<p>My name is JG, a current senior with a peculiar case.
I am affiliated with the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (mormon). I plan on serving a two year mission and will return by August of 2009. I am also currently in the process of obtaining my residency. Thus it is tough for me to begin my college studies now.</p>
<p>My questions are: Upon returning will my chances for admission at A university decrease dramatically? What about scholarships? What should I be doing to make the process easier when I return?</p>
<p>ANY advice, help and comments will be greatly appreciated</p>
<p>if you mean would it be more difficult because you are older? i think the answer there is no. my brother took two years off after high school to work and was accepted at all the schools he applied to. </p>
<p>since returning in august would make it difficult for you to apply for schools until the next year (2010), you might want to see if there are any schools willing to accept an application and review it for admission now, then defer the admission by 2 years due to your special case. i don't know if that's something that any schools do, but it can't hurt to ask, i think. otherwise you will end up taking 3 (or 2 1/2) years off, which is also fine, as long as you can figure out something productive to do for the time after your mission but before you go off to school.</p>
<p>I don't know much about applying for college not directly out of high school, but many scholarships are available for non-seniors. Obtaining residency shouldn't be too hard, especially if you're not going to a four-year school while on your mission. In order to get in-state tuition at many colleges, you need to be a resident of that state for a set period of time, and during this period of time you cannot be enrolled at that college. This means that you can't move , pay out-of-state fees for a year, change residency, and pay in-state after that unless you decide to take a year off. I believe it's a year for the University of California. Also, will your church help pay for college?</p>
<p>Here's a site with tons of scholarship stuff if you're going to school in California. There might be non-CA ones too:</p>
<p>The way it looks like now, I'm assuming I will miss 2.5 years.During my mission I will be solely devoted to my work, meaning I will not be enrolled in any college.
I apologize for not making myself entirely clear when I mentioned my residency condition. I am currently in the process of obtaining U.S residency, not just state. The only college funds I could receive from my church are missionary scholarships that only BYU and other church affiliated schools offer.</p>
<p>Sims2789 thanks for the helpful link I will be looking for helpful information there.</p>
<p>What I was really concern with was : how different the admission process would be for an applicant that is not enrolling right after high school.</p>
<p>It might be a little harder logistically (getting transcripts, etc. from your high school; try to get the recs before you leave, while your teachers still remember you well). Otherwise, I don't think the differences will be extremely significant. A lot of the scholarships I've applied to have been local ones that are for graduating seniors, but I'm sure you'll still qualify for a bunch. Applying as a domestic student rather than an international might even simplify the process. You might want to look into January admissions if you want to decrease the time between the mission trip and the start of college.</p>
<p>
[quote]
how different the admission process would be for an applicant that is not enrolling right after high school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i suggest getting your transcripts and stuff together before you leave the school. take any tests you plan to take (SATs, ACTs, SAT IIs, APs, etc) this year. if any of your recs NEED to be from a teacher or counselor, take care of that before you leave also. know which schools you are likely to apply to and look at their admissions requierments, then get everything you will need in order and put it some place safe. </p>
<p>all that stuff CAN be taken care of once you get back, but it will be much easier to do it now, before too much time passes. </p>
<p>once you get back, take care of your essays, EC lists (maybe start making the list now, so you don't forget anything), personal statements, and anything else you'll need for your applications. the essay is a great place for you to explain in a positive way why you took time off for your mission, what you learned from it, etc. (or not, if you choose to write about something different). </p>
<p>it helps to have as much in order as possible before you leave because (at least at my high school), current students seem to be a much greater priority than graduates. and even though they should have kept your records, it's best to have a copy for yourself just in case.</p>
<p>itla_uno, I will do has you said. That seems to be a great way to be prepare. I will schedule an appointment with my guidance counselor tomorrow. As for the SAT, I will be taking it again in May. </p>
<p>Thanks a million for all this help. I can really say I'm a lot more confident now.</p>
<p>ps Will having a mission in my record improve my chances for admission? since it will be 2 straight years of volunteer work.....~10,000 service hours lol</p>