Best type of college for an Aspie

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So where when what and how is the best college for an Aspie?

in college you go to study, not party.
I mean why do you ask this?

the school enviroment can make the difference between getting a 4 out of 10 or 10 out of 10. Especially for an Aspie. And it's college, it's your future, so this might be one of the most important decisions of his life, to which college do you go? I wish I could tell you but I'm still in highschool atm so I don't know

Go to a small community college first then transfer to a 4-year.

Whatever school has a really good program in what you are interested in.

When I was in High School I wanted to study linguistics, architecture, or film. My parents sent me to the college that gave me a nearly-full scholarship, but didn't have those departments. I spent most of my school time doing unscholarly things, and ended up with a degree in German and Anthropology I have never been able to use.

Now I'm studying SQL because at least I can get a job with that.

I think the area the school is in makes a huge difference. I started out at Youngstown State in Ohio. You had to make an active effort not to make friends there.

Then I moved to a college in a small town in my homestate because I needed something cheaper. I found the people there weren't very friendly, but if I said anything to that lines, everyone would say "but people are so much more friendly here then they were in X hometown." Yes people were friendly there, but no where near the friendliness of YSU. There were also cliches in the small university, whereas the only cliches at YSU were students in the same majors.

And the best thing for an aspie as to why a school like YSU is much better than a small town school is there isn't the conformity you find at small universities. No one will bat an eye if you show up to class at YSU in pj's and slippers, faded work clothes, or old torn pants. All things you don't want to even consider trying at a smaller uni

Triangular Trees - what else made Youngstown State such a good school? I'd love to hear more, as that is not too far from where we live -- might be a good possibility for our son when he goes to college.

Thanks,

Kris

so people like us should go to larger universities? with lots of people.

Im going to smaller school 5k something students and it DOES seem hard to fin it and clicky sometimes. I just dont have many friends and I dont have a group.

Im not saying eve0rything would be better magically at a giant university and that Id suddenly make friends, but do you think i should transfer.

I think it depends on your strengths and weaknesses. I went to the local college and university. There was no real choice because I lived in the boonies and stayed at home. Comparing what I did and my peers did, I think I got a good deal. I went to the local community college and completed my General Ed for transfer. The tuition was cheap, though the books weren't. Then I transfered to the university (the schools had agreements so that you knew what classes to take to transfer). I did my major work and a lot of electives. My major wasn't popular (Spanish) and it wasn't a specialty there, so I couldn't take more than 2 or 3 classes in my major at a time.

My peers that went straight to university had trouble with taking the right classes at the right times. I had friends that couldn't complete school because of some neglected general ed class they forgot or dropped out of. They seemed to depend more on counselors too. I just followed the guidelines and never asked for help. They also took out large loans to attend and not work. The way I did it, I didn't have to. Then there were people who transfered from out of the region and they had to retake general ed classes.

By default the schools were relatively "small". Size of the school isn't a big deal for me. It was mostly about knowing which classes to take.

There is of course crime on campus, but I regularly left my backpack outside of the library while I went into the art museum to use the restroom (I preferred the museums restrooms). My backpack was only touched once, and it was by a woman who was discussing with a man whether they should turn into the library or public safety.

The professors I had all knew my name, but I did stand out gradewise.

There were alot of restaurants close to campus as well as decently prized places on campus. If you actually live in Ohio its a cheap school to attend. Regardless of where you live you will get some sort of scholarship, the amount you get depends on you grades.

You also get a chance to meet 3+ authors a year because of the English Festival they hold for high school students. And as I first learned from attending the festival, the students don't mind if you sit down at their table and join them for lunch (of course you'd want to buy your own lunch unless your doing something like splitting a pizza).

Also, when I went there you were guaranteed something like 64% of the cost of new book and 75% of the cost of a used book back when you sold your books to the bookstore. Considering I'm lucky to get 5% of my purchase price back now I find that a huge advantage

Also, parking services has workstudy jobs where you don't really work with people - ie ticket writer or Parking garage attendent (you sell passes and occasionally someone will yell but in general you don't see the same person for more than a minute your entire shift). Not to mention parking services does provide assistance when you are locked out of your car or your car breaks down. And they'll usually get their in about 10 minutes. I had one man that decided to use triple A instead of our services. He was still waiting for them 3 hours later when my shift ended.



In my experience the larger the school, the more accepting. but if you are unsure, maybe you could try taking a few classes during the summer at a larger school and seeing if you fit in better there. Try to schedule them for June so it will be easier to transfer starting in the fall

I really think it depends on the person, not on "Aspie Status". You go to the one that has the best program in the area in which you are interested. I've been to smaller schools and to the big factory (10,000 per graduating class) schools, and the only difference (besides being able to find a parking space on campus) was the quality of the programs. Smaller was not better - smaller was fewer options. On the other side, the huge school made it a logistical nightmare. Which I figured out how to manage, and graduated.

my husband, who's aspie, went to a small 2 year college and then transferred all of his credits ( well most of his credits) into a larger state university.............he did well at both. at the small college, he lived in the dorms. as the large university, he commuted from home.

really, you should be looking at the programs the schools have to offer. my hubby thrived at the small school because the programs were really interesting to him. ditto with the large state uni.

I attended Clarion State College in Pennsylvania.
I commuted, with my dad when he went to work.
My parents provided room and board.
So I didn't have to put up with college food, or housing.

My aspy interests at the time were computer programming and math.
I took as many classes in my major as possible, and the most tolerable required classes
outside of the major. I spent as much time as possible in the computer lab practicing.
I had friends, and socialized during the day, but generally was not on campus in the evenings.

I have been able to support myself since graduating. Most of the classes in my major where things that I use on the job.

I also met my future wife in college.

It was worth every penny.

All I have to offer is the biggest mistake I made was living in the dorms at my undergrad college, my freshman year. I didn't last an entire semester in the dorms. My roommate was a party girl who never slept and often brought her conquests to our room for a little fun (whoops, ick, sorry guys, put a sock on the door or something, will ya?), and it seemed like all the girls in my dorm wanted to pledge for sororities (which I wasn't interested in AT ALL). I was actually teased like it was junior high school by these "students"! No one but me seemed even slightly interested in books, just partying. It was AWFUL. I don't recommend it.

Otherwise, yes, go where your interests are best represented.