I need college advice!!! (Very mpsimish)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This post is almost the definition of an MPSIM. But I need advice, my college counselor is a moron and I don’t know who else to ask.
I need advice here from everyone, but mostly people who live in either Richmond IN or Tampa FL.
My two first choice colleges that I have gotten accepted to are U. of Tampa, in Tampa, and Earlham college in Richmond IN. And for the life of me I don’t know where to go. It’s easy for me to see myself at Earlham, but not so much at Tampa, although I wish it were.

Earlham is a Quaker school. They are totally against war, and very for human rights and things like that. This makes me hesitate, because I don’t know how much I am for that sort of stuff. Earlham seemed to really like me, and I like it. I spent the night, they have great dorms, people and food. The classes are interesting, you even call teachers by their first names, which makes it more casual. It’s about a 5 hour drive from where I live. But Earlham may be too small for me. It’s only about 1000 students. I have been in fairly small schools since middle school and I think I might like a change. Earlham is also in the middle of nowhere. I think I would be bored. But I know it has a wonderful biology program, which is what I like. And I really do love this college. I have no problems picturing myself there.
Things I don’t like about it: too small, in a cold place, quite expensive.

U. of Tampa has the most beautiful campus I’ve ever seen. I haven’t spent the night there, so I don’t know how friendly people are, how the food is, or stuff like that. Tampa has about 3000 students, which is more to my liking. Tampa is in FL, which calls to me. I hate cold weather and I love the ocean. Tampa is right on a bay. I hope to study manatees, which are right by the college. But I’m worried that the people there will be unfriendly to northeners. I think they might not be, since 70% of students there are from out of state. I hope they are nice. My first choice college was Eckerd in FL. I loved it. Tampa is sort of a substitute for not getting into Eckerd. I love Tampa, but I don’t know how I would get along there. My parents are hesitating because it is so far away, plane fares are expensive and I really don’t know as much about it as I should. I would have liked to spend the night there but I didn’t have time. Tampa also calls to me because it’s warm. I can’t stand the cold. I am very skinny and hate the winter because I have little insulation. I also have seasonal mood disorder.
Why am I having trouble picturing myself at Tampa? I don’t know. I love it. I love them both.
I only have a month to decide!!! What should I do???
Merla:confused:

2

It’s a pre-requisite for the job. They always seem to be one-track people – here it’s one track for the state schools.

I’m from Cleveland Heights and found Indiana to be an extremely conservative political environment. When I went to Purdue, Earl Butz was running for office saying that war protesters should be drafted. Because Indiana has an army, you know.

Actually the biggest differences were in the student body at Purdue, which you know is a state school. Rurally-educated Indiana students had a much narrower background than the students from Chicago, Cleveland, Washington DC, etc.

It’s also not easy to get across Ohio to Indiana, though Richmond’s on I-40 and it won’t be too bad.

Walk away from this thread and put down the top 5 things that you want in a school. Then see which ones are better met by Earlham or UTampa.

Another way to do the analysis is to do a T account (sorry, it’s a financial term). Do a T for each school with pluses and minuses for each – see if one shakes out.

Be careful about letting other influence your decision. My daughter’s about a year behind you and I took me several months to realize that my desires (larger unversity/multiple disciplines) were not what she cared about (smaller school/strong liberal arts program).

Best regards,

Mooney252

3

There is no reason to think that the people at Tampa are going to be less nice or less friendly than the ones at Earlham. I am not familiar with either school, but when it comes to the people, I don’t think it should make any difference at all. The whole thing about colleges and universities is that the student bodies are so diverse, and you’ll have the opportunity to meet people that you could never have come across in high school, or even people that you never would have considered taking to in high school. The whole “clique” thing sort of fades away in university and college, in my experience.

Sounds like you know what you want to study, and it seems that Tampa might provide the best location for that (I don’t imagine Indiana has many manatees!). In my experience (though admittedly, this is in Canada, which tends to opperate differently in terms of education), undergraduate degrees in fields such as biology tend to be pretty constant from place to place, especially because they are popular programs. Unless there are reasons to think that one is decidedly better than the other, I wouldn’t make that a deciding factor.

You mentionned the weather, and the distance from home. Are you very close to your family? I live about 8 hours drive from my family, and it can be tough at times, since I am very close to them, especially my mom and my brother. However, I’ve always been quite independent, and this has allowed me to learn a lot more about myself and to become a more responsible adult. Take into account whether the increased distance to Tampa will really affect the frequency of home visits - if its unlikely to change, then again, this isn’t really a deciding factor, IMHO. As for the weather, well you know its better in Tampa than in Richmond, and that you’d prefer that.

If you ask me, based on your OP, you sound like you think Tampa is best for your school needs, but something is stopping you from wanting to choose it. Try and figure out what that something is, and decide how important it really is to you.

In the end, though, if you’re really not comfortable with a certain place, then don’t go there. What’s that quote, “don’t let your schooling get in the way of your education”. You can pick the best place academically, but if it just isn’t for you, then you won’t benefit from it the way you really should.

Sorry thats all a bit rambling and disjointed, but those are my initial thoughts on this.

4

If nothing else, don’t worry about people at Tampa hating northerners. After all, if there are so many out of state students, that shouldn’t be an issue, and you also ought to remember that it’s not exactly as if Florida is Deep South or anything; we get a lot of people who move down here just for the weather, after all.

I came to Florida for grad school, having grown up in Seattle and gone to college in L.A. And really, it’s not substantially different. Yeah, the food isn’t the same, and it’s more humid, and the like, but overall, I didn’t have any huge degree of culture shock. Part of that may be because grad school really DOES get people from all over the place (in my office, we have one person from Florida, one from Rhode Island, one from Washington, one from Dresden, one from Warsaw, and one from Novosbirsk (which I think I spelled wrong)), but…

5

Not sure if this will help you or not, but here’s how I made my college decision:

I narrowed it down to 3 schools. I had hoped the financial aid packages would have made one of them the obvious ‘best’ choice (or at least eliminated one school as too expensive). No dice, the aid packages came back nearly identical.

After much thought, consideration, and worrying, I still didn’t have a fscking clue where I wanted to go. At that point, I basically told myself “The hell with it, I’m going to refuse to consiously think about this for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, I’ll see what college looks best, and make my decision from there.”

Three weeks pass (during which I flat-out refused to answer the ‘where are you going to go to school?’ question that everybody seems to ask when you’re a senior in high school. At the end of my ‘blackout period’, my college choice seemed pretty obvious.

YMMV, but it worked for me.

6

Based on your own arguments, Tampa is the obvious choice. Weather, cost, proximity to your chosen study subjects, etc. This assumes you’re willing to forgo a few trips home (or, take the bus). And, since about half of Tampa seems to be transplanted New Englanders, being a northerner will not be an issue.

7

My own personal, may-not-apply-to-you-but-think-about-it, opinion is to put less emphasis on getting home and more on what you want to get out of the school.Yeah, seeing family is important, but you’re now preparing for the rest of your life. That should be your focus. And I’m saying this as a mom whose daughter is going to be attending college 900 miles away. We’ll enroll her in a frequent fliers program and see her when we can.

Plus, back when I was in the same situation, I wanted to go somewhere different, having spent the majority of my young life in the same house. Getting out on my own was as good an education as any school could have provided.

8

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I just CAN NOT picture myself at Tampa. I don’t know why. I WANT to go to Tampa, more than anything in the world. But I just have this feeling that I’m going to feel badly that I didn’t go to Earlham. My main concerns about Tampa now is how are their biology facilities, and if I owuld like it there. I think because I wasn’t able to spend the night there, and I was at Earlham is keeping me from connecting to it. I wonder if there’s some way I could get into contact with one of the students?
I feel that Earlham has welcomed me with open arms, like they truly want me there. Does Tampa feel the same?

I have another question. I have lived in the suburbs all my life, and rarely been to big cities because they make me feel constrained. But as I’ve grown up I’ve wanted more and more to do. Earlham is in the middle of nowhere. WOuld I be bored? Tampa is in the city, with a lot to do. But maybe I would be more restricted of things to do in Tampa because it would be unsafe for me to go out in the city. I mean, maybe they campus is in a bad part of town. What does anyone know about going out in the city of Tampa?
I know why I can’t choose Tampa right now, and that is because I wasn’t able to spend the night there, eat the food, meet some students. I WANT TO GO to Tampa, I just can’t convince myself that.

9

Another thing- I’ve heard that for the first two years it doesn’t matter where you go, it’s only the last two that would really matter if I was in FL or not. I mean, you don’t use the facilities and stuff like that for biology until junior or senior year. But I’m afraid if I go to Earlham, I’ll be to comfortable and won’t want to transfer because it is too much trouble. THen I’ll never get to go to FL to work/study there! What should I do???
Merla

10

I am familar with Earlham – my exhusband’s great uncle is apparently greatly revered there – check out Stanley Hall if you don’t believe me.

The school has a great reputation. Yes, it’s small, yes, it’s pricey. Academically, it’s got a solid reputation. Plus, you will probably get more one-on-one time with your professors than at a larger school (like Tampa) unless you are a rare 18 y/o freshman and can effectively request that kind of help at a large school.

Worry less about escaping the suburbs at this point in your life and more about getting a rock-solid education. You can always move to Tampa once you’ve gotten that degree. And you can always head south during Spring Break.

11

  1. You can start working in research/labs during your first two years.

  2. Even in Deep South, many Southerners are more friendly towards strangers than the out-of-state students. First hand experience.

  3. Tampa is a good city! It’s way better than Gainesville (where I live). You get more concerts, more entertainment, more shows.

12

Well, thank you all for your good advice, but my problem has been solved.
I got a letter from Tampa today. I had heard on the internet of my acceptance. All it said was “full acceptance”.
In the letter they congratulated me on my acceptance- that is, my acceptance to the spring 2004 term. If I want I can ask to be put on the waiting list for the fall 2003 semester. They will notify me about whether I get in (doubtful) or not sometime after may 15th. But I need to deposit my $250 (varies by college, non-refundable) by May first. So it will be too late. I wouldn’t deposit money into a college I don’t plan to go to if I do end up getting into Tampa. And I’m not going to gamble and not deposit anywhere in hopes that I get it.
So now my choices have been narrowed down to two- Earlham and Ohio Wesleyan. Looks like I’m going to Earlham, most likely.

Merla :frowning:

13

Ick. That rather sucks. One probably immensely stupid question (it’s been a long time since I’ve done this): is there a problem, other than the social one, of starting in the spring instead of the fall? One of my good friends did that (with, admittedly, grad school and not college), and hasn’t complained about it too much.

Still… sorry to hear that!