I am making my decision between three schools at the moment (was going to apply to Rice, however I realized that I did not qualify for enough financial aid for my parents too afford it).
Information: Prelaw, Philosophy major, 14 years old at the moment…will start college at 15 (this is the main problem), will only have to attend college for three years (48 dual enrollment college credits)
UT Austin
Pros:
most prestigious school (out of my options)
great philosophy department
Cons:
70k cost (over three years)…parents will pay, however if I go to a cheaper school they said they will help with graduate school
Will have to take a gap year because my parents won’t let me live on campus till I am 16
Texas A&M
Pros:
can commute there
Cons:
because there is no bus or anything there my parents would have to drive me everyday I have classes (which is problematic because I have siblings)
University of Houston
Pros:
Completely free (received a full ride scholarship)…so my parents said they would help pay for law school with the money they would have used for undergrad
There is a commuter bus to UH from where we live so my parents wouldn’t have to drive me
Pretty good honors college (which I got accepted to)
Cons:
Not really my first choice college
No brand name recognition
In my situation which school would you choose and why? Thanks!
I graduated from UH Honors College. There’s a great honors center where you can hang out during the day and it’s a very diverse school which is accepting of all types of students. If you can, go down during a school day and get the vibe of the honors lounge upstairs in the library.
Work hard and shoot for Phi Beta Kappa and UT Law.
Houston. This is the only option that fits your current life situation, so accept that full ride scholarship with gratitude and don’t second guess the choice.
UH honors… or PG year at a top Boarding school as suggested above … or a gap year abroad in a country that speaks the language you studied in HS.
While you mull the PG or year abroad possibility, do secure your place at U Houston Honors.
For all you know you could do a year abroad then start at U Houston.
Don’t rush through it, either: you’ve got a 4 year scholarship, use it to double major then add a minor, participate in as many clubs as you can and discover a new passion…
I haven’t heard anything from plan 2 honors…I don’t think my essays for it were the best, so probably not a shot. Also, I don’t really want to take a gap year, because like I said my parents probably won’t let me leave yet so that’s not really an option, and I also do want to start at a four year college next year.
your parents may be okay with a year at a boarding school (with dorm parents) or in a family studying abroad (again, not living on your own: family life + day at school). And it’s not like you’d be doing nothing, you’d be learning differently, in a different area of the world, with a different culture(either an American regional culture or another country&a different language). Just different enough to stretch you but safe enough for a minor.
U of H is a fine school. I worry at 14 going to college.
U of H and Texas A&M are 1 hr 45 apart so it seems either a long boss ride or long commute. In that sense it seems better to be closer. I know a 14 year old isn’t or can’t be in a dorm. Can your family move closer to campus, even in an apt? How about late night study sessions or group projects, etc. Being 45 mins or an hr away is not feasible.
Y not Rice. They have merit. You can try.
All four are great names. My son interned this summer with a kid from UH. Had Ga Tech too. Not sure why you think UH is a lesser school. It’s not.
Plus if you are going to law school where you go will not be an issue. Your grades and LSAT will be what matters. And so many today are working b4 attending so you may find you need to work a year or two first. But that’s a long ways off.
I worry you will miss being a college student outside of the classroom.
Okay, thanks so much! So, there is a bus I can take from where we live to UH, and I would arrive their at like 8 or 9 (bus leaves from 7-8) and then I would go home at like 5-8 (it is a commuter bus). Because the full ride scholarship comes with room and board, I would obviously accept the free housing (where they said I would be housed with other recipients of the scholarship, who I presume are also high achieving…the scholarship had a 1470 average SAT), so if I needed to stay on campus for like a night I could. The reason, I can’t go to like UT is because my parents don’t want me staying on campus full time (until I am like 16) if that makes sense. However, I don’t really want to take a gap year (in which case I could go to UT), because that just doesn’t seem to make much sense. UH seems to be the choice I should make at this point in time. Also, I would be starting college at 15, not fourteen and I have taken a large amount of community college classes in person before (started taking them at 13) and I was completely fine among the other students: who were much older than me. I do feel like at this stage in time I am ready for college.
I’m sure you are academically ready for college and can handle adult students, but there’s SO MUCH MORE to college than classes.
Right now you’re the most mature you’ve ever been, but just remember yourself two years ago and think of the distance separating yourself then and yourself now: that much separates you from yourself 2 years from now.
A top boarding school would provide LOTS of intellectual challenges. You’d be with students who were selected because they were the best of the best among the applicants (themselves a select group). These schools don’t teach AP classes because they go so much more in-depth, for instance. In addition, you’d learn a lot of skills and you’d make a lot of connections if your ultimate goal is a top law school.
Yeah I know the concept. The thing is my parents can’t afford a really expensive boarding school but we also don’t qualify for financial aid (middle class range lol). And, I also don’t really think that taking a gap year is the best option for me in all honesty.
I don’t think you would have the option of staying on campus here and there for a night.
Regardless I also would choose U Houston. I agree there are many good reasons to take a PG year. If you defer U Houston for a year, and because it’s a full ride, would your parents be able to pay for a PG year?
If you go directly to a 4 year school, it sounds like only the first year when you are 15 will be a problem with staying on campus, correct? Your parents will let you live on campus your second year when you are 16?
Are you planning on applying directly to law school after 3 years of undergrad (so potentially 18 when starting law school)?
Yeah they will let me live on campus my second and third year. I also don’t really want to take a gap year, and I don’t think my parents would let me leave…in regards to studying abroad I plan to do that, and have already experienced living overseas (spent 5 years of my childhood in the Middle East due to my dad’s job). And I do plan to apply to law school right of undergrad so I would be starting law school at 18.
I don’t think this would be a problem. If the OP signs up for housing and gets a dorm room which he sets up with bedding, etc., no one is going to care if he actually spends every night there. He can spend some nights there when he has late classes and study groups and come home on other nights.
I was just thinking, if college RAs counted who’s in his/her room every night, err 