Yes, it’s that time of year again: the big move to college. Boxes and bags are ready to be filled with your treasured belongings. But do you really need to take your stamp collection? Your scuba gear? Every pair of shoes you own? No. We will be revealing our college must haves list, but first and most importantly, let’s discuss what NOT to bring to college.
(Photo by Roo Reynolds.)
Let’s face it, being in college does not always lend itself to healthy eating habits. Late night study sessions, short breaks between classes and a million other things that eat up your time during the day can lead to missed meals and quick snacking on junk food. Add in the study breaks that often include those less than healthy dorm snacks and you can see why it’s so easy to put on the “Freshman 15″.
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Students and their parents often experience “sticker shock” when it comes to the price of college textbooks. Students can end up paying over $1000 in the course of a year if they choose to purchase all new textbooks. If you happen to take courses that have an additional lab or supply fee, that amount could be even higher. The good news is that you now have a money-saving option: you can rent your textbooks online.
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Over the last few years there have been a few alarming trends that we in the profession have noticed when working with students and their families through their college search and selection process. What are these trends? Well … Here are a few to get the conversation started.
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Most students have heard somewhere that their extracurricular activities are important when it comes to applying and getting into college. What they may not have heard are the reasons why. Consequently, some students mistakenly believe that when it comes to extracurricular activities, the more you do, the better your chances of admission to college. But that’s not really what colleges are looking for……
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Today we have a guest post by Breana Orland, a writer for Student Grants. Breana also gives advice on the pursuit of higher education and career options for young adults.
Good grades alone can’t get you into college, but a well-rounded character can. Unfortunately good grades tell a lot about someone’s character. It takes hard work and sacrifice to do well at any level in life; be it high school or while climbing the corporate ladder. The good thing, however, is that your personal character can also be revealed through many other means. Here are a few ways you can market yourself to the admissions board without a stellar GPA.
Today we have a guest post from Josef Katz from Straighterline, a company that offers a new way to complete your required college courses online with convenient and affordable online college courses that you can take on your own schedule.
“Do you really think that in 20 years, somebody is going to put on their backpack, drive a half hour to the University of Minnesota from the suburbs, haul their Keister across campus, and listen to some boring person drone on about Econ 101 or . . . is there another way to deliver the service other than a one-size-fits-all monopoly provider that says, `show up at 9:00 o’clock on Wednesday morning for Econ 101?’ Can’t I just pull that down on my iPhone of iPad whenever the heck I feel like it, from wherever I feel like? And instead of instead of paying thousands of dollars, can I pay $199 for iCollege instead of $.99 cents for iTunes?”
- Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty interviewed on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, June 10, 2010. CLICK HERE to see the interview.
The U.S. is a great place to attend college. Because there are colleges and universities of all sizes and descriptions, international and domestic students alike have a wide selection of choices which can make finding several schools that have exactly what you’re looking for a bit easier.
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Today we have a guest post from Jennifer Cohen, President and Chief Word-Nerd at Word-Nerd.com SAT Vocabulary Prep.
Summer is the ideal time to study for the SAT! Your time is your own (at least it’s a lot more your own than it is during the school year). During the summer, you should still spend a lot of your time relaxing, but a couple of hours of SAT prep each week shouldn’t be overly taxing. The keys to making the most of the summer are:
Today we have a guest post from Mary Fallon from Studentaid.com
The most confusing part of college planning is understanding your net price and out-of-pocket costs before applying. Your specific cost of college is a mystery because your eligibility for student aid, which reduces costs, usually isn’t provided until after a college accepts you and issues an aid award letter. By then, it’s too late to comfortably comparison shop to find which college will offer you the best deal. Not having a choice among affordable colleges may lead to borrowing huge amounts that will take many years to pay back after college graduation.
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As students put high school behind them and begin to look ahead to college, they can sometimes think that they’ve got it all covered. Of course, as a parent you know that there will be challenges ahead of them that they can’t quite foresee. Their transition to college will present some of those challenges pretty quickly, but there are a few things you can do to help them meet those challenges. Read the rest of this entry →
Greetings readers! It has been a scary amount of time since I last wrote. The shocking thing is our individual perception of time in relation to certain events or activities. For example, it seems very long ago that I wrote my last article. Yet, the oil spill seems so fresh and recent. As a Gulf Coast resident, I have been deeply affected and have felt a strong desire to help. I know that there have been lots of people from all over who have rushed- or wanted to rush toward- the Gulf coast in order to volunteer in some form. But what can you really do to help?
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People can be quick to tell you that there are lots of scholarships out there that go unrewarded every year. While that is true, sometimes they make it sound like all you have to do is fill out an application for these scholarships and the money is as good as yours. I wish it was that easy, but there’s more to it than that.
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Today we have a guest post from Josef Katz from Straighterline, a company that offers a new way to complete your required college courses online with convenient and affordable online college courses that you can take on your own schedule.
A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that the more you learn, the more you will earn during your working career:
• High school graduates will earn an average of $1.2 million over their careers
• College grads with bachelor’s degrees will earn $2.1 million
• People with master’s degrees will earn $2.5 million
• People with doctoral degrees will earn $3.4 million
• People with professional degrees will earn $4.4 million
Source: The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings
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A lot of people think you just have to be smart to go to college, but you also have to be courageous. You have to be brave enough to step into the unknown to try something you’ve never done before. But before you take that next courageous step, make sure it’s not a blind one. Read the rest of this entry →
With the cost of college going up every year, being prepared to apply for scholarships should be on every college bound student’s agenda. Unfortunately, most students don’t give it much thought until their senior year. By then, they are often too busy with school work and college applications to put in the extra effort it takes to submit scholarship applications that are likely to get you noticed.
Today we have a guest post from Jennifer Cohen, the President and Chief Word-Nerd at Word-Nerd.com SAT Vocabulary Prep.
If you hang around online college admission forums, this particular question seems to come up often. There’s no doubt that the SAT and other college entrance exams have become big business. Students are bombarded with advertisements constantly – I’ve even heard that sales people from prep companies lurk outside of SAT test centers to catch students coming out of the exam! The abundance of classes can make it seem like every college bound student is taking them. Students may find themselves begging their parents to shell out hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars for these classes. The good news is that motivated students can absolutely do their college entrance exam prep at home with a minimum of expense.
Because students spend a lot of time working on college application essays, it’s understandable why many choose to reuse those essays for scholarship applications. However, since the majority of scholarships ask for an essay that addresses a very focused topic, using those recycled college essays - even if they are beautifully written - could actually cause you to lose a scholarship. A thoughtful, well considered essay will get you much further.
When it comes to helping your students make a successful transition to college, and adulthood in general, one of the most important things you can help them with is learning how to handle their finances. Student who have developed good financial habits with your guidance are more likely to make smart money decisions when they are far from your watchful eyes.
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Today we have a guest post from Jennifer Cohen, the President and Chief Word-Nerd at Word-Nerd.com SAT Vocabulary Prep.
Summer is the ideal time to focus on getting ready for college entrance exams, like the SAT. You’re free from school, homework assignments and extracurriculars that demand most of your time during nine months of the year. During those three months of summer, you should still spend a lot of your time relaxing and recharging for the school year ahead, but a couple of hours of SAT prep each week shouldn’t cut into your loafing schedule too much! The keys to making the most of the summer are:
