Currently a Senior - Thinking too much about College.

Hmmmm.....okay I just read your post and the responses to it. I do have an idea of what you're going through, but I want to understand what's going on without giving you bad advice. Mind giving me a tl;dr version of what your situation is?

Sure Will.

tl;dr - I've just started my Senior year in SoCal and when the time comes for me to apply for college I want to apply to San Jose State University. A lot has been resolved really, but still some issues I'm stressin' about are things like chances of getting in primarily based off of my credentials (since I'll be applying in November, not March - May or whenever I would regularly do it I guess) at this point, how to avoid getting crap classes I don't need to take and they were just told to me in order to get more money out of me, how to get the classes I want as first priority as possible (which I've come down to the solution which I think is simply attend the first of any orientation or schedule organizing meeting-ish).

Some smaller issues I guess would be where to find good scholarships other than on fastweb (which is great) or cappex (which isn't the best), any programs/club/organizations at San Jose that someone may personally know about that would benefit me in a positive way (i.e. EOP, but I probably won't qualify for that.)

Sure Will.

tl;dr - I've just started my Senior year in SoCal and when the time comes for me to apply for college I want to apply to San Jose State University. A lot has been resolved really, but still some issues I'm stressin' about are things like chances of getting in primarily based off of my credentials (since I'll be applying in November, not March - May or whenever I would regularly do it I guess) at this point, how to avoid getting crap classes I don't need to take and they were just told to me in order to get more money out of me, how to get the classes I want as first priority as possible (which I've come down to the solution which I think is simply attend the first of any orientation or schedule organizing meeting-ish).

Some smaller issues I guess would be where to find good scholarships other than on fastweb (which is great) or cappex (which isn't the best), any programs/club/organizations at San Jose that someone may personally know about that would benefit me in a positive way (i.e. EOP, but I probably won't qualify for that.)

You can't skip your pre-reqs. There isn't any way around it other than AP scores or CC transfer credit, like a dual enrollment where you attend a community college part time and still are full time in high school. They suck but everyone has to do it. If you want to streamline the process, talk to your advisor when the time comes, but for the moment you need to focus on applying and actually getting accepted. Apply to SJSU and 2 or 3 other schools so you are rounded and have options just in case. I highly recommend Early Action, where you apply early and get notice of your status by Christmas or early January that way you have 5 months to make your decision and mull over financial aid and other major resources. Scholarship applications are generally available through your schools counselling office or your guidance counselor. Just apply to everything you can and put your heart and life story into the essay questions, don't just be a stereotypical kid that goes home and just wants to succeed and get out of their town. Personality and attention to detail really counts and when or if you receive those scholarships the responsible parties shoul be proud to give you the money, think about that.

Definitely apply to more than 1 school. SJSU may be where you wanna go, but there's no guarantee you'd get in. Actually...you have a high chance in getting in.

For the record, I applied to SJSU, Humboldt, CSU East Bay, and SF State. Got into all 4 (or maybe it was 3?) with a mediocre GPA of 2.79 and no passing AP Scores =_=

But your SAT probably looked suh-weet.

@Kurtle - I described the pre-reqs I'd be able to get out of (english, gov, econ.) because I've taken the AP classes and passed them (or will potentially pass them, confidence for the win) I know there's no avoiding pre-reqs, but I know horror stories of my friends being put into classes because they went to the counselor, sat down, and said "WHICH CLASSES DO I NEED! " and that teacher planted a big ol' schedule on them which they went through with and had to pay for only to realize that they didn't need to take half the classes.

Sure Will.

tl;dr - I've just started my Senior year in SoCal and when the time comes for me to apply for college I want to apply to San Jose State University. A lot has been resolved really, but still some issues I'm stressin' about are things like chances of getting in primarily based off of my credentials (since I'll be applying in November, not March - May or whenever I would regularly do it I guess) at this point, how to avoid getting crap classes I don't need to take and they were just told to me in order to get more money out of me, how to get the classes I want as first priority as possible (which I've come down to the solution which I think is simply attend the first of any orientation or schedule organizing meeting-ish).

Some smaller issues I guess would be where to find good scholarships other than on fastweb (which is great) or cappex (which isn't the best), any programs/club/organizations at San Jose that someone may personally know about that would benefit me in a positive way (i.e. EOP, but I probably won't qualify for that.)

Well.....

If you want to skip pre-resquite (GE) classes, the only way you can do so is through qualifying AP scores and/or qualifying classes taken at your local CC. Otherwise, if you didn't take those classes before college, you cannot skip the equivalent courses in college and you will have to take them. (Hence why taking them in high school will enhance your admissions profile + give you some college credits to start off).

And about scholarships: Look around the interwebz; there's a lot of scholarships out there for the taking (though do be careful about the scam ones out there). Find out early, apply early, and if they require essays or whatever, take time to do it early and make it solid.

Well.....

If you want to skip pre-resquite (GE) classes, the only way you can do so is through qualifying AP scores and/or qualifying classes taken at your local CC. Otherwise, if you didn't take those classes before college, you cannot skip the equivalent courses in college and you will have to take them. (Hence why taking them in high school will enhance your admissions profile + give you some college credits to start off).

And about scholarships: Look around the interwebz; there's a lot of scholarships out there for the taking (though do be careful about the scam ones out there). Find out early, apply early, and if they require essays or whatever, take time to do it early and make it solid.

Really appreciate the advice Will

Really appreciate the advice Will

No problem. Also, I started this thread if you need any further help: http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php...post808304

Computer Science graduate here. What's "Management Information Systems" and how is it different from Computer Science?

It's more business like. A bit less of proper programming and cool computer science concepts, and more of business related stuff.

A lot of students here do a double major with computer science and information systems. It's supposedly a good course of study for people wanting to be software engineers.

I'd pick computer science over information systems any day though. I don't even like software engineering (although I love programming), so would rather do computer science than software engineering or information systems. But that's just me