Category Archives: college planning

college planning, internships

College without internships…

…is like cereal without milk, chocolate without peanut butter, and the perfect dress without the perfect shoes!

Seriously though, with all the competition in college for jobs after graduation, you can’t afford to ignore the importance of an internship. We are also recognizing the fact that an internship in high school might be the perfect springboard to help your student pick a major, a college, and eventually a career.

Matthew Zinman, creator of Internship Success, a program created to help students make the most of their internships and provide employers with prepared interns, is offering my readers (and friends) first dibs on a federal grant subsidy. The grant provides a $100 credit toward’s Matthew’s online Career Preparation Certification (CPC) and professional skills training course at InternshipSuccess.com.

The grant provides for 250 registrants to reduce the course fee by more than half. So I invite you (and others you may let know) to use one or more of these credits now available for both the individual and group registration (use “DOLgrant” in the course credit code): http://www.internshipsuccess.com/Register.aspx

Those who take advantage will find this step-by-step course to be very comprehensive. It has three hours of self-paced instruction and 70+ supplemental career-support downloads for students and other job-seekers to get the right internship, gain the most meaningful experience and perform at their best to EARN employment.

In short, this is what isn’t learned in class.

Matthew reminds us, “A college degree is no longer sufficient for graduates to access the current job market. I’ve made it my life’s work to make internships matter and afford those every opportunity to succeed because I firmly believe there is no substitute for experience.”

If you have a student in college, know a college student, or are an employer who uses interns, take advantage of this AMAZING OFFER.

college planning, financial aid, Guest Posts, parenting

How Students Can Graduate from College Debt Free

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Here’s some advice from Ellie Kay, America’s family financial expert, geared specifically toward parents about how to help their students graduate from college debt-free. As we all know, student debt is a major problem for recent graduates across the country. Currently the total student loan debt in America exceeds 1 trillion dollars! It can be difficult to graduate debt free, but if you have the right advice and common sense it can be done!

Hearing from a financial expert is great, but hearing from a parent who has been able to apply wise financial advice and help her kids graduate debt-free is even better!

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college planning, organization, parenting, Uncategorized

Back to School Resources for parents and students

My favorite lines from “You’ve Got Mail” are:

“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”

Newly sharpened pencils always remind me of back to school days. And when fall comes around, I think about that movie (mostly wishing I were in New York in the fall!); but it also reminds of the promise and expectation of a new school year.

Armed with the right online tools, parents and students can face the new year with anticipation and promise. Having the right tools can mean the difference between organization and frustration. These tools would help students succeed as they enter college. Here are some excellent links that I shared with my newsletter subscribers today that I thought you might find helpful:

42 digital resources for students and parents

http://mashable.com/2011/08/16/back-to-school-student-tech/

7 Great online resources for students

http://www.jobacle.com/blog/7-great-online-resources-for-students.html

Coolest Free Online Resources for Students

http://www.radicalparenting.com/2008/04/17/coolest-free-online-resources-for-students/

9 Hot Web Tools for Students

http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/497

Educational Quiz Games, Homework Help

http://quizhub.com/quiz/quizhub.cfm

How to find great apps

http://theonlinemom.com/secondary.asp?id=1952&t=how-to-find-great-apps

How to get free books online

http://theonlinemom.com/secondary.asp?id=1949&t=how-to-get-free-books-online

25 Amazing web tools students can’t live without

http://listofonlinecolleges.org/2011/25-amazing-web-tools-online-college-students-cant-live-without/

 

Here’s hoping you and your student have a fabulous school year as you look toward college preparation and the future.

 

college guidance, college planning, Guest Posts, parenting

Prepping students for life as a college student

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Parents, you have spent nights up with your kids when they were sick, read over homework assignments, and been a listening ear to their rough days at school. Fast forward to their senior year of high school and now your child is an adult. While no one can turn back the clock, there are several actions you can take now to ensure your child is prepared to smoothly transition to a college student.

  • Encourage responsibility–While you are still the parent and have an important role in your future college student’s life, promote independence. For example, set boundaries with your child if you will be sending money regularly. Also, determine consequences if your child abuses money that you send such as by not sending additional funds until the next semester. Let your child know that you will be available to listen and offer suggestions, but the ultimate responsibility lies with them. There has to be a balance between being a parent and treating your child as an adult.
  • Encourage your child to avoid getting into debt, when possible–Many students and their families receive financial aid packages that include grants and loans. With this in mind, encourage your child not to incur further debt such as credit card charges or overdraft bank fees. Offer suggestions for your child to save money and establish a budget to cover the expenses that come with the college life. Examples of suggestions would be to work part-time on campus, purchase food at the grocery store, and limiting entertainment expenses.
  • Encourage your child to use the resources available on campus–The college experience is more than attending classes, but will hopefully allow your child to learn new things and meet new people. So, when your child needs help with talking to a professor, dealing with a rude roommate, or finding an internship, advise him or her to seek out the appropriate organizations and individuals for assistance. While you maybe tempted to speak to someone to help your child, keep in mind that ultimate responsibility remains with your child.
  • Encourage your child to maintain balance–Don’t be surprised if your child calls you from college and mentions his or her increased stress levels from classes. Remind your child to seek out attending counseling, participating in fitness courses, eating properly, or taking a brisk walk around campus with friends. Certainly, preparing your child for college will be a time of anxiety for you because you ponder over whether you taught your child and equipped them with the tools necessary for survival in the world. Now is the time to trust yourself that your child is ready to attend college and be available to encourage him or her along the way!

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Today’s guest post is from Ashley Hill, founder of CollegePrep Ready. Ashley brings her knowledge, expertise, and compassion to helping junior and high school students and their families to successfully prepare for college. She founded CollegePrep Ready in July 2010 in response to her personal journey to achieving success in her undergraduate program. She is dedicated to developing an individualized plan of action for every student and family because no two students are alike.

 

college housing, college planning, dorm life, Guest Posts

Ship2School makes move in day bearable

I’m always looking for services that parents and students will find helpful throughout the college admissions process. When my daughter moved from south Texas to Boston for college, it was a nightmare as you can imagine. I wish I had known about these type of services. It would have made our move half way across the country bearable!

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Arriving at college on move-in day is an experience that is filled with strong emotions. Incoming freshman and their families want the college experience to be great, and can also appreciate that it is going to be the start to a new phase of their life – one full of challenges, discoveries, and wonderful achievements. At Ship2School, we want to get everyone off to a great start to this new path in life by making the actual process of moving in as easy and hassle-free as possible. We do this by simplifying the way your college-bound freshman gets their stuff from their room at home to their room at school. With our service, you will receive a box-kit that come in packs of 6 or 12 sturdy boxes, packing tape, and box labels to print out. How much you want to bring is entirely up to you! After all the boxes are packed, we will come by and pick them up and then have them sent straight to the dorm – from nearly anywhere to just about everywhere!

We start the process of simplifying your lives before the acceptance letters even start rolling in. As soon as you and your child start to discuss college preparation, we are ready to help you take one huge thing off your mind – getting all of your college-bound freshman’s things to their school, even before you know where they’re headed to in fall! You can go to the Ship2School website, fill out an order, and then let us know when the final decision has been made!

After the order has been placed, the college or university has been decided upon, and you’ve received your box-kit from us, you can tackle what’s next for you and your college-bound young adult – packing! The best advice we have for the sometimes overwhelming process of college packing is to make lists for 1) essentials, 2) maybes, 3) don’t needs, and 4) we’ll get laters. On our blog, we’ve written a lot about the process of packing for college, and you and your daughter or son can also do some searching and asking around for extra tips. For more information on packing, including our suggestions check here!

Once packing is finished and you’ve arranged for pick up and drop off with Ship2School, the real payoff comes on move-in day. There’s no loading the car or sitting in a cramped car for sometimes many hours while you try not to think about much stuff there is! You can enjoy all the free time and space you would otherwise be missing and have a more pleasant ride to campus. Once you’ve arrived, there’s no unloading of the car, so you and your family can just stroll into your freshman’s dorm relaxed and comfortable knowing that they will have more time to get themselves settled into their new situation.

Our Ship2School service delivers right to their dorm building and is very affordable, with highly competitive rates by locale and destination. For an extra $199 you can even upgrade and get the white-glove treatment and we’ll put their stuff right in their dorm room! Right now you can get $25 off any order. As well, we’re having a contest where one lucky student can ride like rockstar and show up move-in day with their friends in a limo!

Our best wishes to all those heading off to college and their families!

Check out us on Ship2School.com, follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook!

college costs, college planning, financial aid

Is it possible? Can it be done? Is it affordable?

My good friend Jeff Sheely over at the College Money Insider created this amazing Infographic about the college admissions process and what it takes to accomplish your goal of attending college.

If you’re a parent of a college-bound teen you may be asking yourself the same question, especially as it relates to paying for the education. You might want to jump over to my blog at CollegeParenting.com (The #1 Question Parents Ask Me) to check out my suggestions and then take a look at Jeff’s infographic to help you visualize the process.

View Original Size

Copyright © 2011 Student Loan Marketplace
 

college costs, college guidance, college planning, parenting

Would your student like the Sony S Series laptop?

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I’ve been blogging about this laptop for about a week now in the hopes that you can make an informed choice about the right laptop for your student.

Parents usually have a few simple questions about this type of purchase:

  1. Is it affordable?
  2. Is it durable and dependable?
  3. Will the laptop last throughout their high school and/or college careers?

Students on the other hand want to know the following:

  1. Does it have enough memory?
  2. Is it wireless and does it have a built in camera?
  3. Can I use it for watching movies, streaming videos, and gaming?
  4. Are there enough usb ports to plug in all my devices?
  5. How long will the battery last?
  6. How much does it weigh since I’ll be carting it back and forth to class?

Since my knowledgeable geek colleagues (and I say this with all due respect) have done an amazing job of reviewing the Sony S Series laptop to answer both parent and student questions, I’m going to defer to their expertise and post links to all of their informed posts.

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DON’T FORGET TO ENTER MICROSOFT’S CONTEST to win a FREE SONY S SERIES LAPTOP WITH SHEET BATTERY!

Deadline for entering is July 17, 2011 7PM PST.

Entering is easy. Just answer the question: What would you do if you had up to 15 hours of battery life?

Enter here!

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This post is part of program called “Charged and Ready” by Sony Electronics and Microsoft, where a group of college bloggers have been given a Sony VAIO-S series laptop to test and review.

college costs, college planning, Uncategorized

Charged and Ready–Sony Delivers!

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I can’t tell you the number of times my laptop battery has run down while I was at a coffee shop, on an airplane, or in the hospital waiting room. My old IBM Thinkpad’s battery holds a charge for about 4 hours and then it’s time to plug it in. My son’s Mac lasts about 6-7 hours, depending on the usage. That’s why when Sony introduced me to their 15 hour battery life laptop, I jumped at the chance to check it out.

Let’s be realistic—college students need a laptop that stays charged and ready. They are on the go between classes, study groups, the library, coffee shops, and their dorm rooms. They travel back and forth between home and college, and even study abroad all around the world. Air travel, train travel and long car trips lend themselves to utilizing the laptop for all sorts of tasks: gaming, reading, studying (I had to add that as wishful thinking) and Skyping with friends and family. Rarely is there a convenient plug available if your battery needs a charge (especially on an airplane or other public place).

Does Sony’s S series laptop with extended battery address this problem and answer the call for college students everywhere? Decide for yourself by reading my “a day unplugged” journal.

7:45AM-Starbucks—unplugged with added battery pack (100% available on both batteries)

This is one of my favorite morning destinations and it’s always crowded. I didn’t have to look for a seat near outlets–great freedom. I booted up the laptop and checked email, communicated on Twitter, updated my Facebook Fan page and downloaded several articles for blog posts. The Wifi worked seamlessly on the ATT network. There is a button on the laptop keyboard that allows you to switch from “speed” to “stamina” to conserve battery life. Since I wasn’t using any graphics programs or other programs that required quick response, I switched it to “stamina” to conserve the battery life. I noticed the laptop turned off the DVD-CD-BR player to conserve energy as well.

Worked two hours and still have 88% battery remaining (11 hours 42 minutes)

At this point, I turned the Wifi off by using a convenient “wireless on/off” button on the front of the laptop. I spent two more hours working on blog posts and articles completely unplugged.

1:00PM-Barnes and Noble (after a short lunch break and powering down)

I have never understood it, but our local store only has ONE plug located in the coffee area. But with this laptop, there is no need to fight for the one plug because I still have 9 plus hours left on my battery. After booting up (which occurs rather quickly with Windows 7), I turned on Wifi and checked my email and social media.  I also plugged in my headphones and decided to live stream news on the Casey Anthony drama (yes, I’m obsessed!). I posted a blog and read some blogs related to college admissions. Then I turned off the Wifi again to work on another article and conserve the battery.

Still have 71% of my battery life remaining (7 hours and 25 minutes). I love the flexibility and the fact that this gives me an entire day to work on the go and without need for carrying around burdensome power chords to recharge.

4PM and I still have 49% of my battery remaining (5 hours 33 minutes)

I just witnessed an altercation over the one and only plug in the store. Another reason this laptop gets an A+ rating from me for battery life!  I would have had to stop hours ago to find a plug or leave the store altogether. I’ve been switching my Wifi on and off manually, conserving the battery. I posted another blog, responded to several emails, and wrote two more articles. It’s been a productive day and it’s not over yet!

During dinner, I left the laptop on and carried it into the kitchen for some Manilow tunes (showing my age here) from his new album 15 Minutes in my iTunes library.

8PM-Twitter Chat with 37% of battery remaining (4 hours 12 minutes)

I attended two Twitter Chats simultaneously (#theonlinemom and #campuschat) opening two windows to watch and participate.

Afterwards, I turned off the Wifi and worked on my book for 2 hours while listening to music with the headphones plugged in to the laptop.

10 PM Time to call it a day with 17% battery remaining (2 hours 4 minutes)

I decided to end the day with a late night movie and my favorite actress Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia), popped into the DVD/CD/BR player on the laptop.

After the movie was over, there was 3% battery remaining. I managed to go the entire day without plugging this little jewel in to recharge, leaving it on all day. It powers down when not in use, conserving the battery life.

Is this a good investment for your high school or college student? Speaking from experience I would say unapologetically–YES!

If you think this might be the best laptop to help your student succeed in college, please visit Sony’s online store to check out all your options and be sure to take advantage of their FREE student battery offer. 

If you would like to win one of these laptops for FREE, Microsoft is currently running a laptop give-a-way sweepstakes. The lucky winner gets a shiny new Sony S – Series laptop (including the 15 hour sheet battery option). It’s easy to enter and worth your time to CHECK IT OUT!

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Check back later this week as I outline “my personal favorites” related to this laptop and how it could benefit your soon-to-be or current college student.

This post is part of program called “Charged and Ready” by Sony Electronics and Microsoft, where a group of college bloggers have been given a Sony VAIO-S series laptop to test and review.

college costs, college planning, Uncategorized

Choosing the right computer for college

When my daughter was ready for college, she had hardly even used a computer. We had one computer in our home and that was my home office/work desktop. She was allowed to use it for research and type papers for school, but that was the extent of her computer usage. The college she chose to attend was a top-tiered business university and required all their incoming freshmen to purchase IBM laptops as a part of their initial fees upon acceptance.

That laptop was her best friend during her four years of college. She carried it to class with her. She used it for in-class presentations. It accompanied her to Paris and London to study abroad. She also used it to communicate with her family and friends at home via email and messenger. It became an invaluable tool in her college education in the world of business. Her university was one of the first to incorporate technology in and out of the classroom, having an actual NYSE trading room on campus.

When my son started to college after the military, he opted to go the Mac route with a MacBook. He’s a Mac user at heart (my daughter loves the PC solely based on her first experience with computers). But both would say that they couldn’t have graduated successfully without their trusty computers.

I say all of this to underscore the importance of having a reliable computer while in college; and that was 10 years ago. Today, it’s more than a luxury as it was when she attended—it’s a necessity. In just 10 years our world has changed dramatically and there isn’t a college student alive that doesn’t have either a desktop or a laptop to use for their studies. Choosing the right computer has become almost as important for parents and students as choosing the best fit college.

Laptop vs Desktop

Based on my own kids’ experiences, I would recommend that you purchase a sturdy, durable, dependable laptop.  Laptops represent portability and convenience. They also take up less space in a dorm room and can be carried back and forth from college to home if necessary.

You want one that holds a charge throughout the day. Your student will need one that is wireless ready, with a camera and some multimedia software included. They are going to be doing presentations in college that require photo editing software, perhaps video editing software and the necessary Microsoft Office for word processing and charts and graphics.

Which laptop should you choose?

If you’re like me (unless you’re a tech geek), it’s hard to tell one laptop from the next. There are Macs and PCs and the laptop scenery is massive and varied. You and your student have to decide which best fits their needs and lands within your price point. Choosing a laptop is much like choosing a car—you want the best bang for your buck and you want one that is dependable and reliable.

Sony has just released a new laptop targeting the college student population. During the next week, I will be talking about this new product and whether or not it might meet your student’s needs during college. It’s a key investment and I hope to help you make the right decision.

In the meantime, here’s a short video to whet your appetite.

 

 

This post is part of program called “Charged and Ready” by Sony Electronics and Microsoft, where a group of college bloggers have been given a Sony VAIO-S series laptop to test and review.

 

admissions, college planning, Guest Posts

Getting a Leg Up by Socializing Admissions

To many students and parents the college search, application, and decision process can be very overwhelming.  Students work with their high school counselors, siblings, and friends to figure out which school is the right “fit” for them … all the while not truly understanding what happens on the “other side of the table” at the colleges they looking at.

For admissions representatives it is getting harder and harder to truly get to understand what motivates a student as well.  With the advent of the Common App and easy to complete online applications, schools are seeing a surge in application numbers while still trying to figure out the best way to personalize the admissions process for the students that are truly interested in their school.

Enter Zinch.

Zinch.com is a social communication platform that enables students to better manage their college search, while allowing college admissions representatives to connect with students that are interested in their school.  Using Zinch a student can create their first professional profile to “showcase themselves” during their college search.

Traditionally colleges have recruited students with partnerships with the College Board and ACT to segment students by their standardized test scores, get a list of student names, and send recruitment messages.  This practice fuels the misconception that the most important thing schools look at is a student’s SAT or ACT score during their admissions decisions.  On Zinch, students are more than a test score. Colleges on Zinch (close to 1,000 of them) reach out to students based on their interests, the type of school(s) they are most interested in, extra-curricular activities, and more … making a student with a complete profile attractive to colleges!

Zinch makes admissions social as well. College Admissions Officers have profiles that they use to respond to student questions on their school’s page, reach out to students from their geographic area, and be “on call” to answer questions a student has about their application process, financial aid, or anything else they can think of while they are looking at schools.  This breaks down the barriers of a traditional “one way” college search.  All of this in addition to close to $2 Billion in scholarships to apply for, study abroad and test prep opportunities to explore, and educational discounts on computers and books exclusive to Zinch members.

Zinch is free to join, and searching for schools or scholarships does not require a registration.  Students only register when they are ready to apply for scholarships and reach out to specific schools.

See you on Zinch!

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Today’s guest post was submitted by Gil Rogers, Director of Marketing and Outreach for Zinch.com.  Gil recently joined Zinch after nearly 5 years at the University of New Haven in West Haven, CT where he served as Associate Director of Admissions and Enrollment Technology.  While at UNH Gil supervised the undergraduate admissions recruitment staff, as well as reviewed application for admission to the university.

 

 

Helping parents navigate the college maze