<p>Why do I think I'll do badly? It's college; I've known lots of people with good HS records to hit a wall in college. Hard courses, a grading scale where an A- is a 3.7, entire course grades dependent on 1 exam, Ochem, etc., coupled with the new challenges of living indepently? Tough. Furthermore, I've gotten good grades in HS because I work hard and do well on essays (i.e., I can make it sound like I know more than I actually do). College doesn't reward hard workers; it rewards naturally smart people, and I'm much more of the former than the latter.</p>
<p>Sorry if that sounds terse, but I can think of no better way to put it.</p>
<p>Try this three-day process. The first day, tell yourself you're going to Rhode Island. At the end of the day, write down your feelings. The next day, do the same for Montana, and the third day, Utah. Read over what you've written, then go with what excites you most. My hunch is that if you really want it, you'll get into pharmacy school from any of those colleges. Another hunch I have is that you will choose a major or minor involving writing. Good luck!</p>
<p>Make sure you get the 3.5. Put in the time, find a mentor. You can do it. Don't cheat yourself of Montana because of self-doubt. Academic success isn't a mystery. It comes with close attention, time and good effort. In your heart, you probably know that already.</p>
<p>Look at it this way, the fear of NOT getting in may drive you to higher intellectual acievements. </p>
<p>Don't obsess about the drinking. You'll have to find your non-drinking 'people' and you will. Who knows, there may be a few drinkers who capture your attention. It's a big world out there and you're about to take a giant step into it. </p>
<p>Go with an open mind and fight to keep it open!</p>
<p>As far as the drinking, you will find both nondrinkers and drinkers at most campuses. You should not have trouble finding people that do not drink.</p>
<p>Wolfpiper, congratulations on your options! </p>
<p>Consider looking at what is available at each of the schools IF you decide not to go into pharmacy. I know you say that definitely plan to go to pharmacy school, but things can change over time. You want and need to make certain that you have options. What does URI have should you decide against pharmacy? Same question for the other two schools. </p>
<p>Also, contact each of the schools and ask if you can speak to a student in your intended field. Since you have already been accepted, I'm sure there won't be a problem with that request. They want you and if speaking to a student will help you make the decision, that's a good thing.</p>
<p>Write it down (programs at each school | money available | debt after college ) and examine it.</p>
<p>Congratulations again. Sounds like you have great options. :-)</p>
<p>"College doesn't reward hard workers; it rewards naturally smart people, and I'm much more of the former than the latter."</p>
<p>Only if those people put in the time. Recall that admissions looks at your high school record first, and your SAT's to a lesser degree. O-chem is hard for everyone - and the kids that used to getting by on smarts are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise.</p>
<p>If you have time, just live with the dilemma. If visiting again is not likely, at least do virtual visits. </p>
<p>Our son had a very tough decision last year. He lived with it for six weeks, and he was able to visit both places again (not too far a drive). It was painful to reject the one, but it seems he ended up making the right decision; he is very happy where he is.</p>
<p>Wolfpiper, what wonderful choices. I remember from your other posts that there were financial differences, and it sounds as if those are now minimized. However, guaranteed prof school admissions is not to be discounted lightly, especially with paid tuition.</p>
<p>I would not worry so much about your ability to maintain that GPA - URI thought you were a good enough bet to give up front admission! I think you probably will either do well in science and maintain a high enough GPA or discover you don't like it at all and move on.</p>
<p>I have no advice to offer - a more or less sure thing, except what if you don't like pharmacy? vs a school where pharm is less certain, but you seem more excited about the school. You still have some time, but I wouldn't worry too much about getting into pharm from one of the other schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
College doesn't reward hard workers; it rewards naturally smart people, and I'm much more of the former than the latter.
[/quote]
Wow... you are really off-base with that one. </p>
<p>What college does is finally kill off the really smart slackers -- the ones who coasted through high school with no effort whatsoever, but never developed any study habits. </p>
<p>If you were headed for MIT then there might be a little bit of truth in that statement -- I mean competition would be pretty intense. </p>
<p>But beyond that -- you've just got it backwards. College is the place where hard work starts to really pay off in a consistent manner.</p>
<p>"Wow... you are really off-base with that one."
Perhaps I am. Actually, I hope I am. Still, I have heard of many "smart kids" who crashed in college, and many "slackers" who rose to the challenge is did well.</p>
<p>The thing I'm worried about with UM is really internships. I know URI would be great for this, but I'm not so sure about Montana. They do seem to have a great track record getting their top students grad school scholarships, though (tied with Cornell for the most Udalls). That, and I like Montana so much--I ,mean, there's even a well-respected aikido dojo in town, something I love doing and something URI doesn't reeally have available--that I'm sort of worried I'll get there and not like it while if go to URI aand don't like it, I will have been lukewarm about the school to begin with.</p>
<p>Because I enjoy making things more complicated than they already are, let me throw in an option:
Case Western: Upfront, this school costs much more ($20,000+ for tuition, room, and board alone) than my other choices (At UM I could possibly complete my degree in 3 years and not have my parents spend a penny of their own money), which is why I discarded it as an option-well, that and the legendry work load/grade deflation at said school. I really don't want to be dealing with so much academic pressure on top of the pressure of adjusting to living on my own. However, there are things I like about the school (the urban area and the residential colleges as well as the prestige factor). I have the opprotunity to visit the school April 1 to interview for fine arts scholarship (which I have NO chance of winning), but I'm not sure I want to even bother. Should I focus on my more available optins or take this other one into consideration?</p>
<p>Forgot to address some questions:
*The $8000 sum for UM is minus the housing scholarship.
*I have until May 1st to decide.
*The factor of where I want to live after college: This may sound stupid but Alaska. If there were any good colleges in AK, I'd have my decision made long ago. :). So a non-issue at both, really.
*Which school has more options if I decide not to do pharmacy: Both, in different ways. UM has better departments all around, I think, but I can't see a definite fall back major that I'd like to go into. The only other thing I can think of is law school or neurosciene grad school and those obviously aren't undergrad. At URI, I didn't even apply for an alternate major because I thought I could get a better education for another program elsewhere. They do have more health-based majors, though.</p>
<p>Wolf- more likely to meet someone else who may like to venture with you to Alaska in Montana- knew several people when in Montana who lived/ worked for some time in Alaska...
not so far away :)</p>