All posts by Suzanne Shaffer

college planning, extracurricular activities

Summer Activities to Prepare for College

Nowadays, grades are not enough to impress colleges. Universities seek well rounded students who have the potential to contribute positively to their school and society. Students preparing for college should engage in different activities that will set themselves apart from the crowd. As students are always busy with papers and exams during the school year, summer is a great time for them to participate in activities that will impress colleges.

Volunteer Work

Caring for the Community

Volunteer service is a great way for high school students to show colleges they care about their communities and want to make a positive impact on society. Volunteering is also indicative of a student’s interests and personality traits. For example, tutoring elementary school kids, working in hospitals, and cleaning public parks suggests a student is compassionate and dedicated.

Work Experience

Community service is also a way to explore career options and potential majors. Volunteering allows students to obtain hands on experience in a professional field and develop work skills, such as discipline and teamwork.

 

Paid Work

Exploring Career Options

Like volunteer work, a summer job or an internship is a great way to explore different careers and develop traits that colleges look favorably upon. There are many internships available for high school students in research firms and major businesses. These are opportunities to network and see what the work field is like. A summer job is also a great way to develop work and financial responsibility. Whether it is at a major company or at a grocery store, a summer job will teach high students how to talk and act around employers and customers. This shows colleges that a student is a hard worker, dedicated, and willing to learn.

Saving up for School

A summer job can also help pay for school expenses, such as tuition, textbooks, and rent. While financial aid is available in the form of loans, scholarships, and grants, every penny counts.

Test Preparation and College Visits

Although it is summer, high school students should not forget about their academics. Summer is a prime time to enroll in test preparation courses for the SAT and/or ACT. This is also the time for students to research universities and see which schools would be a good fit for them. Colleges also host campus visits during the summer for potential students. This is the best way to learn about different campuses, talk with admissions staff, and explore what kind of programs are offered at a certain school. Universities also take note of high school students who attend their college visits and contact their staff; such dedication and curiosity always looks great on a college application.

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Today’s guest post is by Louise Baker. Louise blogs about getting an online degree at Zen College Life. Her most recent post looked at the best medical coding and billing schools.

 

college planning, college visits

YourCampus360-College Visits in the 21st century

As your parent advocate (and source of all things related to the college admissions process), it’s my goal to pass along the BEST college-related information to parents. College visits are crucial in the selection process and for those of us with limited travel capabilities, virtual sites enable you and your family to get a bird’s-eye view of potential campuses.

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Greetings, Parents! There are new tools for your family’s college search and if you haven’t noticed them yet…you are excused! Here’s the lowdown: virtual campus tours are not yet available for every college university, but most colleges and universities have either discovered or are in the process of exploring this option.  The term “virtual” is no longer tethered to images of early nineties cyber nerds with giant goggles. Virtual tours are now an indispensable tool for many real estate and travel companies, and naturally, in the Higher Ed space, where getting familiar with campus life is a key component of a student’s and their parents’ decision.

The virtual college campus tour is ever-evolving. The tool, which evolved out of static videos and photos of campuses, used to be available only via a school’s .EDU website. Now companies like YourCampus360 have made the same tours, which simulate a campus walking tour and include 360-degree panoramas, available via colleges’ Facebook pages and also via mobile app (for iPhones/iPads and Android phones.) This enables busy students and parents to preview and review college campuses – pre and post-live visit – and to interact directly with the school throughout the admissions process.

Many colleges and universities in the U.S. have, or are in the process of developing virtual campus tours, and this trend has taken hold across the globe, as institutions worldwide compete for higher international student populations.

Be on the lookout for these virtual tours on your college search, and if you don’t see one on a school’s homepage, simply dig a little deeper – many times they can be found on a school’s Admissions and Visit pages.  Happy searching and good luck!

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YourCampus360 is a team of New York City-based higher education marketing technology experts. The company leads the industry in creating virtual experiences that connect schools with prospective students across all of the most popular platforms: EDU websites, mobile devices, Facebook, YouTube, and more.

 

 

Uncategorized

5 lessons the college-bound can learn from the news about Osama Bin Laden

You had to have your head buried in the sand the last 12 hours if you didn’t hear the news about Osama Bin Laden. Even though it’s been over 10 years, the news of his demise brings nothing but extreme pride to our country. I began thinking this morning about all that it took to make this come to fruition and the lessons we can all learn from this drama that has unfolded the last 10 years; especially as it applies to the college-bound teen.

  1. There are consequences to all of your actions

    2. Every action in our lives has a consequence–good or bad. If you sow anger, evil, negativity and violence, you reap the same. If you sow honor and dignity while treating others with respect, you will be rewarded. It’s as simple, and complicated, as that. Bin Laden sowed hatred for America and its people. Today we know that Bin Laden has suffered the consequences of his actions.

  2. Never give up

    3. In spite all the rumors of his death, America never stopped looking for either the man, or the proof of his death. Ten years are a long time to keep up the fight. What can you learn from this? All throughout your educational career, you will have ups and downs. Your grades may falter. You may feel like there are so many others more talented than you. You may feel overwhelmed and outgunned. But never give up.

  3. Be proud of who you are

    4. On September 11, 2001, every person in this country came together and was proud to be an American. The same is true today. One of our enemies has been defeated and our country has struck a blow for freedom. Be proud of who you are, embrace your goals, and proceed with fortitude and conviction.

  4. Don’t forget the sacrifice of others

    5. Many American lives were lost in the pursuit of this outcome. Many families paid the ultimate sacrifice in this fight against terrorists. This is a victory for them today as well. Your parents and families will sacrifice much for you during your pursuit of higher education. Don’t forget their sacrifice and always be grateful that they put great value in your education.

  5. Perseverance always pays off

    6. The American military never gave up. They believed their purpose was worthy of their sacrifice. They persevered amidst all the negative attacks from our enemies and achieved a positive outcome. If you persevere through the college admissions process, do your best, and work toward your goals, success will be your ultimate victory.

Today is a day to reflect and remember, but it’s also a day to rejoice that justice has been served and one of our greatest enemies can no longer attack our freedom. Take this time to use the lessons outlined, apply them to your life, and remember that success comes when you move toward your goals.

financial aid, scholarships

A Review-How to Win College Scholarships

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Being a College Prep Expert at CollegeExpertPanel.com has put me in contact with some other experts in the field of college admissions. This contact has given me the opportunity to once again, give you the BEST information from the BEST sources, helping you to help your student apply to college and get accepted.

When I find a product that can save you thousands of dollars on tuition, I get so excited because I know that you, as a parent, are in need of some financial relief. Let’s face it, even if you have saved and planned, who can’t afford to avail themselves of every opportunity to save money? On the other end of the spectrum, if you haven’t been able to gather a small fortune for college, tools that allow you to finance the education without parent loans are a godsend.

Monica Matthews’ “How to Win College Scholarships: A Guide for Parents in 10 Easy Steps” is one of those godsends. I have read this short, concise book and I can tell you she makes it EASY to hit the ground running, get organized, and help your student find those scholarships. She falls into a class that I like to call “parent advocates”. We are the ones who have done the leg work, succeeded, and want to pass on our parent related expertise to other parents. Monica has done the leg work in the scholarship search process. She found herself in that awkward place with her son–a promising student aspiring to college, and parents who wanted to support that decision financially.

Instead of taking out loans, or going back to work full-time, Monica opted to spend her time helping her son search, find and apply for scholarships. In 10 easy steps, she outlines the process she took, gives you bottom line tips along the way, and provides you with some “out-of-box” tools to help your student stand out with the scholarship committees. She addresses all the aspects of scholarship applications from essays, to recommendation letters, to transcripts, to the application completion and delivery.

The best part about Monica’s e-book is that it’s simple and easy to understand. If you follow her easy 10 step program, the scholarship process becomes doable for any parent and their student. You can sit back and hope that your student does all the work, or you can offer help and support by grabbing a copy of Monica’s book, reading it, and rolling up your sleeves.

Who wins? Your student will win by graduating without debt. You will win by helping your student find and win those scholarships for their undergraduate and online MBA degrees. Once those winning letters begin to flood your mailbox, you’ll be glad you took my advice and added Monica’s e-book to your college admissions library.

 

Grab yourself a copy TODAY–>How to Win College Scholarships: A Guide for Parents in 10 Easy Steps

 

 

college guidance, college planning, Uncategorized

Why subscribe to The College Prep Formula?

If you’ve visited my site lately, you’ll notice the banner at the top about the College Prep Formula. Since I take our relationship (parent-to-parent) seriously and I ALWAYS support ANY product I promote here, I want to tell you a little bit about Paul Hemphill, the guy behind the College Prep Formula.

I first came in contact with Paul on Twitter. I started reading his blog and watching some of his videos. I realized that he and I were cut from the same cloth–1)he lives in Boston (my favorite city) and loves Texas (my favorite state) and 2)we are both approaching this college admissions game from the parent’s perspective. We like to call ourselves Parent Advocates! We’ve done a few webinars together and the more I learn about him, the more I respect him. Paul is the kind of guy that doesn’t mince words and comes right to the point–you are the customer; buyer BEWARE!

As you can imagine, it’s not a very popular opinion in the college admissions arena; but it’s one that I completely agree with and one that speaks the truth. Paul and I exchanged products (my toolkit and his videos) and I realized that we were on the same wave length. Why? Because we were both clueless about the college process and made some of the very same mistakes with our kids. Because of the mistakes we made, we are EXTREMELY committed to helping parents reduce the college stress and arm themselves with the tools they need to make it through this process on top!

The College Prep Formula will give every parent of college-bound teens (and that means even middle school students) the ability to enter the college admissions process as informed consumers. This is a MAJOR purchase and you need to approach it as such. Imagine if you will, (in Rod Serling’s Twilight zone voice) being able to save thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars on college. It’s possible, if you follow Paul’s formula.

Trust me…you don’t want to miss out on this GREAT parent resource. I’ve seen the videos and they are going to help you stress less AND save money. And as Paul likes to say…they will knock your socks off!

SUBSCRIBE NOW—>The College Prep Formula

college guidance, college planning, Uncategorized

Narrowing down the final college choice

May 1st is quickly approaching and high school seniors are faced with the looming decision–which college will I attend? Following is a guest post from freelance writer Mariana Ashley about using specific factors to make that final decision.

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Hopefully all of your hard work paid off and you were fortunate enough to be accepted into every college that you applied for. While this act alone is cause for celebration, this is where the hard part comes in: you can only commit to one university.  But narrowing your choice to the final one can be both difficult and stressful, especially because you want a school that will be able to meet both your educational, financial and social needs/wants in the best way possible. To help you make one of the hardest decisions you will have to make in your early life-time, consider these factors listed below.

College Tour

One of the easiest ways to select a school is to physically go to the campus and look around. Granted not all students have the time or the means to visit each school, especially those that are located on other sides of the country, but physically looking at a school is much better than viewing it through a pamphlet. If you can’t make the physical trip, utilize sites that offer college visit videos and connect with students on those sites.

Location and Size

You also need to factor in the location of the school. Do you want to be a short 2-to 3-hour drive so that you can come home a few weekends, or do you want to attend a school that is in another state so that you can live in a new surrounding? Also, do you want to attend a school that is located in the city or a small rural college town?  Do you want to attend a big school or a small intimate school?

Programs

By far one of the most important factors that should influence your decision is looking into the programs offered at the school.  Is the school known for offering an exceptional program in the field you are pursuing? Are there any notable graduates? What about the professors? What are their exact credentials? Even if you are unaware of what you would like to major in knowing that the school has a lot of options and great professors is beneficial.

You may also want to consider graduation and retention rates, as well as whether internship programs and career services are offered.

Social

While social interaction shouldn’t play the biggest role when selecting a school, it still matters. With that said, do a little research and see what sort of extracurricular activities and clubs are offered at each university. For instance, if you already know that you want to join a particular fraternity or sorority, does a chapter exist on that particular campus? Or, if you know that you want to attend medical school later on, are there tons of great health related organizations that will help you get in? Some also consider sporting teams because they want to attend a school that is filled with champions—but please don’t let this sway your decision too much.

You might also want to look into the demographics of the school. Do you want to attend a school that offers a lot of diversity or would you rather go to a school that has one group of people? Do you want to go to a school that has a reputation of being liberal or conservative? Demographics can play a huge role in regards to making friends. But whatever you do, don’t make a decision based on the fact that all of your high school buddies are going to a particular school. You need to attend the school that is best suited for you.  Be assured that if you are separated from your high school friends, you will be able to keep in contact with them while making other new, last-long friendships in college.

Costs

By now you should at least have your top two choices. This is where financial costs will help you select your top choice. So, which school can you actually afford to attend without going into years worth of financial debt and which school has offered you a more appealing financial aid award package (if you qualify)? Make sure to investigate additional charges and fees and whether commuting will burn a whole in your pocket. Also find estimates for housing options and see which school would be more cost-effective.

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This guest post was written by Mariana Ashley, a freelance writer, who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com

scholarships

Scholarships.com “Short & Tweet” Scholarship

6 Comments

Does your college-bound teen need some money for books? How about a new laptop for college? Or an iPad to take with them to school?

Scholarships.com has a scholarship that ANY student can enter. No essay. No stringent rules and regulations to follow. What could be simpler than that?

Here are the “deets” (a little shortened humor):

 

Step 1: Follow Scholarships.com on Twitter.

Step 2: @reply us with a tweet answering the question “What would an extra $1,000 for college mean to you?” Once you do this, you are automatically entered to win a $1,000 scholarship.

Step 3: You may enter as many times as you want but please limit your tweets to a reasonable amount per day. Each tweet will be a stand-alone entry and tweets that are submitted by non-followers, exceed 140 characters, do not include @Scholarshipscom or are submitted after the May 31st deadline will not be considered. From there, the Scholarships.com Team will determine which comment is most deserving of the award.

Starts: April 13th

Ends: May 31st

Number Available: 1

Amount: $1,000 for one first-prize winner; Scholarships.com hats and t-shirts for second- and third-prize winners


college planning, college visits

Smart College Visit introduces mobile app

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If you are planning to visit Virginia Tech, Smart College Visit has just made it easier. In today’s world of mobile technology and instant information, it’s great to see this mobile offering from Smart College Visit who knows the critical part that college visits play in the admissions process.

Prospective students, their families, friends, returning alumni, and anyone visiting Virginia Tech’s 2600-acre Blacksburg campus can now have an electronic map, driving directions, a walking tour, admissions information, restaurant and hotel information, historical sights, and more available literally at their fingertips via the “Visit Virginia Tech” mobile app.

“The campus visit is very important in higher education marketing,” acknowledged Melissa Richards, director of marketing and publications at Virginia Tech. “Virginia Tech works very hard to make every visitor’s experience the best it can be. We seek innovative and interactive ways to forge personal connections with our audiences. A mobile app is a smart way to engage visitors before, during, and even after they come to campus.”

Published by Smart College Visit, Inc., this navigational and travel planning guide to campus features the university’s admission requirements, campus tour and information session schedules, on-campus and off-campus dining directories, and area accommodations as well as turn-by-turn directions to nearly every building on campus, parking lots, athletic facilities, and residence halls.

A self-guided walking tour and Virginia Tech wallpaper backgrounds are just two of the app’s features designed to connect the visitor with the university.

“Visit Virginia Tech” is published by Smart College Visit, Inc. in partnership with Virginia Tech and is available free on iTunes–search for “visit virginia tech.”