No Limits - Part 2

Covering Your Monthly Expenses and Tuition

It is not unusual for university students to have to juggle studies with a job, especially for those that are no longer living with their parents. Even if the student is fortunate enough to have received a scholarship or a grant for part of their tuition, there are still monthly expenses to consider. It can be challenging sometimes to cover housing, food, textbooks, and other school supplies and still have money left for having some fun.

Even those with allowances from home or income from a job can find themselves in a tight squeeze when timing is off. For example, an unexpected class project requires special supplies and it is due in just a few days, but it is another week till that next paycheck or allowance. At times like this, it can be helpful to get a quick cash infusion from a cash advance company like Payday One. Any student with a source of income and a bank account in good standing can get a couple hundred dollars or more within a day or two.

This can come in handy at other times, too. What if tuition becomes due prior to funds being received from the grant or scholarship, or when involved in a tuition reimbursement program that only kicks in after you show you have already paid the tuition? You may need a cash advance to help cover costs for a short while.

There are many ways to cover one’s monthly expenses and tuition. It is important to have a plan in place and a realistic budget so that you can concentrate on your studies instead of worrying about finances each month.

Filed Under: Careers, Education Tagged With: Scholarship, Student, Tuition payments

Moving Up Educationally

Often we take education for granted in this country because we have all our children go through the educational process, from elementary to junior high and then high school.

Nonetheless it is commonly recognized throughout the world that education is important to improve the status of the students in their own economies. Throughout the world the higher the education attained the better paying jobs the person is able to work.

The Postsecondary Education group has published a chart that shows the more education one attains the more they earn in the United States. This appears to be true in all countries in the world.

Indeed the report also shows when the economy is down, as it was in 2009, those with less education are also impacted the most. 15% of those without a high school degree were unemployed versus only 5.2% of those with a bachelor’s degree.

Not only do the higher educated students get better and better pay the more education they have finished, they also have more secure employment. This is truly a win, win situation for these individuals.

Getting the youth of America to recognize this reality can be very difficult. Those whose parents have attained a degree are usually able to also attain that degree. In other words, we are educated to the level that our parents are educated. If our parents are high school graduates, we will struggle to complete any college, and bachelor’s level parents will have children that stop at the bachelor’s level.

This is class segregation within our country. It does not have to be. Breaking the cycle is as easy as getting students to move up one more level from where they are. Moving them up one level can improve their economic situation significantly. And their children will move up with them.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Education, High school diploma, United States

Secondary Educaton in the United States

Exactly defining secondary education can be confusing in the United States. Elementary education is usually Kindergarten through sixth grade although sometimes the sixth grade will be combined with a middle school.

Secondary education is primarily all compulsory education after elementary education. As we have already seen and will see further, this is a very loose definition. Most school districts in the country require students to attend the last six or seven years of school as secondary education.

Students aged right around 13, which would normally be seventh grade, usually attend junior high school or middle school. This school is often shared with eighth and ninth grades. Because of the school system used in this country where each local jurisdiction can dictate their own school system there are also schools which start secondary education in sixth grade or with 12 year olds. These are usually called middle schools but can be called junior high schools as well.

High schools are usually 10th grade through 12th grade with the junior high incorporating seventh grade through ninth grade. This produces a cohesive mix of three grades in each school. When a middle school is used the mix is normally ninth grade through 12th grades for high school and sixth grade through eighth grade for the middle school.

Any combination of the above can be seen in the country. This can cause confusion but the local people always understand the local way of conducting their secondary education and you would be able to get the help you need to make your way through the new system.

Fundamentally secondary education is there to finish preparing students to enter the workforce at a basic level. College will help them to specialize.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: High school, Middle school, United States

Selecting Your Courses for Your Success

Regardless of what you decide to study as you work your way through college, you will want to look at the courses you will be taking. Some schools do not give you any optional choices for your degree of study and others have just a few courses that all must take and all the rest are optional up to the number of credits you need to graduate.

If you are given choices then this article is for you. There are six basic steps you will want to follow when you are choosing courses on your way to graduation.
1)    Make sure you have the core or basic knowledge classes. They will give you a good understanding of the basics and the general principle concepts of your specialty.
2)    Now you can take courses in the area that you were interested. These become your area of specialty. You will want to ensure that your specialty has economic merit after you graduate and not just be fun. Studying a specialty that will not pay you afterwards can be very frustrating.
3)    Broaden your thinking by taking corollary classes which will strengthen your specialty area.
4)    Take classes that will constantly increase your research, writing and speaking skills. Employers are always looking for individuals who not only know their specialty but are able to communicate that expertise to others.
5)    Sharpen your skills by seeking out ways to practice your skills during college. Find a job in the field, tutor other students or create your own labs or assignments that incorporate your specialty. Clubs are great for this.
6)    Always keep an eye on your graduation requirements and verify that you are moving forward towards your degree.

Filed Under: College, Education Tagged With: Education, Student, United States

Proactively Seek Recommendation Letters

It is always a good idea to proactively seek a letter of recommendation. In today’s economy you might be gainfully and happily employed one day and looking for a new job the next. Having a few letters of recommendation can help in your job search.

There are generally three types of recommendation letters: character, employment and academic. All three have things in common with each other and all three have differences.

A letter of recommendation should always include comments on your abilities, skills or character. Therefore they can let any potential employers know your strengths and help set you apart from the rest of the applicants.

Character recommendation letters are usually written by family or friends and address your character.

Employment recommendation letters tend to be written by an employer, immediate supervisor or a fellow coworker. They address any of the skills you would have that your future employer would be interested in. Included would be any special skills that you have that could be of great value to any employer. If you are excellent at troubleshooting your supervisor could write about how quickly you resolved specific issues. If you can calm people and get them to work with you, an employer can give specific examples of this skill and how it helped your company.

Academic recommendation letters would be used for fellowship or internship applications or scholarships.

With any kind of recommendation letter it is better for the writer to be as specific as possible. Saying you can troubleshoot is good, listing how you saved the company by a specific action is better.

Social networking sites such as LinkedIn use a paragraph or two where others can create a recommendation letter. The better listings of these will recount specific instances of how you were awesome.

The better your letters the better chance you have of getting into your next job quickly.

Filed Under: Careers Tagged With: Employment, LinkedIn, Recommendation letter

Online Degrees

A college education is becoming increasingly more important to today’s employers, especially in current economic climate of unemployment and high competition. For that reason, even those who did not initially go to college right out of high school may find themselves looking for ways to expand their educations. One of the best solutions for working adults is the online degree. There are a large number of online schools like earnmydegree.com, and even traditional colleges and universities that are now offering online degree programs. Students can select from a rather large group of major courses of study and complete a bachelor’s degree-or even a master’s-from the comfort of their own home. Taking college courses online means that you do not have to lose time at work in order to go to school. Your lessons, assignments and tests are all completed online, at any time of the day or night. It is, however, important to realize that there will still be deadlines for work and exams to be completed.

Many students who have taken both in-person classes and online classes will attest that there are some differences between the two methods. While online classes may be more convenient, and require no travel to the school, the work in these courses can be much harder than class on a physical campus. This is because the student must be self-disciplined enough to do the required reading and take adequate notes in order to fully understand the material. While instructors are still available to direct and answer questions, students will likely not have the same interactions with classmates. A person’s learning style is a definite consideration when thinking about taking online college classes. However, online classes do open up a world of opportunities for those working adults who cannot afford to take less hours or quit their jobs altogether.

Filed Under: Education, Online Education Tagged With: Distance education, eLearning, online degree programs

To Withdraw or Not To Withdraw: That IsThe Question

Withdrawals on your transcripts can make a big difference to some schools and to potential employers. Try not to withdraw from courses unless you absolutely have to.

In looking at your transcript, a potential school or employer will be looking for any issues that could be coming up. If there are only one or two W’s (withdrawals) in only one quarter, then it could have been a major event that caused a problem and forced the student to withdraw from the school or the course.

If the W’s occur more often the question will switch to how committed is the student? Are they willing to put in the work? Are they going to be a problem for the administration or for the potential employer? Recognize that potential employers will ask for and receive transcripts from schools. Employers look at colleges or universities as the last “employer” for the student and getting the transcript is a good way to determine if there will be problems with this employee in the future.

Even in school W’s can cause issues. If you withdraw from enough classes then you might not be able to take On-line or independent study courses. These classes tend to be harder for students to complete than normal classroom setting classes. With enough W’s, D’s and F’s you could be placed on academic probation and you will limit the scope of options you have to facilitate your graduation.

Schools that are difficult to enter will turn you away for a student who might not test as well as you but does not have negative marks on their transcripts, including W’s.

A withdrawal does not technically hurt you, but it sure can impact future opportunities.

Filed Under: Careers Tagged With: Employment, Student, Withdrawal

School Is What YOU Make Of IT.

A school had a group of students who graduated. They excitedly walked across the stage receiving their diplomas and then went out into the big, bad world.

All of the graduates went through the same program and they had mostly the same teachers and classes. Nevertheless, when they graduated one student secured a job paying about $68,000 and another was able to get a job paying only $23,000. The average for the whole class was about $36,000 which is not bad for a starting wage from a bachelors program.

The question that stands out is why did the one get a job for $68,000 and the other could only get one for $23,000. That is a big spread.

The answer could only be application. The one student took every class and applied himself to understanding it. He studied and asked questions and helped other students to understand the material. The other students knew this student would know the answer and asked him questions, thereby reinforcing the difficult concepts further into his mind.

The $23,000 student showed up at class, sometimes. Sometimes did the homework, labs and tests. He barely passed his classes and was barely able to graduate. When his potential employers made inquiries into his scholastic abilities they found he barely coped. He is now paid what he earned.

The school is not the only determining factor of how well graduates do when they finish school. The graduate himself or herself can make more of an impact than which school they attend. Place yourself into the right school and then work hard at your studies. The reward is not really grades but the economic and professional stimulus you receive when you are done.

Filed Under: College, Education Tagged With: Graduation, School, Student

Make Your Job Application Shine

Applying for a new job is a very stressful situation for most people to be in. Especially with the current state of the economy, having to prepare applications, resumes, respond to ads and interview with potential employers takes a toll on even the most confident of people. There are a number of ways to improve your chances of finding a great job quickly, the most successful of which is making that job application really shine. Being able to tell the story of your skills, education and experience in the least amount of space is the key to communicating a true picture of yourself as an employee on a pre-printed form.

Although most companies require a resume during the screening process, many also require you to fill out their company-specific application form. In many occasions, this form will require answers to the questions that the company uses to filter out those who will not be considered for the position. For this reason, it is especially important to know what your potential employer is looking for and be able to show those qualities in the provided spaces. You can usually turn to the advertisement for the position to find the keywords that the human resources department will be looking for. For instance, if the position in question will have direct reports, be sure to include the word “managed” in the description of your relevant experience. If the job opening requires knowledge of a specific software application, that, too, will need to be noted on both your employment history and related skills sections.

While most people will simply use the phrase “references available upon request” on their resumes, applications for employment typically do request those references. For this reason, you should arrive prepared to provide the names, positions and phone numbers of people for whom you can count on to provide good references for you. You should always make sure to ask your references beforehand so that they, too, will be prepared to answer any potential employer’s questions.

Filed Under: Online Education Tagged With: Application for employment

Selecting College Electives

Regardless of the declared major, all colleges and universities require a number of elective courses to be completed as part of the degree program. Electives are usually those courses outside of a student’s major field of study and should be chosen so as to compliment the education provided. Most students have difficulty selecting electives and will often simply take whatever courses are available to fill in empty time slots during their schedules. However, with a bit of foresight and some planning, you can choose college electives that not only compliment your major course of study, but will also be interesting and enjoyable to you.

Most colleges require that your electives be chosen from a number of different course prefixes. The prefix in a course number indicates what department that course is a part of. If you are a math major, but also like to read, you may be able to choose an elective in literature or pop culture. If you like movies and are interested in the theater industry, a course or two in film history or drama may provide you with an interesting elective. Students who are interested in exploring alternative religions or the history of civil rights will also be able to find electives that satisfy the curiosity.

Another way to select a great elective is to look at any other classes offered by professors you have enjoyed in your required courses. For instance, if you find a particular lecturer fascinating, ask them what other courses they teach. You may even find a new interest or hobby. Through the selection of several elective courses from various departments, some students may even realize that there are subjects far more interesting to them than the majors originally chosen. Taking your electives early provides amply opportunity to explore a number of fields of academics, lessening the chance that you will end up changing your major late in your college career.

Filed Under: College, Education Tagged With: Colleges and Universities

Not Limits