Comment Re:A Few Clarifications (Score 1) 348
Aside from the advice given by others about calling the financial aid office, do remember that your education is in your own hands.
That sound's snarky, but it really is true - you need to take responsibility for funding your education, which means deciding what you are willing to do. You want to work for FOSS, but are you willing to work for the spooks? How about big oil companies? Big pharma? The military? Once you know that, there are several steps. First, get the FAF/FASF forms filled out as soon as possible. They determine what the school will think you can afford. If that is substantially different from what your parents are willing to pay, you need to know that right now.
For example, if your parents are told to pay $15k a year, and they are only going to pay $10k, you need to find another $5K at least. You can probably do that - there are many loan programs, there are decent summer jobs for programming interns, and at the end of the day, there are ROTC programs. Piles and piles of debt kinda suck, but it is better than giving up on an achievable dream. On the other hand, if you walk away with $120K in debt after four years, you are going to have very limited options - forget FOSS, you will need to take the highest paying job you can find just to stay on top of the payments.
Second, be realistic about where you fit in. Take all the assessment tests you can find, and find the norms for the schools you like. You should want to be out of the top 1% - it makes it hard to learn if you are targeting a very different level of kill than your peers. That said, you might want to find a school where your combined math and verbal is around the top third or top half. You then have many people to learn from, but you will also do fairly well and should not drown.
Third, expect college to be different from high school. Colleges have many people who you can learn from. I do think the MIT education is worth it, but you can watch the lectures for free from Stanford, Berkeley, and MIT off of iTunes U. Try doing the entire MIT algorithms course, and see how it feels. Once you know whether it is pitched at your level, you can write an admissions essay that describes in real terms what excites you, what you have to offer, and why it is worth them taking a risk.
Have you considered a Google Summer of Code project? A good one is not a bad way to get some real code checked in. Other companies have their equivalent.
Scott
That sound's snarky, but it really is true - you need to take responsibility for funding your education, which means deciding what you are willing to do. You want to work for FOSS, but are you willing to work for the spooks? How about big oil companies? Big pharma? The military? Once you know that, there are several steps. First, get the FAF/FASF forms filled out as soon as possible. They determine what the school will think you can afford. If that is substantially different from what your parents are willing to pay, you need to know that right now.
For example, if your parents are told to pay $15k a year, and they are only going to pay $10k, you need to find another $5K at least. You can probably do that - there are many loan programs, there are decent summer jobs for programming interns, and at the end of the day, there are ROTC programs. Piles and piles of debt kinda suck, but it is better than giving up on an achievable dream. On the other hand, if you walk away with $120K in debt after four years, you are going to have very limited options - forget FOSS, you will need to take the highest paying job you can find just to stay on top of the payments.
Second, be realistic about where you fit in. Take all the assessment tests you can find, and find the norms for the schools you like. You should want to be out of the top 1% - it makes it hard to learn if you are targeting a very different level of kill than your peers. That said, you might want to find a school where your combined math and verbal is around the top third or top half. You then have many people to learn from, but you will also do fairly well and should not drown.
Third, expect college to be different from high school. Colleges have many people who you can learn from. I do think the MIT education is worth it, but you can watch the lectures for free from Stanford, Berkeley, and MIT off of iTunes U. Try doing the entire MIT algorithms course, and see how it feels. Once you know whether it is pitched at your level, you can write an admissions essay that describes in real terms what excites you, what you have to offer, and why it is worth them taking a risk.
Have you considered a Google Summer of Code project? A good one is not a bad way to get some real code checked in. Other companies have their equivalent.
Scott
