College essays...

So yea I'm writing my college essays... I've got to say it's probably the hardest thing I've ever had to write. I'm on my 5th draft of my first school. I have at least 9 more essays to write...

Advice to our younger members: I wish I started writing these at the BEGINNING of the summer!

rclaxx14 wrote:

I wish I started writing these at the BEGINNING of the summer!

Oh well better late than never. I remember when I was at Uni and one of my mates did one serious epic fail. He had one night to do an essay so I found him a book on Leisure and Tourism and the plan was to scan the book using O.C.R into MS Word and change the words around a bit. Well I did my part for him by scanning it into Word and he was meant to change the words around. Yet he did a half assed job of it and it looked pretty much the same... The next morning he went to lectures and handed his 'essay' in... The lecturer found him out and gave him a zero for the essay... Wanna know how the lecturer knew? He wrote the bloody book!!! My mate got a final written warning and a zero so he ended up having to resit the whole year!

haha biggest fail of a lifetime right there bud. I don't think I'll be using Sparknotes for my essays or anything like that.

What colleges are you applying for?

rclaxx14 wrote:

So yea I'm writing my college essays... I've got to say it's probably the hardest thing I've ever had to write. I'm on my 5th draft of my first school. I have at least 9 more essays to write...

Advice to our younger members: I wish I started writing these at the BEGINNING of the summer!

What course are you studying?

University of Michigan, Purdue University, University of Illinois at Urbana, Penn State, Virginia Tech and University of Arizona.

I'm planning on majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in something to do with computers and what not. If not, I want to minor in business.

rclaxx14 wrote:

University of Michigan, Purdue University, University of Illinois at Urbana, Penn State, Virginia Tech and University of Arizona.

I'm planning on majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in something to do with computers and what not. If not, I want to minor in business.

good stuff. University was the best days of my life

That's what I keep hearing haha.

Believe me it was, for every day of the week (apart from Sunday) there was a night out in the clubs, different girl every night, it brings back fond memories. I've had some really fit girls at uni, it's hard to keep up with them all. You're gonna have a whale of a time! Remember stay safe! (seriously, lol you wouldn't drive without a seatbelt on or ride a motorbike without a helmet, I think you get the point) Trust me when you graduate, you'll look back at it all and think "Whoah, how did I get through this?"

yea i need to get into college first haha but im sure as hell ready to live on my own and make my own decisions.

rclaxx14 wrote:

yea i need to get into college first haha but im sure as hell ready to live on my own and make my own decisions.

I got a few tips for you that I quickly learnt by fending for myself.

1) Learn to budget your money. I don't know how colleges and uni's operate in the US but over here you get a student loan which isn't much at all (£4,000 per annum). You will have bills to pay so it's good to document everything and keep hold of receipts.
2) Learn how to cook. In my freshman year I never cooked at all and wasted lots of money on take aways. Before you feel comfortable making your own meals get your mum to prepare food and freeze it. Buy cookery books as they are easy to follow and you can even find recepies free on the internet if money is tight. If you prepare your own food there are many benefits associated with doing this such as knowing what ingredients have gone into your meals, saving a lot of money and also you will come back from college/uni with a whole load of cullinary skills.
3) Shop around for accomodation. In my 1st year I lived in student halls. They were expensive, small cramped rooms with drab furniture. They didn't have a broadband service available and only offered dial up internet. In my 2nd year I decided to rent a room in a student house. I had a much bigger room, we could order broadband internet and cable tv, the rent was much cheaper although we had to split utility bills between the housemates (electricity, gas, water rates, ISP charges etc.) and we had more freedom with being able to put up posters etc. When looking for a student house or flat you definitely want to be careful who you get one with. You'll be spending a lot of time with your housemates and it can lead to some major arguments if two people don't get along. Preferably pick one with close friends who are going to the same college with you.
4) Purchasing books and study aids. When you need to buy books for your course try not to buy them brand new. I know it's nice to have new stuff but you're a student and students are always 'skint'. When you finish your course the books will be useless and you'll end up selling them for a fraction of the price. Try and get your books second hand. If you shop around you'll find books in excellent condition for a fraction of the price. When you're done with them, simply sell them on (You don't need to tell anyone that they're 'third hand' when you sell them!)
5) Don't over do it. I know college/uni is a really fun place to be when you're not studying like the old adage "work hard and play hard" but try not to go to excesses. You will find that, due to peer pressure, people will offer you illegal narcotics and you have to be strong and say NO. I made the mistake of not saying no and it cost me dearly (I lost my girlfriend due to dtugs) You will find that there are a lot of 'student nights' which cater for the student mentality by selling relly cheap drinks, having popular music and piles of beautiful girls looking to get hooked up. I know it sounds really good but if you end up like I did, going out every night sleeping with a different girl each night you'll find that all your money get's wasted, your studies suffer due to late nights and hangovers and you lose your self respect due to treating the opposite sex with disrespect. By all means find a girlfriend but try not to cheat on her because if you had 3 girlfriends and they all found out you were cheating, they'll all dump you and you're left with no one! In Britain we really have bad problems with binge drinking so try to drink in moderation (UK guideline for alcohol specify that you shouldn't have more than 4 units per day and no more than 21 units per week. One unit of alcohol is about equal to:
half a pint of beer, lager or cider, a small pub measure of spirits, a standard pub measure of fortified wine such as sherry or port).
I hope this information helps you as I'm talking from personal experience and I wish you all the best with your studies.

It definitely does. I hope all of our college bound members take a look at this too.

Guess i need not worry about the whole Uni essays shit, my A level results have put an end to that dream

Oh well i can now focus on saving up to buy a pub instead

Ryan wrote:

Guess i need not worry about the whole Uni essays shit, my A level results have put an end to that dream

Oh well i can now focus on saving up to buy a pub instead

Don't worry mate they're alternative ways to get into Uni. Wait til you are 21 and do 'year zero' basically it'll add an extra year on but as a mature student you don't really need any formal qualifications. And in the meantime you can save up for your dream of running your very own pub. Heck just thinking of all the hot barmaids is makin me wish I had one too!

Talkin about college work I've fell seriously behind in my Comptia A+ course and I'm just starting to catch up onn the work. Boy I'm too damn lazy at times! It'll all pay off one day.

What is Comptia A+?

I'm in college right now...getting a degree in Process Instrumentation.