College
 

Ok i have been accepted into 4 schools

Florida
Tennessee
Penn State
wake Forest

but i am waiting for LSU and UNC

what should I do?

should I just go to one of the other schools or should I hold out?

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What happened with the Culinary Institute?

What are you looking for in a college?

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Its all your decision my friend. you gotta weigh out what you think the pros and cons of each school are. But either way those are all great schools, all with very good athletic programs too, thats always a major plus. I can tell you Tenn and Penn State are both excellent times. And Baton rouge is a very very cool place and one of the wildest college football atmospheres you will ever encounter if you do get in to LSU.

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[quote=SmootSmack;318481]What happened with the Culinary Institute?

What are you looking for in a college?[/quote]


Didn't get in. Dont know what their problem was? I am going to try and double major in Sports Journalism and Law. (In case the sports thing doesnt work out.)

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If you're looking for my general impressions of each college socially, I've partied and hung out at each extensively except for Florida. Overall, it seems that TN is the most down to Earth and is a great town. Knoxville is a GREAT party scene and not only that, the TMC frequents the parties there at least two to three times a year whenever I visit my buddy who goes there.

Penn State is strikingly similar to UT party-wise, I just like Knoxville as a town better.

Wake Forest seemed VERY stuck up to me. A lot of popped collars running around the two times I partied there. It seems like the amount of money you have counts for a lot in that place.

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good luck in what ever you choose. make us proud, quake

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[quote=dmek25;318490]good luck in what ever you choose. make us proud, quake[/quote]


thanks man, I always wanted to go to LSU but my cousins go to Tennessee so if not LSU that is probably where I will go.

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I've never been to LSU, but when I was there for UT vs. LSU last year, their fans, even though they weren't highly represented, were sometimes louder than the ENTIRE CROWD at Neyland Stadium. That is definitely saying something.

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Your location says you're from NC. If so, take advantage of that good school, great instate price, and the girl/guy ratio at UNC. UNC is also the most respected one on that list and it isn't too hard to get into from instate. Judging by the fact that you got into the other schools, you should also get in at UNC, instate (i would guess). UNC Out of state is REALLY hard and those in NC should take advantage of that school if possible. Isn't the instate tuition [B]under 5,000?[/B]

Thats what I would do... If not the rest are all good schools. I would look at the fit at each university and see how you like it. Wake Forest has been getting more and more respectable. PSU and Florida will give you great sports to write about if you join the school's newspaper.

Here are princeton review's "Best College Newspaper" Rankings

School Name Save Apply Request Info
1 Yale University
2 University of Arizona
[B]3 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [/B]
4 Howard University
5 University of Pennsylvania
6 University of Georgia
7 University of Maryland-College Park
8 Harvard College
9 Indiana University at Bloomington
10 The University of Texas at Austin
11 Syracuse University
12 Northwestern University
[B]13 Penn State--University Park[/B]
14 Duke University
15 West Virginia University
[B]16 Louisiana State University [/B]
17 Texas A&M University-College Station
18 Michigan State University
19 University of California-Los Angeles
20 University of Minnesota--Twin Cities

[URL]http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?categoryID=7&topicID=57[/URL]

Take this ranking with a grain of salt. I don't know how important they are but they are there.


You see UNC is at the top> I would pick UNC hands down if it were me. Then I would look at PSU and Florida. That is me though and everyone is different, that is what makes this world great. This should be a personal decision. Take a look at all the schools you are seriously considering.

Good luck.

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Damn dude, they are all good schools....pick one for gods sake....? good luck

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yeah UNC is just about 5,000 [url=http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3635&profileId=2]College Search - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Cost & Financial Aid[/url] for tuition and shouldn't cost more than 15,000 per year total. I mean, that is the clincher for me. The price and education is the best, in my opinion. I don't really see any reason to go anywhere else in particular. Again, this is your decision, but that is just me.

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[quote=BigSKINBauer;318499]Your location says you're from NC. If so, take advantage of that good school, great instate price, and the girl/guy ratio at UNC. UNC is also the most respected one on that list and it isn't too hard to get into from instate. Judging by the fact that you got into the other schools, you should also get in at UNC, instate (i would guess). UNC Out of state is REALLY hard and those in NC should take advantage of that school if possible. Isn't the instate tuition [B]under 5,000?[/B]

Thats what I would do... If not the rest are all good schools. I would look at the fit at each university and see how you like it. Wake Forest has been getting more and more respectable. PSU and Florida will give you great sports to write about if you join the school's newspaper.

Here are princeton review's "Best College Newspaper" Rankings

School Name Save Apply Request Info
1 Yale University
2 University of Arizona
[B]3 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [/B]
4 Howard University
5 University of Pennsylvania
6 University of Georgia
7 University of Maryland-College Park
8 Harvard College
9 Indiana University at Bloomington
10 The University of Texas at Austin
11 Syracuse University
12 Northwestern University
[B]13 Penn State--University Park[/B]
14 Duke University
15 West Virginia University
[B]16 Louisiana State University [/B]
17 Texas A&M University-College Station
18 Michigan State University
19 University of California-Los Angeles
20 University of Minnesota--Twin Cities

[URL]http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?categoryID=7&topicID=57[/URL]

Take this ranking with a grain of salt. I don't know how important they are but they are there.


You see UNC is at the top> I would pick UNC hands down if it were me. Then I would look at PSU and Florida. That is me though and everyone is different, that is what makes this world great. This should be a personal decision. Take a look at all the schools you are seriously considering.

Good luck.[/quote]


that really helps me and thanks

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I have heard good things about Florida. Not easy to get in. You did a good job Quake!
My kids went to a week long Lacrosse camp last week sponsored by the Gators. Gator lacrosse team, and coach put it on. Total CLASS deal. Could not have been better

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[quote=EARTHQUAKE2689;318502]that really helps me and thanks[/quote]

No, problem.

For the record though, i may have said some good things about UNC but still [B][SIZE=3]F... The Tar heels[/SIZE][/B]

60/40 Girl/guy ratio. :food-smil

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What are you majoring in? Some of these schools are better than others in the field you're interested. Also, try to avoid getting into debt. You don't want to owe 50K+ after leaving school.

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To get a feel for these universities, check out this site. [url=http://www.collegeprowler.com/find/by-ranking.aspx]College Rankings | Get the unbiased lowdown on colleges directly from students.[/url]

You get rankings from everything from parking to greek life. Look up what is important to you.

To get you started. Again i'll stress the girl ranking... LSU an A+!?! I didn't know that. That puts it with the top 10 interms of girls at all colleges. Florida is an A.
UNC is an A-.
Penn State is a B+

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Sorry for so many small posts but i'm just posting as i think.
[url=http://www.answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=199160]Google Answers: Rankings of Undergraduate Journalism Schools in the U.S.[/url]

Nice ranking on journalism schools. Again, rankings suck and shouldn't determine a lot. These rankings suck even more because they are 10 years old but good schools stay good schools.

Also look at the areas around the schools for internships. I mean PSU is in farm country so that makes it hard. I don't reall know how gainesville is or the area around LSU. I was telling a friend that was thinking about journalism at maryland that Maryland has two big cities with two seperate sports teams nearby and a strong sports program that has had some great sport journalism people come out of the journalism school here. I mean to say, you should look up the opportunities you might have, if you want them, to get jobs in the area and to look at the strength of the [B]sports [/B]journalism program more specifically. Its hard to find sports journalism rankings (i think) so do some more indepth research on it.

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trade down and try to get a 1st round pick for next year.

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Just don't do what I did. I transfered to a school without even visiting it, and they didn't even have the major I wanted. I heard it was a great party school so I said what the heck. Big mistake LOL. I partied my way right outta there.

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Try to use affordability and education as your two main determining criteria. Partying is great and all but with enough beer you can have fun in an igloo.

Also, if you're a momma's boy then you may want to either pick a school really close by or one that is really far away. Don't waste your college life driving back and forth.

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[quote=724Skinsfan;318530]Try to use affordability and education as your two main determining criteria. Partying is great and all but with enough beer you can have fun in an igloo.

Also, if you're a momma's boy then you may want to either pick a school really close by or one that is really far away. Don't waste your college life driving back and forth.[/quote]
I go to Maryland and so many people do that at here> I went back 3 times second semester which was good for me. But some people went back every week or other week. I mean home is 25 minutes away which is good if i need to go home to get away from college for a night but it ruins the experience if you go home too much.

However, i personally enjoyed being close to home. I really like the Maryland area.

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UNC (as long as it's Chapel Hill) and Wake Forest are the two most highly ranked schools on your list.

[URL="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php"]US News and World Report College Rankings for 2007[/URL]

UNC Chapel Hill is 27th
Wake Forest is 30th
Penn State and Florida are tied at 47th
Tennessee is 88th
LSU doesn't even make the list

This is a no brainer choice between UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest. Assuming you care about your future, of course. Partying should not be a factor in your decision except to break the tie between UNC and Wake.

If you have a major picked out, then that could play a factor as well.

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Screw them all, come to the REAL UT (University of Texas at Austin)!!!! Haha, on a serious note UNC Chapel Hill is a great school as is Wake Forest. If the major fits in those two and you are IN state, those seem like the logical choice to me.

But then again its not my decision. Good luck in whatever you choose!

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Going along with what matty just said dont choose a school cuz of a girl or a friend either. I made the mistake of going to ODU my freshman year to be close to my high school sweetheart. needless to say after, getting robbed, being mugged and jumped i decided it was time to head to the mountains where i wanted to go in the first place. Dropped the girlfriend and norfolk like a bad habit and havent regretted the move once, i only regret not coming to WVU in the first place.

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^^^ those rankings are extremely unfair to public schools. Those rankings take a lot into consideration and using just the overall ranking is really not a fair assessment. I mean everyone has different priorities. . THe ranking takes class size and other things into consideration and weighs them for you.

The most important thing, i feel(again personal choices), is the prestige of the university. I can get by sitting in a 180 person lecture. To some people, that is hell. The prestige of the school is best reflected by the peer assessment rankings which account for only 25% of that score (i forget but i am pretty darn sure that is it). FOR ME, prestige(peer assessment) is much more important than just 25% of my decision.

The other catagories all benefit private universities. Therefore, overrates them for ME. I mean look at the rankings, there is only one public school in the top 20. Vanderbilt better than UNC, UVA, Umich, UCLA, Wisconsin? I don't think it is much better, if at all.

I say this because I have always felt Wake forest is over ranked. It is a great school but it has a 3.5 peer assessment ranking.

UNC ranked 27- peer assessment 4.2
Wake Forest 30- Peer assessment 3.5
PSU ranked 47 Peer assessment 3.8
Florida ranked 47 peer assessment 3.7

I say this to show that prestige wise, wake forest isn't that much better than PUS or Florida. I meen the peer rankings are not perfect but they reflect the general opinion of academics at that school from its peers. I feel that is important.

All my blabbing has to say is that everything in the rankings should be looked at and not the final product. Then evaluate everything on a scale that reflects the person that is choosing.

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[quote=BigSKINBauer;318564]^^^ those rankings are extremely unfair to public schools. Those rankings take a lot into consideration and using just the overall ranking is really not a fair assessment. I mean everyone has different priorities. . THe ranking takes class size and other things into consideration and weighs them for you.

The most important thing, i feel(again personal choices), is the prestige of the university. I can get by sitting in a 180 person lecture. To some people, that is hell. The prestige of the school is best reflected by the peer assessment rankings which account for only 25% of that score (i forget but i am pretty darn sure that is it). FOR ME, prestige(peer assessment) is much more important than just 25% of my decision.

The other catagories all benefit public universities. I mean look at the rankings, there is only one public school in the top 20. Vanderbilt better than UNC, UVA, Umich, UCLA, Wisconsin? I don't think it is much better.

I say this because I have always felt Wake forest is over ranked. It is a great school but it has a 3.5 peer assessment ranking.

UNC ranked 27- peer assessment 4.2
Wake Forest 30- Peer assessment 3.5
PSU ranked 47 Peer assessment 3.8
Florida ranked 47 peer assessment 3.7

I say this to show that prestige wise, wake forest isn't that much better than PUS or Florida. I meen the peer rankings are not perfect but they reflect the general opinion of academics at that school from its peers. I feel that is important.

All my blabbing has to say is that everything in the rankings should be looked at and not the final product. Then evaluate everything on a scale that reflects the person that is choosing.[/quote]

But college recruiters could give a crap about peer assessments, BSB. They look at things like US News, Barrons, and the Princeton Review. I agree that there often is a disconnect between the quality of education you get and the reputation of the school amongst college recruiters, but if you want to do what's in your best interests, you appeal to the college recruiters.

The best jobs go to the "best" schools. And to recruiters, in this case, that means UNC Chapel Hill and Wake. That's the only area in which rankings should really matter: how easy can you get a job when you graduate, and how much $ can you make with that degree. The rest of the rankings, pun intended, are academic.

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Well i would hope that recruiters look at much more than these rankings because most of them are extremely flawed. US news does a decent job though. I feel the prestige is the general outlook of the college in academic terms. It is reflective of not only what the peers think(even though that is what is polled) but what recruiters think. Recruiters should know that the academic quality of students coming out of Wake is not much better than out of PSU.

Public schools are at a huge disadvantage in the overall ranking because it puts weight on things that publics can't compete with. When i get home i can list all the things that are weighted and not all have to do with the education. I would hope that recruiters would know where the best students are coming from and are looking at more than just rankings.
------------------------



Otherwise, what I feel is most important is the journalism schools themselves. Maybe that is because i go to a huge university and there is a big disconnect from say the life sciences education and the business, journalism, and engineering education. I was between UMD, Wisconsin, and PSU when choosing colleges. I am studying business and all are pretty decent at it. Wisconsin was the best, by a lot in my opinion, but i went to UMD primarly because it was instate. UMD's overall ranking is 54 or 56 but its business ranking is top 20 by USnews and is 35 by business week. Even more specifically, my specific major is ranked 6th of all universities. I feel that when recruiters come to look for someone in supply chain management they will know that UMD has pretty good students.

SO i feel it is important to find out how good all the schools are at journalism and more specifically sports journalism. I think recruiters know which journalism schools bring out the best educated students.



Regardless of everything-> I feel UNC is the clear choice. I feel it is a much better choice than wake. Not just the small difference of 27 and 30.

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Help me out with your timeline here EQ. I thought schools required a decision by May 1st typically? Are you a junior, or are these schools you've been waitlisted and then bumped up at? The reason I ask is because, since you are looking at primarily top tier state schools, you would be insane to not go to UNC. I mean, completely insane. If you have the record to get into PSU and Florida as an out of state applicant then you will walk into UNC in state. It's the best school, better than Wake even, and it's significantly cheaper. It's about a fourth of the price of what PSU would be out of state.

So what is the timeframe here?

Edit: sorry, just saw that you had been waitlisted at UNC. I was told that you should never wait on a school that's waitlisted you unless you are prepared to take a year off.

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[quote=djnemo65;318637]Help me out with your timeline here EQ. I thought schools required a decision by May 1st typically? Are you a junior, or are these schools you've been waitlisted and then bumped up at? The reason I ask is because, since you are looking at primarily top tier state schools, you would be insane to not go to UNC. I mean, completely insane. If you have the record to get into PSU and Florida as an out of state applicant then you will walk into UNC in state. It's the best school, better than Wake even, and it's significantly cheaper. It's about a fourth of the price of what PSU would be out of state.

So what is the timeframe here?

Edit: sorry, just saw that you had been waitlisted at UNC. I was told that you should never wait on a school that's waitlisted you unless you are prepared to take a year off.[/quote]


I am probably going to Tennessee because my cousins go there.

Re: College
 

[QUOTE=EARTHQUAKE2689;318639]I am probably going to Tennessee because my cousins go there.[/QUOTE]

I would not base your decision on that. I made a conscious decision when I was deciding what college to go to not to go to the same school as my friends. College is the time to broaden your horizons, not just academically. Make new friends, meet new people. You don't want to get stuck leaning on your cousins because it's what you know. Expand your world.

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[quote=SmootSmack;318644]I would not base your decision on that. I made a conscious decision when I was deciding what college to go to not to go to the same school as my friends. College is the time to broaden your horizons, not just academically. Make new friends, meet new people. You don't want to get stuck leaning on your cousins because it's what you know. Expand your world.[/quote]


Well put SS. That's very good advise quake, time to grow up, see things for yourself. Never pick a school because of friends or family might happen to be there, wrong reasons!

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Seriously. I went to school and made all new friends. You have no idea how much fun college can be but if you go somewhere because of friends or family then you risk not stepping out and getting the total experience.

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Especially considering that Tenn is the weakest academically of the three. Why not Florida? Comparable price but better reputation. Also, I am a PSU guy and I can assure you you can't go wrong there.

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Go to Wake.

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I have decided to go to Florida. Mainly because of what Smootsmack said. It is time for me to grow up and meet new people and all that stuff.

But, if LSU sends me a letter I am going there but Florida for now[IMG]http://www.thewarpath.net/images/icons/icon10.gif[/IMG]

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great, enjoy the sports there

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Yes. I dug up a 5 year old thread, because I didn't want to create a new one.

Next fall will start my last year of graduate school and right now I'm trying to figure out what classes to take. I'm a human sciences/psychology/counseling major and I've got to take a basic human science course. After registering for another class and working around my work schedule and class schedule, I'm left deciding between statistics (I'm horrible, emphasis on HORRIBLE at math. Took it in undergrad because it was required, got a C and never wanna take it again) and intro economics, something I have no idea about. I'm a little scared because I don't know what economics is going to entail, so someone with some business savvy educate me on how difficult it may be for someone who's never even fathomed the idea of having to take econ... Ever.

Here's the course description:

2012 Fall Main Session
ECON 551/Lecture/01 - Foundations of Economics | Credits 3.00
(First semester/3 credits) Introduction to the basic tools of economic analysis that are employed to examine the environment of a firm at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. The micro portion focuses upon the behavior of consumers and firms in the product and resource markets. The macro portion examines the domestic and international factors that influence the aggregate level of economic activity, and the role of monetary and fiscal policies in promoting full employment, price stability and economic growth. A basic human science course.

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Ahhhhhhhhhh. I was so young.

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[quote=DynamiteRave;909009]Yes. I dug up a 5 year old thread, because I didn't want to create a new one.

Next fall will start my last year of graduate school and right now I'm trying to figure out what classes to take. I'm a human sciences/psychology/counseling major and I've got to take a basic human science course. After registering for another class and working around my work schedule and class schedule, I'm left deciding between statistics (I'm horrible, emphasis on HORRIBLE at math. Took it in undergrad because it was required, got a C and never wanna take it again) and intro economics, something I have no idea about. I'm a little scared because I don't know what economics is going to entail, so someone with some business savvy educate me on how difficult it may be for someone who's never even fathomed the idea of having to take econ... Ever.

Here's the course description:

2012 Fall Main Session
ECON 551/Lecture/01 - Foundations of Economics | Credits 3.00
(First semester/3 credits) Introduction to the basic tools of economic analysis that are employed to examine the environment of a firm at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. The micro portion focuses upon the behavior of consumers and firms in the product and resource markets. The macro portion examines the domestic and international factors that influence the aggregate level of economic activity, and the role of monetary and fiscal policies in promoting full employment, price stability and economic growth. A basic human science course.[/quote]
I would think as a counselor/psych major you'd be far more interested int he econ class. It shouldn't be too terrible but econ is notoriously hated for some reason. Econ has math but it isn't on the level of a stats class. Go econ...you'll learn something more useful probably.

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[quote=EARTHQUAKE2689;318479]Ok i have been accepted into 4 schools

Florida
Tennessee
Penn State
wake Forest

but i am waiting for LSU and UNC

what should I do?

should I just go to one of the other schools or should I hold out?[/quote]



If I had seen this 5 years ago, my reply would have been:

I'd remove Penn State from the list if you're serious about a quality education.

(PA resident)