Tuesday, June 26, 2007

In college; in need of $

Ever wondered how to pay for college? Of course there are those whose parents pay for everything, but the rest of us have to find a way to make things work. Scholarships are wonderful, but they don’t usually cover all the costs of college. I am working my tail off trying to figure out ways to scrape by, without the dreaded student loans, so I’ll clue you in to some of the things I have learned with a year of college under my belt.

I’ve already talked about how to prepare to pay for college – HERE’S THE LINK

When you get to college, the most important thing, of course, will be to do well in your classes. Try to keep at least a 3.2 GPA, as this will help you so much in trying to get jobs and scholarships. It is also important to leave yourself some social time, so that you can go out, make friends and have fun!

Your first quarter or semester at college you probably won’t want to work very much (if at all). You’ll be trying to adjust to life on your own and learning how to budget your time. Once you have learned how to use your time wisely, look into getting a job.

Dining halls are an easy option, and they don’t require much time. There are lots of on-campus jobs – in the union, offices, gym, etc. Find one that you don’t hate and decide how much time each week you can devote to working. Got an hour or two between classes? Instead of lounging around somewhere to waste time, you could work in the dining hall or the French department. You could add working hours to your day, without having to sacrifice your nightlife. If you don’t really have enough time between classes, sacrifice one hour a couple nights a week and work one of the weekend days.

Consider tutoring! You can decide when and where you want to work. I love it!

During the school year you can work only a limited number of hours per week, but during the summer you can work as much as you want (provided you can find a job). I’m going to stop here for now, but there’s more to come on creative ways to earn money for school over the summer.

Hasta la vista, baby.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Choosing a college

Okay, today I’m going to talk about what is probably the most important investment you will ever make: your education.

Choosing a college is difficult for most people (don’t worry, you’re not alone). Most people aren’t even sure what they want to be/study yet, and that makes it hard to decide where to go.

If you already have a pretty good idea of what you want to do, definitely find out what schools are known for that area of study. You will want to get more information about these schools, and probably visit a few. If you aren’t well endowed enough financially to go to a private or out-of-state school, find out what school in your state is the best at your area of interest.

If you have no idea what you want to study, start looking at schools that are pretty good at everything. Don’t worry if the schools you are looking at aren’t the best at something, because if you’re not sure what you want to do, you will want the ability to do anything. Let me explain: most of the schools that are really good at one or two things aren’t so great at everything else; schools that are pretty good at almost everything give you the wiggle room to change your major and still to be at a good school for that major.

Now it is time to narrow down your list of possibilities to about three schools. These three should be schools that, from the information you have collected about them, seem like a good fit for you. Then, you will start the visiting! Visit each of the schools on this list at least once (I visited two or three times). You want to get a good feel for the school. Try to ask yourself, “Can I really see myself here for the next four years?”

TIP: Don’t let money play too big a role in your decision. Your education is important, and it is a valuable investment in your future. I had it narrowed down to two schools, one in-state and one out-of-state. I really loved the out-of-state school, but the in-state school offered me a full ride. I took the free education, and it was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. Go to the school that will make you happy, or you’ll probably have to work through the mess of transferring.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Preparation for college: financials

Now it’s time to talk about possibly the most dreaded subject known to man: paying for college.

The first and easiest way to start preparing for possibly the best investment you will ever make is to start saving early. My parents never made me get a job in high school, so I didn’t. I started working the summer after my junior year, stopped during the school year and started again the summer after graduation. I was working, but I hadn’t learned how valuable money really would be to me.

I was making a little money, but, since I hadn’t learned to save, I didn’t work very much and spent what I had on fun. Seriously, I worked somewhere between 10 and 20 hours a week (and thought that that was too much).

What I’m trying to say is that it is smart to get a job in high school, even if you don’t think you need the money. If your parents are still paying all your expenses, you’ll be able to save more than you think. Getting started on the right foot will make everything easier in the future.

You could also put some of that money in a mutual fund and make money off of your money! I’ll explain that more later this week.

Want an even easier way to pay for school? GET SCHOLARSHIPS! All you have to do is do your best in school and be involved. There a thousands upon thousands of scholarships out there, you just have to get one (or a few). The easiest to get are sponsored by the school you will attend, and are usually either merit-based or need-based. (I’m talking about merit-based, which are usually based on grades and test scores.) If that falls through, visit www.fastweb.com for a huge list of available scholarships. Plenty of these aren’t based on G.P.A., but you will probably have to write some essays.

It’s usually pretty easy for incoming freshman to find a little scholarship money, but if that isn’t enough, there are also ways for continuing students to get more scholarships. More to come on this topic.

This has basically covered how you can prepare to pay for college – I will get into scraping money together while already in college at a later date.

SUMMARY: start saving early and try to get scholarships!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Preparing for college: activities

Grades are one important factor for getting into college, but there is another biggie to remember: extracurricular activities.

Colleges want well-rounded students. This trend is a little different than things were when our parents went to school. Colleges like intelligent students that do well in school, sure, but they also like to see students that do pretty well in school and are involved in a few activities.

Basically, they want to know that you’re not either (1) too lazy to get off the couch/computer and (2) a study bug with no social skills. They want the kind of people that can handle life and that will do well in the real world.

Grades still matter, but it’s the whole picture that really counts.

So what kind of activities should you choose? Whatever you like! Schools these days have so many options, just choose something you like to do and have fun with it. Not everyone can be class president, but you can participate in plays/musicals, band/orchestra, language clubs, sports…the list goes on and on (and is even longer when you get to college).

Sometimes it is good to choose one type of activity that you really like and really commit to it, but some other times it’s good to choose a few activities that you enjoy. I danced for a few years, ran track for two years, was involved in French Club/French National Honor Society, National Honor Society and was in as many musicals as possible. Add homework (to get those good grades) to all of that and I was usually pretty busy, but man I had so much fun in high school!

Not only do the activities you choose help you to get into the college of your dreams, but also they help you develop as a person (and, of course, give you more ways to have fun than GTA ever could).

PS Your activities also open you up for more scholarships.

Preparing for college: grades

I’m going to kick off with a little series for those not yet in college. Basically, these posts will include the information that I wish I would have known when I was in high school. I’m planning to do about four posts on this subject: Grades, Extracurricular activities, Finances and Choosing the right school.

I always did well in school. I have always had that inner drive to do my best. However, I never realized how important grades could really be until the end of the first semester of my sophomore year – I found out for the first time my G.P.A. and class rank. It was so strange to be a number, just one number in a class of almost 700 numbers. Fortunately, I had a good number.

DON’T LET YOURSELF BE DEFINED BY A NUMBER.

Your teachers might try to convince you otherwise, but you are not your G.P.A. Your G.P.A. is simply a number that shows how well you have been doing in school and how you stack up next to everyone else in your class; it is not you. A good G.P.A. comes in handy, but it is not everything.

Don’t stress over your grades, but do try to do your best. The best for one person may be a 4.0, but the best for another might be a 2.9. Prime example: I graduated with a 4.07, and my brother was happy to graduate with a 3.2. Don’t worry if you don’t get straight A’s, but always strive to do the best you possibly can.

Why should you care about grades? Of course, you should want to do well in everything you do, but aside from that, why do grades matter?

Grades are one of the factors that will determine where you can go to college. Every university has a list of criteria for determining whether to admit a student. This list usually includes many of the same factors (G.P.A., class rank, test scores, etc.), but not all universities rank these factors in the same order. For example: Ohio University may value test scores (ACT/SAT) more than any other factor, so you could be admitted with good test scores, even if your G.P.A. and class rank weren’t so great. On the other hand, Ohio State might value your class rank the most and might admit you with good standing, even if, as a poor test taker, you didn’t do as well on standardized tests. (These are just examples and are not in any way indicative of the criteria of these universities.)

I’ll leave you with one last thought: good grades can help you get good scholarships! (I’ll explain more about that later.)

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Hello!

Hi!

I am putting this together as a comprehensive source of information of all things related to college. I'm going to start with a few posts about some of the things I wish I would have known about saving up for college, selecting a college and the first year at college. After that I'll get into more for students already in university life. Basically, I'm hoping to share some valuable info with those who need to know-mainly high schoolers and college students.

So who am I to put this together? I am entering my sophomore year at the Ohio State University. I started college at Ohio University (different). I had no grasp of anything financial; in fact, I had only chosen OU because I had been offered a full ride. I learned so much that first year, and I realized that there are a lot of things I wish I had learned even earlier. I want to make this information available, so that no one else will have to go through what I did.

A bad first year at college can be scarring, possibly even enough to make a student decide not to return. I hope to share some ways to make sure that this doesn’t happen to you.

College is supposed to be fun, right? Yeah! It’s also supposed to be a huge learning and growing experience. As I continue to learn and grow, I’m going to try to show you how to have fun at the same time.

To sum things up: I’m going to try to post about everything college – from beginning to end. I want to include everything pertinent, from financials to classes to fun.

Later, gator!