Archive for the ‘Preparing for College’ Category

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What If You Hate Taking Tests- Can You Overcome Your Fear?

Monday, March 5th, 2012

Yes, there is just no denying the simple fact that tests are a part of life.  We start taking tests at a young age, and they continue right through high school and most definitely on through college.  But what are you to do if you hate taking tests or, even worse, if you are afraid of taking tests?

The first step is to realize that you are not alone.  A large percentage of people feel that tests are stressful.  If you are unsure of the subject matter or have a lot riding on a test, such as the SAT, then its only natural that you are worried about the outcome.  In this article, we are going to examine what you can do to overcome your fear of not just the SAT, but all tests!

Evaluate the True Importance of a Given Test

Many people will treat every single test as though it is the end of the world, but is it really?  One of the biggest single favors you can do yourself is to just stop and ask, “How big of a deal is this test?”  Sometimes the test is a big deal and other times you can still recover your grade even if you do poorly.  Being able to distinguish between the two will help reduce your stress level, and that, in and of itself, can boost your score!

Be Prepared!

Learning how to survive college is partially a matter of learning how to be prepared.  Being prepared for an exam is more than being a great student or having a “big brain.”  A large part of being prepared for an exam is having good study habits, being organized and simply allocating the time to study.

Much of the time people hate taking exams because they are unprepared.  Avoid this horror by taking the time to prepare in advance.  It might sound simple, but it takes discipline.  Yet, the rewards are great.  Just imagine being able to avoid all of that panic!

Practice Taking Tests

By taking practice tests of any kind, you will reduce your anxiety levels regarding tests.  If you are specifically worried about the SAT, then consider taking SAT practice test online as often as possible, as this will help you learn what you don’t know and give you practice with time management issues.  Taking steps to get over the fear associated with tests means tackling that fear head on, and practice tests are a fine way to do it!

No matter how it may feel, your world will not end if you do poorly on a test.  Very, very few people are truly ruined by failing a test.  The overwhelming majority of people who have their lives severely impacted by a test do have a choice.  How you react to what happens to you in life usually has more to do with your ultimate success than the event itself.  Try and keep this point in mind as you find the right college for you and endeavor to learn how to survive college.

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Could Your Health Be Impacting Your High-School Grades?

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

If you’re currently in high school and your grades are not living up to your expectations, then you need to take steps.  The grades that you receive in high school will play a vital role in the kind of colleges that will accept your application down the road.  Even if you are entering your senior year and have not received good grades so far, there is still time to turn things around.

Being able to point to the fact that you are more serious about your academic life, even at the last moment, is better than having poor grades throughout high school.  It is important to stop and consider that your health could be impacting your performance.

Don’t Overlook Warning Signs Such as Eye Problems

First, we must start with the basics, and some of these points are easy to overlook.  For example, are you having trouble reading or seeing the blackboard in class?  Vision problems are routinely overlooked when it comes to academic performance, but issues such as dyslexic can greatly interfere with learning outcomes.  Yet, there are steps that can be taken to address this issue, and it’s never too late.

Issues, such as unexplained headaches, are another issue.  This could mean that you need eyeglasses or need your eyeglass prescription changed.  Again, this is also more common than you might suspect.  Likewise don’t ignore eyestrain and eye fatigue, as they could negatively impact your ability to study.

Sometimes Fatigue Could Be More Than Just Being Tired

If you feel mysteriously tired a lot, then you should take into consideration that often fatigue is tied to a diet that is high in processed foods, fast foods or excess consumption of starchy foods.  If your diet is horrible, your academic performance will suffer, as a poor diet causes inflammation in your body.  No one feels like studying when they are in pain!  In short, before you begin looking in detail at what you are “doing wrong” where your academic performance is concerned, you should first make sure that you address any health issues.

Your Health and the SAT

Your grades are one factor that will determine what college you will attend, but there are other factors as well, such as the SAT.  If you are lacking in energy, you will not feel up to studying for the SAT.  Of course, that will impact your test score.  Additionally, fatigue, general health issues or eye related issues could negatively impact your taking of the actual SAT exam itself.  This exam is important- be prepared in every way possible.

There are Rewards for Proper Health

Taking care of yourself will pay rewards.  Getting enough sleep, eating the right kind of food, getting at least a moderate amount of exercise and keeping track of your own health is a step towards the future you want.  Being healthy means feeling better, and that means getting more of what you want out of life… such as going to one of your top college picks.

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6 Ways to Improve Your Letters of Recommendation

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

The constant discussion of grades and SAT scores and how they relates to getting into college may leave many students feeling as though letters of recommendation are an afterthought.  Yet, this isn’t exactly the case, as recommendations can, in fact, be tremendously important.  Good letters of recommendation, or even one glowing letter of recommendation, can be enough to push you past someone else and earn you a place in a university or college of your choice.  So before you spend too much time trying to determine what to take to college or how to find a college roommate, first focus on the basics.  One of these basics is getting the best letters of recommendation possible!

You want your teachers to be impressed and write great letters of recommendation for you, but there is a catch.  If you’ve spent all of your time in their class and never impressed them in any way, then you will have a tough time getting a glowing recommendation.  They may not even know your name!

The sooner you can begin impressing teachers, the better off you may be.  Sure, spending your time impressing teachers may not make you extremely popular in many schools, but you need to ask yourself, do I really care?  Your present is in high school, but your future is in college.

Here are some ways to impress teachers so that you stand out when it comes time for a letter of recommendation.

1) Do more work that is required of you.  Teachers truly notice it when you do extra work beyond what they assign you.  A good place to put this strategy into action is on a paper or other similar project.

2) Have extracurricular activities and make sure that your teacher knows about those activities.

3) Ask your teachers for their advice on college, the college application process and related issues.  If you can do this a year or more before it’s time to start applying for college, you can be sure that they will realize you are serious about college.  They will remember this when it comes time to write you a glowing letter of recommendation.

4) Get good grades.  Of course, nothing impresses like getting an “A” in a teacher’s class.  More than anything else that you do, they will remember giving you that coveted A.

5) Be on the lookout.  You should always be on the lookout for ways that you can demonstrate to a teacher that you are bright and eager.  This does not mean that you should try and answer every question asked in class.  But being proactive, alert and consistently prepared for class is something that most teachers notice.

6) Ask your teachers how you can improve your performance or what weak points you may have in a given subject.  Don’t be afraid to let them know that you are preparing for college.  Once again, letting your teachers know that you are thinking about college, preferably well before its time to send in applications, will impress them.

In the end, there is no “magic solution” that will help you get an amazing recommendation.  This article isn’t a guide to a guaranteed great letter of recommendation.  Instead our intent is to give you some pointers designed to increase your chances of landing that great letter.  Remember, with some effort and patience, you will likely have success.

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Getting the Acceptance Letter You’ve Always Wanted

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Determining how to get that acceptance letter in the mail isn’t the easiest task in the world, but it isn’t impossible either.  With dedication, hard work and planning, you can likely get into one of your college or university choices, especially if you throw a wide enough net.  The college admissions process can be tricky, and this is one of the reasons there is college counseling services, college admissions assistance and test prep tutoring.  There are also many good resources that you can turn to that will help guide you towards a better understanding of the college admissions process.  In this article, we will look at a couple of the books you may wish to consider.

Pick One-College Admissions: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step by Robin Mamlet

College guidebooks fall into many different categories, but the best usually pull on the expertise of people who have worked in the field and understand how the process works.  It isn’t fair to say that these books give “inside information,” as they usually don’t, but they do give as sizable amount of information on issues that you might glance over or ignore when considering schools.

This book is all about “picking the brains” of admissions officers.  Most students and parents probably feel as though the entire college admissions process is confusing and a little esoteric.  College Admissions: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step by Robin Mamlet does a solid job in demystifying the process.

Unlike many books, the nature of the advice in College Admissions is of such a comprehensive fashion that parents might want to consider reading this one early in their child’s high school career.  There are many tips that can only be used if plotted out years in advance.  If you are a planner and want to get into a great school, you should read this one.

Pick Two-How to Write Your College Application Essay by Kenneth Nourse

How to Write Your College Application Essay by Kenneth Nourse is a good book, but (and yes there is a but), it is very boring, perhaps distractingly so.  Yet, with that stated, author Kenneth Nourse knows his “stuff” and does a great job instructing students in the ins and outs of writing a good college application essay.  Here is the one drawback to choosing this book over other options; How to Write Your College Application Essay doesn’t really adequately cover how to make your essay shine above the rest.  It will be up to you to determine how to make yourself stand out to admissions officers when they are reading different admissions essays.

One of the best tricks for helping you stand out to a college admissions officer is to be memorable in a good way.  This means investing the time to think about how you are distinctive and why you are likely to be a good, or even great, graduate down the road.  If you have big plans, then consider sharing some of those plans in your admissions letter.  More importantly, outline some of the steps that you have taken or will be taking to make those dreams and goals into reality.  Being able to show and point to how you are goal oriented, driven and organized may achieve the goal of assisting you to stand out from the crowd.

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Looking at Your College Picks from a Different Perspective

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

A great deal of work can go into deciding what kind of college or university you should select.  This is an area where people feel completely comfortable giving you advice… and a lot of it!  If you treat the process of selecting a college or university seriously, the odds are good that you will make the right decision.  With that stated, however, you also want to take in information from many sources and consider a variety of options.  Let’s take a look at two books that might change your perspective on the kind of college or university that is a good pick for you.  If you think that the only way to select a college is to find a college by major or select a college based on college dorm life, these books may just change your mind.

Cool Colleges by Donald Asher

Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming and Just Plain Different by Donald Asher isn’t aiming to please everyone and be for everyone.  The title makes this just about as clear as it could be.  If you are thinking that the “cool” colleges in this book can’t actually be that “cool”- then think again.

Author Donald Asher has hit a real home run.  The colleges that he discusses in this book are indeed quite, quite cool.  What is particularly impressive is the diversity of the colleges covered.  Everything from schools that don’t give grades to totally free schools to same sex schools are covered.

If you are a student that is looking for a different type of college experience, you really do need to pick up this book.  Viewed from this perspective, Cool Colleges is highly recommended.  Parents of students who are uninterested in college and talking about “not bothering” could benefit tremendously from reading this one!

Here is what makes Cool Colleges highly unique; it is an interesting read even for those who have no interest in attending college.  This book has the very rare distinction of being a good read for those without any stake in getting into college.  You might not think its a page turner, but there are just too many quirky and interesting facts in it to not find Cool Colleges at least slightly entertaining.

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges by Loren Pope

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges by Loren Pope is thought provoking.  After reading this book, you might feel less motivated to attend certain expensive schools and turn more in favor of other options.  If you think that feeling this way is impossible, wait until you’ve finished this book.

There is no doubt that author Pope is very serious regarding her mission to change the way that people see higher education.  Now, if you are obsessed with going to a big name school so that you have all the prestige that comes with the “name,” well, you should probably avoid reading this book, as it might depress you a little.  However, for everyone else, this is an interesting read.  In fact, everyone who wants to get the most out of their educational experience will like reading this book.

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Books on How to Survive College and Show Up Prepared

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

If you are worried about college life and college dorm life, don’t worry, as so is everyone else.  This even includes the people that are sure they are flawless and perfect in every conceivable way!  After all, determining how to survive college is about more than just college dorm life, or figuring out how to find a college roommate or the best ways to eat healthy at college.  Let’s take a look at a couple of books that can help you be better prepared for college.

Getting Ready for College: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go from Bike Locks to Laundry Baskets, Financial Aid to Health Care by Polly Bernet

The title alone is enough to make you tired.  Getting Ready for College is a useful book that turns out to deviates less into being like a grocery list of things to bring to college than one might initially think.  This book makes for a nice secondary guide to college life.  In general, you will want to check this one out after you have read some of the denser, meatier books on how to get into college and college life, such as Crazy U and Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer.

However, once you know what college you will be attending, this is a nice book to sit down with on a Saturday afternoon and flip through.  It is an easy and light read but is packed with good information.  However, reading this book a year or two before you get into college doesn’t make much sense, as you will forget many of the basic, but very useful, tips that it contains. While the term “financial aid” is in the title, don’t rely on it too much as there are much better books on this topic. But it is virtually guaranteed that there will be some tips in Getting Ready for College that you would have missed without reading it.

90-Minute College Major Matcher: Choose Your Best Major for a College Career by Shatkin

My, my- if college isn’t expensive these days.  This fact has many ramifications.  One of the most significant ramifications is that you want to get the most you can for every dollar that you spend.  This means that you want to pick the college that is right for you.  90-Minute College Major Matcher: Choose Your Best Major for a College Career by Shatkin is a book that wants to help you and fast.  It is important to state that you should certainly feel free to spend more than 90 minutes on choosing your career.  In general, this is a helpful tool to use for thinking about your future.  While this book does have something to offer, it should not be the only tool that you use in selecting your career or major.

Keep in mind that the more you prepare for college and think about a variety of college related issues, the better off you will be.  No one can prepare you for college if you, yourself, are not invested in the process.

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Saving Money on Your College Books and Supplies

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

You’ve probably spent a good deal of time worrying about everything from how to survive college to how to find a college roommate.  It is easy to lose sight of money related issues.  No one has to tell you that college is expensive, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find ways to make college a little less painful on the pocketbook.  This topic is more important than many people might believe.  Every cent you spend at college really adds up.  Let’s face it; the price of college textbooks alone can be nothing less than extremely comical!

In this article, we will look at some of the ways you can keep your college book fees as low as possible.  It should be stated that no matter how hard you try, there will be times that you will have no choice but to give in and buy your textbooks from your college bookstore.  However, most of the time, you will be able to find an alternative path and save money in the process!

Consider downloading your books from an online digital bookstore.  There are many companies that specialize in selling not just books online, but also online textbooks.  Often you can save a great deal of money in this fashion.  Additionally, e-readers have become increasingly inexpensive and lightweight, and that means you might not even have to use your laptop.  Many people find that e-readers can also be a little easier on the eyes as well.

Used bookstores are your friend!  Go off campus and look online for used books, as paying full price your textbooks increasingly makes less and less sense.  Sure someone has to pay full price, but that doesn’t mean it has to be you (or at least not all the time).

Of course, finding your books either online or at a used book store will take a little planning, and that means not waiting until the last second.  While you might have to put in more effort by working to find your textbooks in this fashion, the upside is that you can not only save hundreds of dollars, but literally thousands over the course of a four-year degree!

Other supplies can be found cheaper online and in other stores too.  Simple, but very necessary supplies such as pens, markers, notebooks and a range of specialty supplies are marked up in a dramatic fashion in the college bookstores.  Again, these small saving steps can really add up.

You likely spent a good deal of your time researching financial aid and grants, private loans for college and even college saving programs.  But that doesn’t mean that the “financial side” of college is over and done with in the least.  You owe it to yourself to reduce your amount of student debt if possible.  Remember that there are people only slightly older than you are now suffering tremendously with student loan burdens that they can’t repay.  Many of these students were very bright and even received what was deemed the “right” degree at the time.  Stay sharp and think through all of your college related decisions, financial and otherwise.

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Should You Use Test Preparation Books?

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

When it comes to preparing for college, you want to make sure that you’ve done all that you can.  This means exploring many different avenues when it comes to SAT prep.

You’ve likely spent a good deal of time researching colleges, looking into how to find scholarships and pre college summer programs, and you’ve also likely given a good deal of thought to preparing for the SAT.  At the top of the list of ways to prepare for this test are SAT preparation books.  However, where SAT test preparation books are concerned, it important that you take a few factors into consideration.

The first factor that you should take into consideration is that there are a lot, a whole lot, of SAT test preparation books.  As a result, many people are overwhelmed and just throw in the towel when it comes to SAT prep books.  Others simply find the big names in test preparation and pick one of their books.

When it comes to using preparing for the SAT, you want the best tools possible.  It should be no big surprise that some are better than others.  One fact about SAT prep books that you don’t hear very often is that some of them, including one’s published by big names in the field, are poor or even awful.  There are some books that really won’t help you including an SAT test preparation book that is really boring or doesn’t explain the answers so you can improve.  Worst of all, some SAT prep books even have errors in them!  Obviously, this is the last thing you want!

Finding a good SAT test preparation book is an exercise in first patience and second research.  Look at what SAT test prep books are available online.  You should read reviews from others who have used the book and then taken the test.  Also keep a sharp eye out for books that are full of errors or that people just don’t like.  If one person states that a book is horrible that might not mean much, but if dozens of people are saying that a book is awful, then that is something you should listen to and strongly take into consideration.

How you like to study is another factor where SAT test preparation books are concerned.  Your style of studying and what you feel comfortable with needs to be factored into the equation.  Simply grabbing the book that everyone likes may not work for you, as this book might not mesh with your learning style or it may fail to focus on your weak points sufficiently.

In the end, it makes sense to invest some time and find a book or books that work for you personally.  Don’t be afraid to use many different books until you find ones that help you build your score on practice tests.  (And you should be taking practice tests!)  While it is true that everything is online, this is one time that a trip to your local library might be a good idea, as they may have a few SAT books that you can look at and compare.  This step will save you time, effort and money.

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Should You Stay on Campus or Rent an Apartment?

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

You’ve probably given at least a little time to thinking about how to survive college, and if you haven’t, you should start doing so.  One of the major decisions that you will need to make regarding college is whether or not you will stay in on campus or rent an apartment nearby.  A lot goes into this decision.  In this article, we will look at some of the pros and cons of each path.

Staying on campus means that you get the full college dorm life experience with all of its ups and downs and pros and cons.   There are many good aspects regarding opting for dorm life, as you will be able to meet a lot of new friends, pseudo-friends, future enemies and acquaintances more readily than you would living in an apartment off campus.  No doubt, adjusting to living in a new city or state can be a little bit easier if you are constantly surrounded by people that you might have something in common with, or at least in theory.

Yet, college dorm life can have a lot of downsides.  One major downside is that it can be difficult to focus on your studies.  Now if you are going to college to mostly appease your parents, and have opted for what you feel will be a pretty “easy” major, then college dorm life could very well be the way to go.  This is even truer if you are mostly concerned with having a good time and partying.  However, if you are considering a difficult major or want plenty of time to study, then you will want to reconsider living in a dorm.

Students who want to be able to study in peace may not find that living in a dorm is the best place to do this.  No matter how studious you may, be there is no way to ensure that your dorm mates or floor mates will share your perspective on the value of peace and quite.  The fact that people will surround you who have different majors and different course loads, means that they will have different study habits too.  No matter what your perspective, this is a good point to keep in mind as it could influence your success level in college.

Renting an apartment gives your more control over your environment, and you may also enjoy more creature comforts.  On the downside, you won’t enjoy the instant access to the campus and instant access to classmates.

Opting for an apartment doesn’t necessarily mean the end of your social life.  In fact, depending on your personality, having an apartment of your own may actually help your social life.  After all, college students love trashing other people’s places during parties!

If you do choose an apartment, you may have to find a college roommate and that can be a tricky proposition (but so is potentially getting “stuck” with a dorm roommate that you hate!)  The bottom line is that there are pros and cons to both of these options.  Ultimately, you need to think long and hard about what kind of person you are, how easily you make friends and what you want out of the college experience.

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Two Books With Great Titles About Transitioning From High School to College

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

If you’ve ever been tempted to ask tell someone “Find a college for me, so I don’t have to think about it!” you are not alone.  Millions of high-school student apply to college every year, and the process can be bewildering.  Whether its worrying about finding the best SAT practice test online, how to find scholarships or just how to survive college, transitioning from high-school to college can at times be daunting.  Yet, with a little bit of research, you can take some of the sting out of this process.  Let’s take a look at a couple of books that can help make the process of going from high-school to college a bit easier.

Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College by Andrew Ferguson

Crazy U was a very clever title.  This title immediately makes you think that this book is going to be all about the crazy fun that people have while at college.  Well, that isn’t exactly what this book is all about.  On the contrary, Crazy U is all about a dad working to get his kid into college.  Here is why this is a good book and a worthwhile investment; author Andrew Ferguson does a good job of reminding parents how intense, stressful and, to be blunt, ridiculous the entire transition from high school to college actually is in the modern academic system.  Having a book that takes you by the hand and helps you through this highly irritating and frustrating process is worth the asking price and the time invested in reading it.

Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer: How to Survive the College Admissions Process Without Losing Your Mind by Risa Lewak

Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer: How to Survive the College Admissions Process Without Losing Your Mind by Risa Lewak is a good book and it also has a very amusing title.  However, this offering it doesn’t measure up in terms of information or value to Crazy U by Andrew Ferguson.  Both are good books, but Crazy U is better.  Now with that stated, that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t benefit from reading both.

Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer does a very good job of attempting to dissect the college admissions process.  It should also be stated that this book is more geared towards than Crazy U as well.  Lewak understands the process of getting into college as she was involved in the process “from the other side.”  As a result, she has a wealth of insight and tips in the process.

Overall, there are an abundance of insightful tips and you will definitely feel as though you have a better handle on what to do and expect where applying for college is concerned.  Parents and students looking to understand the process better will like that this book is easy to read, clearly laid out and gives many straightforward answer instead of stating repeatedly, “it depend,” which is so common in books in this genre.

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