How do you go about choosing a good college?  What sorts of things should you
consider, besides price and location?  Can anyone recommend a good public
(state-supported) college in Michigan that has small classes?  Would it be
advantageous to go to WCC for a year or two and transfer credits, has anyone
done this?  Is it hard to start somewhere else in the middle of an undergrad
program after transferrring, do the other studets all know each other already?

17 responses total.

Visit the campus, stay overnight with some current students and absorb the
atmosphere.  Then ask lots of questions.  Part of it is just trusting your
instincts.  If you like the campus the first time you step on, it's a very
positive sign, although you should consider other factors as well.  Talk to
current students and alumni.

Being a trasnfer at a big university isn't much of a problem; I can't imagine
everyone known each other at the University of Michigan.

Thanks, but how do you decide what colleges to apply for before you go there
for an interview?  Some of the Michigan schools are too far away to just drop
in on them to see how you like the campus.  Are certain schools known for
having good programs in pre-med or other things?  Are the class sizes all
about the same or do some have smaller classes?  Does tuition vary?  Which
ones are in really small towns, and is there any part-time work there?

I can't think of any titles offhand, but if you go into a bookstore, they will
probably have some books that give you quick and dirty statistics  on lots
of colleges; that would include facts such as what the most common majors are,
the size of each graduating class, student-faculty ratios, average tuition,
rural, suburban, or urban locations, part-time vs. full-time students, etc.

As for where to apply, call up schools you're interested in and see if they
supply any current student or alumni contacts.  That will probably be the
easiest way.  Some schools even have telephone alumni interviews for those
students who can't afford to drive out to the campus.

I tried e-mailing one school for a list of local alumni, but only got back
a form letter telling me how to change my alumni listing.  Will try again.

Okay... I'm going to be very straightforward here... what does everyone think
of U of M's undergrad program and Michigan State's undergrad program?

I chose FSU on a purely instictive basis.  I looked inside myself an asked,
"I need a place where I'll learn something really important, and not just in
the scholarly sense -- Where?"  Also, money was a big part of it; as an
instate student, I get lower tuition.  Wish I was a Georgia resident sometimes
-- they have free tuition there...

I have a friend who got a full ride to FSU based on National Merit Scores.
I have a higher GPA, and I feel jipped.

I graduated near the top of my class but most of my friends and another
large number of classmates did better on the SAT's and remember getting
looks such as, "You got into college with _those_ scores?"  I'm glad that
some colleges take into account years of hard work and not just one
standardized test result, but it's a shame not all schools work that way.

Yah.  I had a conflict between my SAT scores and my MSU math placement test,
but fortunately did not have to take a year of remedial.  In this case, my
high SAT won out (which makes me wonder,  though, since the SAT measures
"Aptitude", why should it have won over a skills-based test?)

hmm, I"m going to have to strike teh opposite note and be glad that they take
into account days of brilliance ( ;) ) instead of years of overcommitment and
sleep deprivation...I"m not an inspired student, but I do fairly well on at
least teh verbal bits of teh SATS adn I can talk through ideas, so I did
pretty well on my APs, so I got into an amusing school... as to feeling
cheated on things like applications, I understand the sentiment, but one has
to realize that despite everything, it's luck..and no matter where you end
up, it won't be a total waste, adn you'll get things out of it..no one's out
to make your life miserable, and thigs like taht will happen
occasionally..it's unfortunate, but true :P

I think the point is both long term academic record and one time test scores
have to be taken into account and one can't override the other.

Life is a matter of luck; getting an education doesn't mean you'll _have_ a
job but it means you stand a better chance of getting a job you want.

Some sleep deprivation isn't a bad thing if you really get into what you're
doing and it makes you happy.  Wasn't there some line about how for some
people work and play are separate things whereas for other people it's one
thing?

Well, I'm currently wrestling with "money work" vs. "sanity work".  I've
nearly burned out on the money work job, and I'm now working part-time there
while developing my sanity work job.

What frustrates me is that my parents don't understand that I have to do my
sanity work (horn and vocal stuff).  Keeps talking about how when he was
growing up all he was doing was saving for college and that was what he really
wanted to do and he never thought about his "sanity".  Thank you for being
someone significantly older than me who understands.  I begin to feel a bit
less of a "product of the slacker generation" with your response.

It may be that he *was* doing work he liked.

I've burned out doing work that I sortof liked, though.  All things in
moderation, I guess.

He was hauling big bags of stuff for a construction company.  Doesn't sound
exceptionally fulfilling to me.  But, each to their own.

I'm working at a library and at a store, adn despite teh fact thaI"d learn
a good deal more at the library, I get headaches when I go in, I'm tired all
teh time, and I rather dread it..but working a mindless job standing at a cash
register is a *lot* of fun..it's fufilling, it makes fun beeping and dinging
noises when you do stuff, adn you don't have to think much...so sometimes
sanity work is sanity work because it's mindless..like hauling bags...on teh
other hand, sewing is also my sanity work..so that's like music for you..tell
your dad he lacked bredth as a young man :)

Well, he lacks it now, too.  On the way to my last horn recital he made some
comment about how he was going to have to sit through a whole hour of
classical music.  I said something about how since it was the spring recital
it would be unlikely that anyone would play anything classical.

The realization at the end of the discussion was that, to my father, anything
played on a horn is classical.  Doesn't matter what.  And my piece was modern,
thank you.

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