Category Archives: Uncategorized

career colleges, careers, college guidance, college planning, Uncategorized

Stay Employed With These College Majors

 

college majorsLook to the future and what do you see? Flying cars? Steampunk kids riding hoverboards? Downtrodden dystopias with Harrison Ford-alikes running around in long brown overcoats?

Well, while these visions of the future might never happen, one thing is certain – some jobs will be obsolete, so you have to make your education count.

It’s a tough call to make. But some jobs will always be vital, no matter what era we live in.

So here are a few future-proof college majors for you to study, whether we move into a glistening or a downbeat future.

The children are our future

Despite declining birth rates in the western world, the need to look after and understand the needs of children is greater than ever.

But that doesn’t exclusively lead you towards childcare. For high wages and the chance to work out your brainbox, try studying for a degree in child psychology. Relative to other medical fields, psychology itself is in its relative infancy, making the possibilities for unique advancement high.

Knowing the inner workings of a child’s mind will never go out of style.

Digital love

You can see the impact of the internet on businesses already. As high street stores close their doors and indie retailers struggle to stay afloat, internet giants like Amazon dominate the marketplace.

The future is now in the digital world. As the tech for the internet unfurls before us, the reality is clear – the net is going nowhere.

As such, there are now countless avenues of study for a life in the digital world. Web development, computer programming, app design, game design – the list goes on. Some colleges even offer the chance to study the cultural impact of the web on society.

Not only is the world of the web putting convenience at our fingertips – it’s giving us the jobs of the future.

Get arty

We’ve all dreamed of it in some form or another – wearing a beret on the south bank of the Seine, Paris, you pen your latest novel, pursing a cigarette between your lips and living the life of the moody artiste.

But the successful artist – be they pretentious poet, literary heavyweight, beard-stroking filmmaker or agent provocateur raconteur – is usually one in a million. Yet however precarious a career as an artist might be, it will never go out of date. While the modes of distribution might change, the need for art won’t.

A degree in fine art, illustration or any other creative subject, won’t guarantee you a job straight off the bat. However, many people learn to combine a side job with their artistic aspirations. Creation may not pay amazingly – but it’ll never age away.

career colleges, Uncategorized

Veterans Day–Thanking Those Who Served

 

marinesAbout 20 years ago, my son came to me and said he wanted to join the Marines. You can imagine–as a mom my heart dropped. I felt pride and angst all at the same time.

My father was a World War II veteran and I always loved to hear his war stories. Of course, I’m sure he spared me the painful ones, but I know he had some.

I’m sitting here today, as are we all, because these men in my life served in the military to defend our freedom. It was a decision they made and it took great courage knowing they might pay the ultimate sacrifice. I will always have admiration and respect for our veterans.

What better way to honor our veterans than by sharing some of my favorite posts from my blog and from others:

Our Military Academies–How to apply

If your son or daughter is considering a military academy? There are numerous steps they will need to take before applying.

Is Military College Right for your Student?

For those students who don’t want to attend one of the five military academies, military colleges can be an excellent option.

Best Colleges for Veterans

Do you know a veteran who wants to attend college?

A Tribute to Vietnam Vets on Veterans Day

One of the most heartfelt posts I have ever read and an example for future generations of Americans

Thank a veteran for his or her service today. We owe them a debt of gratitude.

 

admissions, college planning, essays, Uncategorized

5 Things Admissions Officers Look For in the Application Essay

2 Comments

 

essayWithin your college application, your personal statement is your one opportunity for the admissions officer to “meet you”, to visualize the person behind the numbers. While no essay can save an unqualified application, an outstanding essay can push an otherwise mediocre application into the “yes” pile.

However, writing a good application essay is hard. Many students write essays that are too cliché or too shallow; others write essays that are impersonal and uninformative; some are even unfortunate enough to write essays that cause their own rejection.

This isn’t surprising. The application essay is drastically different from the typical high school assignment—deeply personal, rather than merely informative.

Well, let me give you a glimpse through the eyes of an admissions officer. Working for the admissions office of a university with single-digit admission rates, I have reviewed numerous applications and “graded” a wide variety of application essays. Here are five things a college admissions officer looks for:

1. Can the applicant write?

The first thing the application essay does is to prove that you can write well. In college, you are going to write, write, write and write—and the application essay allows the admission officer to judge whether you will be able to cope.

On a structural level, your essay should be well organized and coherent. It should have a well-thought-out idea development and be properly paragraphed.

Your writing should be engaging and expressive. A big part of this depends on your personal style, but in general, you should use the active voice and vary your sentence structures. A note though: essays on both ends of the extreme usually don’t work—essays which are too gimmicky and stylized, or too academic, rigid and formal.

Lastly, of course, your essay should be free of grammar and spelling mistakes.

2. What does the essay say about the applicant?

This seems like an obvious point, but many applicants end up writing essays that do not actually shed much light on themselves. No matter how beautiful your descriptions are, or how emotionally moving your content is, if you do not relate these thoughts back to yourself as an individual, your essay will be ineffective.

A strong application essay allows us to visualize the applicant behind the numbers, and to know exactly what type of person you are. The essay should make us feel that we have gotten to know you on a personal level, as if we have met you face-to-face.

3. Are there deep, personal reflections?

To allow the admissions officer to get to know you, your writing needs to include reflections that are deep and personal. Without these reflections, an essay will seem shallow or even generic. Conversely, mature reflections will bring personality and depth to a topic that might seem commonplace at first (for example, community service).

To put it another way, the most important thing in the essay is not the “what”, but the “why”. We have the “what” from the list of your extracurriculars, scores and awards. We now want to know the “why”, the motivations that drive you.

This is also why it is a bad idea to try to cover too much in your essay. To put it yet another way, while the other sections of your application focuses on describing the breadth of your activities, in your personal statement, you should aim to reveal depth in one area.

4. What will the applicant bring to the community?

So what should you highlight about yourself? Well, the admission officer wants to discover what you can contribute to the college. If your application allows the reader to visualize you as an active, contributing and successful member of the community, you are in.

This does not mean that you need to be mind-blowingly unique. The qualities you can most effectively highlight are the genuine ones. A good essay requires a good deal of introspection, to arrive at a keen self-knowledge of what your strong points are, and how to best portray them.

On the flip side, you should avoid topics (and writing tone) that portrays you in a negative light. Be careful of writing about failures that highlight negative characteristics. Stay away from more controversial and potentially offensive topics. Avoid sounding naïve, lacking in self-awareness, or patronizing (a major problem, especially in essays about community service).

5. Do the qualities represented in the essay resonate with the rest of the application?

The advice goes that you should not rehash the rest of your application in your essay. For example, if you have already included multiple debate activities and awards, your essay should not be about debate.

The caveat to this is that while the specific activities should vary, there should be a consistent portrayal of personal qualities. If your essay represents you as a boundary-pushing activist, but the other parts of your application portrays you as respectful and soft-spoken, flags will be raised.

An application is a lens into a single person, so consistency is important. You should thus consider your application holistically, and put some thought into how you want to represent yourself, and what characteristics you want to highlight. Good luck!

_____________________________

Today’s Guest Blogger 

David works for the admission office of a university with a single-digit acceptance rate. In his spare time, he provides expert coaching to students on their college application essays. Visit his website, www.essayscoach.com to learn more about how to write outstanding essays.

Scholarship Friday, scholarships, Uncategorized

Scholarship Friday: Creepy, Freaky Scholarships for Halloween

 

halloween

Although these scholarships have been deemed “creepy and freaky”, any scholarship that gets you FREE money for college is anything but creepy and freaky. In honor of Halloween, here are two of the creepiest.

Are you fascinated with paranormal activity?

The New York-based Parapsychology Foundation offers young ghost hunters and those with interest in the paranormal several scholarships. There are 5 annual awards with varying deadlines

  • The Annual Charles T. and Judith A. Tart Research Grant of $500
  • The Annual Robert R. Coly Prize of $1000
  • The Annual Eileen J. Garrett Scholarship of $3000
  • The Annual Frances P. Bolton Fellowship of $3000
  • The D. Scott Rogo Award for Parapsychological Literature of $3000

You can open the PDF file attached to the link for the foundation to get all the details of each and the deadlines.

Are you a Walking Dead fan?

The Zombie Scholarship Committee from Scholarship Experts wants to know your plan to avoid the zombies, where you would hide (or maybe you don’t need to), and the top five things you would bring to stay alive.

The 2014 Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship is underway, and they are giving one successful “survivor” $2,000 towards his or her college education. Do you think you have what it takes to make the cut? But you better act fast—today is the deadline for this year’s scholarship. For those of you who are making a list for the future. Put this one on you calendar!

study abroad, Uncategorized

Why Study Abroad?

 

study abroadWhen my daughter started applying to colleges, one of the items on her “must have” list was that the college have a study abroad program. She has always been an avid traveler and looked forward to spending time abroad with her college friends. During her junior year, she was able to study abroad in Paris, France and travel all around Europe while she was there. She visited Switzerland, England, Italy and Spain. It was one of the highlights of her college education.

In 2011, I posted a guest blog from University Language Services about studying abroad:

Studying abroad has a tremendous number of benefits – both personal and academic. The exposure to a different way of life often serves as a catalyst for students to discover what they are passionate about. It can also immerse them in a foreign language, enhance their resumes, and prepare them to live in a world that is increasingly multicultural.

On a personal level, studying abroad is a great way for students to learn how to adjust to new environments, make new friends and experience a country’s culture firsthand.

If your child is interested in studying abroad, encourage them! As scary as it may be to send them off to another country, the benefits of living and studying in another country are well worth it.

Studying abroad can help your teen:

1. Get a Job

Students can add significant value to their resumes simply by studying abroad. In the competitive market of entry-level jobs, most resumes look more or less the same. The interest in multiculturalism that studying abroad suggests can make your teen’s resume stand out from the pack. It also shows your teen’s ability to adapt to a new environment and take on new and challenging situations – all green flags for potential employers.

2. Learn Another Language

Particularly for students who want to master another language, studying abroad is a great opportunity. Sitting in a classroom and listening to a lecture is one thing, but being immersed in a culture that speaks that language is completely different. Having to learn how to read street signs, ask for certain products in supermarkets, and make small talk with new friends certainly ups the ante for language learning.

3. Meet New People

Studying abroad will undeniably expose your teen to many new people and help open his or her mind to the unfamiliar. Getting comfortable with meeting new people has both professional and personal benefits. It will not only come in handy when meeting new classmates and coworkers, but also help him or her to have a more inclusive and diverse group of friends.

4. Get Inspired

Many students go abroad having only a vague idea (or even no idea whatsoever!) of what career they would like to pursue. Studying abroad can change that. Students often are inspired by something they encounter abroad, like a community project building schools or a behind-the-scenes look at a theatre performance. Sometimes, they simply fall in love with the thrill of traveling. These inspirations can move your teen to pursue a specific career.

Studying abroad is unlike anything else in providing students with a unique and unforgettable experience. Whether your teen spends a semester living in an ancient European city, a year helping to build housing in Africa, or a summer sailing the world, studying abroad will expose him or her to a unique and previously unexplored world.

Here’s what studying abroad means to one student who is living and studying abroad in Madrid:

college guidance, college planning, college prep, Uncategorized, Wednesdays parent

Wednesday’s Parent: Are You Afraid of College Prep?

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afraid of college prepAre you afraid of college prep? If you’re not, you’re one of the few. Parents, while excited about the prospects of college, are frightened by the actual process. What frightens them most? Any number of tasks: the overwhelming mounds of forms and paperwork, how to pay for the high cost of the education, being out of control and not knowing how colleges will receive their student, and the biggie—will your student be rejected.

In order to avoid giving in to the fear, you need to change your thinking. While colleges might give you the impression they have the power, they do not. It’s ultimately your teen’s choice for which college to apply to and which college to attend. It’s ultimately your choice which financial aid award you accept. You are the consumer. The key is in how your student markets himself to the college and how he takes control of the process.

Here are 3 tips to help calm you fears:

This is just another phase in the life your child.

In the midst of it all, it seems like an insurmountable task. It is all consuming and appears to be a “life changing” decision. Yes. College is important. But it is just the beginning of the choices your child will have to make in this life. And nothing, I mean nothing, is carved in stone. Wrong college choice? In the grand scheme of life, it’s not the critical. It’s the education that matters and how your child embraces the learning.

There will be a good fit college for your child—a college that values their contribution.

It’s not about the name, but about the fit. With a little research, a little coaching, and some digging, there is a college that fits your child like a glove. It may not be an Ivy (and probably won’t), but it will be the place they feel welcome and at home. Find that and you’ve hit the jackpot.

While there may be rejections along the way, there will also be many opportunities to learn life lessons.

No parent likes to see their child rejected. But it’s a reality of life. Everyone is going to be rejected at some point and the college process is no different. It’s how you handle the rejections that matter. It’s the life lessons you can teach them that will stay with them after they go away to college. And I say this with all certainty—everything happens for a reason. Sometimes College B or College C is a much better fit, and will make your child happier in the long run.

Once you’re done, you’ll be an expert and can help other set aside their fears. What is it Roosevelt said? The only thing we have to fear is fear itself (and of course college prep).

Read Wendy’s Post: 4 College Prep Nightmare Scenarios

______________________

Wednesday’s child may be full of woe but Wednesday’s Parent can substitute action for anxiety. Each Wednesday Wendy and I will provide parent tips to get and keep your student on the college track. It’s never too late or too early to start!

Join @pocsmom and I tonight with a #WednesdaysParent version of #CampusChat at 9PM ET with guest Paul Hemphill (@vcollegeadvisor) of Planning for College, discussing the scary side of college prep.

Wednesday’s Parent will give twice the info and double the blog posts on critical parenting issues by clicking on the link at the end of the article from parentingforcollege to pocsmom.com and vice versa.

college apps, Guest Posts, Uncategorized, websites

A Tool to Master the Dreaded Application Essay

 

college essay toolThe college application season is now in full swing and if you listen closely enough, you might be able to make out the tap-tapping of millions of seniors across the globe writing their application essays.  If you happen to be one of those students or a parent of one, I’d like to introduce you to Edswell, an application essay management tool that makes the whole process a lot easier.

So…what does it do? First, it gives you all of the application essay and deadline requirements for a student’s college list, in one click. Required, optional, supplemental, program-specific…all of them.  Students often spend days or weeks getting all of this information, now they can get it in a few seconds.

Second, it provides a beautiful essay management system that automatically organizes, syncs, and version controls every draft (built on Dropbox).  Instead of creating a folder and filling it with files, users simply click on the school and essay they want to work on – all drafts are viewable in an attractive feed-style format.

Third, it allows students to easily invite anyone to review a draft.  Reviewers do not need an Edswell account.  When the edited version is sent back to Edswell by a reviewer, it is incorporated into the feed for that essay, where differences between drafts are automatically highlighted.

Finally, it allows parents and counselors to track student progress.  Sometimes seniors need a nudge…Edswell gives the nudgers the information they need to make it happen.

You can give the platform a try for free for 30 days, no credit card required to sign up.  Just visit http://edswell.com and click “Free Trial.”  Oh, and for those interested in more information, there’s a short video walkthrough on the website.

I’d like to end with a salute to the seniors who are undertaking the not-insignificant task of memorializing their narratives, stories, and experiences in their application essays.  And Sam, if you’re reading this, I think it’s okay to start your Common App essay with “What’s a BA without a good burrito?”

_____________________

alex thalerAlex Thaler is the CEO of Edswell and the author of “The Art of the Personal Statement.”  He received his BA from UC Berkeley and JD from University of Pennsylvania.  In his non-existent spare time he enjoys woodworking and dreaming about moving to Hawaii.

guidance counselors, Uncategorized, Wednesdays parent

Wednesday’s Parent: Cultivate the Counselor Relationship

3 Comments

 

counselorYou would be surprised at the amount of material that comes across your high school counselor’s desk: from scholarship opportunities, to college admissions counselor recommendation requests, to leadership positions, to volunteer opportunities. Making friends with your counselor may well be the most important and valuable relationship your teen cultivates during high school.

My daughter and son attended a rather large high school. At the time, being uninformed and unaware, we did not understand the value of this relationship. When senior year came along she missed several scholarship opportunities because the counselor did not even know she was applying to several of the colleges. When recommendation letter time came along the counselor refused to complete her recommendation stating that she did not know my daughter well enough to write a letter for her. My daughter had to explain to several admission committees why she was not able to obtain a counselor recommendation.

She would have spared herself that necessity if she had known the importance of utilizing the resources that were available in the counselor’s office and had known how important it was to cultivate that relationship. Counselor recommendations are considered an important part of most college applications.

The counselor relationship

It’s no surprise to parents that high school counselors are busy. They juggle regular counseling duties, paperwork and college prep. Most have too many students to advise and most are required to spend so much time on paperwork that it’s impossible to speak with every student. Research shows that the average counselor to student ratio is 470-1 and that they spend less than 20 minutes a year with each student.

A recent article in Time, “The High School Guidance Counselor”, explains the problem:

In addition to huge caseloads, budget cuts have forced to counselors to increasingly contend with duties unrelated to their traditional roles, such as monitoring the school cafeteria or proctoring exams, says Eric Sparks, the ASCA’s assistant director. And few get more than scant training before taking on the job, says Alexandria Walton Radford, a former U.S. Department of Education official who has studied the issue. Many degree programs for school counselors don’t offer coursework on helping students make the best college choices, or getting financial aid, according to a national survey of counselors.

The result is an overtaxed system in which many students either never go to college, go to institutions that are the wrong for them, or never learn about financial aid for which they may qualify. According to Radford’s research, low-income, ethnic minority valedictorians and first-generation college applicants shy away from elite schools, unaware of scholarship opportunities; freshmen over-rely on friends and relatives for advice about college.

What should parents do?

A counselor from Pikesville High School in Baltimore, Maryland had this this suggestion, in a recent article I wrote about the high school counselor conundrum:

I appreciate that you care about SCHOOL counselors’ lack of training in college planning, but I disagree about your recommendations. There are more productive and proactive ways than becoming the squeaky wheel…Like asking district and state leadership for smaller caseloads and more professional development for SCHOOL counselors.” Good advice. Get involved in your school community and ask for changes.

The bottom line

Get involved. Ask questions like these: 5 Must-Ask Questions for your Child’s Guidance Counselor. Start early by making contact with the counselor and building a relationship. They may be busy, but most counselors are eager to help if asked.

Read Wendy’s post: School Counselors and the Parent-Student Team

___________________

Wendy and I will be joined by Shelley Krause (@butwait), a high school counselor, on Wednesday’s Parent night (the fourth Wednesday of each month) on #CampusChat, Wednesday, August 27, 9pm ET/6pm PT. We will talk about how to establish a relationship with your high school counselor and how they can help with college prep.

_________________________

Wednesday’s child may be full of woe but Wednesday’s Parent can substitute action for anxiety. Each Wednesday Wendy and I will provide parent tips to get and keep your student on the college track. It’s never too late or too early to start!

back to school, Uncategorized

Back to School Special: 60% Off Parents Crash Course

 

In the spirit of Back to School and in my desire to help parents prepare their teens for college, I’m offering a special. 60% off my regular price–$59! That’s right–60% off. It’s a bargain; and who doesn’t like bargains?

Here’s what you will be getting:

PARENTS CRASH COURSE

(PDF FILE WITH CLICKABLE LINKS)

With competition for college becoming more intense and the college admissions officers looking at each application and analyzing its merits, it makes sense to give your college-bound teen every opportunity available.

PARENT-COLLEGE-COACHING-BOO

I created the Parents Countdown to College Crash Course because:

  • College admissions is becoming increasingly competitive.
  • By college’s own admission, the process is entirely subjective.
  • If you wait until senior year, you will be in panic mode.
  • Your teen is just one in thousands of college applicants.
  • Without help, you will get lost in the college maze.
  • School counselors simply don’t have the time to advise every student.

What you can expect from my Parents Countdown to College Crash Course:

WORKBOOK NOTEBOOK

  • A step by step guide through the college admissions process—walking you through the process in a way that every parent can understand.
  • Supportive templates and worksheets to help you stay organized and on top of college deadlines.
  • Directions on where to go to find the experts in every facet of the college admissions process—and how to get their help for FREE!
  • How to help your teen choose the right college—the college that fits him/her perfectly.
  • Tips on how to make your college-bound teen appealing to their top choice college.
  • Everything you ever need to know to understand financial aid and how to leverage that knowledge to your advantage.
That’s great you say; but at what cost?

EXPERT-LINKS-CD

Here’s an excerpt from a recent New York Times article:

No test or licensing is required to offer such services, and there is no way to evaluate the counselors’ often extravagant claims of success or experience. And Ms. Duff’s asking price, though higher than many, is eclipsed by those of competitors who may charge upwards of $40,000 —more than a year’s tuition at many colleges.

Believe me, I couldn’t afford that kind of money when I was helping my kids with the college process, and I’m sure you can’t either.

BUT, if I had found someone that offered everything I needed in one CRASH COURSE for a FRACTION of the cost of those high-priced counselors, I would have JUMPED at the BARGAIN!

For ONE all-inclusive price you will receive:

Whitepapers-collection

  1. An Ebook: Parent College Coaching 101 (guiding you through the step by step process of college admissions).
  2. A workbook: with Templates and Worksheets to compliment the instructions in the Ebook.
  3. Expert Link List: clickable links to EVERY expert in the field of college admissions.
  4. Whitepapers: A compilation of my articles and blog posts (categorized) specifically addressing college admission issues.
  5. My Top Website picks: These are sites that are PACKED with FREE information and tips about the college admissions process.

Don’t make the mistake of being unprepared and scrambling around senior year trying to help your college-bound teen apply to colleges. Be a smart parent and prepare in advance. The best time to start with the college prep process is the 8th grade. But if you’re running behind, my Crash Course will help you catch up!

Snag this discounted price before the sale ends

It’s a BARGAIN at $59 (60% off my regular price)!




Scholarship Friday, scholarships, Uncategorized

Scholarship Friday: 10 Scholarship Tips for Parents

 

scholarship tips for parentsNo. You won’t be applying for the scholarships. But you will (and should) be an integral part of the scholarship search and application process. If you want your student to be successful (translation: more money for college), you need to get involved. Be the cheerleader cheering them on to success. Be the taskmaster assuring they stay on task. And be the errand boy (or girl) by helping out when needed.

Here are 10 scholarship tips for parents:

  1. Discuss the importance of scholarships—Your college bound teen should know that scholarships will not only help you, but they will help him by not having student loan debt when he graduates. The more money you win, the less you have to worry about college costs.
  2. Encourage the extracurriculars—Outside activities are critical when applying for most scholarships. If they aren’t required, it’s an added bonus to the application and paints a positive picture for the scholarship judges.
  3. Start early—It’s never too early to begin the search. Keep your eyes and ears open to scholarship opportunities and pass them along to your student. There are indeed scholarships for all ages.
  4. Check with your employers—Many companies have employee sponsored scholarship programs for the employees and their dependents.
  5. Block off time for the search—Set aside at 30 minutes a day to search for scholarships, and more if it’s possible. Searching for scholarships is just like job hunting: you have to put in the work to reap the rewards.
  6. Encourage your child to create accounts on free scholarship search sites—Check out these posts for some sites to bookmark: How to Find Scholarships Online, 7 Great Scholarship Search Sites, 56 College Info Websites, 50 More College Prep Websites.
  7. Proofread your child’s scholarship application and essay—Check for errors and omissions. These few things can make the difference between an award and ending up in the reject pile.
  8. Pay attention to deadlines—Late applications will not be considered. Find a filing and organizing method that works best for you and your child to stay on top of deadlines.
  9. Check with the high school guidance counselor—Encourage your child to meet with his guidance counselor and express interest in scholarships.
  10. Encourage persistence—Don’t stop searching. The more your student applies, the more chances he has to win.