College

Living in a country with no middle school, I had to choose my college and major at the tender age of 16. ;;; v;;
I studied at a public science high school (which was really hard to get into, since out of the 50+ thousands who took it, only a few hundred would be accepted), but it was without tuition and with stipend. It was a real money-saver for my parents, but the downside was that we had a list of majors to choose from when we entered college. If we shifted to non-science courses, we had to pay our high school the 4-year tuition that was supposedly free. I guess it's to promote more scientists in the country.
Picking a uni wasn't hard for me either, since in our high school there were like 2 common choices, and our high school consistently produced batches with a 99-100% passing rate. Both unis specialized in different engineering courses, but one had better science courses. I chose the latter because I wanted to take Biology, the uni had a much bigger, nature-y space (perfect for long walks!) and the tuition was less expensive.
I'm a Biology major now! ^^ Idk, I didnt have stellar Bio grades, but I was very interested in it and I plan to go to medicine to continue my father's clinic. ; v;
(Sorry if this was really long? .........)

I walked out of a class in tears today :c College is very stressful if you're in certain majors. And... probably in general too.

i'm from the uk so it's a bit different - (i'm aged 17 but in "college") i went to my local college which only has about 200 people, so definitely not gonna name drop it. it's about a mile away, and i study fine art, psychology and sociology. i literally just decided on the nearest college as they're not that much different unless you want to take very specific subjects.

for uni, i don't really care where i go: if i go to one uni nearby i could stay at home and have it cheaper, but i'll try and get into oxford and study fine art, but if i don't manage that, i'll just go to the nearby uni, which is a fairly average university.

like what carp said, the uk system is a lil different to america's im 15, but in my last year of 'high school' which here is aged 11-16 but given that what i do after this year will affect what i can do when im 18 i have to look at unis now x.x ive been stuck in a small rural village for my whole life, so my main priority for uni is getting away from everything and everyone orz. i've been looking at a certain university's computer science course, since they'll start accepting from a 6 at gcse maths, which is easily obtainable for me (im currently working at a 7 so) and they do a year abroad in a variety of places (inc canada which im considering moving to) so for me my main priorities are getting as far from home as possible, allowing me to take various things in sixth form and having a year abroad somewhere

I went to "early college", and got my Associate's degree (2 year) when I graduated high school.
It became hectic from there. I went to an engineering university with 10% girls out of 900 students and hated it. I was doing computer science.

Then I transferred to the biggest university in the United States! So I went from 900 students, to 60,000. I switched to IT, but now I ended up doing technical writing with a minor in IT. I have one year left until I graduate.

My college journey has been filled with confusing decisions, moving around, tears, and stress. I also tried joining a sorority, but that didn't end well lol. I also drive an hour and back every single week to see my boyfriend and cats at my old school!

My advice: don't ever feel like you're stuck. If you don't feel happy where you're at, then CHANGE IT. You are an adult now (hooray). You're going to have ups and downs, but you'll always regret your decisions if you never try/take risks. It's only four years, but you'll learn so much about yourself. Also try to enjoy it even when you're stressed (which I struggle with).

I'm going to a community college to get my bachelors in Nursing ( L&D specifically ). Its cheaper in general and your Gen ED doesnt cost you the ridiculous amount you have to spend when you automatically go to a 4 year.

Skyzeri said:

I went to "early college", and got my Associate's degree (2 year) when I graduated high school.
It became hectic from there. I went to an engineering university with 10% girls out of 900 students and hated it. I was doing computer science.

Then I transferred to the biggest university in the United States! So I went from 900 students, to 60,000. I switched to IT, but now I ended up doing technical writing with a minor in IT. I have one year left until I graduate.

My college journey has been filled with confusing decisions, moving around, tears, and stress. I also tried joining a sorority, but that didn't end well lol. I also drive an hour and back every single week to see my boyfriend and cats at my old school!

My advice: don't ever feel like you're stuck. If you don't feel happy where you're at, then CHANGE IT. You are an adult now (hooray). You're going to have ups and downs, but you'll always regret your decisions if you never try/take risks. It's only four years, but you'll learn so much about yourself. Also try to enjoy it even when you're stressed (which I struggle with).

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i'm doing the same thing in high school (we refer to it as dual enrollment), but right now i'm not aiming to get my AA. i could but i'm not sure if i want to, plus the workload. d:
also, if i'm guessing the correct university, my brothers went there too it'd be my main choice if i choose to stay close to home but i'm probably going to the college mentioned in my op! at least, i'm leaning heavily towards it haha

thanks for your advice try and have a good and successful final year, i wish you luck!

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Nightstar said:

I walked out of a class in tears today :c College is very stressful if you're in certain majors. And... probably in general too.

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oh no! i hope ur okay :c
u can do it !!

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himeki said:

like what carp said, the uk system is a lil different to america's im 15, but in my last year of 'high school' which here is aged 11-16 but given that what i do after this year will affect what i can do when im 18 i have to look at unis now x.x ive been stuck in a small rural village for my whole life, so my main priority for uni is getting away from everything and everyone orz. i've been looking at a certain university's computer science course, since they'll start accepting from a 6 at gcse maths, which is easily obtainable for me (im currently working at a 7 so) and they do a year abroad in a variety of places (inc canada which im considering moving to) so for me my main priorities are getting as far from home as possible, allowing me to take various things in sixth form and having a year abroad somewhere

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nice!
it's weird that high school ends so early for you guys and seem to force you to make decisions so early on? ofc we've been forced to look at universities and think about career paths for ages but just a year ago (ngl like a few months ago even) what i would've chosen for a major/education/school is like, very different from what i currently think. of course changing your mind on things later is ok ! but i always feel like more time to think about these things is better because then the less you have to flip flop around in the future.

also these replies reminded me of how in my freshman year of high school (aged 14-15) a set of twins from england got transferred into my chemistry class, and they were actually 17 and out of high school back in britain, but since they moved to the US they had to enroll into school as juniors and stay for two more years. that kinda sucks.

I live literally 5 miles from my school, and it's a pretty solid business school too, so it's pretty dope.

Basically college vs. high school for me has been all about decentralization vs. regimentation. I had to be at certain places at certain times all day in high school, and my teachers would make me do assignments. But in college, it's much more open ended and reliant upon ME to keep track of assignments and schedules. I feel I was well-prepared for college though, as I kept up with things in high school pretty well. College isn't the kind of rah-rah, fun all the time experience that sports games make it out to be, but it's not horrible either. (Well, at least for my major...I have heard horror stories of impacted majors and schools. Yuck.) Just go to class as much as you can, ask questions, read your book (if it's not one of those classes where the book is a useless paperweight), keep up with your work, enjoy hanging out with friends when you can, and network...and you should be fine