As an Honors Mentorship student, I am often asked to look deeply into my dreams and future. This week, I was asked to look into my future. Not to far, just a few months, into where I would pursue the education of my field.
It was suggested that we use the BigFuture feature of College Board to find three schools that meet criteria that we think would create the perfect learning environment for us.
My major would be Accounting so, naturally, my schools would need to have an Accounting major program. The next biggest thing is keeping the costs down. To do this, I would like to live at home while I'm at school. For this to work, the colleges will have to be close to my home in Gainesville, GA. Though it wouldn't be required, it would be great if the college had multiple scholarships.
I would also like for there to be an Honors program at the college I pursue my education at. Along the same line, I would like there to be a small student to faculty ratio.
Using the above criteria, and the Big Future college search program, I found the following three colleges:
Using the above criteria, and the Big Future college search program, I found the following three colleges:
Oakwood, GA
Gainesville, GA
Dahlonega, GA
The first of my three schools is Gainesville State College. I am already dual-enrolled there and have had a wonderful experience so far. I know from personal experience that the class sizes are small and they have an Honors Program, though a small one.
Something I recently found out about Gainesville State is that they have great student activities. I have recently joined a discussion for 'The Book Thief' as part of Banned Books Week. Not only did they give a copy of the book for free, I get English credit hours for participating. WooHoo!
Sadly, Gainesville State only has an Associate's degree program for Accounting. I'm alright with because my plan all along has been to get cores done at a junior college and then transfer to a larger school to get my final degree. More recently, that 'larger' school has become Brenau University, which leads me to my next school.
My second school is Brenau University. Granted, with a student to faculty ratio of 9:1, Brenau isn't exactly larger than Gainesville Sate. I have recently come to realize that larger doesn't mean more expensive nor does smaller mean less expensive as I previously thought. Most importantly though, is that they have a Master's program in Accounting, the required degree to become a Certified Public Account (CPA).
Since I will be transferring from Gainesville State, it will be important for my credits to transfer. You must have a minimum of 30 hours to transfer, (I'll have that many at the end of my Senior year in High School) and you can have a maximum of 65, (I don't think that will be a problem).
Brenau is about as far from my home as Gainesville State keeping it a possibility to live at home while in school and, hopefully, keeping costs down for getting a degree. However, should this not work out, I have a Plan B.
Plan B and my third and final school is North Georgia College and Sate University. With a student to faculty ratio of 19:1, it is between Gainesville Sate and Brenau. It has a great Honors Program and is within driving distance from my home.
Downside, it only has a Bachelor's in Accounting.
My thing to remember is, Gainesville Sate and North Georgia are merging. So, I could get the Honors Program at North Georgia and all the student activities at Gainesville State and still transfer on to Brenau.
With all these things in mind, there is still one rather crucial thing missing. Scholarships.
My family makes just enough 'too much money' to qualify me for financial aid, leaving me to use my wits to get avoid financial ruin.
I have a short list of Scholarships I plan to apply before and while I'm in college:
The Medical Center Auxiliary Summer Teen Essay Contest
Riverbend Gun Club 2nd Amendment Rights Essay Contest
GA Power Energy Essay Contest
(Thanks go to my AP Lang teacher Mrs. Gibson for teaching me how to write an essay.)
With everything I have found and researched, I think I'm now ready to take the nest step in my educational journey.
Hopefully this assignment has 'kick started' your application process and has helped you seek out scholarship opportunities. You won't even believe this, but I TAUGHT Mrs. Gibson when she was in 5th grade. How did you do on the ACT and/or SAT? Next time I see you, lets' talk about some other options I want to present to you.
ReplyDeleteThat's kinda crazy and hilarious that you taught Mrs. Gibson. I got an 1880 on my SAT. I'd love to hear any other options you have.
ReplyDeleteI want you to check out James Madison University (I know I had mentioned this to you-and you were not too wild about going so far away from home). Here is link to their accounting department:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jmu.edu/academics/undergraduate/majors/Accounting.shtml