Posts Tagged ‘Choosing a College’

« Older Entries

Is A College Fair Worth Your Time?

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

There are plenty of college fairs to choose from, but the real question is whether or not you should bother attending.  There are a few pros and cons involved in attending a college fair that we will explore in this article.

You’ve taken SAT practice tests online; you’ve done your test prep tutoring sessions and maybe even investigated at length how to find scholarships and private loans for college. If you haven’t yet even thought about going to a college fair, now is definitely the time to do so!

College fairs present a few advantages.  One advantage is that college fairs allow you to meet representatives from a range of institutions.  It is important that you keep in mind that colleges are big business, and there is more than a little competition.  As a result, you should expect that college and university representatives are most definitely putting their best foot forward.

Since you are able to meet with people from different universities and colleges, you have an opportunity to learn much.  A good deal of the information that these college and university representatives will give you will come in the form of what they choose to emphasize.  For example, are you hearing a good deal about how well respected the institution is?  Or are you hearing about how much fun and what great facilities they have built?

A college fair is a unique opportunity to ask questions and at the top of your list should be, “How do you help your graduates get jobs after they graduate?” and “What is your success rate for placing students who come to you seeking help?”  The odds are excellent that you won’t get a lot of detail in the answers.  Instead you might get an earful about how great the new workout center or stadium is!

While the answers may vary, these are the kind of factors that you will want to keep in mind.  After all, you want to know that a given university or college will support you once you have given them tens of thousands of dollars as student.  Support should be seen as a key part of a university or college’s commitment to its students.  Failure to show this support or to have their representatives well prepped on the question will tell you a great deal.

College fairs in a variety of ways allow you to get some insight into what a college or university will be like.  What representatives choose to emphasize gives you insight into the “soul” of a given institution.  Further, if your questions seem to stump representatives that is also a quite insightful.  After all, shouldn’t a university or college want to impress you?  Shouldn’t they want their representatives to be knowledgeable and informed?

So much information regarding colleges is available online and in books.  Thus the real, tangible value of attending a college fair is to gain insight into the culture of the institution itself.  What kind of representatives did they send out?  Did they send out knowledgeable representatives ready to answer your questions or “cute” and “attractive” eye-candy ready to give you a speech on how fun, fun, fun a university or college is to attend?

If a institution isn’t focused on showing you how your considerable investment will help you with your career and future, move on.  Keep in mind that virtually every university and college has a “party scene” if that is what you are looking for from the college experience.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Career Colleges, Choosing a College, Choosing a Major, College Applications, College Search | No Comments »

What the Experts Have to Tell You About Selecting a College

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Selecting the perfect college can be complicated.  The sooner you begin researching and thinking about you college decision, the better off you will likely be.  You may have read books on everything from financial aid for college tuition and private loans for college to test prep tutoring and college dorm life, but at the top of your college reading materials should be the guides that give you a better idea about what college is right for you.  Remember, however, that your time is limited, and that means finding the best books are key.  Let’s take a look at couple of available options and see how they stack up!

Students’ Guide to College: The Definitive Guide to America’s Top 100 Schools Written by the Real Experts, the Students Who Attended Them by Jordan Goldman and Colleen Buyers

Isn’t a book like this one outdated almost as soon as it is published?  Secondly, it is also important to note that these rankings are very arbitrary and a bit more ridiculous than it might seem at first glance.  After all, who are the people that really make the decision as to what are the “top schools” or the “top” anything.  You can see the problem.

Another issue with Students’ Guide to College: The Definitive Guide to America’s Top 100 Schools Written by the Real Experts, the Students Who Attended Them is that it by its very nature, it ignores career paths.  A given school may not be ranked in the top 100 per se, but it may have a great department that is ranked near the top and is respected in its field.  This does matter, especially if you are a student or the parent of a student that isn’t likely to get into a top school.  Or perhaps you just can’t afford to pay the ridiculous prices that many top schools are now requesting.

It would be easy to dismiss this book outright, but that would be a mistake.  Despite its flaws, it does have something to offer prospective college students.  There are lots of college guides on the market, and while this doesn’t go straight to the top of the list it is, nonetheless, a worthy entry, especially for those who dream of attending a top-ranked school.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to College Survival by Laurie Rozakis

Try and ignore the fact that a “complete idiot” should probably not bother with college and just go along with the Complete Idiot’s Guide on this one.  This isn’t a bad book; however, it lacks the punch and weight of many other college guidebooks.  The competition in this area is just too intense for this book to come out on top.  When contrasted against its competitors, it seems pretty average and perfunctory at best.  The Complete Idiot’s Guide to College Survival by Laurie Rozakis does cover some territory that other books might ignore, but it’s just not enough.  Further, many readers will likely feel as though the book is just a bit to fluffy to be highly effective.

Ultimately, there are many “guidebooks” on this topic, and one has to be careful as to how much weight to put into any of them.  The real point of this article isn’t that one guidebook is better than another, but that you shouldn’t treat any of these kind of books as a de facto bible designed to tell you which college or university that you should select.

Finding the right college or university for you is based on a variety of factors and you as a person.  In the end, you might have to use guidebooks like the two we examined here just to cover the basics, as your personal situation will obviously be more complex than what can be put in a guidebook.  Remembering this factor will increase the chances of getting into a college or university where you will be happy and this will, in turn, increase your chances of success.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, Choosing a Major, College Life, College Search, Fun Stuff | No Comments »

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.

Tags: , ,
Posted in College Admissions, College Life, Preparing for College | No Comments »

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.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, Choosing a Major, College Search, Preparing for College | No Comments »

Learn How to Survive College, It Can Be Done!

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Are you worried about surviving college?  You shouldn’t lose sleep feeling that you are somehow unusual for feeling this way.  Most people are worried about making the transition to college, especially if they are going away to school.  No matter what your relationship is with your family or what you think your relationship may be, the fact is that you know what to expect from your home life.  College, on the other hand, marks the transition into the unknown.

You can learn how to survive college, and the first step in the process is to realize that your college life experience will be different from high school.  This is true whether you go away to school or continue to live at home.

Your first survival tip is to realize that you are on your own. This means that no one will force you to study.  Many colleges and universities, particularly state schools, have high flunk out rates.  Now you can’t exactly learn how to survive college if you flunk out, can you?

Getting good grades is, of course, all about studying, but it is also about realizing that as a freshman in college you have to show that you have the discipline to get your work done on your own.  In short, one of the single biggest hurdles for learning how to survive college is to realize that you have to study and that it is up to you to make sure that it happens.

Surviving College Dorm Life

College dorm life can be complicated as well.  You should be open and ready to make new friends.  Yet, you have to realize that there is nothing magical about your college dorm life.  Regardless of what you’ve seen in the media, college dorm life is just like the real world.  There are good people, bad people, indifferent people and everything in between.  This means that the same logic and caution that you’ve used in the real world to date still applies in college.

You shouldn’t show up to college and think, “Wow, I am in college now I can trust everyone.”  That is a recipe for disaster.  You might get lucky, but you will be tempting fate.  A big part of learning how to survive college is keeping your brain turned on and making good decisions.  It is possible to still have a great time!

Financial Aid for College Tuition

Worrying about grades may seem like a full-time job, but you may also have no choice but to worry about other things.  One of the factors that you shouldn’t lose sight of is financial aid for college tuition.  If you can’t pay for college, then you certainly won’t be “surviving” college, as you won’t be there.  This means that you will have to keep an eye on tuition related issues.  College tuition is going up, and it is going up very rapidly.  A good part of surviving college is finding a way to keep your student loans under control so that you are not repaying these loans when you are 75 years old.

Tags: , ,
Posted in College Life, College Search, Paying for College | No Comments »

Finding A Mentor

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

You may have never considered finding a mentor, but it can be a very worthwhile and valuable experience.  All of the issues that you are currently worried about regarding trying to find the right college can be brought into greater clarity if you can find the right individual to assist you.  But how does one go about finding a mentor to help with college?

If you are successful in finding a good mentor, you will be able to gain the assistance of someone that can help you even beyond how to survive college.  A great mentor will be able to help you with your career as well.  The first step in finding this resource is to take a mental inventory of the accomplished people that you know.

You might discover that you already know someone that is accomplished and that you think would be a solid mentor.  The main thing that you want to look for is someone whose opinion you respect that you believe will give you advice you can trust.

Since we are specifically discussing how to get into college, it is best that you find a mentor that has personally gone through this process.  After all, you want good advice specifically on how to survive college, financial aid and grants, how to find scholarships and other college related topics.

As you take inventory of the people that you know or have access to, consider if there is one or two people that stand out.  In fact, it may be possible to have several people mentor you in different ways.  This is more common than you might think, as it is a very practical approach and option.

If you are having trouble finding a mentor, reach out to friends and family.  For example, you might have a friend who has a parent that is a doctor, college professor, or who has an MBA or a range of other valuable academic experience.  This presents an opportunity to get some experienced advice. Since you want to find the right college, experienced advice is a must.

Ultimately, there are lots of options for finding a mentor.  In addition to asking your friends and relatives if they know someone, you can always ask your teachers and school facility.  Two great people to talk to are your school principal and vice principal.  They will appreciate your enthusiasm. Most likely, they have also attended graduate school.  The odds are that they may know someone (perhaps a retired associate) that would be willing to mentor you.  You never know what might happen if you find a mentor that is a retired school superintendent or principal with thirty-five years of experience!

Quite often people will surprise you in their willingness to help.  Remember that your own preconceived ideas about what is and is not possible may influence your outcomes.  If you believe that finding a mentor that will help you through the process of getting into college is impossible, then you are making your search harder.  Be optimistic!  People generally appreciate it when young people show initiative and indicate that they are taking something seriously, especially anything education related.  You can use this fact to your advantage.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, Choosing a Major, Personal Statement | No Comments »

8 Reasons to Consider Out-of-State Colleges and Universities

Saturday, December 31st, 2011

While parents may prefer that their High School graduate consider in-state colleges and universities, it is not unusual for students to push for an out-of-state experience. High-schoolers considering colleges often find out-of-state options alluring, to be able to spread their wings, especially if their college of choice holds the lure of prestige. Before restricting your sights on in-state schools, consider these possible benefits of an out-of-state college experience.

Specialized Programs
An out-of-state school may be a good thing to consider if the school specializes in a degree program not offered at a college near home. Some degrees – for example Zoology, Nuclear Physics, Veterinary Medicine, Contemporary Music, Nutritional Science, or Women’s Studies – are less commonly offered across the board.

Lower Tuition Costs
The cost for attending some out-of-state colleges may actually be less than an in-state college. For example, a California resident attending the University of California at Santa Barbara costs around $30,000. That same student may attend the University of Arkansas for around $26,000, Purdue University in Indiana for around $28,000, or the University of Kansas for around $23,000.

Greater Independence
Attending a school that is too far away to visit home regularly will require you to develop greater independence, life skills, and self-reliance. If you’re solely responsible for remembering schedules, making and keeping appointments, shopping, healthy eating, laundry, budgeting and bill paying, this gives you an excellent crash course toward confident adulthood.

Out-of-State Scholarships
In these very tight financial times some colleges are having difficulty keeping enrollment up and they may be offering more scholarship opportunities to out-of-state students. Some examples of this are Portland State in Portland, Oregon which offers scholarships to students from several of the western states entering degree programs that are not available to them in their home state. Michigan State offers scholarships to out-of-state pre-med students. Some colleges have scholarships for which all out-of-state incoming freshmen are considered. If money is an issue for you, this is definitely worth considering.

Finding The Right Campus Vibe
In some cases, the college environment may be a good reason for considering an out-of-state college. If a student has grown up in a town of 20,000 persons, enrolling them in a college with a student body of 30,000 may be too overwhelming (or it might be just what you want for a total change of lifestyle!). See what options suit your preferences in your home state and compare them with colleges in other states that offer the environment and opportunities that you want.

New Cultural Experiences
An out-of-state college may offer the student a new cultural experience. There are marked differences in the lifestyles of people from Southern California and Fayetteville, Arkansas, or people from New York City and Phoenix Arizona. A different area of the country will afford you the opportunity to experience new foods, different geography, and perhaps a climate change. Seeing snow for the first time is just as exciting for a Hawaiian student in Massachusetts as going to the beach in February for a New Englander studying in Florida.

Career Prospects
Your career choice may play a role in the decision to consider an out-of-state college, if you already know what path you want to take. With some occupations, the college where the degree was earned can be extremely important. Institutions like Harvard Law, John Hopkins Medical, or MIT for math and sciences may significantly impact job opportunity, but it’s also important to remember it’s what you do with your experience, regardless of where you study.

Employment While In College
If you will need to hold a part-time job, and that is increasingly an issue, consider the employment opportunities in the area near the college. Some states have been more heavily impacted by the down-turn in the economy, so part-time job opportunities may be more plentiful in another state.

College is a big step for the High School graduate and for mom and dad. Choosing the right college is a significant undertaking, with many things to be considered, but ultimately you want to find a place where you’ll feel happy, be able to pursue the academic and extracurricular activities that you’re interested in, and feel comfortable. When doing your college search, don’t ignore out-of-state options. Even if you pick one as your wildcard choice to apply, you never know, it might end up being your favorite!

Author Bio: Tal Baron writes for Smart Meetings, a corporate events guide for planning Boston conferences.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, College Admissions, College Search, Guest post | No Comments »

3 Things to Consider During Your Campus Visit

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Picking a college can be complicated, and there are many steps to the process.  Find the right college and your college experience will be far more rewarding.  All the work that you invested in researching financial aid for college tuition, pre college summer programs, college counseling services and all the rest will seem like time well spent if you find the right college.  A major part of selecting the right college should be a campus visit.

Your concepts and notions about what a college may be like could differ greatly from the reality of the situation.  Selecting a college without first visiting the campus could be a decision that you might regret.  A college might look great on paper, but when you visit in person you may find that aspects of college environment, such as college dorm life, may vary too dramatically from what you want out of your overall experience.  It is difficult to perform well when you are not happy.  This is why selecting the right college is so important to your eventual success both in college and in life.

1. Do You Feel Safe?

During your college visit, you need to take many different factors into consideration.  The first consideration is whether or not the environment is a safe one.  In this regard, it is important to look at the environment around the school and try and gather some insight into how safe the campus is and how well it is policed.  A sad reality is that many college campuses are seen by criminal elements as target areas.  Your physical safety needs to be at the top of your list.

2. Do You Like the Overall Feel of the School?

Another important factor is how comfortable you feel at a given university or college.  If you visit five colleges and one has a “weird vibe” to it, then don’t ignore that feeling.  The simple fact is that if you don’t feel comfortable, you should pick a different institution.

3. Are the People Friendly?

Whether or not people are friendly is an important issue for many students.  Every university or college comes with a different vibe, and this will radiate out through the student body as well.  So when you visit a college campus, simply sit back and try to evaluate how happy your fellow students seem.  If everyone seems miserable, you have a key piece of information.

Don’t hesitate to ask around.  You should ask a variety of students about how they feel about the college or university in general.  If most people have positive feelings, that is a great sign!

Perhaps most importantly, you should not base your entire decision on what university officials or tour guides have to tell you.  Their job is to only paint the university or college in the best possible light.  Making the best decision for you means taking in a variety of information before selecting your college of choice.

Tags: ,
Posted in Choosing a College, College Campus, College Life, College Search | No Comments »

Tips For Picking Your Major

Monday, December 12th, 2011

If you are concerned that you haven’t yet decided on a college major, stop worrying.  The simple fact is that many people don’t know what their major will be when they enter college, and switching majors is very common as well.  In fact, some people switch their majors more than one time!

When you want to find the right college it is good to consider what kind of college admissions counseling is available to you as well as college counseling services, in general.  Thinking about your major is something that you will want to begin thinking about while in high school.  However, it is important not to panic if you don’t have it figured out on your first day of college.

Many experts increasingly believe that most of us will have several different careers throughout our lifetimes.  This is due to the fact that technology is forcing the workplace to change more rapidly than at any other time in history.  So the career that you pick today may not be related to the field you will be working in thirty years from now.

When it comes to deciding on a major, there are two big “pulls” that most students face.  The first is that most of us want to like our work.  After all, forty hours a week or more is a lot of time, and it certainly adds up over the course of one’s working life!  This means that having a career that you like is a big factor.

The second factor in most people’s minds is the salary that a given career offers.  Yet, there is a third factor, which frequently gets overlooked, and that is job stability.  It is important to note that job stability is something of an illusion despite what you may hear.  Again, this is due to the fact that technology is changing the workplace landscape at a rapid pace.  The idea of long-term job stability for most people, in most careers, may be a thing of the past.

Trying to balance these three factors is difficult, and students handle these issues in different ways.  No one knows you better than you know yourself.  You may have family pushing you towards a major that does not interest you.  Don’t worry, as this is very common.  Usually this is an issue of your parents and relatives wanting you to have financial stability in your life.  Regardless of their motives, if you are positive that you will hate a given career path, you do need to strongly consider other options.  In order to be successful in a career, or even make it out of college with a degree in hand, you must be able to tolerate the major you select.

Another issue to consider is the connection between mind and body.  Our emotions do, in fact, impact our physical health due to the release of stress hormones and other factors.  Thus, if you truly hate a given career path, it could impact your health, and nothing is more important than your health.

Ultimately, you want to find a major that will lead to a career that will both make you happy and allow you to earn the kind of money you want to earn.  This isn’t always easy and it’s a good reason to invest some time into contemplation as well.  You can also ask for advice during college admissions counseling.  Many students realize that when they get to college that their concept of what a major would be like isn’t always reflected in the coursework itself.  Being adaptable and flexible is a key part to knowing how to survive college.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Choosing a Major, College Admissions, College Life, Preparing for College | 1 Comment »

4 Ways To Reduce Stress When Applying to College

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

There are many important steps to applying for college.  Getting into the college or university of your choice can be a complex process.  This is especially true when you are applying to numerous schools.  As a result, you may at times feel overwhelmed and stressed by the process as a whole.  This is why it is extremely important to keep your focus.

When you get stressed out, you stop thinking clearly.  The end result could be that you begin making mistakes.  Whether its studying for your SAT, trying to ace as many classes as possible, or filling out your college applications, you need to keep your stress levels at a minimum.  Let’s take a look at a few of the ways that you can keep your stress levels low and increase your chances of getting into the college of your choice in the process.

#1 Realize that the World Will Not End

One basic step that you can take to keep your stress levels low is to realize that it is not the end of the world if you don’t get into your “top pick.”  Lots of pressure can be put on your shoulders, as older people just assume that you can “take it.”  Yet, if you feel totally stressed out it may impact your performance.  Now this isn’t an excuse to fail or not try, but you should keep in mind that life will go on even if you get into your fifth choice instead of your first college of choice.  No matter how others may act the world will not end, and you will not be destined to a future of poverty and failure.

#2 Walk Away and Take a Break

If all you do is study and deal with SAT preparation, you may actually be increasing your odds of failure both in the short term and in the long term.  Some students may ace the SAT, but they end up so exhausted and overwhelmed that they avoid studying all freshmen year.  This route isn’t a good plan for long term success!

#3 Short Breaks, Meditation and Stress Reduction

Stress can actually kill you.  Prolonged exposure to stress hormones, such as cortisol, can result in a decrease in the strength of your immune system.  If your immune system is weakened, your odds of getting sick, of course, go up.  If you’re sick, you won’t be studying for your classes or the SAT.  Part of staying healthy is keeping your immune system strong.

Meditation is a relaxation technique that serves to reduce stress hormone levels.  Recent medical studies have actually shown that meditation has a variety of medical benefits including the reduction of stress.  So if you are feeling upset and anxious, meditation stands as a great way to deal with this stress.

#4 Find a College Admissions Counselor

Believe it or not, utilizing a College Admissions Counselor can take a real load off your mind. Why run around worried about what you’re forgetting, or what opportunities you are missing? Start smart with a college admissions counselor who can sit down with you and your family to figure out your wants and needs and outline a plan for you to follow. Why go it alone, when you can have a partner?

Remember that any edge you can give yourself is one you should take.  However, at the same time, you should never allow yourself to become so stressed out and worried about what colleges you get into that you become miserable.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, College Admissions, College Applications, College Search, Paying for College, Preparing for College | No Comments »

« Older Entries