It was one of those "Tell me what to do with my life" threads...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Ever look at the options you have laid before you, lean back, rub your face vigorously, and say “WOW”? That’s me right now. Over and over. I’m feeling more lost and confused now than I have in a very long time. I know a lot about what I want to do with my life, but the order in which everything can be completed, and how they be completed, is killing me. I need some advising.

Assuming I everything goes ok during this coming mini summer semester, I’ll finally be getting my AA from my community college in about a month and a half. Afterwards, I’ll have about six months before I can take the required CLAST and submit an application for my college of choice. I aspire to major in psychology at a university and minor in digital multimedia/film. Here are the options I’m looking at after receiving the AA:

  1. Hop into the local University of Central Florida for a semester or two for a couple language classes and one calculus course, and then transfer over to the University of Florida and attempt to enroll in their supposedly superior, and limited access, Psychology program. They require a GPA of 2.8. Right now, mines at a low 2.65 or so. There’s a handful of reasons as to why that is, but I’m not going to go into it unless asked to.

  2. Get my AA, go to the local University of Central Florida and enroll in their Psychology program. This college is closer, more convenient, and in an area I’m already familiar with.

  3. Screw UF, screw UCF, screw Florida. Do what I’ve wanted more than anything else to do for the past 12 years, and get the HELL out of Florida. Get a drivers license in another state, have an online friend in another state agree to let me use their mailing address, TEFL for a year in China or some such place, come back, go to a University in different state now as a resident qualified to receive financial aid.

I’m stuck in between wanting to get my BA in a timely manner, wanting to get the best available education, and really wanting to move out of Florida. If I’m going to have a six month hiatus in between the time I finish my classes and receive my AA, and then another few months before I begin classes someplace else…well…this time could be spent transferring my residence over to another state. I want to move to Mass. Or Colorado. Or just some general place with natural beauty and culture in the northeast.

But another state university might not smile on my AA with low GPA that same way a Florida one would. If I get my AA here, I can go to whatever state university I want to. The programs don’t have to accept me, but I have my choice as far as the schools go. Plus, I really have no idea how much financial aid grants pay for classes in other states and in Universities compared to how they have paid for my classes in community college. So far financial aid has been able to pay for all of my classes and give me some extra spending money. What are my chances of getting the same deal in another state University? Or any University for that matter? What if I did TEFL for a year? Would that increase my chances of being accepted into a good program at another state university? Would that count as a feather in my cap?

How much better can I expect UF’s psychology program to be? Ideally I’d like to be in an environment with people genuinely passionate about what they’re studying and who actively engage in study groups. The community college experience is really lacking here. I want my favorite subject to come to life! If it’s a hair’s difference, I’ll take UCF.

Unless UF looks so much better on my resume. But maybe that would only make a difference on getting my first job…and I’m very much looking into the Psychological Operations Specialists in the army, so to that extent, maybe it wouldn’t be worth a damn at all.

I want to receive the best education possible for where I’m at in my life right now.

But I really want to get out of Florida. A little bit of me dies inside for each year I stay here. I don’t mean to complain or knock anyone’s favorite state here, only to get across my own sense of urgency.

I don’t want to be stranded in another state with no way of getting into a decent school or Psychology program for that matter.

I am going to have some time to kill before getting my AA (wonky degree application deadlines and all that), and before being admitted to a University. If I stay in Florida, this time would probably be best spent taking the required courses at UCF to get me into UF’s program. If I get out of Florida, TEFL would be the superior life experience I think. But then I risk not getting the education I desire.

Thoughts? Opinions? Donations?

Words of advice and counseling would be a life saver right now.

2

Question: How old are you? Exact age immaterial, but since you say you’ve wanted to get the Hell out of Florida for the past 12 years, I’d like to know whether you are 18ish and just barely old enough to know the difference between Florida and Not-Florida, or 50ish and well aware of what you are missing.

Question 2: Where would you like to live? I mean, Not-Florida is a pretty damn big area, so can you narrow things down a little?

(While we’re at it–let me point out that often neighboring states have some kind of reciprocity-thing going on. So if you pick a state which neighbors Florida, they might be willing to accept you despite your low-GPA, and still give you in-state tuition fees. )

(OOPS–I just reread part of your OP, you mention Mass. and Colorado so the neighboring states thing probably won’t help. )

On the other hand, much as it kills me to admit it–people like to hire people from their “networks”–so if your dream is to live some place other than Florida–pick the place you’d like to go with the best school in your field (um, that you can get accepted at . . )move to that place, go to school, and then get your dream job.

While I’m at it–while in-state tuition is cheaper, some places are more likely to accept an out of state student, for diversity reasons. Of course, coming in with an AA makes a difference . . . And I have no advice on financial aid beyond the obvious–sometimes private schools have Aid out the wazoo for students that they want.

But if your biggest dream is leaving Florida–I vote for leave Florida as soon as possible and don’t look back. Figure out the rest of the details later.

3

Is there anything you can do to improve your GPA (extra classes, something?)

4
    1. I’ve lived in North Virginia, South Carolina (where I was born), Colorado, and have seen Massachusetts as well as most of the southeast. I’ve been around, and am aware of what I’m missing. Still, I am making the best of Florida while I’m here. I try not to complain about it but for the sake of this thread I decided to drop a few lines on what I feel about my options and why.

  2. I didn’t know about the reciprocity thing. Would South Carolina count you think, or would that be too far out of bounds? I didn’t know that I might be welcomed at another school just for contributing to a campus’s diversity either.

In any other case, I’d be all about doing what I really want to (ie, leave Florida), but I can’t but help think that if things don’t workout just the way I want them to then I could be set back a few years. I’m already behind in my studies. At 21 I’m just getting my AA. I don’t mind taking a risk, I just don’t want to leap without looking at all.

How likely am I to get answers about financial aid at a different school if I simply call up a campus and ask?

Extra classes. If I were to stay in Florida, this is what I’d be doing at UCF before knocking on UF’s door.

5

Back on the topic of TEFL, how would time spent in a foreign country (lets say six months to a year) compare to a couple or more foreign language classes that I had acheived an A on to a University? How heavily weighed is relevant life experience when someone applies to a University and program?

6

In five minutes of scanning the University of South Carolina’s website, I failed to find any information that indicates that they offer any people who live out of state the right to pay in-state tuition. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but it doesn’t look all that encouraging either. I’d certainly think it was worth spending a few minutes calling (or e-mailing) any college that strongly interests you and asking about your potential for admission/ financial aid. What’s the worst that will happen? They tell you that they don’t answer such questions over the phone?

Note: Most schools use the FAFSA to determine what your “Estimated Family Contribution” should be. They then use a formula that takes the estimated costs of attending their school, subtract the Estimated Family Contribution, and work to find a combination of loans, grants, and work study programs to enable you to pay for the rest.

21 is not old. You still count as an undergraduate student rather than as an adult student (in the eyes of http://mapping-your-future.org/ (Note: I’ve spent maybe 15 minutes looking at the site–it seems pretty good, but I don’t have any real knowledge of it. So make choices based on what it tells you with caution. Of course, what do you know about me and my advice, for that matter?)

At your age, you should not be spending a lot of time worrying about how “behind” you are–because really, you aren’t behind. Many 21 year old college students have more credits behind them, but no more clue than you what they want to do with their lives–and many have less. And it’s ok, although not inevitable, if you change your mind about what you want to do with your life again in the future.

Finally, your being 21 makes me somewhat more inclined to encourage you to get the local, easily-accessible education, and then go looking for a job elsewhere, but I’m not sure that I can explain why.

7

When you mention my looking for work elsewhere, are you referring to my wanting to move to another state, or how I’m considering the TEFL thing?

8

And I’m familiar with FAFSA and how that works…but only when considering my current community college. You say that the FAFSA takes into consideration the fees charged by the school I’m applying at in addition to the support I’m recieving from my family. Does that mean that if I go to an uber pricey Ivy League school and apply for financial aid they might pay for my entire education and then some the way it is now? How much of a variation exists between how much financial aid pays for at one school and how much it pays for at another?

9

Moving to another state(after graduation from college). I do not have any insights to offer regarding the TEFL thing.

10

Yes–with a couple of caveats. When I was applying to college (15 years ago, give or take slightly), I was told that the college of my dreams would take Estimate Cost of Dream College, subtract Estimated Family Contribution, and then divide the remaining sum in half. One half they would find grants for, and one half they would provide student loans for.

Let’s assume for a moment that this is typical today. So when you graduate from that uber pricey Ivy League School, you would likely have a boatload of student loan debt. Possibly enough debt to make it hard for you to buy a house, or pick a job which is satisfying rather than high-paying, or eat a diet that isn’t rich in ramen noodles.

Meanwhile, if you instead attend Moderately Priced State School, you graduate with a much smaller amount of student loan.

But you won’t know unless you apply and get accepted and get offered a student loan package just how much student loan debt your chosen college will incur.

Huge. It depends how badly they want you–although in general financial aid and admissions are separate. Still, some private schools can be more generous than public schools.

On the other hand, private schools can often be pickier about who they accept than public schools, especially state schools in the state in which you are a resident.