myUsearch blog

Recently, the Texas Higher Education Board ended 545 programs at public universities – meaning that those graduate degrees wil no longer receive the organization’s stamp of approval for college accreditation. Many of the cuts were made to Historically Black Colleges & Universities in Texas because the universities were not graduating enough students. This situation brings to light a very important lesson to those applying for college: make sure your program is accredited! Here’s an explanation of it’s importance: (more…)

From New York to Oakland, in big city and small town alike, protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement are voicing their strong opinions against big corporate bailouts, higher taxes and greed. While their message is unclear, one cautionary tale emerges: high school students must be extremely careful with their college search to ensure they’re gainfully employed and not in a picket line after graduation. Here are some important criteria to consider during your college search.

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Finding the perfect college is a difficult task – full of anxiety and many unknowns. So many factors are involved in finding the perfect college: “Should I stay in-state or venture out?” “private or public?” “big city or college town?” All of these are extremely normal questions college applicants ask themselves, so don’t feel alone. The following are the most important factors to consider when finding the perfect college. Balance those four and you’ll land at your ideal college.

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This September, tens of thousands of college freshmen arrived at the colleges that they chose so carefully. I am willing to bet that at least a third of them are having doubts that they made the right college choice.

What should you do if you are one of them – if your college match isn’t matching up so well? Here are some suggestions . . .

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Whether you’re a high school student or someone looking to make a change in life, all you want is to find the right college. But finding the right college doesn’t happen by chance. It requires research, conversations and many small steps to make a decision. Putting together a well-organized college search game plan will make this process MUCH easier and here are four steps to make it happen:   (more…)

When it comes to making your college choice, it is inevitable that you will be influenced by many different people and factors.  Chief among those people are your parents.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  A parent’s wealth of experience may be a great resource to you as you prepare to make this significant decision about your future.  Still, many students and parents find themselves repeatedly butting heads when it comes down to making that college choice.  Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your parent’s input and avoid potential conflicts over your college choice.

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If you can answer, “yes” to this question, take heart.  You are not alone.  As the date for departure to college grows nearer, many new college freshmen begin to wonder if they made the right college choice.  As with any major change we face, there is always some anxiety about what the future will hold.  That’s perfectly normal.  You may be moving far from friends and family, so that’s bound to be a little scary.  The important thing is to try to keep things in perspective and not let your fears keep you from taking this next step. Here are a few things you can do to help ease your anxiety, while also determining whether or not there’s a good reason to question your college choice. (more…)

Students often start their college search with no idea of what to look for in a college, leaving them overwhelmed by all the choices out there.  One of the best ways to avoid this is to use family vacations as an opportunity to visit a college or two along the way.

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If you’re like most students, the answer to that question is probably “yes”.  If you’re wondering why, it’s simple – finding the right college is not always as easy as you think.  Because there are so many factors you need to consider, having a little help can be a HUGE time-saver.  A college matchmaker can help you identify and focus in on the schools that will meet your needs – and your budget.

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According to a recent article by The Princeton Review, 69% of the 200 students polled said they considered  how “green” the school was as a factor in their college choice.  So just how large of a factor should that be?  Well, before you start stressing about it, let’s try to put things in perspective.

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Every year, thousands of high school students travel the country to tour colleges, but is it really possible to find your perfect college?  Or, is this a misguided goal that sets expectations impossible to achieve?

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Now that online universities have been around for a decade or longer, employers aren’t questioning the value of an online degree as much as they once did, but some employers still have lingering doubts. The key to overcoming this, is to talk about your online education in the right way when you speak wth employers.

Here are some strategies to apply . . .

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Admissions decisions are in and the time has come to make your final college choice.  It can be a tough to decide between two equally attractive schools, but with a little more research and a visit to campus, you should have plenty of information to make a good decision by May 1st.  However some students decide to delay that decision by doing something called “double depositing”. If you are thinking of doing this, read this first! Double depositing is VERY RISKY and could cost you admission to all of your top choice schools.

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You might be starting your college search by checking out US college rankings, and there are several places to obtain these scores: U.S. News and World Report often publishes US college rankings, Internet news sites sometimes stream them to search engine landing pages like Yahoo! or MSN.com, and even RateMyProfessors.com publishes a report of colleges whose professors are rated worst among students. Nevertheless, you might be wondering if these rankings really matter.

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No matter how much you might wish it wasn’t so, if you’re like the vast majority of students heading to college, your college choice is going to cost you – and it could cost you a lot.  The question is, how much is too much?

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When you’re young, you don’t always make the best decisions. I know I certainly didn’t make the best choices. Not only am I a non-traditional student in terms of age and disability, but I also attended another university 10 years before I made another college choice to start over at another institution. If you listen to my experience and apply it to your college choice, you can avoid the trouble of having to start all over again. The key to wisdom is learning to listen and applying the knowledge and experiences of others to the big decision of making a college choice.
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So you’ve decided to go online to earn your degree and now the only thing left to do is to make your college choice. It may seem like a straightforward decision, but there are many aspects to consider before you sign up with an online school. Assuming you know what major you want to pursue and which degree you want to earn, your college choice must be based on the following factors:

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Hope this finds you well and feverishly wrapping up the application process. Let us look ahead to a brighter day when the skies are blue and cows moo happily, a day when you have not one, not two (okay maybe two), but several admissions offers to consider before making your final college choice.

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