Posts Tagged ‘college advice’

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Paying for College

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Recently MSNBC ran an article on Princton Review’s 12 tips for paying for college in these tough times. It’s good advice for all college students on sharenotes.com. I’m not going to reprint the all the tips, but I do strongly recommend you have a look at them. You can see the entire article by clicking here. Instead I thought I’d just cover what I thought where the top four tips that I’ve found useful in my experiences.

1. Apply strategically: Princeton Review says that if you apply to schools which you are over qualified for, you will be far more likely to a great aid package vs if you barely qualify. I have had friends who have scraped by getting into schools by the skin of their teeth and the aid packages offered really reflect that point. It’s almost as if the school is grudgingly allowing you in, but not really interested in encouraging you to go there. If you can afford it great, but they aren’t out to do you any favors.

2. Don’t pay tuition with credit…ever! This is one of those common sense things that you know better, but in a scrape, it’s awfully temping. We’ve done some pieces here on sharenotes.com about the pitfalls of credit cards and college students in the past, which is why I point this one out. College loans can be expensive enough, especially if you have to go private, but nothing racks up like credit debt. The interest rates are usually extreme especially for college students. We all know how much our tuition can be you don’t want to be paying interest on that money forever. It can literally follow you for the rest of your life. Don’t do it.

3. Get your aid early. This is probably the easiest one to follow but so many people allow others to get the aid they might have otherwise received. Federal Aid is limited and given out not only by merit by also in a first come basis. Get in early and get your money. The second half of this is to apply accurately, because your applications can get kicked back to you and your place in line lost. Do it early and do it right and maximize your returns.

4. Be realistic about your degree. This one is probably my favorite because I recently had a family member illustrate this rule all too well. Basically you have to be honest with yourself about what you are going to be making vs what your school costs to complete. There are plenty of equations you can run that will tell you how much you should be able to afford but also a little common sense goes a long way. The family member in question decided to go to a private school to the tune of about 30K per semester. Her desired profession would not even start at that much per year. So after a intervention with a calculator she changed schools after a semester. Do the math upfront so you don’t end up in a deep hole.

those four were probably my favorites but I do suggest that you have a look at the entire article because I think it’s really valuable information for college students. Times are tough and everyone is looking for ways to help pay that sizable college bill. If any of you sharenotes.com users have any other advice that wasn’t covered on the Princeton Review list please feel free to share in the comments section below.

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Something you already know

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

A new study out of California has shown that five times as many students (including high school students) suffer anxiety and other mental health issues than past years… even from the Great Depression. I’m certain that this comes as no surprise to anyone on sharenotes.com as those of us in the trenches understand that anxiety all too well.

We are living in tough times, with high expectations for our lives during a recession that feels like it rivals the Great Depression in it’s magnitude and expanse. The study goes on to outline the specific areas of mental health that have increased over the years and if you really want to read it, the results will be published in a future issue of the Clinical Psychology Review. What I found most interesting however was that the authors of the study found strong, if not conclusive evidence that social factors had a major influence on the results.

In the past you knew only a handful of people, got only a handful of channels, no computers, no social media. Your list of people to compare yourself to was pretty limited to the neighbor’s kid or maybe someone you saw on TV. Now a days everyone’s everything is available to you 24/7. Your circle of friends can quite literally expand world wide and pop culture has made no secret that success and excess are valued commodities. We follow each others tweets about our successes and read Facebook updates “Johnny was accepted to Harvard Law!”. It’s no wonder that we’ve grown up with a heightened sense of competition and expectations.

Marry these high levels of “gotta go big” expectations, the need to show off and keep up with the joneses with the worst economic times in recent history and you’ve got a recipe for mental instability. Our failures are often reasonable, but in today’s transparent society it makes them even more disappointing. It feels like everyone can see every miss-step we take and that can start us down the path to anxiety and depression.

Studies such as this one aren’t necessarily meant to be filed in the “Captain Obvious” file, psychologists struggle to understand where mental unrest comes form so we can find ways to mitigate it. Not just treat it after the fact. This is important in what seems like an overly medicated society. I personally think that a lot of things will begin to heal as the economy gets stronger. Particularly the as unemployment declines. I think all of us on sharenotes.com have had anxiety over entering into a market place with no job for us post graduation.

Do you have thoughts on this topic? we’d like to hear from you! Leave your comments below and join the conversation.

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The Results of Black Friday

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Those of us on sharenotes.com are probably watching the economy a lot closer than a college student probably should. But our future livelihoods depend on it. After the number have been crunched from the big sales weekend it seems as though things turned out okay.

I will say this, at least we did not crash and burn. I would have put money in Vegas on the fact that people just aren’t going to spend, but as it turns out, Black Friday just about broke even. People we’re out in droves… I was out there too so I know first hand but it seems as though people avoided impulse buys that often happen in a strong economy. They did however come out for the deals, which were a plenty. I personally bought a whole bunch of super cheap BluRay discs which is just about all I could afford to spend. It also doesn’t help that they were all for me and I still have a xmas list to fill.

Better news however was that “Cyber Monday” the newly founded tradition of online sales the Monday following Thanksgiving was pretty strong. The sales were up about 20% from last years sales. The economy shows signs of life. Much of the online sales are driven by the tech savvy college aged group who often favor buying online to fighting the crowds. Akamai a internet monitoring site, watched 270 retail sites and reported 4.3 million visitors per minute at on point during the day! I think in the coming years Cyber Monday is going to continue to grow under the clicking right hands of college students.

Hopefully this uptick in online sales is an indicator that our economy might be able to survive this holiday season. Free shipping and blow out deals with major retailers helps, but the shear fact that Americans are still willing to get out there and spend money at all is encouraging. So how about you sharenotes.com, did you get out there and hit the stores? Did you hit the online sales? Did you put what little money you have into some drinks to drown your sorrows? We want to hear form you! Leave your comments below and share you tales of mall crowds or killer deals!

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Unemployment may be here to stay

Monday, October 19th, 2009

I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone on sharenotes.com if I were to say “unemployment is high”. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, even us college students know this much. The problem is, according to some economists, is that because we’ve lost some professions almost completely, a high rate of unemployment may not be going anywhere soon.

There are a few different reasons why this may be the case, most notably is the fact that some jobs are gone almost entirely. The auto industry is suffering massively as is the real estate / banking and constructions industries. These jobs which once were vital in motivating the economy are now most likely gone for good, or at best greatly reduced.

Unfortunately this massive joblessness causes the mother of all catch 22s. With fewer jobs, there are fewer incomes, and income = money. So less money into the economy to stimulate, may mean more layoffs. And so the cycle continues. Also those of us (not me!) that do have money are reticent to spend it. Retirement plans, investments and home equity are being obliterated as we speak. So those that probably can spend just won’t for fear of going broke. And rightly so, I’d probably hunker down too if I have any assets to protect!

So what does this all mean to us? Well luckily most people aren’t going to college with the aspirations of being in car sales, however we do need to more selective of what our future plans entail. We need to know the market we’ll be graduating into and perhaps the level of need and competition. For some of us changing majors are not necessarily an option, but as they say knowledge is power.

If we perhaps take stock of our situation, the economy and the joblessness vs. hiding our heads in the sand, we should have a fighting chance. I wonder though if anyone of you on sharenotes.com have been forced to 180 your professional plans based upon the flailing economy? I invite you to share your story here and further the discussion.

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Cuts Making Degrees Take Longer

Monday, October 12th, 2009

I was reading an article today on MSNBC that reported that these hard times are having more adverse effects besides the more obvious ones like higher tuition. Schools, many of which that are within the sharenotes.com network, are facing cuts that are crippling the schools ability to efficiently guide students to matriculation. Teachers, particularly new and part time ones are being cut and the trickle down effect is that there are less classes and less room IN classes to sufficiently service the students needs.

Kids are being forced to crash (you all know what that means) classes at a much higher extent and many of us are not making it into those classes we need. You miss your classes, particularly when you are those are the only classes you need, and that means a delay to graduation.

Now I have been lucky, I haven’t had to crash a class all that often, and if a class is full, there’s usually an alternative I can take. But can see how that would be a problem for many students. And a cause of major frustration and stress. If you are forced to take classes you don’t really need, well you still have to pay for them. And if you don’t take enough classes, well you can lose your financial aid altogether. Plus many of us just want to be DONE and get out into the job market, even if it’s a bad one, just so we can start making some money vs borrowing it.

The bad news is simple though, tuition is up, schools have more students than ever, less teachers and even with larger classes (read: higher student : teacher ratio) not enough space. Some students simply cannot afford to delay their graduation. Perhaps opting to leave school all together rather than paying another year of tuition they simply cannot afford.

It’s scary to realize all the ways in which this tough economy can domino down the line to effect every facet of American life. So what’s happening in your school? Are you feeling the pinch, and watching your classes swell? Are you standing out side of a class you really need, figuring out the best way to beg the professor to let you in? Like I mentioned before I’ve been lucky, but thre are many students at many schools on sharenotes.com and I know that some of you are suffering the ill effects of budget cuts and high tuition.

We want to hear from you! Leave your comments below and join the discussion with your fellow students.

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