When Is The Best Time To Visit Colleges

Now that you’ve done your research online and you’ve narrowed down your college search to a manageable list, it is time to visit the college campus.  There are a few times of the year that is optimum to getting the most value out of a trip to visit a college. Here are the best times to visit colleges and what you should do to make the most out of your visit to a campus.

Do –

• Visit when school is in session and the campus is alive. This is when you get to see how current students interact with each other and the campus.
• Visit during Open House Days. Keep in mind; this is when everyone puts their best foot forward.
• Visit unannounced as well. This is when colleges show their warts, if they had any.
• Arrange for an overnight visit. This is when you get the most depth. You get a feel of what the school administration want you to see and what the students want you to see.
• Visit during Monday through Thursdays. Most classes are offered Mondays through Thursdays. By visiting on a Friday, you chance catching faculty and students on the weekend mindset, already on their way off-line.
• Visit during late summer and early fall, as most colleges begin their academic year in mid-August. You won’t miss out on any school days in your high school, as most high schools begin their academic year after Labor Day.
• Visit during Finals Week. This is when all the students are hitting the books. You will see where they do their studying and if they are actually studying. Is it in their dorm room? Is it in the library? Is it in the labs? Is the environment conducive to studying?
• Visit when you can leave a paper trail. The Admission Office has an all-important visit card that you will need to fill out and submit. If you are seriously interested in applying to this college down the road, then they will need to see that you took the time to visit. So visit when the Admission Office is open.

Don’t –

• Visit during the summer, when school is not in session and the campus is dead. An empty campus does not allow for any student interaction.
• Visit during intersession, winter break, spring break, etc. Some faculty and students might still be on campus, but most of them will be home with family. You can’t get the feel of a lively campus.

Last Word – 

Some factors are out of your control. If you are a junior or senior in high school, you are limited to the number of days during the academic year when you can visit a college campus without missing out on your own school work. Winter break, spring break, holidays that fall during the week may be your only option. There are financial concerns too. Visiting campuses involve multiple expenses that may include an overnight stay at a hotel. Your parents or guardian may not be able to take off from their jobs during the most optimum time for you. Planning ahead will allow you to spread out the financial burden of visiting multiple campuses and yield you the most options.

The Best Way To Evaluate A College Is By Visiting The College Campus

There are many ways to evaluate a college to see if it's the right fit for you; but the best way to evaluate a college is by visiting the campus itself.  The first thing you must do, before you do anything else, is to do your research online - it’s free and you don’t need to leave home.  The College Board is a membership association in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB). It is composed of almost 6,000 colleges and universities. It contains comparative databases on all of them. You can evaluate every one of these 6,000 colleges and universities by location, size, major, acceptance rate, academics, athletics, etc.  After you’ve narrowed your search down to a manageable size, you can then proceed to the college’s own website. If you’ve already done your research and learned all that you can from the college website, then your goal should be to capture the mood, the vibe, and all the personal impressions and interesting facts that can only be gained by an in person visit. There is no substitute for the personal experience that is unique to you.  The buildings and grounds, the administration, the faculty, the students all have their own voice and impression to leave on you.  Visit the classrooms, the dorms, and the dining halls.  Talk to the administration, the faculty, and the current students.  Take photos and jot down notes.  You won’t remember everything you saw, heard, or felt; but the overall impression will help you make a more informed decision.  So, visit the campuses.  It is the best way to evaluate a college. 

Last Word –

If you do end up applying to the college you already visited, there is always a spot on the application where the question is asked, “Have you ever visited our campus?”  You will score huge points if the answer is yes!

Top Ten Tips For Getting Letters of Recommendation For College Applications

If you’re a high school student applying to college, you will need a great letter of recommendation from your teacher. How do you go about getting one? Here are the top ten tips that will help you meet your goal of a great letter of recommendation.

Tip #1 Get Your Paperwork In Order
Luck favors the prepared. Get your paperwork together before you approach your teacher for the letter of recommendation. Your teacher will be impressed if your paperwork is complete. You will need, at the minimum

• A cover letter detailing what you are asking for
• An up to date resume highlighting your academics, awards (if any), and extra-curricular activities (in and out of school)
• An up to date transcript of all the courses you’ve taken. Start with the AP courses, advance courses, college level courses (if any)
• Your current GPA and rank
• Your personal essay (if it is ready)
• Recommendation forms (if any)
• Due date of the application
• Mailing instructions
• Pre-addressed stamped envelope for the teacher to mail your letter of recommendation to its destination

Tip #2 Select Your Target Teacher
The teacher should be in one of the four core disciplines (Math, Science, English, History). If you plan to major in a foreign language, your foreign language teacher will also suffice. Colleges are looking for how well your core teacher perceives you. Unless there are special circumstances, do not ask your ‘Typing’ teacher or your ‘Health’ teacher to write your letter of recommendation.

Tip #3 How To Ask Your Target Teacher
Do it in person, and be polite. Remember you are asking someone for a favor that will require at the minimum, several hours to several days of work. The only benefit for the teacher is the knowledge that they have helped a student.

Tip #4 What If My Target Teacher Says No
Thank your lucky stars because you just dodged a bullet. The only reason your target teacher will say no to you is because he/she does not think highly enough of you to take the time to write your letter of recommendation. You may think you have found someone who will craft a glowing letter of recommendation for you. His/her refusal says the teacher does not know you well enough to do so. Do not ask again. Look around and ask another teacher you bypassed in the first round.

Tip #5 Get To Know Him/Her
Now that you’ve selected your target teacher, get to know him/her. Ask questions in class, even if you already know the answer. Ask your teacher how he/she got to be a teacher. Show an interest in the person who is teaching you. Short of outright brown-nosing, your target teacher should know you and genuinely like you.

Tip #6 Let Him/Her Know Your Goals
If your teacher knows you will be applying to a certain school or for a certain major, then he/she will have a better idea what to emphasize in the letter of recommendation. Talk about your goals. Intended science majors should have a letter of recommendation that underscores interest or achievement in that discipline. Intended business majors should have a letter of recommendation that addresses business acumen.

Tip #7 The Early Bird Gets The Worm
Don’t wait until the last minute. Ask your teacher in the first month of your senior year. This will give your teacher at least two months to work on your letter of recommendation before the earliest due date of November 15^th (for Early Decision Applicants).

Tip #8 First Follow-up
After your target teacher has agreed to write your letter of recommendation. Ask him/her if there is anything you can do to make their job easier, and if it’s alright if you check back with them after 2-3 weeks to see if everything is on track. If the teacher says no, that they will take care of it; then you should back off. You can always check the status of the college application to see if any letters of recommendation has arrived. If the teacher says yes, then follow through and ask them exactly 2-3 weeks later. Some teachers need the reminder to take care of everything on their plate. They probably have many other students who have also asked them to write letters of recommendation for them.

Tip #9 Waive The Right To Review The Letter of Recommendation
Colleges will value letters of recommendation that have not been reviewed by the applicant more than those who have.

Tip #10 Follow Up With a Thank You Letter
After you have confirmed that the letter of recommendation reached its destination, follow-up with a hand written thank you note to the teacher. Also, sometime during your first semester at college, send the teacher a note. Tell them how much you are enjoying school, how much you appreciate their letter, and how it helped you to get where you are today. Traditionally, high school students move onto college and the rest of their lives without ever looking back, until their 10^th or even 25^th High School Reunion. Not only will your follow-up be an unexpected and pleasant surprise, you will have earned some respect and long lasting good will from someone who’s touched your life. Many college students return to their high schools to mentor juniors and seniors on what to expect in college. This act of altruism and paying back will look especially good for your resume and your karma.

While your transcript, standardized test scores, and personal essay are important elements in your college application; a great letter of recommendation from your teacher will give you that extra push into the ‘Accepted’ pile. It paints a more complete picture of the candidate that the other submissions do not. It is written by someone who’s interfaced with you every school day for the past year. Never underestimate the value of a well written letter of recommendation.

Scholarships Made Easy

You’ve heard of scholarships.  Nowadays it seems everywhere you look there are scholarships available from large corporations to small credit unions offering scholarship money to deserving students seeking a college education.  Scholarship amounts range anywhere from $100 to $100,000 or more.

What exactly is a scholarship?   A scholarship is a grant of financial aid awarded to a student, for the purpose of attending a college.  By definition, a grant is money you do not have to pay back.  Scholarships are most often given to students for one of two reasons: achievement or financial need.  Achievement is not exclusive to academics.  Achievement can be in the form of athletics, art, community service, leadership, and hobbies.  There are also scholarships that are not based on achievement or financial need.  These scholarships are based on specifics.  They are awarded based on criteria that are specific to student, career, or college.  Student specific scholarship recipients must qualify by either gender, race, religion, medical history, or more.  Career specific scholarship recipients must qualify by planning to pursue a specific field of study, such as education or nursing.   College specific scholarships are offered by colleges and universities to students enrolled in their school on the basis of academic and personal achievement.   There are literally hundreds of thousands of scholarships out there.  There are scholarships out there for left handed, tuba playing, ADHD diagnosed children of firefighter parents born in the month of June.

Where do you find scholarships?  There are many websites where you can find the two types of scholarships available.

1. Public scholarships.  These are available to you once you complete a FAFSA http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/  form for each year you are attending college.
2. Private scholarships.  There are scholarship websites that you can create an account with for free.  Once you input your personal background, parental background, interest, etc. they will generate a list of scholarships you qualify for, based on the information you provided.  Here are some of the more popular ones.

•      Fastweb http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ 
•      College Board http://www.collegeboard.org/
•      College NET http://www.collegenet.com/
•      FinAid! http://www.finaid.org/

What do all scholarship recipients have in common?  They apply.  The amount of work required to complete a scholarship application is not small.  But there are tips that can make your application process easier.  Tailor one application so that it can be used over and over again for other applications.  Ask for several copies of letters of recommendation that can be used over and over again for other applications.

Scholarship Dos and Don’ts

• Do fill out your scholarship application as if it is a job application.  Everything counts!  Spelling, professionalism, all required documentation is submitted, manners, and neatness, all of it counts.
• Don’t apply for scholarships that you are not eligible for.  If the scholarship specifies that only healthcare majors qualify, and you are majoring in engineering; then do not waste your time.  You will not win the scholarship.
• Do follow directions.  Provide everything that is required, but do not supply items that are not requested.  You could be disqualified.
• Do pay attention to the deadlines.
• Do make a copy of the entire packet before sending.
• Do ask someone to proofread the entire application before submitting it.

What to write on your personal essay?  Most scholarship applications will ask you for a personal essay.  Your personal essay needs to say something about yourself that your resume does not.  Try to avoid repeating information that can be found elsewhere on your application form or transcript.  Talk about what is important to you and your goals, past achievements, past failures, and what you learned from them.  Talk about activities that you are or were deeply involved in and committed to, and relationships that guided you in your development.  Lastly, include concrete details to make your experience come alive.  Don’t forget the five W’s: who, what, when, where, and why.

How many scholarships should I apply to?  Apply for as many scholarships as you can possibly manage.  Be prepared to meet the deadlines for submission.

Beware of these scholarship scams.  With everything that involves free money, there are predators out there waiting to take your money.  Here are the top five signs that the scholarship is a scam.

1. There is an application fee, processing fee, loan fee, or any kind of fee.
2. “Guarantee winning or your money back” Claims.
3. “Everybody is eligible” claims.
4. “We will apply on your behalf” claims.
5. Anyone that asks you for your credit card number or PII (personal identifying information) to include your social security number, birthdate, etc.

Once you are awarded a scholarship, you have an obligation to

1. Accept the award.  The scholarship organizer will determine whether or not this needs to be in person or otherwise.
2. Agree to continue to meet the requirements of the scholarship
3. Submit a thank you letter to the donors
4. Attendance at the annual scholarship reception, if applicable

Scholarships can make the difference of a student obtaining a college education or not.  There is aid available.  Whether or not you are awarded that aid, depends a large part on the amount of work you want to do to obtain it. 

How To Pay for a Private College Education With Your Parents Help

How do you pay for a college tuition? The cost of attending a private college or university has soared through the roof. Most average $50,000 per year for each of the four years. Unless you are a Trust Fund Baby, you are in the same boat as the rest of us; trying to find a better way to overcome this obstacle. If you are a high school student, there is something your parents can do to help. It requires a considerable amount of commitment on their part (at the minimum, six years of their lives) and a planned course of action on your part.

The Good News
How does it work? Most private colleges have a tuition benefit for their full time employees, spouse, and dependent children. Most benefits require the employee (your parent) to be employed for at least two consecutive years at the college. You, as the applying student, will need to meet the school’s admission requirements. If both conditions are satisfied, then you get to attend the institution for free, while your parent remains an employee. Legally, your parent is liable for tax liabilities in excess of any tuition support over $5,250-. But essentially it works out to be a few thousand dollars in taxes, payable to the U.S. government. You would still have to pay for your room and board, textbooks and fees yourself. In addition, the college will require that you complete a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) at www.fafsa.com online, but that is just paperwork. You reap the benefits of simply having a parent work at your school. The additional benefit is there is no limit to the number of dependents that can quality for this benefit; so long as the dependent appears on the parents’ tax return.


The Great News
Get this! You are not limited to the four year institution your parent works at. There is a group called The Tuition Exchange www.tuitionexchange.org. The Tuition Exchange is a 501 C3 nonprofit association with more than 600 private and public not for profit colleges and universities with an award process that operates similar to a tuition waiver. How does it work? Your parent’s employer will review your eligibility based on requirements set by the “home” institution. The school may set requirements for employment status, years of service, or set limits on the number of students eligible per family. If you qualify, you may have the first two years of your undergraduate tuition waived. The Tuition Exchange will only qualify you for two years of tuition, instead of the full four years. With over 600 colleges to choose from, your options are virtually limitless. Here are some of the more prestigious colleges on the list

• Boston University
• Fordham University
• George Washington University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Smith College

This is, by far, the best way to pay for private college tuition, bar none!