questions for you (using their 1040A etc...). Just take your time filling it out. Do it after you've submitted your college applications (which should be the end of this year, right?). And keep that FAFSA due date in mind: March 1, 2011? (well, for California that was the due date). Here: FAFSA deadlines by state. Don't be shy of visiting your college counselor for these things! 😃