Let's Play the College Game

We will begin from, pardon the redundancy, the beginning.

College selection is key to make future plans. If you don't know whats your child's first or second choice college then no preparations can be made in regards to academic acceptance standards, student aid, and community service requirements. all of which are important for planning. of course when your child is in seventh grade is difficult to make them chose a college, but you can do it for them. Can't you?

Well for me it was easier. In Puerto Rico there are only three universities worth considering. And for us, we are baptist, only two. since one is a Catholic university. So here the best school is State in the form of University of Puerto Rico. It really is very good,and they offer all areas of study. So it was easy, she would go to University of Puerto Rico, the campus in Mayagüez, which of course is the best, and study pre-med. She already knew she wanted to be a doctor by then.

So University of Puerto Rico:

• Enrollment costs (2009) around $10,000 a year
• Room and board - around $4,000 a year
• Student Aid - up to $20,000 a year
• Acceptance Req. - IGS 370 for pre-med
• Community Service Req. - N/A
• Acceptance Rate - 30%

So she could go there, student aid would cover must of the cost. I would only have to worry about room and board. She had a good GPA and if she managed to keep it up until high school graduation she would be accepted. She already did a lot of community service in the Girl Scouts and Church. So there was no problem in her going to State. Of course, she never makes things easy for me.

Because when she was 10, we went on an educational tour of Washington DC. During our visit we also went to visit Charlottesville, VA, to see presidents Jefferson's and Monroe's houses and couple of other places. In our visits we passed by Virginia State University, founded by Jefferson, with a beautiful campus. She loved it so much that it became her dream college. (Of course, she wanted to go to state university, just not our state university)

I didn't think about it. I just thought that she would change her mind. Four years later she hadn't changed it. She was in her freshman year of high school so I was forced to look at UVA admissions requirements (year 2007).

Virginia State University

• Enrolment costs (2009) - $31,870 a year
• Room and board - $8,220
• Student Aid (estimated) - $12,300 a year
• Acceptance Req. - GPA didn't state it
• Community Service Req. - not required
• Acceptance rate - 24%

So here we go, have to work, look for other student aid and grants. Oh here we go, can feel it, coming on, hyperventilating. Uff, what happened. One I'm sitting in front of the computer and, the next minute I'm on the floor. Oh yes $31,870 and that's for general studies, want to know how much is pre-med $62,026. There I go again I must do this things on the floor.

But it's my daughters dream school, she will work to get there and so will I. Again I promise that she will have all the opportunities she wants, experience every good thing there is. If she wants to go to Virginia State, she will. It will be hard, but not impossible, the the help of the Almighty we will make this dream happen. So I begin praying for that chance, to find a way that she can go to that prestigious university. I'm ready, know the costs, admissions requirements, just have to wait until she graduates. And there she goes again, changing everything once again.

Tomorrow I will tell you how.