Paintball+College=??

[shartley]

[Dr.StockClass]

The way I've been able to afford playing throughout school is by playing stock class. Yes, with all the semis. I only use about 3-400 balls and one fill on my 3.5 ounce tank in an entire day. I save money and greatly improve my non-gun based game at the same time.

Wow, XR4. My hat off to you, your club and your school for being open minded enough to recognize paintball as a legit sport/class. A real example for the rest of the country and the all the overly conservative schools and their administration.

[sniper1rfa]

wow.

im kinda glad im only a sophmore, gotta give a little more time for these things to develop, so i can be a happy person in college.

nice phantom Dr. SC

[Dr.StockClass]

Thanks snipe, shes my baby.

[yeahthatsme]

if you want some cheap but not terrible paint check out paintballgear.com and go to the nelson paint. the hotspot is only 34 a case and i've shot some and its not bad. the fill is watery though.

[Ironmag]

Hehehe....well I started playing Paintball earlier this year and now I am a Senior at The University of Texas. I went and got myself an awesome gun recently. By no means is UT (the real one is in Texas) cheap, about $15,000 a year for me, but I was able to save up and get my E-Mag. I always had friends that played paintball but now that I got into it, it's really awesome. Just have a side job that will support your paintball habit and get scholarships, grants and loans if you have to so that you can pay for college.

[Fred]

Well...

I pay about 9k per semester... and I commute to college.

this is my 4th year.

I manage to play... maybe once, twice at the most, per term... including christmas break. I typically save up 30-40 bucks in change/singles leftover from filling my gas tank... and then go play.

i also play Pump, so I can play the whole day when I go... and still have paint left over for next time (Coolers rule!).

during the summer I work like crazy to make enough to pay for school, but this term I'm working part time because next term I plan on studying abroad in Italy... which costs 7-8 grand on top of my normal tuition....


My Advice to incoming college students:

Apply for EVERY STINKING SCHOLARSHIP AND GRANT THAT YOU CAN! Forget loans, debt sucks. take them if you absolutely have to, but otherwise stear clear of them

Credit cards are evil. Do NOT get one... especially if you play lots of paintball and have a habit of buying expensive gear...


Paintball in college is possible, it helps a lot if your school has a club or team, but you gotta have priorities...

if you don't get the education to get a good career later on... you won't be playing much paintball...

---Fred

[Sinnet]

hey fred, thanks for the words of wisdom...

at what point would you suggest I start really looking at specific grants/scholarships? (I just started my junior year)

[Dr.StockClass]

NOW! Start asap. There are many that are for seniors only so dig up as many as you can handle now and by the time you get around to writing all the essays and signing up it'll be senior year. I can't tell you how many intelligent friends I have that had the stuff to make it through school, but couldn't stay in because of money issues. Get going now to give yourself enough time to be prepared, money wise, when school rolls around.

Oh, and something my counselor said that is totally true:
Junior year grades get you into your school of choice.
Senior year grades keep you there.

And as I'm finding out at my level, grades are ALL that matter as far as graduate and professional schools go.

Work hard and play hard too. But remember that working hard is what allows you to play hard. Good Luck bro.

[demonguy8]

WHOOAAAAAAAAAAAA!

just thought I would nudge in here and leave my $.02

ILLinois state university!!!!!!!!!

a whopping $5! a semester to jion. and we have discounts on paint and all that other fun stuff...

We are actually hosting the first college tourney of the season tommarrow morning at Realms of Ruin in Custer Park Illinois... Ill post the results of it on the forums when i get back...

[zads27]

Scholarships and grants take care of most of my tuition..

I usually don't have much time to play, which has the added bonus.. by the time I do get to play, I can afford it

I have my ulitmate speedball rig (search if you wanna see it), but only play 3-4 games of speedball each time I go.. rest of the time, I play with my SC phantom. Saves paint, air $$.

What I do, is work like crazy at a job during your summer, so I have money for school in the other 3 seasons. Concentrate on your studies, then your work, then when you have extra time available, THEN go and play (or party, as college life would have it).

I sound like a public service announcement, but remember what you're in college for. To learn. Don't let that take second priority to almost anything. If it means you have to sell your paintball marker to have tuition money.. well.. would you prefer to be a paintball junkie on the street, "please sir.. could you spare some change? I need to buy balls"

Then you can get a good job, make good money.. THEN you can buy even more toys (cars[me], paintball, what have you.)

We never stop buying our toys. They just get bigger and more expensive :) Invest in your future.

[Collegeboy]

I am kind of lucky, I get my college for free, plus I get paid to go to college. But my problem is TIME. Saturdays are for football and sundays are for studying for the test and all on Monday. So until football season is over I am pretty much done with paintball.

[dcmander]

Originally posted by Fred
Credit cards are evil. Do NOT get one... especially if you play lots of paintball and have a habit of buying expensive gear...

That's why I got a debit card. This way, you have to check your account each time you want to buy something. I use internet banking and I check my checking account daily. It's a real nice method. I don't trust myself with a credit card :) I like to procrastinate.

[Fred]

Debit is my friend... but you still have to use it wisely.

I love my debit card... its so much nicer to carry that around in Detroit than cash...

---Fred

[DryIce]

i go to UMD (university of MD)and this is our first year of having an official school sponsored paintballclub... since it is an official club.. the club is not allowed to charge for you to be a member. The university is going to pay for a lot of the stuff for the students including some paint, transportation to the field and various other things... from what ive been told from the clubs leader... the only thing you really have to pay for is the rental of the gun (if you dont have one).. There are also plans for us to have a 5 man team in thenear future... but as of now all my time is being consumed by various things.. and I havent really had anytime for paintball at all