Well my friends I'm going to be going back to college!!! I'll be taking online classes, I'm aiming for a bachelors degree, or maybe even a masters...I'll just have to see how I feel after completing my bachelors if I want to go for my masters.

I've already picked my online college, and I'm hoping to start classes by May...if not sooner. I'll be getting a laptop for college...however you'll still be seeing me around...it will just be less often.

I'm really excited! And I can't wait to get the financial aid so I can get my computer, and start my classes.

I'll be doing one class at a time for 5 weeks each. I'll be largely focusing on English, and Art classes. But I might take a few other classes that will be just for fun. I'll most likely be on here in the evenings, and during my lunch brake...but not much other than that.

Any studding suggestions, laptop computer recommendations, scholarships I should look into, and all that would be greatly appreciated.

Advice, and positive thoughts/ect. would be great too. I'll need all the support I can get, just because I'm excited about going back to college...doesn't mean that it doesn't scare me a bit.

Anyhow, thanks for reading, and commenting. PM me if you want.

We can be online college buddies!

I'm just about half-way through my Bachelor program at the Art Institute. It can be scary and a half, but the greatest part about it is knowing that everyone there is there for the same reason as you, and you can get a lot of help.

When it comes to scholarships and grants: Apply for everything. Even if you don't think you qualify, as long as it's something you're headed for (so, like, don't apply for grants/scholarships directed at nursing if you're there for art), you'll be fine. The money in those doesn't seem like much, but it does add up and the pool of people usually isn't large because people think it's a lot of jumping through hoops and not worth it. It is. Take an hour or so a week and apply for every valid scholarship and grant that you can. Even if you only manage to get one, sometimes that can be 500 - 1500 off the loans you're selling your soul for.

I find that it's best to have a place away from the computer to do my work. Especially the art. A quiet study spot is best, and if you have to have a computer there, shut the internet off or make it a "study only" computer that isn't connected to the internet and has only the programs you need on it; word processing, Adobe Photoshop (though, you can have GIMP/Corel/SAI as well, but Adobe came to me for like... 20 bucks, and it was the Master Collection). Oh, and it should have a printer or something, too. Basically, the bare basics so that you aren't going, "Well, I'll just look at Sylestia for 5 minutes..."

The most annoying part for me are the critiques. In my program, I have to comment on the work of two other people in the class per assignment, and that can get really hard, especially in the beginning classes. "Oh, that's a mighty fine circle..."

But really, you'll be fine! If you start struggling, reach out to me here. I'm two years in, I still get jitters, and sometimes it's just nice to know that people have been there. :3

Hope it'll be nice! :D
I've never been to college sadly, so no good tips to give... :<
But if you want to talk about anything, I'll be happy to listen~ X3
Maybe I'll learn a few new things~ XD

That's great! Can't give any college based advice, because I'm only in 9th grade lol, But I can give you some Online Schooling Tips.
What I've found is I'll get on my Laptop to do school, will log into all the needed sites...and then log into Sylestia. XD So, My older Brother came up with the solution of Blocking all but the needed sites while I do my school work for the day, so I don't get distracted. It also helps me If I print out assignments and do them on Paper, where I can't be tempted to use the interwebby to get answers. A Printer with a Scanner(Or just a printer) Is also super helpful! And USB's. TONS of USB's. This might just be my preference, but I like to have a separate USB(And Back up USB) for each class I take.
Another thing I like to do is listen to classical/instrumental music. It helps me focus with some non-distracting noise, but if I try to listen to anything with lyrics I start to focus more on them than my work. (That might just be because I'm so used to doing school work in the middle of spit ball wars. -_-)

Never, EVER lose passwords to anything important.
Like your online account/email to your college.

/because I had a heart attack losing the one sheet of paper that had ALL the info I had for my college accounts that I applied to, orz
/found it as a bookmark in one of my textbooks, thank goodness.

That's my tip for the day, anyways.

I guess I'd agree on going for ALL THE SCHOLARSHEEPS, because it's like a "why not what do you have to lose" sort of thing (what's the worse that can happen?).
Especially since you have your eyes set for one college already.
I know that I was just so extremely unhappy with signing up for consecutive colleges, I just didn't do any scholarships because I was tired and the pressure just wasn't worth it. And sometimes those are one-time opportunities, so, yeah. (Not that you should learn from my mistakes, but again, what do you have to lose?)

As a soon-to-be-freshman in college, I'm anxious for going into the system myself.
But new experiences or taking classes that you wouldn't have unless you were in college in the first place is sometimes fun if you look at it in nice lights.

As a College student with two associated degrees already under my belt and 1 yr. left on my bachelor's before my masters, here are a few tips I've had to learn the hard way.

First off, this isn't high school. If you want passing grades you have to work for them.... like really.... really work for them. I never studied in high school passed with straight A's. College isn't even in the same kind of ball park. Teachers want you to learn material out of the book even if they didn't cover it in class. So stay on top of your studying.

Most professors will be more than willing to help if you email them or participate in online tutoring which many classes online offer. You can also go in for office hours on the campus if it is within a reasonable distance. If a professor knows you are trying, they will usually do everything they can to try and accommodate you.

GPA's matter. Big time if your trying to get into a master's program. My particular degree has a min GPA for the master's of 3.0 but the average of those they accept is a 3.6-3.7. Usually out of the applicants that apply, they only offer 16% or less entrance. Last semester, only 8% of those who applied for the masters at my school actually enrolled. Some colleges for the same master's program have an average gpa of 3.9 (I'm in communication disorders, not med school so don't think it's only for the super hard programs)

You need to get into the degree program you are interested in ASAP as the general course councilors will not really be super helpful. Once you get a councilor who specializes in your degree, life is so much easier.

For example: I enrolled at my university under my program, went in spoke with my counselor and she wrote me out my entire bachelor's degree time frame. When to take what classes and why. She also found the fastest track for me to get through my degree the most successfully.

There was a girl in my same major who was listed under non-delcaired for her major. Her councilor had her taking un-necessary courses, couldn't answer any of her questions, she was almost in tears. As soon as she went and spoke with the appropriate councilor, all those issues went away.

I make it a point to make sure I go in and talk to her before every semester to make sure I am still on track.

Before I switched my degree, I tried to map things out by myself every semester and ended up taking un-necessary classes, wasting time, and prolonging my degree.

If your starting at a 2 year college, you need to double check what the councilors there say against the degree class check sheet and if there are any discrepancies, call, or contact the university you plan to transfer to. Here is why.

Again, 2 yr colleges are not specialized in your degree. I had one councilor have me take an entire extra semester of classes that I needed when I switched my major. The problem with that: I could only transfer so many credits to the university so taking those classes meant I had to take more electives at the university, prolonging my degree a whole semester. Also, Because I switched my major, I needed mat170 which I hadn't taken. But I had taken Mat212. The community college councilor told me it wouldn't transfer and that i still had to take MAT170. She swore on it. I contacted the university and they said my mat212 would count because it was a higher level than the required mat170.

Then one more thing. I have taken many classes online since high school. I have also taken many classes in the actual classroom. People always tell me they don't believe me then they go through an online experience and tell me oh, I get what you were saying now.

Some online classes are easier than in person. And some are much more difficult. It all has to do with how the instructor structures the class. I had a calculus teacher online post homework with no book, no explanation on how to do them, no lecture, nothing. What he posted in fact had nothing to do with how to do the problem. I tired googling help, looking up youtube videos, you name it. four or five hours on one problem and still no idea how to do it. When I emailed him asking what I needed to do to or where I could go to get help, his response was "I'm not going to give you the answers". That was it. I never once asked him for answers. I had a different math teacher online whose class was so easy, I passed with an A with minimal effort.

So with that in mind, do your best to research professors before taking the class if more than one professor is teaching the course.

If your working on a major and you find yourself just fed up all the time not wanting to do it, not caring, it means your in the wrong degree. I went through it and I have friends that have gone through it. Once you get into the degree program you really and truly want, you'll more so look forward to the classes and the challenges even if they are hard because it's what you really want to do.

Good luck! :)