College Advice?

[[S]ilver[R]ose]

Help me LI

I really can't give advice on the homesick or roommate part because I lived at home with my parents, but I did go to a private college. In all honesty, from my experience, most of the students there had full scholarships or mommy and daddy paying for it so they were a little stuck up, but they were all very accepting of different races and nationalities. I never saw any discrimination or racial issues occur, but again that's just where I went. Two jobs sounds like a lot with going to school, you going to be full-time? I'd recommend losing a job if you are or you will overload yourself. I didn't have a job when I started college and I felt so overwhelmed by the workload and differences from high school that I pretty much gave up. Just remember that everyone is scared and nervous even if they don't look it. Good luck!

[abby_lovely]

Help me LI

abby_lovely

I want to say thank you so much for your help, with everything.
Homesickness I'm sure won't be a crazy issue at this point. After talking to my grandparents, whom I've lived with all of my life, I've been told that I can come home as much as possible, whenever I see fit. Which is awesome.
I knew that I couldn't be the only one that had a very demanding work and school schedule. I'm sure I can handle it.
I hope that it's the same way in private colleges. It is 2014, though, I don't see why it shouldn't be that way.
I really needed to hear the last part. I'm the first in my family to go to college, and I think they're expecting it to be like high school for me. It was very easy even though I took AP, honors, and college classes. I'm worried that it won't be and I'll let them down. They have high hopes of me constantly making the Dean's list and as much as I want to, if I don't, I feel like I won't be able to show my face at home. I'm the first person in my entire family to go to college, so I have no insight into what it's like unless I talk to people that have actually gone to college.

No problem at all! I'm glad you found what I've said is helpful. I can relate to how you feel a little, I have many cousins, aunts, and uncles who have all gone and succeeded in college, but my parents dropped out only after a year, and my sister dropped out after only a semester. I was really undecided on whether I should go to college, I felt like it would be more valuable for me to just work after high school as money is very scarce. But I decided to try it out, and so far I've been pretty successful. It's hard to go it on my own, but I'm trying to make something of myself. My parents and everyone tell me that they're proud of me, which makes me scared to let them down or mess up or anything. But talking to my sister and other students at school, I've realized that the fact that I've even tried to go to college is reason to be proud enough. And throughout my classes, I've met many people who have failed courses, sometimes even more than once, but have persisted in achieving their goals. My friend even failed her calculus class in the spring but is going to retake it this fall. Just knowing that I'm not doomed to drop out if I fail a class takes a lot of pressure and worry off of me. I wish you a ton of luck, and congratulations! I hope you enjoy college.

[Vampiremessiah51]

Help me LI

Hey LI. I will be leaving for my first semester of college on the 21st. I'm very excited to start this new chapter of my life, but also very scared. I would like a few tips on:
-how to deal with homesickness
-dealing with a roommate that doesn't "click" (in case it does happen, which I'm hoping it won't)
-work and study ethics (I will be having two jobs while going to school)
-also, this is a little more hard for me to handle. I'm going to a school that is about 85% white, and I'm mixed with black and white. I'm a little unsure of how they'd feel about me. In your experience in college, have you seen a lot of racism occur? To add, I'm also going to a private and Catholic college.
Any other tips/stories would be appreciated immensely. Thank you so much in advance!

1. It'll get you at first but before long I'm sure you'll be fine. Just stay busy.
2. You can talk to your ra about it. If necessary rooms can be moved.
3. I don't recommend working multiple jobs while in college, but it depends on your major. I was music ed so I had 9 classes, 3 lessons, and 3 ensembles a semester which added up to 16 hour school days not including homework and practicing my instrument. I literally had professors tell me not to sleep for a week so I could get their work done. A job was impossible. Other majors are not like this though, know what you're capable of and don't push yourself.
4. From what I've seen people are generally very accepting on campuses. This probably varies by region. I technically went to a private religious college but it's been thoroughly secularized so the religion part basically amounted to a 1k a year grant for being in good standing with the church and nothing else. In general you will find people you like and people you don't like.

Take as many philosophy classes as you can. Most degrees don't require it anymore but it's valuable as hell. Anything involving logic and epistemology is worth more than every other class you'll take combined. Those classes are what will teach you how to think which is infinitely more valuable than other classes that just teach you facts, particularly true for degrees in fields that change constantly since the things you learn will quickly become dated.

[Bamboo Needles]

Help me LI

Hey LI. I will be leaving for my first semester of college on the 21st. I'm very excited to start this new chapter of my life, but also very scared. I would like a few tips on:
-how to deal with homesickness
-dealing with a roommate that doesn't "click" (in case it does happen, which I'm hoping it won't)
-work and study ethics (I will be having two jobs while going to school)
-also, this is a little more hard for me to handle. I'm going to a school that is about 85% white, and I'm mixed with black and white. I'm a little unsure of how they'd feel about me. In your experience in college, have you seen a lot of racism occur? To add, I'm also going to a private and Catholic college.
Any other tips/stories would be appreciated immensely. Thank you so much in advance!

Hello. I'm heading toward my second semester at a university and i'm still nervous but i'm always nervous.

For dealing for homesickness, although i didn't really experience much last semester i would just recommend you keep yourself busy. Make sure you complete your work and after have some fun. You can interact with other people there. Join clubs or watch shows or movies.

I didn't exactly click with the roommate i had last semester and that was okay. we respected our space and that's how we got along. although i won't lie, i wish we had gotten along a lot better than we did. Overall though as long as you two respect each other everything should turn out good. Good luck and i wish you the best!

[Naturalist]

Help me LI

Hey LI. I will be leaving for my first semester of college on the 21st. I'm very excited to start this new chapter of my life, but also very scared. I would like a few tips on:
-how to deal with homesickness
-dealing with a roommate that doesn't "click" (in case it does happen, which I'm hoping it won't)
-work and study ethics (I will be having two jobs while going to school)
-also, this is a little more hard for me to handle. I'm going to a school that is about 85% white, and I'm mixed with black and white. I'm a little unsure of how they'd feel about me. In your experience in college, have you seen a lot of racism occur? To add, I'm also going to a private and Catholic college.
Any other tips/stories would be appreciated immensely. Thank you so much in advance!

- I went to a college out of state and felt terribly homesick to the point of depression my first semester. But I had some friends that got me out of my funk and the rest of the years were alright. Just get yourself very involved. Make friends, join clubs if you have the time (that's where I made a good portion of my college friends) and if you can, maybe skype with some family or visit as often as you can. I loved going home and bringing food back. Because home cooking becomes gourmet once you're away.
- Hopefully you do become friends with your roommate. Give a good first impression and introduce yourself. If he/she is an a**, just ignore him/her. If that person is absolutely intolerable, see if you can talk to your RA about switching out.
- That'll be a tough juggle. Hopefully you gave at least some time to study and relax. Just take an hour to go to go over notes right after class. If it's a tough class, it's really up to you to organize your schedule. Try making a spreadsheet of your day in microsoft excel. See how much free time you have left after classes and work. And plan accordingly
- I went to a private agricultural college in PA that was mostly white. I"m Korean. I could count the number of asians in my school with both hands. I've never had any racism towards me, at least not from my fellow peers. The old people at the shuttle bus were a different story though.
-My tip would be to join clubs to make friends. And get good study habits early on! Oh and make sure you keep up on payments. Visit the Bursar's office as often as needed. My last tip would be to wait a week before ordering textbooks. Some books are not required and they'll tell you so. Plus, they'll let you know if you're allowed to get a later edition of the book, which is usually much cheaper.