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10 Tips for Starting Your College Search
Tweet Share on Facebook December 30, 2009 Comment (9)Many students think picking a college is just a question of SATs and ACTs, GPAs and extracurricular activities, the Ivy League and college rankings. And, to be sure, all of these can go into one's choice of college. But much more important than any of these is the "fit,"the finding of a college where you will feel comfortable and thrive. To help you start your quest for the perfect college for you, we've invited visiting blogger Marilee Jones, former dean of admissions at MIT and coauthor of the book Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond
, to share her insights:
If you are a high school junior, it's time to think about college. With more than 4,000 colleges to pick from, looking for the right college can seem overwhelming—but it's actually an important experience because it will lead you to a deeper understanding of yourself as you gain confidence in your ability to make good decisions. The key is to take it one step at a time. Here are 10 tips to prepare you for a great college search experience:
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10 New Year's Resolutions for College Students
Tweet Share on Facebook December 23, 2009 CommentNew Year's offers everyone—college students included—a brand-new start. And just in case some of you are still in the market for New Year's resolutions, we'd like to respectfully recommend that you make 2010 the year in which you resolve not to be a:
1. College tourist. Some students think they'll show up for class only when the spirit moves them. And when they do deign to appear, these students wind up zoning out anyway, never bothering to take a single note and even dozing off here and there. Being a tourist might be great in Europe, but when you miss 20 percent of the classes and all the info and hints the professor drops about papers and tests, your trip in college isn't going to be the yellow brick road.
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10 Questions to Ask Before Picking a Major
Tweet Share on Facebook December 16, 2009 Comment (5)After picking the college itself, picking a major is the biggest choice you're going to make in college. But as often as not, students have almost no idea what they're getting into when they declare a major. To help you be an informed consumer, here are 10 questions to ask yourself—and others who might know—before signing on the dotted line:
1. Why do I want this major? It's not at all uncommon for a student to pick a major because someone else—almost always a family member—thinks it's a good idea. Maybe that's what mom or dad majored in, or maybe they see the chance to turn you into the biggest earner in family history. But someone else's wishes really shouldn't dictate what you decide to do at college, not to mention, possibly, the rest of your life. That's especially true if it's something that doesn't interest you at all and that you would never have chosen for yourself.
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Parents, Read This if Your Child Is Applying to College
Tweet Share on Facebook December 9, 2009 Comment (8)Holiday time is family time. And family time, in many families, is apply-to-college time. Many parents, despite their best intentions, do more harm than good to their collegebound children during this anxiety-ridden time. So we invited visiting blogger Marilee Jones, former dean of admissions at MIT and coauthor of the book, Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond, to offer some advice to parents of children caught up in the college application maze. Here are her eight "guiding principles":
1. Understand the college admissions process for what it is. Many parents think of college admissions as a competitive battle to be won. But, in truth, it is a key developmental phase to be experienced. This is your child's initiation into adulthood and, at the same time, an important moment in parenting. Your job now is to become your child's "grounding cord"—the calm and confident adult who keeps things safe as your child is exposed to the judgment and serendipity of college admissions officers.
[For more on the process, see the Complete Guide to College Admissions.]
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10 Tips for Success for Engineering Students
Tweet Share on Facebook December 2, 2009 Comment (23)According to a recent survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, one third of college freshmen plan to major in science and engineering, while about 8 percent of all first-year students intend to concentrate in engineering proper. Some of these engineering students are destined to land major leadership roles in the United States and worldwide, while others are . . . well, every field has its "lesser lights."
We were interested in finding out what current engineering students could do to put themselves on the fast track to career success. We invited visiting blogger Edward Crawley, professor of engineering and director of the Bernard M. Gordon Engineering Leadership Program at MIT, to share with us the advice he gives his own undergraduate engineering students. Here are his best tips, most of which would work for any career-aspiring college student:
