>>265161
same here, I got a $1000 dollar scholarship that somehow made me uneligible for $2000 in aid

freaking useless

>>265163

Ugh, I hate the way Financial Aid works. Last year I had to get a job because my financial aid couldn't cover all of my living expenses...Except this lowered the amount of financial aid I received for the year so I still had trouble covering my living expenses.

And they seem to be expecting my parents to pick up all the money they don't give me, despite the fact that I don't even live with my parents anymore.

I have class only three days a week. The bad part is said classes are an hour and a half commute from my house, and its LAW SCHOOL!!!

Classes in the after noon/night every day; only one class on friday.

>>265158
I did, but I didn't get any. And the FAFSA verification didn't clear, so I can't apply for a loan.

>>265171
The good part is your career will pull you in a substantial amount of money every year. grin&bear it.

>>265171
GOOD LUCK! May your future law skills at least be as impressive as Mindwipe. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

four day weekends all semester yaaaaaay

Too bad I still need a job.

I've only had classes tuesdays and thursdays the past two semesters and this one as well.

Shit is so cash.

God dammit. I am a hater. I am going to hate.

I have class every single day this semester. Just two classes, an hour each, every damn day. And then I have two online courses.

>>265167
I really think the FAFSA app should be revised. If you aren't being claimed as a dependent you shouldn't have to include parental info.

Let me count the number of people that I know for whom FAFSA actually helped.

...

...

...

I hate you FAFSA.

I have classes all week but they are spaced so far apart from each other. Especially my TWR class. That's chem plus study session or some shit. starts at 6 ends at 7 except the study session which is 7-9. I started choosing calls late but I found out almost all chem classes have that one day at 7-9 so I don't feel too bad. Though, 7 hours between classes that sorta sucks.

>>265249

Helped me a couple times, but my loans are in default because fucking retarded-ass Sallie Mae refused to give me a deferment.

>>265251
feels bad, man.

>>265248
Here here. I think they expect your family to help you out regardless but I have more money than my parents most of the time so that's not the case.

>>265181
>>265180

:3 Thanks u guyz. Pic somewhat related, just substitute "/baw/" for "/co/"

Why do I read these fucking threads

I literally JUST filled out this year's FAFSA promissory note yesterday

I'm going to be worrying about this shit for months.

>>265394
Why so late, brah?

Can I just say?

FUCK THIS CLASS SELECTION PROCESS.

I search through like 100 variations on the same course, compare each teacher, find a good one, time's manageable, it's not far from here, and then it suddenly gets filled up.

I'd just randomly pick the teacher, but I do NOT want a repeat of Freshman 2nd Semester.

>>265138

It's an fanfiction term, to warn the reader of the content within. The exclamation point is so you pay attention, because no one reads a fanfiction summary.

Except me, I guess.

Anyways, I also have 2 days of class this semester, from 8 to about 4. It's my old school schedule, so it shouldn't be too hard to get back into.

Did all finaid stuff, but I did it three days after the deadline, so probably no money this semester, so I'll probably have to sit this one out if that actually turns out to be the case.

>>266195
I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT /BAW/.jpg

>>266195
Can't you get an override from the professor into a class you need? I thought you were a junior or a senior.

>>265252

Update. My deferment finally cleared. Says it is deferred for two years. But now I can't go back to school for a year, so I'm going to lose my deferment and have to start this all over. All the while falling deeper and deeper into crippling debt.

My life changes FOREVER in one week.

Do you guys have any tips for first-years?

>>266634
It's not as bad as it looks.
Professors have office hours for a reason. If you need help, make an appointment to see them.
Don't go nuts; freshmen fail out all the time because they think they can get away without doing any work.
In spite of that, try to have some fun and make new friends.
The freshmen fifteen is not a myth. Watch what you eat.
Books are expensive. Try to sell them back to the school at the end of the semester, or online if your school doesn't buy them back.
Don't panic.

>>266336
It's... complicated. Technically I only have enough credits to be a Sophmore, and although there are wait lists, HCC is a bitch with forms and signatures. (They only accept class changes from 11 am to 1 pm on Tuesdays during the entire week. WTF.)

Anyway, things are all sorted out now, I was just sort of angry at the dumb site. It's on that stupid peoplesoft crap that you can't leave alone for more than five minutes without it resetting and resets if you press the back button.

>>266634
half.com is your friend when it comes to book shopping.

Have fun! Join clubs, do things you'd never do before, try to meet new people. Go to sporting events if you school does that sort of thing.

Remember: no matter how terrifying it can be, these people can't hurt you. If a teacher is a douche, their loss. Learn to tolerate the assholes, be the bigger man. This is not high school. No one there can hurt you without serious repercussions and words are just words.

The other freshmen are just as scared/nervous as you. Most teachers will do those "introductory" exercises (you know: name, age, major, random fact, etc). People are going to be terrified of talking to each other. So don't be afraid to talk and try to lighten up the room. You might make new friends.

I don't know what to tell you ACADEMICS wise, I'm a pretty lousy student. Uh... DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK. i should probably be doing mine right now.

>>266634

Be completely, physically open during the first two weeks. That means no hats, no hoods, no sunglasses, no earphones, keep your phone in your pocket, leave your laptop at home, etc. The aforementioned are things that are easily perceived as barriers to communication and that is the absolute last thing you need when you're supposed to be meeting your classmates and professors.

Introduce yourself to your professors. This doesn't mean meeting them in their office to talk about really intimate, gritty shit right away. Ask questions in class. Bonus points if you catch then in a mistake, but don't phrase it as if they messed up. For example, I had a linguistics professor talk about the Asch experiments briefly and she said that 30% conformed when it was actually 70%, but I asked her "doesn't that mean most people didn't conform?"

SIT IN THE FRONT GOD DAMMIT SIT IN THE FUCKING FRONT GET THE FUCK UP THERE. Not directly in front, though. Second and third row is prime real estate for getting to meet other proactive students while also letting the professor know you with an actual face. Moe I swear if you go straight to the back rows I will fucking fuck FUCK GET UP THERE FUCK

Join at least 1 student organization. This isn't so much about making friends or getting involved (although those are undeniable benefits) as much as it is about showing on your resume for postgrad that you were an active part of the college. Also, most if not all student organizations do public services that make your resume that much stronger.

Try to show up to class early. 5 minutes is a good buffer. 10 is even better. Showing up early gives you more time to build rapport with classmates and your professor. Professors aren't supposed to pick favorites and you probably won't get any of them to admit this, but they do. They all do. Being one of the first faces they see every day is the fastest way to put yourself in that favor.

Go to college-sponsored events. Career fairs, museum exhibits, plays, etc. There's some really cool shit done by really local people who are totally within your networking range. Get in on the creative stuff early. It's about who you know, etc etc.

NEVER STOP APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS HOLY SHIT I GOT $8,000 REFUNDED FOR FALL BECAUSE I KEEP APPLYING DON'T EVER STOP

>>266640
Where do you apply for scholarships and shit, Ninja? Like, is it via your uni or online or what?

>>266640
Prude but effective.

>>266641

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/index.html?affiliateId=rdr&bannerId=pay

College Board is always a good resource for students. High school, undergrad, post grad, anything. Add the website to your bookmarks and keep it there forever. I used their scholarship search engine to find some scholarships for a black male high school senior majoring in Computer Science in New York and got 121 results.

They ask mostly for demonstration of academic achievement (GPA requirements usually 3.5 - 4.0) and a response to a writing prompt.

Yes, it is like homework. No, you won't like doing it. Yes, you probably won't get most of what you apply for. No, their responses and disbursements are not quick. Fuck yes, it feels good getting paid to go to school.

All colleges also offer their own in-house scholarships. You gotta look for them. Talk to a financial adviser and also the separate advisers for the specific college you're in.

Also check the national stuff. Corporations dish out millions every year. Microsoft, Coca Cola, Google, Adobe, etc. Don't think you don't have a chance, go for it. It's free to apply.

Check federal stuff too. FAFSA. Get on that shit. They gave me $2,500 to go to school IN SUMMER.

>>266648

Also watch out for these sneaky assholes trying to get you to sign loans but phrasing it as "financial aid."

>>266649

Can't stress this enough. My university tried this shit on me and I almost fell for it.

They sent me an e-mail saying "check your finances, yo. We just got you some good shit" and I was like "hell yes I love getting good shit" and there was this big ass wordy piece of shit and I just scrolled to the bottom because any document worth reading has a summation in the last three sentences, right? So I get to the bottom and there's just these button that say "Agree" and "Cancel." And I was about to click that shit but remembered that it was my high school AP Language teacher that told me about the last three sentence shit and I was like "dude fuck that I'm reading it" AND IT WAS A LOAN WITH A 14% VARIABLE INTEREST RATE WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT so yeah be careful.

>>266640
I'll do most of this shit. :)

I already know a few people here. It'll be fun.

When I get my PS3 back, I'll start inviting people over.

>>266648
Thanks! You're going to Hunter, right?
>>266649
>>266650
All loans are done through the school nowadays, ever since Obama signed some Education thingy.

Also a lot of people are going to try to convince you that its ok to skip the first day of classes because "all they do is read the syllabus." Ignore that faggotry and go, unconditionally.

Don't feel too pressured to pick a major and commit to a career path. Most colleges don't require you to settle on a major until you have 60 credit hours done. Your major doesn't really matter with getting jobs. Anyone who has a college degree gets the benefit of job screeners assuming you're educated and capable of critical thought regardless of your major. The more important considerations for major selection are a) what you want to do specifically b) post-graduate school ex: master's and/or PhD.

One last thing: no one adjusts to college seamlessly. Every single person you walk by on campus is struggling with something. You will be struggling with something. You can make that struggle more tangible and easier to confront if you have intelligent people you can trust and confide in. Can't stress the intelligent part enough. Don't make friends with random idiots. Stay away from drugs, use a condom, wash behind your ears, etc etc.

>>266634
Sleep is your most important resource. Protect it like the world just ended and sleep is a shipping container of canned food in your back yard. Make sure you get enough sleep regularly; even if you're only getting just a little less than you need, that will build up over time and by finals you're going to feel like walking death. If you ever face a choice of studying for an hour or grabbing an extra hour of sleep before a test, take the sleep. Being well rested will serve you better than staring at material you won't remember anyway.

If you're a science major try to get started working in a lab right away. But before you talk to someone about working in their lab, take a peek in the lab door. You might not want to work someplace that seems completely dead, because that probably means they're working on something really obscure that only like five people care about (or is just boring). However, you're more likely to get to do actual work in a place like that. You also might not want to work someplace where people are jammed in and there's no room to breathe, because doing science in a hectic environment is a pain in the ass. You're more likely to end up washing glassware than anything else.

If you're not a science major, I don't have any good advice for that. Sorry. :/

OH. You're most likely going to change majors, even if it's just a small change to a related field. Remain open to the idea of a different major. Remember you have that option if your classes just aren't interesting you. The only thing you have to watch out for is the requirements; you don't want to switch majors and then discover you're a year behind everyone else.

A good way to introduce yourself to your professors is to talk to them after the first class about the textbook. Ask them what they think of it (they usually know [about] the authors) and if a student could conceivably excel without it. They were students once too and know money is tight and you could save yourself upwards of $120 per class if they test mainly from lectures. Also ask them if they have a copy of the book reserved at the library.

Dude, seriously. My Stats II book was $120 and I didn't open it once.

Oh, and always go to class. Always, always, always. Even if the class is stupidly easy and you don't need to take notes, go to class and listen to the professor. And try to take notes anyway.

You're going to see questions on tests that you have no idea how to answer. Fact of life. If you make a habit of going to class, there's always the chance that some phrase in the question or a stray train of thought can bring back the answer from your memory, even if you only heard the answer once. If you don't go to class, your only option is bullshitting it.

Man, I used to never study. At all. And my sleep schedule is always fucked.

I feel significantly more worried, now.

>>267572
You're probably going to spend at least your first semester doing gen eds, so I wouldn't worry too much. The pressure doesn't really start until you get into the upper level classes. You still have time to work out a good study/sleep schedule.

I'm gonna have two classes a day, which is less than last year. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have a big ol' three-hour lunch break between them, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they're both in the morning. A pretty good setup, if you ask me. Oh yeah, and they're all in the same building.

>>267572

Don't study. Studying is a worthless waste of time.

Pay attention during the lectures and take notes. If you have a question, ask it. Then read the text. Don't understand the text? Ask classmates and TA's about it. Still don't get it? Go to professor's office hours.

Studying isn't part of the learning experience and isn't part of college. You know what you know, you learn what you don't, then you review for the exam.

You shouldn't be staring into a book for nothing, or doing practice problems you don't need to, etc. Don't memorize, conceptualize.

>>267599
it really depends on the person, Ninja. Some people do better on their own or really like having at least a shallow knowledge of the subject before going into lecture so they know more about what's going on.

But yeah, you're not graded ever on how well you know a text book, ever. Ever. Ever. Unless the professor wrote the textbook.

>>267599

That sure does sound an awful lot like studying, Ninja.

>>267599
I had the exact opposite experience in my classes. I would have outright failed several of my classes (most of them chemistry) without studying by working problems from the book and memorizing important information. Just paying attention in class and taking notes wouldn't have done anything to prepare me for the tests. And in cases like chemistry, part of our grading was on extra information like reaction conditions that was largely disconnected from the concepts we needed to understand.

And sometimes there are entire departments that make it their policy to attempt to trip up students on tests by requiring specifics of information that was never covered in class; memorization and book study are the only way to get a good grade in those classes. You can't just bull your way through by understanding concepts, and since it's the entire department there's no way you can argue with the testing practice.

tl;dr whether you need to study depends on the discipline and class in question

>>267674
>memorization
i forgot about bio kids

>>267674

>tl;dr whether you need to study depends on the discipline and class in question

This. And, of course, the person. If your mind naturally works in numbers, then you might not need to do a lot of prepping for math exams. For me, in law school, it's mostly a long grind to teach your brain to work like a lawyer's brain. It's math in a sense, because you have to add up "Okay, it was unauthorized or offensive physical contact, and there was intent, so that = battery". It's not as precise as math, but I've found its fairly easy for me to apply abstract concepts to specific situations and work out the legal result.

Granted, I *am* just three weeks in, but after the whole week of "OMG THIS SHIT IS HARD YOU'LL BE STUDYING EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY YOU'RE NOT IN CLASS!!!" during orientation, this shit is a breeze.

It turns out it's three days. And I'm short a lot of supplies. Aw, fuck it. I'll still get things done.

First day is tomorrow. :x