ok, so i'm working on writing up my college application essays...

[Ava]

anyone got suggestions for places to apply.. i have some in mind but i'm still open to suggestions. i'm looking for somewhere that is
1. affordable or i could get a scholarship to
2. is a good school(or course)
3. has a good atmosphere.. somewhere that would be fun to live during college

any suggestions? where did you all attend?

[LeftyMom]

1. You'd fit in well at UC Davis, UCSC or Cal.

All would be affordable after residency was established (you have to live in CA a year,) but the out of state rates suck. All are pretty activist, in cool communities and have good reputations.

[Ava]

3. i've been looking at the california public university system

all of them are awesome school!

[XemaSab]

12. Add Santa Barbara to the list

A little bit of a party school, but with good academics. :)

[Shine]

2. I've been seeing a lot of college app threads lately, must be the season

I attended UC Santa Cruz and got a degree in Politics. It's an awesome place to go to school. I had a lot of fun, made great friends and got a wonderful education. In fact, I love it here so much, I'm still here, 22 yrs later! I met my man, got married and am now raising my family here, too. The campus itself is nestled on a 2,000 acre redwood forest, on top of a hill, overlooking the picturesque beach/surf town of Santa Cruz. VERY left-wing, progressive political vibe here and close to SF, which is nice too. You'd probably love it! It's a college that fosters unique ways of thinking and learning.

I get the feeling you're somewhere on the east coast, though, so that might be an issue.... the out-of-state thing.

Good luck with your process, Ava! The world is your oyster, my dear. :hug: Have fun with it.

[Ava]

5. yeah.. like i said above.. i've been looking on at the cali schools

my mom would prefer if i went to school on the east coast, but if i got accepted to a good school on the west coast with some type of scholarship or tuition help i'd probably be there. ;)

[bicentennial_baby]

4. UMASS Amherst

Seriously.

[Ava]

6. i haven't looked at it

i'll check it out.. thanks for the suggestion :hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

10. One really cool thing about it is that it's part of the

5 College Consortium. UMASS, Smith, Mt Holyoke, Hampshire, Amherst. Which means that during your college career, you can take classes at all of them, all within abt 10 miles, max. A wonderfully progressive area, I think you'd love it. :)

[IzaSparrow]

7. Ohio State University...

no application essay! w00t! w00t! that's why I applied only to OSU; that, and the 50 thousand majors they have.

[Ava]

8. i have looked at osu

the lack of application essay sort of turned me away from it though.. although i have made straight a's throughout my schooling and made a high act score(though i'm taking it again in april to try to get a higher one... good thing about the ACT is that you can choose which score to send, lol), i would consider my essay to be what would really help me get a scholarship.

[Wetzelbill]

9. I went to the Art Institute of Seattle and the University of Arizona.

AIS is an art school, I went for video production and got my degree in that. It's not really a traditional type college though, so if you're looking for something along those lines, the U of AZ is very good.

Tucson has a great atmosphere, it's a Blue city in a red state, has it's purplish moments. Pretty solid in both arts and sciences. Good community, lots of stuff to do, lots of sunshine and beautiful people around. It's affordable, not as much as it used to be, but still you get a good bang for your buck. When I came down here it was rated as the top school in the country in terms of best education for your dollar, that was 6 years ago, and tuition has gone up a few times since then, but it's still good.

[Tektonik]

11. I'd check out some of the Claremont colleges

Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer all have great programs.

http://www.claremont.edu/

If you do come to socal to look at schools, check out Occidental as well.

There are a million and one great schools in California, so good luck in choosing just one :P.

Also you may find privates will end up being a lot cheaper than any public you'd app to if you are a truly prestigious student.

[lligrd]

15. I'll Second The Claremont Colleges

Great schools in progressive, green, small city. Plus the village is a great place to hang out.

[LeftyMom]

13. Oh, I read lately that Stanford is using their endowment to eliminate tuition

for students with family incomes under (I forget what the level was, but it was fairly high.) IIRC, some of the ivies have done the same. Worth looking into, for a highly qualified and impressive young lady like yourself.

[XemaSab]

14. I'd look at some big schools and some small schools

I went to a smaller school, and I think it was a better fit for me than a HUGH school would have been.

Humboldt State University, in Arcata, California. It was... an education.

And remember, you can always go somewhere for two years and then transfer. (and on edit: if you want to go to grad school don't spend a lot of money on undergrad!)

The big question is what do you want to study? :shrug:

If you want to study wildlife, forestry, geology, natural resources, biology, or geography, Humboldt State's the best! For anything else.... you might want to keep looking. :P

[unsavedtrash]

16. If you are still considering UA please look at this program.

http://www.as.ua.edu/nc/site/index.html

Spring courses- http://www.as.ua.edu/nc/site/spring08.html


Very progressive and a fantastic group of folks.

[RushIsRot]

17. You appear to have already learned much of what life has to offer.

You have matured enough to take advantage of that knowledge. My guess is that if you wish to feed your creativity a bit more, U.C. Berkeley should be your desired destination.

[Callalily]

18. Two come to mind off

of the top of my head.

www.lawrence.edu and www.beloit.edu

With your credentials you'd get scholarships from either of these schools.

Both are recognized for their strong academics. Beloit College is known ad "the Harvard of the Midwest".

Good luck on your search.

[malta blue]

19. Carleton College....

is one of the best liberal arts colleges in the nation.

It has consistenly been rated as the #1 or #2 in the country for small colleges by US News. It is very progressive (we built a shanty town in 1986 to encourage divestment).

Academically challenging is the understatement of the century but it is surely a worthwhile endeavour.