Education Articles from College Matching Service

While in college your main target is to study properly, retain critical material, and grow as an individual. However, earning money is also an essential part of college. In college, there are many ways to earn a dime, try getting a campus job, working the campus bookstore, becoming a tutor, being a note taker, etc. Search for different ways to make money at your school and you’ll find an array of money earning techniques.

Outside of campus we have retail stores, fast food junctions, hotels, or movie theaters. These jobs are of interest to students in the college community because they often provide decent hours and a flexible work schedule. Majority of second and third year college students work in these types of jobs because there is not much responsibility involved and the work is easy. As you grow older, it is advisable to tailor  your work opportunities to fields that will provide working experience for your chosen major. For example, if you hope to get into the field of medicine, try applying to the student health center for work or try interning at local pharmacy.

Prospective employers often seek student workers because most students lack experience and so are comfortable with the minimum wage. Part time jobs in college will be a great advantage for you to increase your employment options according to your preferences. Say if your goal is to opt for teaching, in future, then working for online mystery shopping, at the college level will not help you in your career. This may help you to satiate your economic requirements for the time being. Your employer may not value your experience as a mystery shopper while opting for teaching jobs.

The qualification and degrees you gain from college are completely different from on job experiences. Employers give extra advantage, if you have some experience along with your qualification. So, to search a job soon after your graduation won’t be much difficult, if you can acquire some relevant experience, when you are in college.

Acceptance into an institution of higher learning signifies your journey to adulthood. There are so many things available for you in college like a more well-rounded education, opportunities for new experiences, and the possibility of laying foundations of friendships to last a lifetime. It is the best time to explore the real world (the one you inhabit and the one you will find in your academic journey). In fact, one of the best ways to prepare for that real world is to get involved with the college activities and college programs. Becoming involved will enable you to get familiar with the college community and help you gain an experience that will follow you beyond your college graduation date.

The following are some major benefits of getting involved with college activities:

You can make several new friends:

Getting involved at the various college activities will enable you to meet and interact with several fellow students, seniors as well as students from other colleges. This helps you to get rid of the isolated feelings you had in the beginning of your college term. Moreover, this will allow you to get exposed to diverse culture and opportunities which may prove beneficial in your future.

You can have some fun:

Though the main objective of your college years is to gain knowledge by studying and attending lectures, they can often become overwhelming. Therefore getting involved with extra curricular activities will help you to relax and calm any anxiety you may feel about your classes.

You can build a foundation for teamwork and leadership skills:

Good teamwork and leadership qualities are valued in every high performing organization. These college activities provide you with several opportunities to expand your leadership potential, while experiencing unfamiliar situations. In some college courses,  you may need to work in groups or even lead a group, so achieving these skills in campus organizations will help you obtain future success in endeavors outside of these extracurricular activities.

You can learn to balance time and commitments:

The ability to multi-task and be time efficient are essential factors you need to own before entering the professional world. There will be your personal life and professional commitments and will have limited time to fulfill both. Being involved at college activities will also keep you busy outside your classroom. However, you will be still expected to maintain your grades and do well. Thereby, this is a great opportunity to have a glimpse of the real world.

Final exams only days away? Loaded with stacks of notes, but can’t make any sense of it? Welcome to the reality and nightmare of student life!

The majority of the students fall into the trap of trying to write everything down that falls out of the Professor’s mouth. Believe it or not, you do not have to write out everything they say. Yet, while you don’t have to write down everything the Professor says, it’s a good habit to listen to every word spoken. Listen carefully for repeated words or phrases as this is an indicator of what the Professor values in his lecture and what may arise again in research paper prompts or exams. The challenge with every class is not taking down notes, but learning how to use those notes efficiently in preparation for exams.  For those students who are habitual front-benchers, diligently attending lectures and making copious notes, you might find it difficult to translate those notes into good grades- even more so for those students who rarely make it to lectures. Exams often include theories and concepts that go beyond the text and material stated in class and so you may find yourself struggling with the notes you’ve prepared in class.

To avoid sleepless nights and mind-wrecking tension, below are some note-taking mistakes you may want to stop practicing.  Below are tips to help you with notes, but for those struggling to make sense of what they have already, I advise you to code your work. Highlight those words repeated in lecture, reading material, and discussions. As you go through your notes, you will see a pattern emerge and possibly a thread that ties concepts together (and your color-coded words will definitely help with this practice). Should you find yourself struggling with your notes despite the tips below, you may want to take notes on your notes! It sounds silly, but the material you take out of your original set may be more relevant to the assignment or exam in question. A good rule of thumb for me was to revise my notes, using the coding system I mentioned above, after I received an assignment or before an exam so that I  can tailor what I pull from my notes to reflect what is needed for my assignment- doing this allowed me to focus on specific theories and facts and also narrowed my field of study to what is most relevant at the time.

Mistake No. 1: Trying to record everything.

You might tend to think that taking down every word the speaker utters will make your notes more helpful. The results are, however, quite the contrary. When taking down all that is said, you will lose out on precious time needed to think and connect material. Listening is a student tool in lectures and every student should learn to use this tool effectively. Speeches are generally built around a principal idea with a carefully prepared outline. While taking notes, it is essential to analyze the various ideas discussed and see how they fit in with each other. Such expansive notes only make it more difficult to sift through and retain necessary information. You can just make a note of the important phrases, terms or ideas discussed by the speaker and then make a summary.

Mistake No. 2: Making notes without prior preparation.

If you haven’t read up on the topic to be discussed or gone through the previous class’s notes, you will find it extremely difficult to keep up with the discussion. You will lose precious time trying to figure out what the important ideas or facts are that are being delivered in the lecture or reading material. It is advisable that you go through the previous notes and reading material so that you can easily identify the important parts of the lecture and structure your notes in a more efficient and effective manner.

Mistake No. 3: Tolerating distractions.

Students are easily distracted by talkative classmates, cell phones, and even their own imaginative minds. Such disturbances interfere with the listening efficiency, thereby hindering the learning process. Try to adjust to the distractions or simply avoid them. Choose a place that is far from any kind of noise and commotion and where you can see and hear the speaker clearly.

In college or at university, a student becomes his own task manager. In essence, you become your own boss, meaning you are not forced to attend class and you are not forced to do your work. The decisions become your own entirely. If a student doesn’t do their work properly, no one forces him to do so. The sudden transition to this type of lifestyle may seem difficult for many to adjust, especially during the beginning stages. However, there is a solution. Students can involve themselves in college study groups; these help students stay focused and develop great study skills and habits. Involvement with college study groups helps students to achieve good grades, further their student academic career, and also the opportunity to build lasting foundations of higher learning with their peers.

How To Involve Yourself In College Study Groups

• You must always try to form study groups at the beginning of your semester. Take time and watch the study habits of different students; form your own study habits accordingly. This will help you to discriminate between the dedicated students and the lazy ones.

• Select different types of peers. Form small study groups because big groups may create too much confusion. If possible, look for individuals having specific study expertise such as critical thinking and note taking.

• Encourage students to join the study group. Try to approach them separately and explain why you are interested in establishing study groups. Explain your purposes and intention in detail. They will surely understand the importance of forming study groups and will take part in it.

• Hold preliminary meetings with the study group members. Create an operating guideline that every study group member must follow. Consult everyone, and select a particular time and day that works for all students on a regular basis. If possible, make the study location a spot that is conducive to learning. This is to say that a quiet location would be more beneficial to learning than one more boisterous.

• Exchange contact information with all the group members. Collect their email addresses and phone numbers. Each member within the study group must be capable of contacting each other whenever they face any problem regarding study concers. It is necessary to communicate openly for the smooth running of the study group.

• Most important, divide the work evenly. Getting a good grade comes with full understanding of the material. While you may have your own section to work on, it will not hurt to skim the material designated for other group members.

Your college advisor plays a significant role in your quest for higher education. College advisors provide you with information about various colleges and help you figure out the best route to take in college. In addition, they also encourage your creativity, develop your sense of responsibility, as well as your leadership skills.

The following are some guidelines that will help you get the best relationship with  your college advisor:

• Try to contact your college advisor as early as possible. This is very important for setting the foundation of your relationship and subsequent visit. Early contact with you advisor will help you both to  know each other better,, which ultimately is the best scenario for you- if he knows what you want, you are more likely to get it.

• Provide all your reports to the advisor, like information about the result of transfer and applications and report of each term from the University supervisor. This will help them study the reports and discuss the outcomes with you. They can also help you to resolve issues and will communicate with relevant University department on your behalf.

• Your college advisor may also have other advisees with a different expectation. Therefore, it is your responsibility to clearly specify your expectations. Similarly, your advisor also needs to explain your responsibilities.

• Once you start with your graduate courses, try to contact with your advisor once a term or at least once a year. You can conveniently contact them via telephone or Internet or by an actual meeting.

• When your college advisor identifies specific problems, ask your tutor for graduates or your senior tutor to take appropriate actions. Bring the matter to the attention of your college committee or department in case it is a general issue.

• Participate in the annual progress review to discuss your academic progress. If you have any issues raise it in the presence of your college advisor, head of department and teaching assistant or senior tutor. This will help you to resolve issues effectively.

A brilliantly written research paper is a great achievement for any student. If you really wish to make a mark with your creative power, then you have to be very particular while creating your research paper. It is not mandatory for you to follow any guideline. But if you follow them, then they can help you to achieve your goal in a short span of time. Some of them are enlisted below:

• Topic: Decide upon the topic and after you have already decided, make sure that it is fascinating and interesting. After you have decided the topic, make sure that you go in the right way. The approach is extremely important. Your approach must be such that you hit the point and illumine the main issues without deviating from the main topic.

• Draw up a detailed outline: Drawing up a detailed outline would help you to control your data. You can actually reorganize your data in the right way. You should explicitly mention your point of view. In order to support them, you can use quotes and notations. But they should be restricted to the purpose of exemplification and not endlessly throughout the text.

• Digesting random facts: While you write an outline, you will obtain the prerequisite of all good writing. That means, you will naturally “think through” your material. This “thinking through” is also known as “digesting” your random facts. This is done naturally as you proceed through the text. You can actually pick up enough points which you can utilize later.

• Writing clear copy: The next step is to write a clear copy. The first draft may be full of deleted items, added ones. After you are through with your work, take a day’s rest. This will give some rest to your brain. After that you have to revise your work thoroughly. The most important task is editing your work. If you do not edit your work, then there will be lots of mistakes which may have escaped your eyes. Therefore, make sure to edit your work before publishing.

In the US, the Student Senate serves a vital role in the democratic process- every student has the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. Most colleges or universities have a Student Senate. The student senate is an autonomous body that has a separate building of their own. Most of the Student Senates maintain a structure like the US government. They are comprised of legislative, judicial, and executive branches. A parliamentary model is followed as well. The different hierarchical figures are known as President, Vice President or a Director.

In other universities, there are separate bodies for graduate and undergraduate levels. Though different organizations function in different ways their basic purpose is always the same, the promotion of collective advancement for the student body.

Most universities and colleges are ruled by a Board of Trustee, and the Student Senate has agreements with this same board. In case of public universities, they are operated by the State legislature. The purpose and responsibilities of these bodies are written down in a constitution and authorized by the students. Some states, like California and Florida, provide this type of student organization in public institutions by law.

The budget of the Student Senate can range from a few thousand dollars to as much as $30 million. Big organizations, like residential universities, enjoy a huge fund while small organizations, like the consumer based public college, have smaller budgets. The American Student Government Association, the professional association for collegiate students keeps an account of the budget, number of members, salaries and the number of recognized clubs of the different Student Senate organizations.

Usually the Student Senate organizations are official on campus organizations. In these organizations the student government leaders usually serve a term of one year but there are exceptions.

Don’t sell yourself short by applying to just one college or not applying to those you think are outside your league. Be confident in your past achievements. Universities don’t want to know what they can do for you, but what you can do for them.  You should choose to go to the school that better suits your goals and educational interests. The goal when applying to colleges is to apply for those top three you’d love to be admitted into and the top 5 that come after that! But lets be realistic, the reason students apply to more than one school is the fear of not gaining entrance into the college of choice.  You are not alone because hundreds and thousands of students face that same dilemma  year after  year. But there are ways to boost your chances of getting admitted to the college of your dreams. Following the steps mentioned below and you will have better chances of studying at your college of choice.

• More important than taking classes is taking tests. Take the SATI and II repeatedly until you are comfortable with your score. Studying is the best way to ensure good scores. Try taking other exams as well, you’d be surprised at how often admission’s officers prefer students who take initiatives.

• The admission essay is one of the single most important factors in the success or failure of your academic pursuit for higher education. Give it your best effort. Think and plan it out well. Make the effort to write a perfect and remarkable essay.

• Take classes for high school and college credit at a nearby community college. The effort will make a good impression on admission officers.

• Join an academic club like National Honors society.

• Take up some tough courses. Learn a difficult language like Chinese or take classes in Calculus. This would help present you as a person who does not shy away from challenges.

• Contact the admission officers and relevant faculty members. Try to request an interview with them as it will project your seriousness as a student.

• If your school doesn’t need SAT scores, that does not mean you should not take the exam. You should take at least one SAT II, and pass on the score to the college.

• Show off your extracurricular talents. Project yourself as a person who is interested in well rounded development. Do something worthwhile during your breaks. You could get yourself involved in anything from a part-time job, to internship, to volunteering, or taking classes. And don’t forget to mention it in your application.

Parents and the environment of the family can place a considerable amount of  influence on a student’s college experience and college performance. In fact, parents need to keep in mind that their students may feel anxious as they prepare to leave their home, family, and friends behind. The adjustment period is not experienced by just the student, but is a collaborative effort by both parties. Parents and students can both ease the stress on the new situation by having open communication- students can never over value the importance of open communication in college settings. Parents can do teh following to help their students adjust to the new college experience.  The following are some tips that will help you to prepare your child for that very special day.

• Try to instill self-confidence and discipline into your children before they enter High School. This will help them with the pressure students experience of personal transformation in their college days as they already have skills to combat negative pressures.

• Since your children will have to stay alone in college dorms, teach them to be organized and responsible. You can ask them to clean their rooms, help you with your weekly shopping, or even to take care of their siblings when you are not around. This will teach them to be organization and accountability.

• Remember that your kids are going through a very sensitive phase in their life. Do not try to over criticize them or even encourage them too much. In fact, most of them are very anxious about the first day of college. So you can share some of your experiences with them, especially if you think this will ease their stress about going to college.

• Try to boost their confidence and  showcase them their achievements. In case they feel worried about their future, let them know that this is normal and things will settle down soon. Tell them that you are there if they ever need you and try to be supportive of their needs. Reassurance goes a long way in easing fears.

• Start teaching some new and essential skills to your child that are necessary for their college years. These include teaching some simple recipes, giving basic house cleaning and laundry tips, balancing check books, and keeping track of credit cards and other bills.

Though these tips may sound silly, these simple efforts will help your child be confident on their first day at college and thereafter.

College advisors are those people who guide students to help them further their goals for attaining higher education. College advisors or counselors help students with the University application process, graduation procedure, choosing majors, obtaining internships and choosing the classes they require to ensure a timely graduation. Students may see advisors for a number of reasons, and they don’t all have to be school related. Building a relationship with your college advisor serves many purposes, like having them write a letter of recommendation. Often times, students don’t build relationships with their Professors- let’s face it, sometimes there are just too many kids per class, so the next best thing is to build one with your advisor.  A perfect college advisor will encourage you and will help you to accomplish your academic goals successfully and efficiently- they know more about the system than you so its best to ask them for counsel when setting up your course loads. However, never forget that being a college advisor is also just a job and like any job, workers can lose interest and just run through the motions. Be selective. Choose an advisor that shows a passion for their work and a willingness to help you excel.

Whom To Choose As College Advisor

You must always choose college advisors who are ready to assist you:

• Navigate the application process start to end
• Plan your high school program for greater fluidity into college
• Plan out your college cirriculum
• Prepare for standardized tests
• Write letters of recommendation (set appointments with colleagues)
• Identify your interests and strengths and find universities that match your requirements
• Understand your financial situation
• Prepare you for interviews

Things You Must Consider During Your Search for a College Advisor

• Select a college counselor who will understand your goals clearly- you must be clear yourself however (they don’t read minds). Do not choose a busy college advisor; it may turn out that he hardly has time to effectively devote to you to come back with a clear understanding of your goals. Check his office hours and see whether he is willing to set appointments with you.

• Discuss his experience. Try to find out if he has contacts that may help you with exposure for internships. If the college advisor chosen by you is well-known in the society, recommendations from him to your future employees will become more meaningful.

• Select a college advisor who has detailed knowledge regarding the requirements of degree programs, college policies, and courses available in your chosen field. Skilled college advisors help you plan your coursework and establish your goals in an efficient manner. He would advise you regarding the courses that best suit your career aspirations.

• Ask about his success strategies. Find out whether he can help you with your education and coursework with tools like, career planning guides and writing centers. Great college advisors will aim to help you further your education goals in a successful and pleasant manner.