College

[NorwegianDJ]

So Im looking at colleges in USA at the moment, after I did my search on collegeboard (1 Colleges Selected criteria: Four-year , Urban setting , Suburban setting , Large school , CA , HI , NJ , NY , Social Psychology)
I ended up with one college: http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3887&profileId=0

UCI I guess. University of California: Irvine. I looked at it and it seems too good. More women than men, 40 miles from LA, and so on. Only surprising thing is that it says that 49% are asian(?). They have a 45% acceptance rate, 20% being 3.5-3.74 GPA (Where Im at currently), and 70% being 3.75+ GPA.

This is something I would really appriciate any help on.

GPA, is it average or graduate?
Any way I can increase my chances? Community service possibly?
What should I do in general?
Any tips for SATs? Do I have to take subject tests? Both SAT and ACT?
I also have quite little knowledge about college in general. Specifically all the terms.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, please take the time to leave a reply; I will read it.

 

[WhitePimp]

GPA is a cumulative average for your grades. If you get all A's throughout high school, you will have a 4.0 average (which is the highest we go). The higher the GPA and SAT scores, the better your odds are of getting into a competitive school.

Community service would probably be good, as most places need you to write some sort of admission letter depicting why you'd be a good asset to their school, etc. Not to mention personal references too. A foreigner might have a better chance of getting in especially if you are any other race besides Caucasian.

SATs are a standardized test that gives you a score (which I believe is out of 2400 now instead of 1600 from when I took it) and this score basically is meant to show your aptitude for various subjects, but mainly math and English. I would suggest getting your math skills sharp (algebra/precalculus) and learning how to properly write essays, use grammar, etc. Not sure what the ACT is, but I'm pretty sure the SAT is sufficient.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I also have quite little knowledge about college in general.

Most of it is a giant waste of money. Colleges lie about job placement rates and starting salaries. Unless your course of study is highly specialized and technical, and geared at a specific job which is actually hiring people right now, in what is the worst job market in 80 years, then you are going to rack up a mountain of debt for nothing.

If you are borrowing money to pay for your education in the US, then do it as cheaply as possible. Go to a junior college for the first two years and live in a cheap apartment. You'll save tens of thousands of dollars. Many junior colleges are located in close proximity to famous party schools, so the social scene is not that different.

For example, check out Irvine Valley College:
http://www.ivc.edu/iso/Documents/Estimate of Costs.pdf
Tuition / Fees and Books Fall and Spring : $6,964.00

And compare that to UCal:
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=730
Out-of-state tuition & fees: $34,111

Over two years, I just saved you $54,000

 

[WhitePimp]

Most of it is a giant waste of money...

This. Research carefully, and avoid ending up with massive debts like me.

 

[NorwegianDJ]

Very good points. Thankfully, Im going to college for the experience and to study something I like. It's something I want to do, quite little to do with work. Also, luckily, my family has a good amount of money, even though it's only my mom working at the moment (she will start soon, hopefully earning money).
I'll do more research with more money consideration later, thanks!

Also, I forgot to mention, I DO want to go to a party school. Do you know anything about the environment on my chosen school, or any known party school?

 

[element0]

I also have quite little knowledge about college in general.

Most of it is a giant waste of money. Colleges lie about job placement rates and starting salaries. Unless your course of study is highly specialized and technical, and geared at a specific job which is actually hiring people right now, in what is the worst job market in 80 years, then you are going to rack up a mountain of debt for nothing.

Agree with this for sure; engineering, math, computer science, and medicine other than that you'd be better off getting a few years in at a junior college, then get some work experience or transfer to a more prestigious school to finish your bachelors.

I have an economics/math degree, and the most practical thing I learned in college was expert use of Microsoft EXCEL and ACCESS along with some programming knowledge. My degree didn't get me a job, the fact that I knew how to use vlookup and write macros programs did.

 

[ArcBound]

So Im looking at colleges in USA at the moment, after I did my search on collegeboard (1 Colleges Selected criteria: Four-year , Urban setting , Suburban setting , Large school , CA , HI , NJ , NY , Social Psychology)
I ended up with one college: http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3887&profileId=0

UCI I guess. University of California: Irvine. I looked at it and it seems too good. More women than men, 40 miles from LA, and so on. Only surprising thing is that it says that 49% are asian(?).

This might be true considering that some parts of California asians are basically a majority
They have a 45% acceptance rate, 20% being 3.5-3.74 GPA (Where Im at currently), and 70% being 3.75+ GPA.

This is something I would really appriciate any help on.

GPA, is it average or graduate?

Cumulative Average from all your years in high school

Any way I can increase my chances? Community service possibly?

It can help, but what can help more is if you were heavily involved with a club (possibly leadership position) or part of the honor society in your school/region, work experience helps too, whatever you have you can put on the application

What should I do in general?

You should look up the application deadline and requirements for all your universities that you are applying to. You should get 2 letters of recommendation from your former (or current) teachers. You should also look up the financial aid deadline.

Any tips for SATs? Do I have to take subject tests? Both SAT and ACT?

Usually schools accept the SAT and ACT but some schools give more weight to one. The SAT is generally your safe bet.

So you take the general SAT and usually people take 2 subject SAT's as well, one in a science/math subject and another in an english/history subject. You can always take more, but it basically looks pretty good if you just take 2 and get 800 or close to 800 on them. The general SAT is out of 2400, I would recommend buying a practice book so you know how the exam is beforehand. Also look up the dates and deadlines for these exams as they offer them only certain times of the year.

I also have quite little knowledge about college in general. Specifically all the terms.

What type of terms are you talking about?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, please take the time to leave a reply; I will read it.

Did you check out UC Berkeley as well? I don't think its a party school but its one of the best UC's there, and I believe the UC system has a unified application for all its schools.

 

[NorwegianDJ]

My mom did go to Berkeley, but it seems a bit too hard to get into?
I have the possibility of getting up to 4.3 GPA by the way. Last year I was around 3.4-3.5 GPA, and the year before it was probably lower. They don't look at improvements? So in other words I have to get 4 or higher this and next year? Quite a feat..

Do they look at your subjects? What if I take an AP course for the subject I'm applying on. What if it's not on the subject?

Any kind of work experience, or just work experience that will seem beneficial? In that case; what kind of work?

What about presidents Award Gold? I have the possibility of getting it, I just need like 100, or 160 service hours and a trip (I got the rest solved with guitar and working out). Is it worth it?

Meeeeh, this seems to be way harder than I thought..

 

[Alle_Gory]

You can make more money in the trades. Electrician, plumber... etc. Everyone goes to college and there is a shortage of skilled workers. The pay is excellent. Look into it. The pay for college grads is **** because there's so many and they're easily replaceable.

 

[PDubb75]

There have been some good answers here, just wanted to share that ACT seems to be looked at much more in the midwest, where SAT is looked at more along the coasts.

Have you looked at any midwest schools? If you are looking for a very urban area, there are plenty of schools in Chicago (Northwestern, University of Illinois-Chicago, DePaul, just to name some of the bigger ones).

One thing I will say, while I agree about the point of not always needing college to get a good job, it was one of the best experiences of my life. My freshman year in the dorms at my school was far and away the best year of my life. In terms of life experience, I will always recommend college. Now, I did go to a somewhat cheaper Division 1 school (about 8-9k/year for tuition and fees), so maybe that helped ease my mind a bit.

 

[DanelMadr]

You can make more money in the trades. Electrician, plumber... etc. Everyone goes to college and there is a shortage of skilled workers. The pay is excellent. Look into it. The pay for college grads is **** because there's so many and they're easily replaceable.

IT skills are in demand but it sucks big time as a profession. Being a plumber, working for myself....hmmm... I should have change the career.

Hey Norwegian glad to know you are alive. My condolences.
That sexually frustrated nazi f@ck should burn in hell.

 

[Alle_Gory]

IT skills are in demand before they will be outsourced to China along with most everything else. Can't outsource plumbing though.

Do you know anything about the environment on my chosen school, or any known party school?

Yes, it's full of irresponsibility and fuelled by mommy and daddy's money. Most of these students don't make it past first and second year. You can be one of them if you like. It's not a difficult task.

 

[synergy1]

don't go to college for the sake of going if you are pursuing a hobby degree. The cost prohibits college from being a worthwhile financial pursuit. As others have said, get into a field in demand where you want to live. If you live in the US, healthcare is a good field. Australia looks highly upon mining/ civil engineers. Oil companies like petrol engineers. Other parts of the US like computer engineering ( not the outsourced kind) - the US service based economy is strongly favoring information right now. I can only speak for the US, and the US is probably going to be quite saturated with employees due to the economy.

 

[ArcBound]

My mom did go to Berkeley, but it seems a bit too hard to get into?

Yeah it is a hard UC but I think its on the same application so I think there is no point in applying unless you have a money issue for the application
I have the possibility of getting up to 4.3 GPA by the way. Last year I was around 3.4-3.5 GPA, and the year before it was probably lower. They don't look at improvements?

They do look at improvements definitely
So in other words I have to get 4 or higher this and next year? Quite a feat..

Do they look at your subjects? What if I take an AP course for the subject I'm applying on. What if it's not on the subject?

By subject you are applying on, I'm assuming you mean major you are applying on? It doesn't matter if the AP's are on the same subject or not, AP's look good either way (provided you did well)

Any kind of work experience, or just work experience that will seem beneficial? In that case; what kind of work?

Well work in positions of power or leadership/responsibility work well. For example life guard, manager or assistant manager at a store etc. etc. You can embellish a little bit as I doubt a school from California will check your sources in South Africa

What about presidents Award Gold? I have the possibility of getting it, I just need like 100, or 160 service hours and a trip (I got the rest solved with guitar and working out). Is it worth it?

That can definitely help but that's a lot of community service. It's all up to you, but an award like that definitely doesn't hurt. I don't know what year you are on, but I fulfilled my service amount of around 200 by just volunteering during the summer.

Meeeeh, this seems to be way harder than I thought..

Yeah the application process is unnecessarily stressful..

 

[women haze]

IT skills are in demand before they will be outsourced to China along with most everything else. Can't outsource plumbing though.
.

and India don't forget India

 

[cococrispy]

Check out collegeprowler.com

I'm a senior right now (I don't know what you would be- a junior?)
I'm thinking of taking a gap year before college.
I will learn stuff on my own, get some new hobbies, travel across the US, and get some new experiences.

 

[Kerpal]

The downside is the chance of getting shot/blown up,

Still very low, especially in the Air Force.