Archive for the ‘Preparing for College’ Category

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Are Only High Paying Majors Worth The Time?

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

You’ve probably heard a good deal about the wildly increasing price tag of a university or college degree.  This is not to state that there are still not great deals in education to be found, but there is no doubt that these deals are far harder to find and require much more research than in days past.

All of this has left people wondering not just how to survive college or college dorm life, but whether or not they should attend college in the first place.  Additionally, many students are also wondering if they should only attend college if they are going to major in a career with a “big pay day.”  Increasingly, people are beginning to question whether or not college makes sense for everyone.

While there is no denying that the job market is far tougher than in the past, some other facts are also undeniable.  College graduates still earn far more than those with just a high school degree.  Those who go on and get professional degrees earn even more than those who earn college degrees.  Or stated another way, college still does pay.

Yet, the world is full of people with graduate degrees working minimum wage jobs.  This is a fact of life and a reflection of the current economic situation which is, unfortunately, likely to continue for some years to come.  So what is a student considering college to do?

No matter what kind of college degree you get, you will be more employable than those without a college degree.  This is just a fact. While you might be thinking twice about a degree without a big payoff, you’re still better off with a degree of some kind.

Not all high-paying degrees are right for everyone.  After all, a job that makes you truly miserable is one that you will not do forever.  Many people don’t actually stay with the careers that they are trained to do.  The reason for this is that once they enter the workforce and enter their chosen career, they hate it.  The money looks great on paper, but they discover after they begin the job that it’s not for them.  This is definitely a factor for every student to consider and here is why.  College degrees can be expensive, and professional degrees can be doubly so.  The last thing you want is to be stuck with a massive college bill without a career path to pay for it.

So on one hand you are better off with a college degree, but you also have to consider how much your degree will allow you to earn when you graduate and how much your college debt will be.  All of this underscores how important it is to have good advice and a knowledgeable mentor or two.  Also investigating all of your options is essential.

You can find the right college for your needs and one that will help you plot out your future career.  Just remember to plan well in advance, and weigh all of the choices before making a decision.

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Posted in Career Colleges, Choosing a Major, College Classes, College Search, Preparing for College | No Comments »

5 Ways to Go Green When Packing for College

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Getting ready to go off to college is one of the most exciting rites of passage in a young person’s life. College is the beginning of your independence, when choices and actions become sole responsibility of you. To start off your college career and life of independence on a green note, consider these tips for going green when packing for college.

Chemical-Free Cleaning Supplies
Of course you will want to keep your dorm room or apartment clean. Cleaning supplies can be very expensive, and they contain chemicals that are harmful to the environment and harmful to your health. Allergies, asthma and other respiratory conditions can be made worse by the chemicals in cleaning solutions. To avoid polluting water sources and keep your surroundings sparkling clean at the same time, consider homemade cleaning supplies, which are much cheaper than and just as effective as the expensive, ready-made kind. Instead of a variety of cleaning supplies, pack a gallon of vinegar and a box of baking soda and a couple of empty spray bottles and use these recipes for making your own cleaning solutions.

All-Purpose Cleaner
Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda with 1/2 gallon of water in a spray bottle and store. Don’t worry that the vinegar will make your dwelling smell: once it dries, it’s odor-free. This cleaner is perfect for bathroom and kitchen fixtures, countertops, dining tables and virtually any other surface on which you would use a pre-made chemical cleanser.

Carpet Stain Remover
Mix equal parts vinegar and water and spray it on the spot. Allow it to sit for 5 or 10 minutes, and then scrub with a sponge or brush using warm, soapy water.

Wall Cleaner
Apply baking soda straight to a mark on the wall using a sponge. Scrub and rinse.

Deodorizer
To keep the air in your room smelling fresh and clean, mix 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with 4 tablespoons of baking soda and place in a small decorative dish on a table to absorb odors.

Dishwasher Soap
Dishwasher soaps contain phosphates, which encourage algae growth in fresh water sources and choke out the wildlife. An effective replacement for dishwasher powder is to mix equal parts of borax and baking soda. Use it as you would use any commercial product.

Warm Bedding & Clothes
To keep your heating bill in check over the winter and save energy, be sure to pack some warm lounging clothes to wear while you’re hanging out at home. A comfortable hat will keep body heat from escaping through your head, and a pair of wool socks under warm slippers will keep your feet toasty. Consider a set of high-quality thermal underwear to put on under your sweats for extra warmth, and then keep the thermostat at 68 degrees. A down comforter will keep you extra warm at night, allowing you to turn the thermostat down to 62 while you sleep. These strategies can save you 40 percent in heating costs, and a lot of natural gas to boot.

Rugs & Window Treatments
Rather than purchasing rugs and window treatments derived from oil-based materials, consider sisal, wool or cotton for your rugs, cotton for your curtains and wood for your blinds. Rugs will help keep your space warm in the winter. Open your curtains or blinds during the day to allow the sun to heat your space, then close them at night to keep the warmth in.

Take Your Bike!
Even if you have a car, be sure to take your bike to college. Campuses are generally bike-friendly, and urban college neighborhoods are usually packed with stores, shops and services that you can often more easily bike to than drive to. You’ll not only save on gas, but you’ll also combat the classic Freshman 15, a common weight gain that is widely seen during the first year of college.

Power Saver Electrical Cords
Many electronics, such as your coffee pot, computer peripherals and game consoles, continue to use electricity after you turn them off. Take a power saver cord with you and plug in your computer peripherals, such as your printer, modem, scanner and monitor into one power strip and turn it off when you’re not using your computer. Not only will you save energy, you’ll also extend the lives of your accessories.

Author Bio:  George Dennis is president of King Shade and Window, a home improvement company that carries a range of custom roller shades.

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How Do You Handle College Advice When You Don’t Agree?

Saturday, January 14th, 2012

When it comes to your college career and your career goals, more than likely there are many people wanting to give you advice and lots of it.  Quite often people will put pressure on you to follow their advice, whether its friends or family.  If they can’t recognize that their advice is useless or even downright bad, what are you do to in such a situation?  What do you do when college advice goes beyond financial aid and grants or how to find scholarships and instead dives deeper into your decision making process?

Dealing with a pushy relative who wants to give you college advice can be quite tricky.  Few of us actually state, “Hi there, find a college for me,” but the fact is that family members will try to tell you what to do and even pick out your college for you.  If you have someone trying to make this decision for you, here are a few tips for handling the situation.

Tip One-Show Why Your College Pick is Better

The first option is to prove that your college selection is better than what they have in mind.  For example, you can demonstrate that your preferred school is higher ranked in a particular program than the one your relative is suggesting.  Keep in mind that stating, “But my school is a better party school,” isn’t likely to work very well. Don’t try that one!

Tip Two-Apply to Many Different Colleges

Whatever you do, never apply to just one or two schools, as this can leave you without a school altogether.  Further, by applying to several universities and colleges, you will give yourself some wiggle room as you will be able to state, “But I did get into…”

You Can Always Ignore the Advice

Ignoring a relative’s advice on college is a lot easier if he or she is not paying for attendance.  If your parents are paying for your college and they are expecting you to attend a given school but you hate their idea, you are in a tough situation.  However, there is still hope.  After the first year, you can explain to them in more detail why the school isn’t right for you.  At that time, you can transfer to another program.

Remember that People Want to Help

You have to be the one who lives your life, and that means you need to make your own decisions about where you will go to college and what you will major in at college.  With that stated, however, try and remember that the people who are giving you advice about college only want the best for you.

In the end, take in the advice and listen carefully to the logic behind it, as this is very important.  If the logic is sound and based on facts, then it is worthwhile.  However if the college advice you receive is really just someone’s opinion then that is a different story.  Ultimately, you want to be happy with your college experience.  Finding that happiness might just mean ignoring the advice that you’ve been given.

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Don’t Overlook These 4 College Issues

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

You probably realize that a multitude of factors go into having a successful college experience.  College and college life is complex, and you will want to prepare for that complexity to the best of your ability.  This article will take a look at some of the overlooked factors relating to college.  Thinking about these factors well in advance can make a positive difference in the quality of your overall experience.

Issue #1 Surviving Dorm Life

You might feel that your worries just go on and on.  After all, you have to find the right college, pick the right major, figure out what to take to college, find a college by major, etc.  Surviving dorm life is a mixed up soup of all of these concerns and many more.

Many of the variables regarding college life are, to an extent, out of your control.  For example, picking your roommate and deciding what your floor mates will be like is usually out of your hands.  This situation is one that is largely out of your control, as you are being given new friends (and potentially enemies) who are not even your choice.

Yet, learning to deal with all kinds of people, many of which you may never have dealt with before, is a major life experience.  One good way to survive dorm life with your mind and spirit intact is to embrace this as a learning experience, and make yourself scarce when everything becomes too stressful.

Issue #2 Pet Friendly Colleges

Another overlooked factor is that of pet-friendly colleges.  If you are very attached to your pet, then you want to know that you can bring your little ball of furry happiness along for the ride.  This overlooked factor involves a little research and asking the right questions.  Just don’t wait until the last moment to find out policies at pet friendly colleges.

Issue #3 Should You Study Abroad?

Why study abroad?  This question is often asked too late in a college student’s careers.  The end result is that studying abroad turns out to simply not be on the table.  Financial and academic issues can sometimes interfere.   However, studying abroad can potentially be rather beneficial, as it affords considerable life experience and is a great way to improve your resume.  Is it worth considering?  You bet, just try and find an option for studying abroad that works for you.

Issue #4 What to Take to College?

Imagine showing up for college only to realize that you’ve left some very critical items off your list and out of your suitcase.  Feeling unprepared on this level never feels good.  However, the odds are that you will be able to replace what you forgot, with one notable exception.  If you have items of sentimental value or personal items that are not easily replaced, for example, a dental retainer, you might have a problem.  So think ahead about what items are essential and difficult to replace, and you will avoid some serious panic.

All of the points that we have discussed in this article have a common thread.  Pre-planning and organization stand as keys to making the transition from living at home during high school to living at college an easy and relatively painless one.

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Time Management at College

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

Yes, there is an easy way to make college much more difficult and lower your grades.  Poor time management is a killer, and you want to avoid it if possible.  All the time you invested in test prep tutoring, studying for the SAT, and researching financial aid for college will seem pointless if you flunk out.

Many schools like having a high flunk out rate.  You won’t hear this fact mentioned very often, but for a variety of reasons its true.  Otherwise they would enact measures to lower the rate.  In fact, a high freshman flunk out rate is often worn by a school as a badge of honor that indicates the “toughness” of their given institution.  Yet, the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of factors that go into a high flunk out rate, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that the institution is that tough.  The point is that you do need to be aware of this factor and adjust accordingly.

Using your time correctly when in college is extremely important.  If you are partying constantly and still passing your classes, then you’ve learned something valuable.  If this is the case, either you’ve picked a major that is far too easy for you or perhaps you should pick up a second major.  Perhaps you even need to think about transferring to a different college or university altogether if the classes are that easy!

Try and remember that someone is paying for your college education.  If that someone is you, well, you want to get the most out of your money, don’t you?  Keep in mind that you may be paying off your college loans for an extremely long time.

How do you make the most out of your time in college?  Believe it or not, you already have many of skills that you need to manage your time properly.  In high school you probably had to balance your time between school, homework, extracurricular activities, home responsibilities and fun.  So you already have some idea of what you should be doing in terms of time management.  Don’t forget those lessons.

Time management in college is different, however.  In part, this is due to the fact that you have less oversight than you did in high school or in other words, “you are on your own.”  Further, if you go away to school, that means that you won’t have your parents watching over your shoulder to make sure that you get your work done.

All of this freedom may feel great, and you might get pulled into all the potential fun of college dorm life.  Just remember that you do need to correctly balance your time.  Consider creating a schedule and sticking to it.  This is one way to make sure that you don’t become a flunk out statistic for someone to brag about at a cocktail party!

By organizing your time carefully and thinking through what you need to do each day you will give yourself an edge.  Managing you time is easier than it sounds, and it takes less time than you might suspect.  However, it bears repeating that most of the hard work of college is setting aside the time to do the work in the first place.

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How to Eat Healthy While at College

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Hopefully, you have already given some thought to how to eat healthy at college.  This issue is more important than it might seem for a wide variety of reasons.  At the top of the list is that dreaded and quite real, “Freshman Fifteen.”  If you were thinking that the Freshman Fifteen was some kind of myth, think again, because it is quite real.  Often being away from home for the first time goes hand in hand with poor food choices.  Let’s see how you can keep the Freshman Fifteen from becoming a problem for you.

Beware of Fast Food

The first step you should take is to make sure that you have adopted healthy food choices before you go to college.  In this way, you will know what you should be eating.  Not all food is equally good for you, and that means that there are many foods that you should avoid.  Processed food and junk food should be off your food list, but this could present a problem.

Unfortunately, it is a very sad commentary on the higher education system in general that unhealthy food choices are literally everywhere.  For example, these days, fast food restaurants, are not just near college and university campuses, but have been placed in central areas at many universities.  This change most definitely has played a role in increasing waistlines and the global obesity epidemic.

Why is it such a “big deal” that there are fast food establishments on your college campus?  For starters, it makes it very difficult for students to eat a healthy meal.  After all, if you’re not accustomed to preparing your own meals, you might be extremely tempted to “grab something,” and odds are you will use nearby options.  Fast food is also cheap as well, and you might not have a great deal of money at your disposal.  Third, if you are pressed for time, you are much more likely to take advantage of whatever options are available.

What Can You Do to Eat Healthy Food at College?

You’ve put a lot of time into test prep tutoring and thinking about how to survive college, and the last thing you want to do is ruin your health when you arrive at college.  So what should you do?  Here are a few ways to eat healthy and avoid the Freshman Fifteen.

Five Eating Healthy Tips

  1. Look for healthy options at your school, as they may exist.  Taking the time to know what they are could pay off.
  2. Don’t assume that food that “looks” healthy is indeed healthy no matter where it comes from.  This means asking for nutritional information.
  3. Prepare your own food.  This way you know what you are eating!
  4. Preferably before you go to college, know what healthy food options are out there, and learn to prepare some healthy meals of your own.  You may think that you have “better things to do,” but eating good food will help you feel better, look better, sleep better and maybe even perform better while in college.
  5. Use your food budget wisely.  This means be a smart shopper and look for deals.

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3 Ways To Improve Your Discipline and Get Great SAT Scores

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

SAT prep is a lot more complicated than simply studying X,Y and Z.  SAT Prep involves having great study habits as well.  If you are going to get a great score, then it is necessary not just to study, but to study the right way and with the right materials and study aids.  In this article, we will look at how you can improve your study habits.  Many of the steps we will cover here are very easy, but you have to stick to them.  In time, however, you will see a big difference in how much you accomplish during your study time.

1. Draw on Discipline From Other Areas

More than likely, you have more discipline at your disposal than you think.  If you play sports, know how to play an instrument or have a hobby that requires focus and determination, then you already have a degree of discipline.  Even playing video games, such as shooters and role-playing games takes focus and patience.  You can tap into that discipline when it comes to your study habits.  Now this isn’t an overnight process and it will take time, but once you’ve given it some effort, you will discover that you are making nice progress in the direction of being more disciplined with your study habits.

2. Set Aside A Designated Time to Study

Knowing that you will study specifically for the SAT at a given time every day will help you find the success you want!  You may also want to consider mapping out what sections of the SAT you wish to focus on for a given day.  Through good organization you will decrease your chances of not properly covering a particular section of the exam well enough.

Just as you set time aside to study for SAT prep, you may want to do the same for other aspects of college success.  How to survive college and get into college may have a lot to do with the process of searching for financial aid for college tuition and financial aid and grants.  Setting aside time for this part of the process is a great idea and could literally make the difference between being able to afford the college or university of your choice and not going to college at all!  Discipline in this regard is really quite important.

3. Ask for Help

Don’t be shy about asking others to assist with your discipline if you are having trouble focusing like you should.  If you have a friend that is far more focused and disciplined than you are, then see if he or she will help you stay on track.  You may want to ask family members or even teachers to stay on top of your progress.  While this might not exactly be pleasant, your main goal should be achieving a great SAT score.  After all, you don’t want to waste all of those hours you spent on test prep tutoring, and finding SAT practice tests online.

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The 5 Pros And Cons of Study Groups

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Forming a study group for the SAT has some big pros, but it also has a few cons as well.  SAT preparation can be complicated and it’s a major step in your life.  Pretending that it isn’t a big deal might be tempting, but it really isn’t in your best interest.  If you take a “whatever” attitude towards studying for the SAT, you are doing harm to your friends as well, as you may influence their study habits and behavior.

It is vitally important that you realize with total clarity that despite what anyone ever told you, you are not competing against your classmates and friends on the SAT exam.  This kind of thinking is primitive, foolish and highly misguided.  Millions of students take the SAT exam every single year!  The thought that you are competing against your friends is silly and you shouldn’t fall for it.  If someone tells you that it’s a “dog eat dog” world and that this applies to the SAT, well, they just don’t know what they are talking about.  Remember that so many students take this test that any actual competition between you and your classmates is beyond trivial.

Once you realize that there is no real, actual competition between you and your friends and classmates, the option of cooperation opens up.  Why study alone if you have friends that are better at given subjects than you are?  By cooperating with one another, it is possible to not just break down the SAT exam, but to also pull on one another’s strengths and help with one another’s weaknesses as well.

Study Group Pros

1) Learn more as you can break down the test and study materials and split them up.
2) Pull on one another’s strengths
3) Get help with your weaknesses
4) Learn to see the test and test questions in different ways
5) Pull on collective resources, such as study guides and so on.

Study Group Cons

Unfortunately there are some cons to forming a study group for the SAT.  Let’s take a look a few of these cons.

1) There will be differing levels of seriousness among your friends.
2) There is a risk that your study sessions could deviate into socializing instead of working.
3) Not everyone will pull his or her weight equally.
4) Egos may get in the way and interfere with overall progress.
5) People may not stick with the study group long enough to get the desired results and to justify the time it took to start the group in the first place.

Whether or not you should form a SAT study group depends greatly on the quality of people that you can pull into the group.  Even if you get great people in your group, you may still find that the group dynamic doesn’t work.  In the end, you have to play this one by ear and see how it develops.  However, if your SAT study group is successful, you could really benefit a great deal.

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Ten Creature Comforts to Make Your SAT Exam Day Easier

Saturday, December 24th, 2011

All that goes into the transition process from college to high school can be a little overwhelming.  If you are thinking that the process as a whole is pretty complex, well, you’re totally right, as that is definitely the case.  Yet, one important thing you should never lose track of during this process is the importance of holding onto your commonsense and applying it to as many situation as possible.

You’ve spent a great deal of time preparing for this exam and have researched many issues from direct federal student loans to why study aboard and even college student credit cards.  The purpose of most of your studying and research is to be well prepared for college and for the pivotal SAT exam.  The so-called “little things” can make a big difference in life.

Making certain that you are comfortable for your SAT exam is of vital importance.  Let’s take a look at the small steps you can take to make sure you are ready to go for test day!  Here are ten steps you can take that while help you feel better, more relaxed and more confident on your SAT exam day.

1) Wear comfortable clothing.  The day of your SAT exam is absolutely not the day to worry about how you look or flirting with people you think are cute.  This test is a very big deal.  Wearing comfortable clothing will allow you to focus on the task at hand, namely getting a great score.  This test factor is such a big deal.  If you don’t have comfortable clothing, buy some!

2) Wear comfortable shoes.  Having comfortable shoes on is so important that it deserves to be distinguished from wearing comfortable clothing.

3) Another important creature comfort is making sure you give yourself enough time to not just eat a quality meal before the exam but have time to digest it as well.  It is difficult for your brain to work effectively until your food is properly digested.

4) Make sure you have access to healthy food and snacks on exam day.

5) Make sure that you are well hydrated.

6) If you need medication of any sort, make sure you have it on hand.

7) Don’t be afraid to be a little superstitious.  If you feel that you have a lucky charm, a lucky pencil, a lucky baseball cap or a lucky whatever, now is the time!  Anything that gives you confidence and calms you down is a smart move!

8 ) Some creature comforts involving avoiding certain things that cause you stress.  In the period before your exam, avoid stress if at all possible.

9) Just as you should avoid stress before your SAT exam, you should avoid distractions.  This is one time that you might want to leave your smart phone in your bag or backpack.

10) Chauffeur me!  Driving can be stressful.  If you can get a ride to and from your exam that is a great idea too.

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Being Cautious With Your Social Networking Profile

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

The odds are that you are involved in social networking in some way or another.  There is no doubt that social networking is a revolution in communication and has a wide range of benefits.  Yet, for students looking to get into college, social networking has some issues that you need to consider.

Some colleges and universities are using the information that you post on social networking pages to determine whether or not you should attend their schools.  Now you might be tempted to think this is unfair.  However, keep this fact in mind… if you post something in a public place, well, it’s public!

There is no way you can keep a university, college or prospective employer from looking at this information.  In a perfect world, people might say, “Your facebook profile is personal, and we only care about your professional life.” But, in reality, this will not happen.  This is why you have no choice but to stop and think carefully about all the public statements that you make in public forums and social networking sites.

College admissions counseling can be a demanding field.  The admissions officers that you are working with might see like robots to you, but you need to remember that often they are worried about losing their jobs if they make a mistake.  If they admit a student who turns out to make the school look bad or cause problems, it does reflect upon them.  As a result, they have to be cautious.

Admissions officers may look at your “online life” as part of the process of determining who you are and what you are like.  This is information that was not available just a few years ago, but today it’s easy to find.  Thanks to search engines like Google, almost anyone can find such information quickly and easily.

If you know that you already have embarrassing information online, realize that you are definitely not alone.  It is important to do want you can to remove any information that may reflect badly on you.  For example, if you have a blog dedicated to how much you dislike education in all forms, you should probably get rid of that!  You get the idea.

In general, start paying closer attention to what you post online, and have a good explanation for anything silly you posted online, as you never know when you might need to explain yourself.  Finally, be proactive and work to post positive accomplishments online.  Consider starting a blog designed to promote a charity that needs your help, for example.

Just because there may be some embarrassing things about you online doesn’t mean that your dreams of getting into a great college or university are “finished.”  By investing some time in working to fix your mistakes, you can smooth over much of what you did in the past.  For most people, this process will really only take a few hours, but the results can be very positive in the long run.

You’ve likely spent a lot of time doing SAT practice tests online, looking into financial aid for college tuition and maybe even college admissions counseling.  Considering all the time you are investing, why not spend a little time thinking about your online presence?

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