<p>@gggg607 One more half day left, yay!</p>
<p>@letmeseetheworld Are you serious. You’re a better person than all of us. I’m still calculating how late I can leave it and still satisfy and hopefully impress the teacher. </p>
<p>My summer reading: Changing my mind by Zadie Smith and Night by Elie Wiesel.
My summer work: A crap load of review questions for Calc BC.
My self imposed work: Studying for the SAT 2 MATH 2 my pre cal teacher didn’t prepare us for; studying for APs I will self study next year.</p>
<p>What do you guys think you’ll do the summer before college? Any exciting adventures? Hitch hiking, touring, etc?</p>
<p>Lol, I didn’t think trying to finish my summer assignments early were that big of a deal. Thanks though. It’s just too much to put off for the last minute.</p>
<p>I have to read Grapes of Wrath and honestly it was torture trying to get through the first chapter. The book seems really really boring.</p>
<p>Summer before college, I’d really like to work and travel by myself. </p>
<p>So, super jealous of all you who don’t have 9023809823 ponds of summer assignments, because my school PILES on the homework in the summer, ugh. Even my honors classes have summer assignments. =’(</p>
<p>However, today was my LAST DAY so I’M DONE HALLELUJAH! </p>
<p>@observeraffect: Yeah, definitely saving all my summer assignments for August as well. =P</p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt: Pshh, 4 days? That’s EASY.</p>
<p>@Woandering: I definitely want to go to Australia and go to the Great Barrier Reef. It’s always been a dream of mine. </p>
<p>@Almondjoy7 I feel you. I think my school just hates summer. </p>
<p>@Almondjoy7
“easy”</p>
<p>Tell that to the dozen papers I have to read and learn new concepts from (Langmuir isotherms yay) and synthesize into a proposal in the next three days :’(</p>
<p>Yesterday was my last day of school. I’m both happy and sad. :/</p>
<p>I’m going to try to come up with a list of colleges this summer that I’m interested in. During the school year I’ll keep up the research and possibly speak with any reps that come to my school and narrow down the list in time for next summer.</p>
<p>Still contemplating what I’ll do for testing. Don’t know whether I should do just ACT or try both. ACT is free for all juniors where I live but that isn’t until spring and I want to get that stuff over with as soon as possible. But then again there’s scholarships with the PSAT and it would be a waste to take it without taking the SAT. Ehhhh</p>
<p>@Almondjoy7 Summer in Australia is hell, literally. You might survive if you live literally on the Great Barrier Reef, but oh well. Have fun!</p>
<p>@SwaggyC: All the teachers are like, “Make sure you rest up!” and then they throw pounds of summer assignments at you. =’(</p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt: Pshh, that’s EASY. You got this, no problems.</p>
<p>@letmeseetheworld: I was actually just thinking about whether or not it’s too early to be thinking about colleges or not. I think starting up a list and really looking at financial options is going to be a good idea!</p>
<p>@Woandering: This is a good point, but whatever. A dream is a dream. ;)</p>
<p>@almondjoy7 @letmeseetheworld
The earlier you start the college list, the more you can revise it and learn about what you really want. This last half year, I started my list and already revised it several times. </p>
<p>For those of you high achievers who are aiming for top colleges, with GCs yelling at you to add safety colleges. Find some free application colleges with full tuition scholarships and your interested majors as safeties. They will save you so much more money. I found a bunch that satisfy these requirements for me.</p>
<p>@LikeThis I lifeguard in the summer!! It’s awesome! And the place I lifeguard is literally two minuets from my school and house and everyone goes there! I get to have fun while getting paid! And I think through lifeguard training you gain a lot of important skills.</p>
<p>My thing with safeties is going to be making sure I can actually see myself going there and that I like the school incase I don’t end up with any other pleasant results. </p>
<p>@letmeseetheworld That’s true, but I feel like a good scholarship/free application list is good to start with. I would then narrow it down to those with my intended major. Then I would look at everything else.</p>
<p>I guess the point is, so many colleges here in the US are too expensive. I would rather not go to a low level college and still have to pay 20-30k+, especially with the recent trend of MOOCs put forward by colleges. Therefore, a school with great scholarship opportunities are great, especially those with automatic scholarship for those with a certain GPA and SAT.</p>
<p>Another thing is, applications are expensive when they pile up. Those with free and/or online applications are easier and cheaper to do. This is an amazing resource: <a href=“Free College Applications”>http://www.porcelina.net/freeapps/listings.html</a> <– I picked out the ones from the free online application that offer a full tuition scholarship and both Finance and Computer Science majors, which I hope to major/minor or double major in. By coincidence the ones I picked were all on rolling admission. This means, I can spam apply to a bunch I know I can learn at, before the intense college applications to my matches and reaches that I inevitably love more, and all without spending a cent (except internet fees and living).</p>
<p>Most of us on CC, already thinking about college, are high achievers. I do think it is rather rare for many of us to resort to safeties. But just in case, the key points is to get your major, spend (or waste IMO) as little money as possible, and get a job afterwards. Fit matters less, unless you really hate the school for some reason. I think for most of us entering adulthood, a little adaption isn’t too big a trouble. At least, I don’t mind going to any place with the educational benefits I need.</p>
<p>@jumpingstar </p>
<p>I agree. How to save only the hot girls from shark attacks and later scoring with them is definitely an important life skill.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input and advice @Woandering. I’ll make sure to look into the website.</p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt </p>
<p>TIL Lifeguard job = Eugenics program</p>
<p>@letmeseetheworld
The Parents forum has some fantastic threads about schools with great aid as well</p>
<p>@letmeseetheworld @Apollo11 </p>
<p>Oh yes, and the Financial Aid & Scholarships forum, too, for obvious reasons. They have a thread of full ride/full tuition scholarship schools, which you can browse around. For safeties, I prefer the ones with an automatic scholarship based on test scores and GPA, so I know I will get merit aid.</p>
<p>@Woandering
Some schools might not have automatics, but pretty-easy-to-win scholarships. For example, USC (LA) and Case Western have up to full scholarships that are competitive, but usually end up “guaranteeing” applicants at least a couple thousand. </p>
<p>@Apollo11 I know, but for safeties, I’d prefer full tuition/full ride ones that are basically guaranteed. Some have full ride ones that are “competitive,” and I would be okay with them, if I think I can easily get the scholarship. Either way, I dearly hope I won’t need to attend any of my safeties.</p>
<p>@Woandering
IMO, safeties should be places that you’d be okay at first and foremost. For me, a safety for Pre-Med would be UConn, since I’d be happy to take a full-scholarship and do undergrad there with the programs they’d offer me (for example, I’d be able to live in Paris while being paid to “attend” UConn). Another safety would be USC for IR or Pre-Med, since I’d have a great shot at the scholarships they’d offer, but most importantly, I actually really like the school.</p>