I really want to go to college...

[The Frog]

I would like to attend college in S. California (first choice) for film school and am looking for some advice...

I dropped out of high school but got my GED about 1 week later and got nearly a perfect score (97 % score....didn't study and was stoned on weed, too...God I'm good).

I had wanted to go to school but I was uhhhh.....*detained* and never got the chance.

I would definately need financial aid...am I correct in assuming that housing (dorms) are not provided for those on financial aid?...if this is so I would be homeless...I don't mind being homeless (been there and done it) but I'm just curious cause I don't know how long it would take me to find a job and attain residency...

I do unfortunately have a criminal record though it is nothing major...marijuana paraphanelia (pipe) conviction (5th degree misdemeanor)...The felony charge was expunged but I am worried it might still appear on a background check (no conviction though)

Putting all this info into the equation, is there any advice you guys can give to me about where to go (I'm looking for a somewhat relaxed atmosphere with an intelligent student body and just all around good intellectual people...uhhh good weed too )...things I should do to help my chances? anything?

It needs to be a place with financial aide...that is a must...cause I am quite poor (I got about 12 bucks to my name at the moment)...

Any help and advice would be great and much appreciated...thank you

 

[Pct]

Do you live in S. California? If not, maybe you should consider a school that is near home so you can commute. This way you won't have to pay for housing and food or whatever (assuming you still live with your parents). I think you I should go visit some colleges and talk to their financial aid departments. They can tell you what all your options are.

 

[###-##-####]

i dunno about california, but in virginia, you can live on campus with financial aid. also, financial aid is usually just a loan that you dont earn interest on while in school and is suppose to have lower interest than private loans...it's not free money, you do have to pay it back, and it does not cover all of the costs (mine covers less than half). you should apply for scholarships (you can get a book of them from any fin aid office and find ones that suit u, or look online) and do federal work study.

 

[solistus]

If you are a resident of California, the Cal State and UC systems are very affordable; they are highly subsidised for in-staters. UC schools are tough to get into, even if you have good test scores and whatnot; Cal State is a good bit easier to get into, a lot cheaper (last time I checked) and also high quality schools. If you're out of state, it's usually not very affordable to go to school in Cali. I got into a couple UCs, but the $17,000 out of state tuition hike was not covered by their financial aid, so it was not feasible. Look into state schools for your state (assuming you're in the US); if there are some good, harder to get into state schools you're interested in (UT in Texas, UC in Cali, etc.), you may want to look into their transfer policy. Many state schools (including both UT and UC) have programs in place to allow people going to other state schools and/or in-state community colleges to transfer in if they meet certain requirements.

Have you taken SATs/ACT? If not, I highly recommend at least the SAT I; a good score on that will make things a lot easier for you.

Financial aid is complicated, but typically it will be based on the full cost of attendance including tuition, dorm fees if applicable and a (sometimes ludicrously low) estimate on how much you will spend on books, food, etc. If you don't qualify for financial aid (that drug conviction rules out federal loans and work study money, methinks), you can still look into private student loans. There are student-oriented lenders who will defer your loan payments until after graduation and are not as picky regarding credit as a normal lender would be.

As for good weed... Just about any Cali school should be solid. I'm in a small university up in NY, and we get fantastic herb. Most schools tend to have good weed.

 

[requieminadream]

An expensive school but very easy to get into, they offer financial aid, and true HOUSING (not dorms ever) is Brooks Institute of Photography. That's where I attend college. It's an accelerated school schedule so you'll be getting a 4 year degree in 3 years. It's worth it to get ahead of the game in this industry. Classes are generally taken 2 at a time (one core and one GE) and for 8 weeks straight, then 1-2 weeks off, 8 weeks, 1-2 weeks off, and sometimes a month of for Christmas and summer break. Check it out. http://www.brooks.edu/ And yes it's in Southern California. And oh man, kick ass weed. Lemme know when you're down here and I'll welcome you to the neighborhood.

 

[The Frog]

I am not a current resident of California but will be by the start of the fall this year. A friend of mine is moving to Thousand Oaks in L.A. next week and I will be following him out there in September...maybe early October. I will be a resident...ID changed over as soon as possible.

I'm actually from all up and down the east coast. I am currently in Alabama at the moment and am preparing for a big move saving all my money...

I have not taken the SAT or ACT...but am working on it....

I looked over that link for the Brooks institute and I really like what I see...Very interested.

 

[QuestionEverything]

Financial aid and grants will probably help you out a lot, they are based on need mostly so you'll qualify for top amounts most likely. You also need to apply for tons of scholarships, you'd be surprised how many you can get. A girl at the college I'm getting ready to attend got enough scholarships to cover her full tuition (around $30,000) for the year.

The housing issue can probably be addressed with the financial aid office, they always have the heads up on cheap housing for 'non-traditional' students that can't live in dorms.

Good luck and don't give up, there are ways around every obstacle you are sure to encounter. I'm just starting back to college myself so if you need a friend to talk to pm me.

 

[fizzygirl]

It often takes a year to be fully considered a 'resident' for financial aid purposes, so you might want to check on this as soon as you get out there. However, that year's time could be spent studying for your SATs and working to save money. The legal issues could sometimes prevent you from getting federal financial aid, but there's also a time limit on that (they sort of grant forgiveness after a period) and they will also let you explain the specifics of your crime, so not all things are seen as equally bad).

As for housing, it isn't 'provided' for anyone, but paid as part of your living expenses to the school. Whether this comes from financial aid or your own pocket, everyone has to pay for it. With many schools, though, it can be cheaper or at least equally inexpensive to live off-campus with roommates.

 

[requieminadream]

I am not a current resident of California but will be by the start of the fall this year. A friend of mine is moving to Thousand Oaks in L.A. next week and I will be following him out there in September...maybe early October. I will be a resident...ID changed over as soon as possible.

I'm actually from all up and down the east coast. I am currently in Alabama at the moment and am preparing for a big move saving all my money...

I have not taken the SAT or ACT...but am working on it....

I looked over that link for the Brooks institute and I really like what I see...Very interested.

Thousand Oaks is like a 15-20 minute drive from where I'm at. Would love to meet some bluelighters that are actually attending my school! See you around!

You might think that since it's so easy to get into it's a pretty easy program. But trust me, you'll see after two or three sessions (we call them sessions instead of semesters) many people dropping like flies, and you'll see who's there to truely make movies and who just thought it was an easy stroll through college. It's a very tough program and only the truely dedicated usually make it through. You'll learn a lot and get much more hands on experience as opposed to UCLA and other popular west coast film courses, where you more often than not don't get to touch a camera will your third or fourth year of classes. Here we have true film sets (several of which were used in big budget productions like Erin Brockovich, we call it the Brock House), more film equipment than any film school on the west coast, and many other great things! ^_