trying a different route

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As you may be aware I was going to try and get into the local college and ran into a problem. Mainly that I have no help with knowing where to start. My mom is a highschool drop out and the admission recruit was about as useful as tits on a boar hog. He missed several calls before pretty much blowing me off in person. Made it amply clear that I am just a number. Pretty much its all online, good f**king luck. I kind of gave up at that point.

I think I am going to call the school again. But this time I am going to push to talk to someone in the special ed. department. Or what ever department is responsible for disabled students. Explain the situation and my ADHD, dyslexia, and a STRONG possibility of autism spectrum disorder. And ask if I can call someone if I have problems getting in and getting financial aid.

That is the main thing holding me back. When it comes to history and science I never even had to study. I would retain anything I read once and aced tests. But the idea of legal paperwork and how important it is to get right... That freaks me out. The very idea has my stomach in knots. I just need someone I can call, or better yet sit down with, if I run into trouble.

I think getting in touch with the special ed department is a good idea. I hope they prove to be as valuable to you as my special ed department was to me. They may be able to direct you to the right places as well. Good luck.

There is no "legal paperwork" involved in going to college, and it certainly is not important to "get it right". Stop calling, that will not only not do you any good but also cannot sign up that way anyway.

First, get a copy of the course book, and pick which courses you want to take. Then, simply walk into the admissions office, walk up to the window or desk that say "registration" or something similar if applicable, and then fill out the two one-page forms that they will give you, and h(an application form and something else). Then give them back. Once your application is processed they will notify you, and then you can log on to the college's website using the username and password that will follow some kind of standard format which the website will tell you (such as first initial and first four letters of your last name, password birthday, or something like that), and after you have logged in you can pick out the dates and times of the courses you want and pay for it right there. After that, you simply attend class.

For financial aid, you can either fill out the FAFSA online by Googling FAFSA and going to the website that is FAFSA'S website (this will use your own name & password, nor the one the college gave you), in which case they will send you something in the mail, or you can walk into the college's financial aid office and tell them this is your first time here so you need a new interview and forms. In order to "fill out the form correctly" if you are doing the FAFSA online, just answer the questions they ask you by writing what the answer to the question is.

Either before or after going online to select the days and times of your courses (and semester, if applicable), just walk into the college's disability office and tell them you are a new customer. It MIGHT also be possible to simply walk in there before doing anything else at all, however, it is likely that you may need to be registered first by registering in the registration office before they can put you into the disability office.

Note that this thing about that there is nothing that needs to be "get it right" applies to community colleges which you stated is where you are going, because full colleges require essays and things like that that do need to be "gotten right" because you have to be "accepted". However there is no "legal paperwork" involved either way, unless you are an international foreign student coming to a different country solely to go to college.

The financial aid is what's really freaking me out. Especially the idea of doing it online with no help. And from what I gather you have to be registered, which means paying the registration fee before you can even try to get financial aid. Which means if I can't get financial aid and all my papers in order I've wasted the money. Yeah, its only $30 but when you only make $7.25 an hour before taxes you don't want to waste money.

You can fill out your FAFSA with nothing more than your bank account balances, your last income tax documents, and the name and address of the school you want to attend. You can start and save the form, and then finish later, too.

I know what you mean about feeling overwhelmed. Just make a list of tasks and cross them off one by one. You will probably want to continue that habit once you start taking classes. If you stay focused and work steadily, you will definitely thank yourself around the middle of the semester.

Take the study skills course early, and take it very seriously. I did, and I use the techniques all the time. I dropped out of college twice, almost failed out of high school, too. Today, I have a 4.0 GPA at my current university, and even with all the mistakes in my past, my total cumulative GPA is above 3.5. You can do it!

The problem with that is I honestly don't know what tasks to do. Where and how to start. Maybe now that I have been forced to buy health insurance I should ask a doctor about an evaluation and try after getting a diagnosis. Not sure I will have time to get everything in order at this point anyway.

Every website will have a checklist. Not all will be perfect, but you certainly have a place to start, and the next webpage may have more information to add to your list. If you have time to make excuses like worrying about doing it perfectly, then you have time to do something productive.