Lots of good info for you on how to make college affordable. Go to college and then you can work on being the President since it is questionable if grades matter much. Obama doesn’t want to show us his and Bush’s weren’t all that hot according to the media.
^ love your comment riverbirch: In fact, is there a career management section on this forum? Think that I have been educated quite a lot about the Harvard goal, but I could use some career advice 
Paul why not work on your Hispanic angle for making college affordable or free? There are many scholarships available for minorities and your GC might be able to help you out if you lower your goals on where you are going to college. What is your parent’s income? Need based aid and scholarships might make college very affordable for you.
Single mom, and living off child support. Way below 60,000 a year, so tuition at Harvard is free, not sure about board etc (Main reason I’m so fanatic). I am working with my guidance counselor on that right now. My fear is partly not paying, but also political. I remember getting crazy about becoming a CEO after watching the History channels The Men Who Built America. This really was the main nail in the coffin regarding me balancing college, and the start of this well behavior. I don’t take my unwillingness to go to college unlikely, infact I am scaring my mother right now, as she herself did not attend college, and fears for my future (great mom).
I ask myself, so Rockfeller, dropped out at 16 and went on to build a huge oil empire, Carnegie, did not finish elementary school due to immigrant family, made an Empire out of Steel. Ford, who is by far the patron for nice bosses (50 dollars an hour in a factory, go tell china to pay that :). Ok fine, J.P Morgan went to college, but I have no idea what he studied, and I doubt it was relevant to his success.
That’s my problem right now, great people who proved that college is not necessary. Could start naming tech startup founders as well, but these people helped make America into a super power, and they did it all without any pieces of educational paper, rather just sheer will.
So, what is your opinion on all this?
Rockefeller*
My opinion on this is that these persons you named are a rarity and odds are better that you will be struck by lightning than be one of them. So focus on getting need based aid and looking into the minority scholarship angle if you are so obsessed with free college. Get a business degree at the most affordable college you get in and work your way up from there. Truthfully some of the most successful people I know aren’t the brainiest but are good at BSing their way up the corporate ladder… but they do have college degrees and none of them from Harvard:)
@Paul13375,
“Way below 60,000 a year, so tuition at Harvard is free,…”
Financial aid at Harvard for someone with family income under $65K will pay for tuition, room, board, expected expenses for books and a few personal items, including travel back and forth from school. My younger son actually knows someone who gets a net check from Harvard for the amount of financial aid over and above the cost of tuition, room, and board.
However, part of your aid package will include a “self-help” portion. That will be an amount of money that Harvard expects YOU, the STUDENT, to earn and pay toward your tuition. It will probably be in the range of several thousand dollars per year. So, it’s “free” to go to Harvard, but not quite. The school expects you to have some “skin in the game,” too. If you’re currently working while in high school, and your family is depending on your income, you can get part or all of the self-help waived.
But the thing is, Paul, is that at this income level, you’ll get very good financial aid at a lot of places. Some of them are places where you may actually be able to get in. Even if you lived on campus, my state’s flagship university gives low-income students all but $5600 toward the total cost of attendance. That’s with LIVING ON CAMPUS INCLUDED. That’s a 16-hour per week job to come out of school with NO LOANS.
There are other ways to get through college with little or no debt, and they are ways that are actually possible for you. I mentioned a few above.
@Riverbirch points out another way to help pay for college. You’ll need to find them, but there is scholarship money floating around that is ethnic-specific. There’s just a lot of scholarship money floating around, period, that can be accessed by regular folks. But you need to look for it and find it.
Everyone likes to say that Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, but they usually fail to mention that before leaving, he aced Math 55, probably the toughest UG course H offers.
Felt the power there, did you? 
Paul, what you don’t seem to understand is that “wanting” something is not enough.
It’s working towards it an actually SUCCEEDING. That’s what really matters.
Work = force x distance.
You can put forth all the effort in the world. but if you don’t go anywhere, your work is still 0.
^ Of course oxox. I am not simply coming up with the best dream that I can and letting it sit there. I am doing research, finding potential problems that can be fixed while making enormous amounts of money, and preparing for plan B where I skip college and go directly into the startup climate. Now I really will need to work once I hit this area of my life, as I will likely have all odds rolled against my favor.
Honestly the more I read, the more discouraged I become about university. Luckily due to much advice both on this forum and by my guidance counselors, I may be able to afford college with a simple part time job, like people used to do many years ago. I however fear, that normal colleges may not offer the incentive and reward that is justified in paying 4 or more years of your life for.
How I view things:
College is for 2 things, getting knowledge and an education, and serving as a hub for connections and resources to help the young adult on his newfound adult responsibilities and goals. The knowledge part can easily be had by buy a few used college textbooks. For around 2-300 USD, I can get the knowledge that I would of received in college.
However one thing can’t be had without going to the university, and that is connections. Connections in the way of college fairs, classmates who may be able to network with you, and knowledgeable professors with hopefully many years of research experience who can help young students. Now, there is no denying that all of this may be better in the Ivies, however I have to get in.
Let’s say I am rejected, and get accepted to a normal school. Public, state, average etc. Get great financial aid, likely with part time I can go for no debt or something very small. I am trading 4 years or more of my life for a piece of paper that says, This person has demonstrated knowledge in yada yada, and is a proud alum of yada yada. So connection wise, I might get a few local business, not interested. Maybe a few professors who have done some good work, but I will need to research them before applying, so I may or may not get good professors, depending on school ofc. Now depending on programs and prestige, that paper could just be paper, or a token that says looke here, this person may just be a working bullet in a sea of duds. Higher chance of the looke here factor if I go to ivy.
I have a equation here Time = Knowledge+ prestige/wow factor. I am trading my most valuable resource, time, for knowledge in terms of education and prestige. I can get knowledge through google and books, so really it’s more of time = prestige/wow factor. If the wow factor won’t help me (say getting investors to take a risk on my enterprise, or wow the electorate when I run for election, it is of no use to me.
So now my equation looks like this, Time = knowledge + money. I get knowledge in my startup, on getting more money. I like this equation better.
What do you think about this? Good or bad?
Paul - You don’t need advice from experienced posters on this forum. In fact, you don’t need to attend college, because it’s clear you have it all figured out, and no one can teach you anything.
If you are taking the same approach to classroom learning that you do in these forums, you will never succeed academically, because you will always know better than your teachers and professors, and they will grade you harshly because they fail to see your wisdom. It’s no wonder you are doing so poorly in school.
If you really do know better, there is no point in continuing to go to school- go out there and show the world what you can do! Do not waste your precious time talking about it, or attending classes taught by those who know less than you.
I would say more, but there is no point, as you are unlikely to pay the slightest bit of attention to anything I say!
You have a very skewed vision of life progression.
I recommend that you skip college and just study from books. I will guarantee you that you do not need connections. If you add value to society and publicize it over the internet, you can get grassroots support. If you can do this- do it. It has worked for others.
If you want a clearer view of life progression, really look at what you wish to accomplish. can you even learn AP European History and take the AP test on your own (many, many students do)? Or do you thrive in a more competitive, structured environment (Most people work better this way)? If the latter, meet up with a group of like-minded people and hire a coordinator/teacher to give and grade assignments. As people do this, they organize these coordinators into schools or universities to make things more orderly.
You will find a place in the world- don’t worry. You have something to contribute. Start doing that. Contribute. Study what you enjoy. Play what you want to play. Some people pick things up very quickly and plow through academics like nothing. The world needs a place to put them. Others work more methodically, and are just as competent, but absorb at a different pace. The world needs a place for them. You really don’t want to be somewhere you do not fit. You will find that the Larry Ellison’s, the Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elizabeth Holmes, etc. were very quick learners- they did not fit at the relatively slow pace of the Harvards, Stanfords, etc. of the world, so they left. Others find those places to be at too fast of a pace or too high a level. Some find them to be just right.
Everyone has a place.
What you should do is form a vision of what you want to accomplish. You have seen that looking for outside validation is not enough to motivate you. To play Varisty; to get ‘A’s in AP classes are not worthy goals. To get downfield in 8.8 seconds and be wide open; to elude every defender every time and be in position for passes; to really understand the underpinnings of the Arab Spring- those are worthy goals. Also, to make a difference for your family or for your community. To change the way things are seen or done in your community. To positively impact peoples’ lives. Those are worthy goals. The person looking for an ‘A’ in AP Euro History is less likely to get the ‘A’ than the person who is intensely interested in understanding European History.
Forget about college. Set some worthy goals for yourself in terms of measurable and motivational achievements. If others notice and bestow honors (put you on the Varsity team, for example), good for them. If not, you know that you have improved yourself and moved closer to your goal.
You really need to listen to yourself and not seek the trophies and the outside validation. Be a good person and strive to be the best you can, and you will find people you want to be around and who want to be around you. You will go where your people are and be successful; whether it is a steamfitter, an finance wiz, or whatever. Maybe that’s Harvard. But you will not get there with your current mindset and methods.
Similarly, it is hard to be a CEO by having that as your sole goal. Excellence in practicing the underlying arts is motivational- seeking the trophy is not.
You really need to adjust how you see the world. No one is out to get you. No one is judging and presenting or withholding awards based on you being part of a club. Those that have passion will be given more tools.
Why are you not trying to get into Juilliard in performance music? That is very prestigious- some would say much more prestigious than Harvard. Do you think they are not admitting you out of some perverse penal “not in the club” ideal? Or maybe you don’t have a passion that way. If you went to Juilliard, what would you do? Would you pull out a violin and stand there looking stupid? Follow your passions, and the higher education will become evident as you identify your path.
^ Interesting mock bldrdad :). As for itsjustschool, write a very interesting piece. I like the approach of just do, and let everything else worry about itself. I am going to adopt part of your ideal, as I really like the just do it, no worries mentality. Just do it.
I think you would enjoy reading the inspirational book by Napoleon Hill, “Think and Get Rich.” It was published a long time ago and may be in your library. Worth riffing through.
@Paul13375 - I was actually half serious - you obviously have special talents but they don’t appear to be closely aligned with the academic path. Many people who have not thrived in school have gone on to be hugely successful - success in life is not contingent on academic success and in some ways you likely know more than your teachers, just not in the subjects they are teaching. Find a path that fits your unique talents, and don’t limit your search to academic pathways.
I would also suggest you ask yourself if your current school is serving your needs - you are perhaps too much of a creative thinker to be bound by the rigid requirements of honors and AP classes. I would think that your singular focus on getting accepted to Harvard is hurting you because it is imposing limits on you that otherwise would not exist. For some people (those with the academic talents and results to have a decent shot of getting into Harvard or peers) this is not a bad thing, but based on what you’ve stated in this forum, I do not believe you are doing yourself any favors.
^ Wow, my condolences then, through that you where mocking me. You bring up very good points about me liking to think creatively and that the rigid boundaries of higher classes took some time to get used to. Quite shameful honestly, that school teaches you to solve problems by the book rather than something that has never been done before.
Well it looks like this post is near it’s end. Jut about all of my questions and then some have been answered. I may repost something if I have need of knowledge about school, however this post seems to be finished.
If anyone has anything they want to tell me, feel free, love advice whenever I get it. If not, then thank you for not turning this post into a war, and that we could have a post where knowledge is exchanged between both parties.
You would be much better off trying to get an athletic scholarship and applying to some state university. (depends on what state you are in.)
Sorry, you don’t really have much of a chance at any of the ivies, and without affirmative action, it would be difficult for you to even get into a state university. (In California, UC has a bare-minimum requirement that you have all of your grades C or above)
@BldrDad is actually right in a way (although that was put into a scathing satirical format). One of the first things you have to consider in college is to choose a major, for which you don’t seem to even have the time to worry about.
@notjoe said:
Excellent advice! Perhaps someone else will stumble upon it and find it useful.
As one whose parent’s paid for my college education and who is now funding my children’s educations, I’m humbled and impressed by any kid with the gumption, maturity and discipline required to fund their own college education.
Another option for unique applicants is Deep Springs College, a FREE two-year college located in Deep Springs, California.
http://www.deepsprings.edu/downloads/DS%20Brochure%202010.pdf
@arware,
I don’t really think Paul is interested in solutions. He’s interested in trying to persuade people that he can get into Harvard (which he can’t). He blew off these suggestions by intimating that the folks at these “lesser” institutions wouldn’t be up to snuff for his exalted needs. I think he’s just scared he can’t do the work. I’m pretty sure that at this point in his life, he’s right.
This is especially insulting to the faculty and student bodies of various flagship universities, some of which are academically outstanding. Especially the honors programs and colleges of many of these institutions, which often have student bodies that are comparable in academic achievement to Ivies and similar schools. My own flagship maintains a highly-respected Honors College with an enrollment of over a thousand students per year where the median SAT V+M exceeds 1400, and the top students, comprising about 200 in number per year, average over 1500 V+M.