SPAZ

alrighty, i've been looking at a few schools extensively lately and since my gpa is at a 3.3 (my schools honors programs tilts it, it should be somewhat higher) i'm trying to find some schools to apply to assuming i meet my goal of a 3.5 by the end of the year. still waiting on those psat results, though.

while i have another year of high school, i would prefer to have a more structured direction ahead of time so next year i can relax more and laugh at everyone flipping a shit about apps and the likes.

i had my heart set on the university of colorado at boulder, mostly because i like their architecture program (starting off as an environmental design student, getting my ba at boulder and getting my ma in denver). not to mention summit country is an hour drive and the school seems like an... exciting place (as i told the folks). but the 1900 mile journey is starting to become a realization. a really shitty one, in fact. unfortunately, i feel more tied to the northeast and while i want to get the fuck out of upstate ny i might want to stay closer than i initially wanted to.

northeastern university in boston is a stretch as far as getting accepted, but assuming i am they have a co-op program that would let me work full time for a semester each year. my friends cousin did that, and made 35k last year. thats my tuition and then some, so the temptation of having very few college loans left after i graduate is strong. but boulder would be pretty inexpensive after i become a state resident (1 year), around 18k after tuition, housing, and books.

i guess my third choice would be the university at buffalo. it's pretty cheep at the state price, and mpd's pics of the lake effect snow out there are pretty cool. but as i said, i want to leave ny. boston works because it's an hour from jiminy peak and i have some family there, so i wouldn't be totally alone.

so if anyone has anything that can convince me to go to boulder, i would appreciate it. thanks

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2011 Never Summer Revolver-R 156
2011 Flux RK30's
2010 Rome Libertines

davidj

Looks like family and the friends you already have do matter to your quality of life, so it's wise to stay "closer" to home . Maybe for your Master's or a job, you can relocate to a place that suits your lifestyle. With age and maturity, it's easier to create a new social infrastructure from scratch - elsewhere in the country, or the world for that matter. All the best with your plans .

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Equal opportunity offender.

grafta

I tend to disagree with this /\

You'll get over being away from family and friends, and being young and at college will make it heaps easier to make new friends. When you are older and in a working environment it can be really hard to meet people to hang out with.

The people you leave will mostly always be there if you want to go back.

Staying close to home will give you excuses for never leaving the safety of the familiar and you won't get to learn how to be self reliant like you do being away.

Also, relocating when you are a student will be easy. Less responsibility, a backpack and a board and you are good to go. Live it up!

Cr0_Reps_Smit

you need to be convinced to go out west? its awesome.

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tomtom88

Seriously? Your mind isn't made up already? I don't blame you, it is a pretty big decision. But Colorado is fantastic! I myself just transferred to CU Boulder this semester and I am in the ENVD program. Most of the teachers I have had this first semester have been pretty cool. The coursework is interesting and somewhat challenging. I like the program alot. The campus is wonderful and Colorado is sooo much friendlier than any other state I've been to. Way more layed back and slower pace of life too. I recommend you come visit the campus before you make your decision though.

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Take yourself to higher places.

AcroPhile

The only reason not to move here is the parking lot on I-70. On second thought, maybe you should move to Utah or Cali. Jk, lol

Sick-Pow

Being near family rocks. Going far away for school is fun too. Colorado is pretty flat....snowboarding is not the most important thing here for sure (snowfall totals).

You can always jump on a plane to get the goods.

Avoid college loans....stay nearer to home.

boardneub

If you have the money, going abroad is great really wish I could have done that but i had an engineering program a 30 minute commute from my house. Friends and family, for me atleast I can be separated without much issue. College/uni life is great, and you will no doubt make new friends. And like you said, you still have a year to figure it out.

HoboMaster

If you want to save money, get more scholarships and not have to worry about being accepted, take classes at a community college for a few semesters before you X-fer to a 4-year. I did this for 3 semesters, built up a great GPA (3.8), got a nice scholarship, and then X-fered to a 4-year. Lots of colleges also provide perks and benefits for X-fer students.

When looking at being accepted, college credits w/ good grades far outweigh highschool GPA. If you keep your grades up while at CC, you can pretty much X-fer anywhere you want without worrying. I had tons of schools sending me emails to apply, rather then the other way around.

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PowderHound and TreeNinja

SPAZ

Yeah, it seems that all of their programs are very well laid out. Their architecture program definitely caught my eye, not to mention its a school i would have fun at and i can still snowboard when i want to. I want to visit it, maybe over the summer if I can save up some money. I know a few people that want to check it out actually, so maybe going with people I know would be a good idea.
I would love to go to europe and study architecture, but programs like that only really work when you can speak a second language. I want to learn German, so if i take it in college I'll look into it more. RIT is a good school about 30 minutes from me, but as I said I want to leave NYS.
Yeah, I thought about this too. BA told me about a community college in Summit County about a year ago, if I went there I could work parttime and go to school, and have a few days a week to go snowboarding. If I am certain I want to go to Colorado and somehow get rejected or put on the waiting list or some BS, I would want to do that for a year since I would also get my state residency then reapply to Boulder and go for the state tuition.

Nice GPA, btw. I brought mine up to a 3.3, back in June it was a 2.4, basically I went to summer school and retook a couple classes and got A's and it got a nice boost.

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2011 Never Summer Revolver-R 156
2011 Flux RK30's
2010 Rome Libertines