Preparing For College 1
A college education builds on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier years. It is best for your child to start planning a high school course schedule early, in the seventh or eighth grade.
Students who don't think ahead may have difficulty completing all the required or recommended courses that will help them qualify for college.
Higher education refers to a program or school offering academic education beyond the high school level, normally referring to programs at two-year or four-year colleges or universities, graduate schools and professional schools that are geared towards academic degrees, namely:
Associate's;
Bachelor's;
Master's;
Doctorate degree.
The concept of higher education refers to academic institutions and does not apply to vocational, occupational and technical schools.
Most selective colleges (those with the highest admissions requirements) prefer to admit students who have taken courses in certain subject areas. For example, many colleges prefer that high school students take algebra, geometry or some other type of specialized math, rather than general math.
Some colleges prefer three or four years of a foreign language.
Your child's guidance counselor can help your child determine the high school courses required or preferred by different types of colleges.
If your child is interested in specific colleges, he or she can contact those schools and ask about their admissions requirements.
Your child should take courses in at least these core areas: English, mathematics, science, history and geography. Computer science is also highly recommended.
These subjects are essential preparation for the college entrance examinations, the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) or the ACT Assessment. These tests measure a student's aptitude in mathematical and verbal comprehension and problem solving.
Students applying to colleges in the East and West usually take the SAT exam. Students applying to schools in the South and Midwest often take the ACT.
Usually, the tests are offered in the junior and senior years of high school and can be taken more than once if a student wishes to try to improve his or her score. Students can get books at libraries or bookstores to help them to prepare for all of the tests. In addition, some private organizations and companies offer courses and coaching that help students prepare for these exams.
ACT: This is a test published by American College Testing which measures a student's aptitude in mathematical and verbal comprehension and problem solving. Many colleges in the South and Midwest require students to take this test and submit their test scores when they apply for admission. Some colleges accept this test or the SAT. Most students take the ACT or the SAT during their junior or senior year of high school.
PSAT/NMSQT: This stands for the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, a practice test that helps students prepare for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
The PSAT is usually administered to tenth or eleventh grade students. Although colleges do not see a student's PSAT/NMSQT score, a student who does very well on this test and who meets many other academic performance criteria may qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program.
SAT: This stands for the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which is a test that measures a student's aptitude in mathematical and verbal comprehension and problem solving. Many colleges in the East and West require students to take the SAT and to submit their test scores when they apply for admission. Some colleges accept this test or the ACT. Most students take the SAT or the ACT during their junior or senior year of high school.
You and your child can find out more about the PSAT/NMSQT and the National Merit Scholarship Program by talking to your child's guidance counselor or by getting the free booklets from the United States Department of Education.
Preparing For College 2
If you want general books about how to prepare for college mentally and financially, go to #378.15 or L901 and LB2344 at the library.
Barring that, I'll give my little spiel about college as the transition in your life from leaving home to going out into the real world. It's kinda like getting your feet wet because you go home at Christmas and in the summer, you don't have heavy responsibilities like a family to support and you're expected to explore your life freely away from your parents for the first time in your life.
My first warning is don't be naïve. Don't trust too many people, especially with money. Be very wary of the roommates you pick should you choose not to live alone and don't leave money laying around because anybody will be tempted to steal it.
Aside from that, be wary of psychological problems. Many people who leave home to go to college feel lost in the sea of so many people each with their own agendas different from yours so you might find yourself feeling homesick especially when you get some stress like a few low marks on some tests.
College is different than high school. You're paying the shot. In high school, they chased you around for attendance and to try to help you if your performance was poor. In college, once they get your money, they don't care if you drop out or flunk out. It's totally up to you whether you go to class or sleep in then go to the bar later. You need a self-discipline from within yourself.
Parking is always tough at most colleges. Even if you buy a parking pass for $50-100, you're still not guaranteed a spot and often where you park is quite far from your classes are so a bike might be a good option, either with your car or drive it from your house to school. I used to drive my truck to school then drive my bike the rest of the way to class and always lock your bike to an immovable object. Don't just lock it up such that somebody can pick it up and walk away with it with the lock still on it.
If you need money, you might want to work a part-time job or run a small business like sell things that students need. That's how a few computer companies were started. The college itself hires many students as do many of the nearby businesses.
A friend of mine sold cars while going to college and when he graduated, he kept on selling cars. Another friend of mine worked as a cashier in a hospital while going to college and when he graduated, he couldn't find a job and now he's been there for over 20 years.
Be wary of social clubs unless you're a dependent type of person who needs that crowd. When I went through college, they wanted me to go to their social functions for the students in our major but I told them I had my own life and wasn't interested in socializing with people I had nothing in common with.
I lived a full life, I wasn't bound by the clique of the in-group of the students in my major who seemed to hang around with each other all the time.
Do what you want. Don't be bound by your major or particular social group. Don't get too involved anyway. You're there to get good marks and learn how to take care of your own life.
Be wary of stress. Learn to relax and balance everything out. Don't be prejudiced. Try to befriend everybody because you'll never know when you need allies.
Professors are creatures of ego as are everybody else. Go to class, sit near the front, smile at him and make sure he knows your name. When you don't go to class, it's like telling him you think he's a nerd.
Youth is a time of excess. A lot of young people get all kinds of crazy ideas about being feminists, libertarians, hippies, etc. which is all usually washed away as they give in to capitalism by the time they're 30 but before then, watch out.
Young people are generally so self-centered, idealistic, naïve, arrogant, "cool" and egotistical that I don't like to talk to them much because they're generally so overly soppy with respect to their alleged deep thoughts and think they're special with great destinies. Beware of these snotty pseudo-intellectuals with their over-rated thoughts.
Try not to get into a social gang of 5-10 people who gossip all the time and otherwise waste a lot of time doing nothing but hanging around with each other to counteract their feelings of meaningless and purposelessness about life.
If you're a freshman girl, be wary of older guys trying to target you for sex, pretending to fall in love with you only to use you for sex.
Other than that, be wary of deadbeat friends who'll drag you down if you let them. A lot of young people have no ambition and because they may have been spoiled at home and daddy's paying the shot, they get to college and move into partying and decadence to the hilt, eventually scraping by or dropping out.
Others are just generic deadbeats. They watch TV and shoot the breeze with their deadbeat friends every night, neglecting their studies and skipping many classes.
Take some time to explore your newly found freedom but never lose sight of the fact that it's all about money. You're there to get an education to get a good job so don't waste time on flaky majors.
Pick functional classes, do well in them so that you can get through the next hoop when you want to go on to graduate school. Graduate school is a tough place to make your way because there are so many people clamoring for the few positions.
After going through the college system, I realized it wasn't for me, I'm an independent person who creates his own life by doing what I feel is worthy from within so if you feel like I do, you might consider bypassing college and working odd jobs for a few years until you figure out what you want or apprentice in your chosen field and start your own business down the line.
College is generally not the path to riches. It's the path to a dull middle class job. If that's what you want, go for it.
Finally, college can be tough. Some people crack, get addicted to something or kill themselves. If you're feeling down and out, don't do anything stupid. Handle it yourself or get help from the many free mental health counseling centers out there, one probably at the college.
In the end, it's just college. It's largely a fantasyland. Although there's a lot of hype about college as the be all, end all to a successful life, the most successful people in life are the ones that follow their bliss irrespective of college.
Some general factors to consider when choosing a college are as follows:
Size of the classes, big enough to be impersonal or small enough to feel personal and have discussions?
Are undergrad classes taught by professors or graduate students/ teaching assistants?
What is the student to professor ratio on average?
Is there much one-on-one opportunity to work with a professor on research projects?
Is the school so big that it's a bureaucracy or is it small enough to feel homey?
What about services like the computer lab, laboratories and the libraries?
Are residence rooms wired for internet access?
How modern are the laboratories?
How current are the libraries?
Does the school have a curriculum relevant to you?
Is the registration fast and efficient or slow, bungling and tedious?
What will it cost?
Are there social activities?
What about access to the fitness center?
Is there an orientation program for first year students?
What food service is available on campus?
Are there good places to eat on campus?
Do students attend school athletic events? Is the school big on the major collegiate sports or not? Is there much school spirit?
What about arts and cultural events?
What is the drop-out rate for students?
Will you be able to get a decent job with your particular degree?
Is the degree considered prestigious when applying for graduate school?
What kind of career counseling services does
the school have?
Does the university recognize Advanced Placement (AP) courses you have taken in high school and give you college credit for them?
Are there services like daycare, disability access, a medical station, etc.
How does the school treat minorities and gays?
Whenever you see a reference to the freshmen 15, it refers to a stereotype that freshmen typically gain 15 pounds in their first year, presumably due to poor eating habits, stress and depression at being uprooted, away from mommy for the first time.
Preparing For College 3
Going to college for kids is not just about getting some degree. It's the first step to leaving the nest. It's playing at independence. Some people are horrible at it. A lot of people feel lost and lonely until they realize it's their life not their parents' life and they have to live it alone all the way down to paying bills.
The first time an 18 year old leaves home, he or she often takes freedom to excess. They do stupid things which are ok as long as you don't end up dead or crippled. Lots of college kids eat poor diets, don't exercise, stay up late watching TV and drink too much alcohol which is what I did but I eventually figured out that you can't live like this because it wears you out. It's not just that you can't be a good student and a good worker. You can't be a good human being if you're not proud of yourself and you can't be proud of yourself by being a consumer-spectator bum. You either learn to be constructively active or fade away.
The world is scarier than ever. There is some info about college safety elsewhere in this book. A cellphone with GST is a good, simple safety device.
After that, everything comes down to money. At least that's where all the worry is, parents and children alike. You make it through both by cutting costs and earning money or getting free money as in scholarships and grants.
College is romanticized as a fun time in movies but it's serious business because you have go to school, study, buy your groceries, take care of yourself and on top of that, you probably have to work to pay your bills so be hard to work hard.
Don't get too involved in friends' lives. They're you're friends. That's good but don't let them lean on you oo much or just waste time hangin' out when you could have been studying or working or something.
Don't be dependent on them for comfort if you feel lonely. You gotta learn to stand on your own because someday your friends won't be there.
Don't become dependent on parents nor they dependent on you for emotional comfort. I'd say don't talk on the phone more than once a week max. They have to break the co-dependency too.
Travel light. If you're leaving the family home to move into some place near campus, take only what you need and not enough clothes for a fashion show.
It's not a popularity contest or a fashion show. The bottom line is the degree so don't get too caught up in the so-called social scene.
Chances are you'll either rent a small apartment alone or rent a house with several other students. There are lots of ads for shared rentals. Dorms are usually only for first and second year students and married students. There is usually a waiting list for them anyway.
Dorm life is horrible for the studying life unless you get your own room without a roommate but I have yet to see that in any dorm I was ever at. It's like summer camp. People feel entitled to bust in on you anytime and if it's an alcohol dorm, almost every night will end with a group of people drinking.
At some colleges, they have special dorms like a science dorm, a substance free dorm or a quiet dorm. If these exist at your college and you're a serious student, you can live here and do your partying elsewhere where you can shut it off by leaving.
A friend of mine lived in a party dorm. He told me he stayed at the library until it closed then went home and into his room.
There are a lot of unambitious people in college. They don't realize it's serious business for you (otherwise you would not be reading this book). I know because I went around to the dorms, the frats, the student houses and the student apartments. There's really nothing goin' on there but a bunch of insecure college students. You really don't need the distraction if you're serious about college.
When you rent a place with strangers, the first thing you have to watch for is personal safety. Do they seem violent or angry? After that, it's theft. Theft is common, even identity theft.
Whatever you do, don't leave cash laying around because if you live with two or more roommates, all they have to do is deny, deny, deny and that's the end of the story. You can't prove anything.
Be respectful and all that but show them your limits. If you don't want your roomies to socialize with you for three hours everynight, set your limits. Come off like a serious student right away. Just say you gotta study.
Roommate is often the term used for house or apartment mate. The thing is that you want a private room. You don't want a roommate in your room like they do in dorms. You just don't. You need your own space. Apartment mates and housemates are fine because you can close your door. A roommmate is always there in your face in your room. It's not about masturbation. It's about life. You need your own space. A two-bedroom apartment is fine but sharing a room is not.
People don't like stinky, messy housemates. Clean up after yourself. Wash your clothes at least once every two weeks. Clean your room.
When it comes to sex at college, the media makes it seem like everybody is sleeping around but the truth is that all young people are insecure, virtually all women are monogamous in spirit so it just ain't happening much unless you get into a monogamous relationship that eveolves to sexual love over time. Casual sex ain't as easy as it's portrayed to be in the media.
If you want to protect yourself, don't drink too much at social events. Go with a buddy who watches out for you and you for her, carry condoms and if you have unprotected sex with a stranger, go to the campus medical office to get emergency birth control pills.
If you're drunk and not in control of your senses, you're not in a state of mind where you're capable of giving or not giving consent so sex with a drunk person is rape. If you're a guy, don't try to have sex with a really drunk girl because if she wants, she could charge you with rape.
The bottom line about college is that it's as much about learning to take care of yourself practically and esthetic-spiritually as it is about schoolwork so I say buy at least my money book or get one at #332 at the library to learn about the practical realities of life.
On top of that, there are a few practical college living type books at #378.198 at the library.
If you're worried about health and well-being, check out my health superbook.
Preparing for College 4
For the average adult who has been to college, it's not a big deal, just a bunch of kids, many of whom are living on their own for the first time caught between exploring the world and being afraid because it's them alone in a new environment with new people.
The most important thing is money. Can you afford not just the tuition but all the others costs that go with going to college?
The second thing is being real and practical versus frivolous and artsy. If you come from a wealthy family, it's ok to study some meaningless social science major but if your parents are saving their pennies to pay your way, they expect you to get a degree or two that will yield a reasonable job at the other end.
Do some research to pick a major that has real jobs waiting at the end. If you don't, you'll be another college graduate working a menial job somewhere.
Pick out schools that are within your budget. See what financial aid each might offer you from their unique programs, if any at all.
Study for the SAT and/ or ACT because if you get high marks, it increases your chances of getting a scholarship. You can take the SAT or ACT more than once.
You might need some teacher recommendation letters but they don't ask for them much anymore unless you're applying for a scholarship or grad school.
Many schools use the common application. Fill out one application and send it to several colleges.
College administrators are sticklers for proper procedure. You have to send them everything they want. Wait a month after you send your application then contact them and ask them if everything is there like your transcripts and if the application form is complete.
Most colleges have an application deadline date.
The truth is that a few of the so-called elitist schools get way more applications than there are spaces but most colleges take anyone for undergrad because they want their money. Never forget that college is a business. Even if colleges claim to be non-profit, most of them still want to make money.
That thing about elitist colleges is an illusion too. All colleges are accredited by the same few accrediting agencies which are all affiliated with each other. The standards are the same at every college. Don't waste your money on image.
My Rant on College
The most important thing in life is to find yor true identity then live by it. College is incidental to this. It might help you. It might not. A lot of people get a degree or several degrees then realize that they aren't interested in the career options. Some people prefer trades, to start a business or to be a freelance independent contractor. College is simply not the only path to figure out how to earn a decent living.
As a young person, you will inevitably choose one of two paths:
1.) Discover your true nature and live by it.
2.) Get brainwashed to follow the artificial values of the world.
If you don't follow your true nature, you will never be happy even though you might delude yourself into thinking you are because you become successful by society's standards which are artificial next to what's in your soul. Read my book A Free Spirit's Search for Enlightenment.
College is fantasyland. There's no dress code. You don't spend that much time in classes. Your house can be dirty and it doesn't matter. You have ready-made friends to talk to, especially if you live with roommates. There are no kids or even a job to worry about. If you live close to the campus, everything you need is within a mile away. It's probably your best chance in life to meet a mate.
The real world is considerably tougher than that. I'm warning you to go to college to get a hardcore practical degree that will net you a job not some useless "social science" degree or degrees.
The big secret no college administrator ever tells students is that just because they offer a major for any subject does not mean there's a job for it when you finish. They pump out way more law school graduates than the need for lawyers in society but nobody from law school ever tells the students that because their job is to make money by selling formal education.
Young people in general have a disease of being self-centered know-it-alls but they have no experience with life in the real world to back it up which is why I try to avoid young people, because I know they have all these big, idealistic, uinrealistic ivory tower ideas.
My point is if you're going to college, don't ally yourself with all the naïve pseudo-intellectuals there. College is not about the free flow of ideas. It's about listening to professors, regurgitating what they say to try to get the highest marks. Everybody thinks they're a genius in the privacy of their own minds, even the professors. They would rather that you absorb some of their "genius" ideas than write your own.
It's all about pampering egos for the essay part of your marks. You can't do anything about objective tests but you gotta hang around the front of the class and make sure the professor knows your name as one of his in-crowders.
College is not like it's portrayed in the movies. It's considerably more mundane and socially isolated. The real cool, creative, free thinking people of the world don't go to college. They do their own thing. They intuitively know what they want and do it. They don't need college to be themselves.
Most young college students are either aimless, trying to figure their lives out or indoctrinated to pursue some profession they think is noble and glamorous so college performs another agenda beyond just the academic life. It's a chance to discover what your true identity is away from your parents. Don't take on the identities of your brainwashed peers. Find your own identity.
It's not like there's a big in-crowd of people at college all united for the same cause, each with excessive amounts of exuberant school spirit. It's about a bunch of existential loners, mostly young people, each with their hopes, insecurities, dreams and problems.
If you want a social life, there are plenty of young people experimenting with booze, drugs, etc. but the problem with this is that many of these people get hooked on this "party" lifestyle because their parents aren't around to set them straight so the end result is either low marks or droppin' out until they get some personal discipline.
A lot of parents can barely afford to send their kids to college yet it's portrayed as this easygoing, fun venture on TV shows and in movies. I've seen the keg parties outside The Swamp at the Gators football games and I've seen the fraternities where they drink beer and smoke grass almost every night but the bottom line is that college is serious business if you plan to get into a specific profession as opposed to getting some general liberal arts degree.
There are flaky majors that don't lead to any job and there are hardcore, practical majors with a real job at the end. Pick something that leads to a job, not the social sciences, music or fitness and recreation. You'll be lucky if you find a media job with a journalism degree.
My warning is don't buy into peer pressure. You're there for your agenda so don't follow other people who try to drown out their problems by distracting themselves.
The biggest time-waster is not TV. It's people hangin' around, talking, doing nothing in particular. You're not missing anything. It's best to focus on living an active life. That's the reason I don't advise living in a dorm or anything bigger than a two-bedroom apartment, because you'll have people there with nothing better to do but hang around wasting your time.
We're all brainwashed in grade school that college is where all of society's winners go in high school but it's not true. College can lead to a professional job, all of which get dull at some point in time. The real winners of life are people who do what they want and make money at it so if you're not really interested in college, don't go just because you've been brainwashed to think this is the path to the American Dream.
Is College Worth It?
It's not the degree. It's who you are and what you do on your own inspiration and initiative.
The hype is incredible about college graduates making more money than people without degrees but of all the wealthy people anywhere, most will say either:
1.) My college degrees didn't help much in my success.
2.) I'm a college dropout.
3.) I never went to college.
You can go to college if you want a steady career where you work hard for a middle-class standard of living like teacher, nurse, doctor, pharmacist, lab tech, etc. but if you want to make big bucks, you need enough courage to think up ideas about something people need then do it. College is nothing next to this.
They should teach compulsory self-employment and inventing in either grade school or first year university.
Back in my day, college pretty well cost chump change. It was less than a thousand bucks a year. Nowadays, the tuition is five thousand a year at my alma mater.
Degrees in the soft social sciences including business are almost worthless.
You need credentials in real skills like nursing, engineering, etc. Put an MBA beside a guy who has been running a business for several years and I would hire the guy with real experience over the college educated guy because business is not a science nor a real academic subject. It operates by the flow of where you're at. Academic degrees can't teach you intuition or how the real world operates.
You can learn what MBAs learn in a book that covers the entire condensed MBA program. You can learn anything on your own without getting some piece of paper for it.
The three best degrees are:
engineering
nursing
accounting
Many people with degrees are unemployed.
At college age, I was brainwashed to think I needed college degrees but then I realized that I have a true nature away from cultural brainwash and I must earn my living from doing something I like to do rather than some dull career you get with a couple of college degrees.
Your life is your artform. Is it worth it to spend thirty years as a teacher or dentist if these jobs don't really turn you on? Have you ever met a happy dentist? I haven't.
Academic Motivation/ Why People Go to College
People go to college mostly because they want to get a good-paying professional job.
Some of these students are entirely extrinsically-motivated, there to get the degrees and credentials to put on their resumes without a real natural interest in the subject matter. They are ambitious to make money.
Some students are there because they love to learn and are interested in a particular field but they too want the degrees and jobs at the end of the line.
Some people say they want to learn practical knowledge to develop life skills.
Some people want to be Renaissance people, to learn new things to be well-rounded people.
Some people want an active social life.
Some people want to play college sports.
Some people want to prove to themselves that they can get college degrees.
Some people go to college because they liked grade school so they just keep on going to school.
Some people want time after high school to try to figure out what to do with their lives so college gives off the illusion that they're moving forward to their parents and others.
Some people go because of parental expectations and society's expectations.
College students are generally immature young adults trying to have fun besides taking classes so most will do only what is necessary to get a decent mark. They won't show a great love and interest in the material.
If students are criticized or get low marks, they lose interest in those courses.
One way to increase student motivation is to offer mandatory credit courses for all new students in:
1.) Critical thinking, organize your mind
2.) Study methods, Test-taking methods
The Ideal College Student
Academic Traits
Academically strong
Capable
Community involvement
Creative, resourceful, flexible
Does interesting independent research projects
English, communication, verbal skills articulate
Focused
High standardized test scores
Independence in thinking
Inspired, motivated, committed, self-directed
Intelligent
Love of learning; curiosity, enthusiasm
Positive view of life
Questions philosophies, etc.
Research and study skills
Self-discipline, including responsibility Work ethic, sense of purpose
Shows initiative
Strong in writing, reading comprehension
Strong skills in area of interest
Uses logical thinking
Well-prepared
Well-read
Willing to participate in discussions
Other Characteristics
Confident, secure
Gets involved on campus
Leadership
Loyal
Mature
No noticeable weaknesses
Politically aware
Smooth adjustment to college
Socially adjusted, fits in
Strength of moral character
Want to do great things
Basic Info About Choosing A College
There are many institutions of higher learning out there. You can find detailed descriptions in the books at #378.15-378.73 of the library, LB-2342 for the Library of Congress system that's often used at college libraries.
Every library has both a Reference and a Stacks section section. Check both for books. The best, most current sources are in the reference section. You can sign out the ones in the stacks section.
Peterson's Annual Four Year Colleges is a fairly complete, detailed directory and sells for a reasonable price. It lists tuition fees so you can compare different colleges. If it's not at the library, get their free catalog.
There's a battle to win this massive market of nearly three million students a year. Some other books are:
Barron's Profile of American Colleges
Bear's Guide to Nontraditional Degrees
College Blue Book
Fiske Guide to Colleges
Insider's Guide to the Colleges
James Cass Max Birnbaum's Guide to American Colleges (Harper Collins)
Lovejoy's College Guide (Prentice-Hall)
The Right College
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