Expert: Bruce - 4/6/2010

Question
I'm 15 years old and I'm somewhat worrying about what college I should consider being right for me. I would really like one that specializes in English courses because I would like to become an author. I also love to act and sing and so I want a college that has that too. I have good grades and I want to be able to get a full-ride scholarship. What college should I go to? How do I get a scholarship?

Answer
Hi Rachel,

You're not too young to be thinking about college, but you are too young to fret about it. So, good to start planning but don't lose sleep.

It sounds to me like you are a good candidate for a liberal arst college that will offer you the chance to study writing and literature and to get involved in music and theater. Are you aiming for a particular part of the country? I can suggest some schools if you have a region in mind.

As for getting a hefty scholarship, you can help yourself by getting very good grades and dooing well on the SAT and ACT (and do take both). If you feel like you are better in verbal areas than in math, be intentional about beefing up your math skills for those tests.

It's good for aspiring writers to have a broad content base (to write about). So, I encourage you to see if you can pick up some college credit bearing classes at your high school or a local college. Take generally transferrable stuff like Intro to Psych, College Algebra and Art History, so as to free up some space in your college curriculum for you to explore many fields.

Hope this helps.

Bruce