<p>You gave a distraught student some realistic options and well-grounded hope. You helped him understand CollegeConfidential in relation to his own situation, so s/he might better interpret other posters.</p>
<p>It doesn't help to be sarcastic when kids are in distress and reaching out.
It does help them to provide options that are just a bit better than they might have imagined, and how to reach them IF they invest the effort.</p>
<p>No wonder you teach at a college! Lucky students.</p>
<p>BTW, my parents taught at New England College (Henniker, NH) where I believe the SAT's were around 1000. It was a private alternative to a big state school, and kids came there from Massachusetts or all around New England if they wanted a small college campus, skiing, etc. It had 100 faculty and 1000 students (in their day) so provided personal attention and a 1:10 ratio.<br>
I'm not even recommending that college here, I'm just saying it must be typical of HUNDREDS of colleges like it around the country.</p>
<p>I know first-hand that, until the day they each retired, my parents prepared and cared about their students very much. They had unique reasons to live and work in that small, rural community. Sometimes they wished they had been associated with grandeur (HYPS...) but in fact, they devoted themselves to meeting the needs of their students.</p>
<p>I can still see my Mom, cooking over a New Hampshire woodstove while students cross-country skiied up to her door, papers in hand, and she gave them soup and listened to their B.S. about why the paper was late... personal TLC (="tender loviing care" for overseas readers!) </p>
<p>
[quote]
Sounds like you want to go to college to party and have a good time. If that's what inspires you, get a job and move away from home to the location of your choice and then party all you want while also supporting yourself. Then, you won't even have to worry about things like campus rules, homework and boring classes.
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<p>I don't think that's what the OP was getting at at all... As other posters identified, the OP's talking about new opportunities, change in environment (call me crazy, but that means growth), and experiencing new things. Yes, that is determined to an extent by social life, but I think he's going a bit beyond a superficial goal of ultra-partying. There's nothing wrong with wanting a traditional college experience.</p>
<p>liana,
I agree with you that an important part of going to college can be experiencing new things, the below from the OP's post, as well as his name, indicated to me that what he was particularly interested in is the partying and leaving home aspects of the college experience. That's why I posted the comment that you quoted. If what excites him is partying and leaving home, he can have the same experience by getting a job and moving away from home. In fact, depending on what kind of job he gets, he can have more of a social life by doing this than by going to college. </p>
<p>"There is no social life there whatsoever. People don't care if you exist there. I was really looking foward to gettin' out a bit. To dorm. Experience the whole college experience. Party, whatnot. To get away from home. I don't want to live here the rest of my life like all my friends don't mind doing. I can't. I've seen it all. I've been here too long. I don't have a social life now. I'm seriously breaking down. If I have 4 more years of this...I don't know what to do. I might just run away somewhere else and skip College. "</p>
<p>but what if you're a community college transfer student, and all the schools you hear back from are really late? and get rejected from everywhere? =( i'm really scared of this eventuality.</p>
<p>Northstarmom,
True that, but reading the OP, I got this: That's how kids talk when they're scared
and upset. Drama, painting pictures (i'll run away and not go to college...)
I figure he's sized up his friends at high school, wants something beyond that life. The room where he sleeps has dust all over trophies he doesn't care about any more.
You and he both know that the job he could get at this moment is flippin' burgers, and that's not the end of the world for one year. But he's worried he won't like "4 years" of a bad college, won't be able to stay with it, so burgers will be his career for life.
OP, it's a matter of deferred gratification. EIther get a job/apt for the independence short-term (but you'll spend all your time working to get the rent). Or stay with the folks another year for bad courses but ace them so it's only a year. Or plan a good "gap year" as people describe but CARRY THROUGH and reapply with better SAT's etc. Or, rush out some other apps, as others posted helpfully. You DO have choices beyond April 1 if you strike out completely.<br>
What WILL you choose, if nobody chooses you?</p>
<p>OP, once all this is over, can your GC look at your teacher recs and see if any of them sank you? If so, have GC remove it and ask a different teacher instead. Sometimes if you've expressed poor motivation in h.s. (not saying you have, but IF you have...) it's the first thing the teachers notice and they find a way to flag it on the Letter of Rec.
Here's how it sounds in writing, "When given clearly stated expectations, s/he will usually follow through and produce the regular classroom assignments." (translated: I have to chase this kid all the time to hand in work." )
Anyway, i'm not here to worry you more! Just adding to your gameplan for "what to do if ...." DO check in on those LOR's.</p>
<p>payingthreetuitions: what a great post about your Mom at the woodstove...wonderful memories, I bet. I agree with you and MSUdad; plenty of smaller, less well known schools both private and state who would be thrilled to have the student with them who started this post. Check out Loren Pope's 40 Schools That Change Lives.</p>
<p>Check out rolling admissions at colleges in areas you would like to live in. This is not the end of your future its the beginning sit down think about a great location, interesting area and go for it. You are not in as bad shape as you think right now. Go speak to a professional guidance couns. now just to see what you can do. Dont be upset I feel for you really! Make this a plus!!</p>
<p>(haven't read the whole thread)
What I suggest u is apply to some 'big' state schools (now, don't say that there r NONE for u!) That's simply absurd if u find like CC is the last choice u've! If nothing really works out (I SIMPLY deny that can every happen atleast in the US colleges) go to a CC on the opposite side of the country.</p>
<p>dank08, since you said "next year" you still have time to shape a list with some really safe safety schools, plus the matches and reaches of course</p>
<p>I'm wondering if with SAT's in the l000 area, that 3 or 4 safety schools on your list is better than one? Does anybody know. A lot of advice on CC relates to kids with SAT's starting at 1300 and up from there. OK, so maybe they can be safe with 1 safety school, but is that advice good for 1000 SAT's.</p>
<p>l000 = 2 x 500 (the average, so half are higher but half are lower, right?)</p>
<p>But maybe dank needs to put more safety schools. Just like the kids with the 750 SAT's have a cr<em>pshoot with the Ivy Leagues, if you've got l000 SAT's you've got to protect yourself against the cr</em>pshoot of colleges along that line. </p>
<p>I like typing cr*pshoot. Try it. It's fun.</p>
<p>Meanwhile I'm adding the OP to the folks in my evening prayers.</p>
<p>So here's another for the OP to do, if the worst happens next week.</p>
<p>You might get onto waitlists. If you do, maybe what was your hopedfor school was somebody else's safety, if they had much higher SAT's.
In that case, by May l when they all reply, maybe some waitlists will open up and you'll get called in for those places.</p>
<p>My kids got on some waitlists and phoned in to see what that meant at each place. How far up on the list were they (notice I said "up" not "down"--always talk positive!) and how many did they take from the list last year.
If you're 20th on their list and they took 50 last year, then that's a possibility.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, rush out another app or two; no harm in that, is there? And unless the app is due April l, you could even wait til APril 3 or 4 to size up your options before you spend time and fee on another app. You could do the research now, so you'll be ready to know which to send out on April 3/4. I thought it was nice that others posted those other choices. ASU as late as August? Wow.</p>
<p>When I was applying to graduate school the first 3 colleges I heard back from rejected me. I then got into Cambridge, the LSE and a few more. Don't Loose hope. Worse case scenario: Take the year of and do something so amazing that it will make you stand out!!!</p>
<p>
[Quote]
Sounds like you want to go to college to party and have a good time. If that's what inspires you, get a job and move away from home to the location of your choice and then party all you want while also supporting yourself. Then, you won't even have to worry about things like campus rules, homework and boring classes.
[/Quote]
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<p>Woah, lighten up. College is an experience that not only includes academics. Just b/c this kid listed things he wants to do in college outside of academics, doesn't mean he ONLY wants to party. Wake up and stop being so ignorant.</p>
<p>Northstarmom- you are usually very helpful but here I think you oversimplified the op's motives for the sake of a personal attack.</p>
<p>If he truly only wanted to go to college to party, be social, there a clearly choices within his GPA/SAT range that fulfill those requirements. The fact that he is applying to a school that is at least somewhat selective shows that he has alterior motivations.</p>