Getting into College: Questions to Ask Your Guidance Counselor December 18th, 2012
Do You Have All of Your Core Classes Completed?
There’s a free college resource in your very own high school that you may have overlooked. It’s your guidance counselor, the one person who has helped you plot out your course schedule since you came into the school!
While every guidance counselor is different, don’t be so quick to bypass this potential fountain of information.
Make an appointment to speak to your guidance counselor to make sure not only that you are on track in your schooling but also to find out if there is anything else you should be doing to improve your chances of getting into college.
What to Ask Your High School Guidance Counselor
Do I have all of my core classes completed or are there still courses I need to take?
Sometimes a required class just kind of sneaks by you. Or maybe you need to take a course that would help boost your chance of getting into your school of choice. Make sure that you have taken (or at least scheduled) everything that is recommended for students planning to head to college. The time to ask that question is certainly sooner rather than later!
I’m interested in majoring in ____. Do you know of any schools that may be the right fit for me?
Guidance counselors pick up a lot of college info over the years. If you have a specific major or two in mind, it won’t hurt to ask your guidance counselor if they can think of any schools that are known for that major; it may help you discover a school or even a college major that you hadn’t considered before.
If I need a letter of recommendation from you, what are some things that you would like to know about me to make it easier to write?
If your high school guidance counselor is one of the people you plan to request a college letter of recommendation from, you will want to make sure that he or she can see the whole picture. Of course, they have your grades and courseload covered, but they will need to know things like what awards you have won, which activities you are involved with, as well as any out of school leadership or volunteerism roles.
Do you know of any scholarships or grants that could help out a student like me?
While the big national scholarships get all the glory, there are often local-level college scholarships out there for the taking! They may not pay your entire school year in full, but every bit helps! The best part is that local scholarships are usually less competitive, too. Instead of competing with thousands of kids, that number may be significantly reduced when you stick to your part of town!
College Questions
There’s more where that came from! My College Guide has plenty of tips and tricks to keep you on course as you make your way out of high school and into the college that’s the perfect fit for you.
Stay tuned for more about the college search process. You won’t want to miss it!
Image Credit: Flickr, billaday
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WFAA report raises questions about dealings between Kimball’s boys basketball team, Under Armour June 17th, 2012
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The Best Way To Write Proper Solution Of Your Math Questions May 30th, 2012
You’ve finally figured out a solution to your math questions - congratulations! But don’t rejoice yet as if you’ve already answered the math problem. You aren’t finished. Whether you’re writing a solution for your homework, test or a competition, message board, it is also important that you can explain your solution clearly and legibly.
Why? Well, keep in mind that your answer will be shown your teacher, tutor, a math expert, mentor, and so on. These experts aren’t mind readers. So, you have to show them the right way of the solution.
More importantly, mathematics isn’t just about getting the correct answer. What thinking you did is the most important as well as how you solve the problem to get your answer. If your thinking and idea are innovative and brilliant, good for you. It’s also true that your brilliant idea will be valueless if you don’t communicate it with the brilliance.
What makes a perfect math solution? A perfect solution is one which doesn’t require your examiner to think hard. Your thinking should be expressed in exam paper in a clear and concise manner. Once a examiner looks at your solution flow, he/she will proceed from one part to the next part without any problem.
Before writing solution of your math questions, it is important to make a plan how the problem will be solved. If you’ve enough time, you should start with the easier problem then go for the hard problems of the questions. Know what you’ve to assume, define, and know the how you’ll present the important aspects in your math solution. Try to make your answer paper neat and clean. Proper spacing, margins, observing one-line-one-equation, and so on, can make your answer pleasing to the eyes. If it is possible than answer in print and always avoid cursive paragraphs.
Remember that a picture can express a thousand words. If you’re writing out a mechanics or geometry solution, always include a free body diagram. It is easy to describe the solution, as long as they’re drawn precisely. That can also save you from a wordy explanation.
Never forget to check the solution and edit if need. Determine whether you’ve communicated the explanation you thought of devoid of any gaps. Your examiner must get your point as well as know exactly what you wanted to mean. Check your inequalities and equations. If you follow these suggestions then you can solve your math questions very easily and in a precious way.
Tips To Find College Scholarships: 4 Questions To Ask Yourself September 18th, 2011
You don't have to learn how to play the bassoon to get a college scholarship. Photo Credit: Paxsimius
Everyone’s heard about the friend of a friend who got a scholarship to Harvard because of his bassoon-playing prowess. And been told the urban legend of the jock who landed a full ride to his first-choice school – despite his ridiculously low test scores.
But what you don’t hear about are the hundreds of thousands of students just like you who have gotten the scholarship money they need to make their college dreams come true. How? By finding scholarships that match up with their interests, talents and background.
You can do it too! To find a college scholarship that’s right for you, start by asking yourself these four questions.
What do I love to do?
Catalog your interests and activities. Do you play an instrument? Garden? Develop mobile apps just for fun? Research your family’s genealogy? No matter what your hobbies are, chances are good that there are organizations out there who would love to give you a college scholarship for pursuing them.
Make a list and then start your research!
What do I want to major in?
Professional organizations exist for just about every industry you can think of. And most of those? Love to support the next generation of workers. So, if you are fairly certain you know what you want your college major to be, start researching associations that could potentially help you!
What is my family’s background?
There are a great many college scholarships for minorities available, of course. But there are organizations centered around almost every background—if you look. There are scholarships for Polish Americans, Italian Americans and even for women whose family history includes Revolutionary War combatants.
In other words, it pays to do a little research into your family tree—and some surfing on the web.
What scholarship help is available in my neighborhood?
Look around you. Not literally at your neighbors—but at the businesses and organizations in your community. Does the Chamber of Commerce have a college scholarship program? How about the local Boys and Girls Club? There could be dozens of college scholarship opportunities—right in your own backyard!
These are just a few of the ways you can find college scholarships. For more ideas, read about the college scholarship resources you might have missed! And don’t forget to subscribe to our blog—we’ll be bringing you advice for finding great college scholarships all year long!
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4 Questions To Help You Choose Where To Go To College. June 21st, 2011
What does your ideal college look like?
Deciding where to go to college is a big decision – and an exciting one! But in a world full of awesome schools, it can be hard to narrow down your list of places to apply.
The trick is knowing what you really want and need from a college. And to figure that out? You need to know the answers to a few key questions.
What do you want the place you go to college to look like?
Close your eyes and think for a minute. Is the college of your dreams lined with oak trees, or do palm trees dot the scenery? Are you surrounded by a big city, or are you in a small town? Are the buildings old and covered with ivy, or new and modern?
The environment where you go to college in is a big part of the whole experience, so think carefully about where you want to spend the next four years. And remember, you’re just dreaming right now. Practicalities, like financial considerations, can come later.
How many people do you want to go to college with?
This is an important question. After all, the experience you’ll get at a school with 40,000 students will be vastly different from the one you’ll have at a college with only 1,200 attendees. Do you want to be part of a crowd, or would you be more comfortable if you could know all your classmates by name?
When answering this question, think also about the size of your future classes. At a big school, lecture halls can sometimes hold as many as 400 students, which usually translates into less personal attention. At smaller colleges, you’ll probably get more one-on-one time with your professors, but there may not be as many classes to choose from.
What activities do you plan to take part in when you go to college?
If you’re an athlete, you’ll want to make sure the college you choose has a strong athletic program – both competitive and intramural. If theater is your thing, you’ll want to check out the drama programs at colleges you’re considering.
So think about how you want the things you love to fit in. No matter how specialized your interests, there’s sure to be a college or university that’s a good fit!
What do you want to study when you go to college?
If you already know you want to be an orthopedic surgeon, you’ll want to be sure that the college you choose offers a good pre-med program. But if you have no clue? You might want to focus on colleges that offer a robust liberal arts curriculum. It’s important to know what you’re looking for!
No matter where you want to go to college, we can help. Try our college search to find schools that match your interests, or subscribe to our blog for all the latest college admissions information!
Photo courtesy of Let Ideas Compete.
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Questions to Ask Before Enrolling into Your Degree Online May 24th, 2011
Before you turn over your online college application, send in that deposit, and enroll into your degree online, we’ve got a few points to consider! Take it from folks who know: My College Guide can help you find a program that fits you–and your educational goals.
Points to Consider before Enrolling into Your Degree Online
Your Degree Online: Questions to Ask
For adults going back to school, it’s an exciting time. But you need to do your research to be sure that the school you are considering will fit the way you learn.
The Technical Side of Things
Tech Support – Is there an official email or telephone number for tech support? If it’s 3 AM and you can’t get the system to accept your research paper for your criminal justice degree program, is there someone you can count on for help? While there are many students who don’t (and won’t) experience problems, it is another point to ponder when attaining your degree online!
Online Writing Center – Tackling your first academic research paper is hard enough, but not having the convenience of an online writing center is even worse! A writing center can help you get the correct formatting, find typos, and make sure that your paper flows just right. It’s an invaluable resource and an important one that will help you out, free, in obtaining your degree online!
Online Delivery – How does your degree online work with regards to delivery? Is it asynchronous, synchronous, or some hybrid of the two? Find out if you need to be online at a certain time each day for online chats (synchronous learning). Other schools don’t have that sort of scheduled online interaction in your degree online program (asynchronous). Some colleges have a combination of the two: a hybrid learning environment.
Who They Are
Professors – Who are the people that will be teaching you for the next four years? What sort of educational requirements are online college professors expected to have? Do they teach on-campus classes as well? Find out more about the faculty where you are going to obtain your degree online!
Returning Student?
Transferring Credits – Have you been to college before? You may have transfer credits! What is the maximum number of transfer credits that your potential online college will accept? Also, see how credits transfer at the school you are considering. If your goals change and you need to switch schools, check to see how your online college credits will translate. For properly accredited colleges it shouldn’t be a problem, but that’s an important factor to consider.
Image Courtesy of Flickr, Graham Ballantyne / Graham Ballantyne.
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Coursework Templates: Questions You Are Shy to Ask January 8th, 2009
There is no doubt that writing courseworks is one of the most complex and troublesome academic assignments. So much time and efforts are needed to produce an effective coursework paper. Definitely, such hard work cannot be screwed up due to the negligence of tutor’s instructions or proper paper structure. This is why coursework templates are so popular among students. Thus, here we will try to discuss the basic questions about coursework templates and their usage.
Coursework templates: Where?
This is, perhaps, the first question students ask when they start working on a coursework project. Certainly, your college/university/tutor is the best source of coursework templates. Sometimes, students have various reasons to search for coursework templates elsewhere. Internet is your best friend in this regard. However, even in this case we strongly advise you to opt for academic sources. There are so many online websites and services that are loosely connected to academia. Thus, sources of universities have become almost the only source of “certified” coursework templates.
Coursework templates: How?
How to use a coursework template? A simple question presupposes a simple answer, but somehow students fail to find it. Coursework templates should be thoroughly examined for the following things:
- the way its author uses specific academic language;
- the way a paper is structured;
- the way a coursework template is formatted.
Ironically enough, students tend to pay close attention to the latter point while completely forgetting about two others. Though we advise you to search for a coursework template in your specific field, do note that other samples could be used – provided that they are formatted according to the instructions of your college or university.