For as long as I can remember, I have always made fun of golfers and always said it wasn’t a sport I would ever find myself playing. It’s funny how opinions change though isn’t it!? This year I picked up a golf club and joined the girls golf team at my high school!

Not that this idea was entirely my decision. My friend is on the golf team and finally talked me into doing it. I must say, I’m extremely glad she did because I have a new found respect for golfers.  Not only is it a difficult sport to learn but it also takes immense amounts of concentration. It’s more than just hitting the ball and putting it into a hole with a flag. This is also a sport that I will be able to continue playing, if I enjoy it, for a long time, unlike other sports like softball that I’ll eventually be too old for. Today at practice I realized that while I tell all the younger students, especially freshmen, to take advantage of all opportunities they are offered, but there are so many things that I have missed out on because I just decided not to do it.

High school has so many opportunities it offers to its students and taking advantage of these opportunities is something I really push amongst freshmen and sophomores. High school is full of learning experiences that help you shape and become the person you are or the person you will become. Due to these growing and learning experiences, taking advantage of all opportunities placed in front of you in a very smart thing to do. Now I’m not saying, be involved in absolutely everything. If you try to do that then you will wear yourself thin and wont be able to keep up with everything you are a part of. Involving yourself in a few clubs or sports and going to social activities from time to time is what I’m talking about. These things also make time for you to be with friends and make new friends, which is always a great thing!

So try something new. Join a club, learn a sport, just be sure whatever it is you do, have fun doing it and enjoy yourself! Every experience, good or bad, is a growing experience.

The price of private schools can be extremely daunting, and may frighten off potential students.  But before you dismiss a school as unrealistically expensive here’s an important statistic you need to check out: the average percentage of financial aid that the school is able to meet.

Here’s how his works.  The student and parents will out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which determines the student’s eligibility for financial aid.  Then the student is admitted to a school.  Based on the amount of financial need the student has, the school may be able to provide need based awards, work study, and other financial aid (which does not include outside aid such as loans and scholarships from other sources).

Private schools often are able to provide students with a large percentage of their estimated need — so when applying to schools, one of the first things you should ask about is the average percentage of financial need that the school is able to provide.  In some cases, the school is able to provide students with most of even all of their projected financial need!

Of course, this makes a difference in the price of college.  If one school costs $40,000 a year but is able to meet 98 percent of students’ need, and another school is only $30,000 a year but only provides an average of 80 percent of financial need, the more expensive school is a much better bargain.

One of the perks that comes with turning 18 this October is that I will eligible to vote! Although this may sound extremely nerdy, this is actually something I am extremely excited for! I got my registration packet in the mail and I was ecstatic to complete it and mail it off the very same day.

I have always viewed the elections, especially of the President, to be something very important. Especially at this point in time, with where our country is at economically and internationally, getting someone who is qualified in the oval office should be a top priority of all US citizens who are eligible to vote in this next election.

I have noticed that a lot of the campaigns have been geared to getting the youth of our nation involved, which I think is a tremendous idea. It seems that many people I talk to my age or a few years older seem to have no idea what exactly is going on with the election right now; all they know is who the two candidates are and their parties. Those who are younger and are voting for their first or second time are in fact going to be the future of our country and I believe that the younger generations should be a major deciding factor in who will run our country next because they will be the ones who are most effected by the next president.

So for those you are eligible to vote, get involved and pay attention! I’m not saying you have to watch every news story or read every story in the papers and magazines, but be aware of what is going on with the election and candidates. Know what each candidate has to offer our country so that you will be able to vote for whoever you feel will do the best at running our country! Although it does seem overused and corny, your vote DOES count!

A good place to start is understanding the candidates’ positions on financial aid for college students.

Hope to see you on Election Day!

If you’re a student who has created a generous list of college choices, you know it’s not always an easy decision to start cutting and make a final decision. Factors like who accepts your application will certainly play a part, but your personal preferences should also be important.

On July 31, 2008, President Bush signed the updated GI Bill — known as the GI Bill 2008 – into law.  This is great news for vets who want to get a college education!

And even more good news, folks–your new college backpacks will weigh less!

The original GI Bill was passed in 1944, and provided funding for college or vocational education (and other kinds of financial assistance) to the many soldiers who were returning from World War II.  By giving vets a leg up financially, this helped spark the strong economy the U.S. enjoyed after World War II — while at the same time rewarding the young men and women who made the sacrifice of fighting for our country.

Unfortunately, the GI Bill hasn’t kept up with the price of an education.  Until recently, the $40,000 received by vets over a four year period paid for only an average of 60 percent of the cost of a state school education.

The new GI Bill offers the following benefits:

1. Pays for the full price of tuition at the beginning of the year, with a maximum tuition benefit set at the cost of the most expensive public school in the country
2. $1000 provided annually for books and supplies
3. Monthly living expenses paid (the amount of which is based on a formula that varies by the ZIP code of the school and the military’s Basic Allowance for Housing)
4. Funding provided to reservists based on months of service; at 36 months of service, reservists get full benefits
5. Vets get up to 15 years to use these benefits

I can’t think of a more patriotic way to honor the people who served our country — especially considering the sacrifices we’ve asked of our military over the last seven years.  Hooray!

As the deadline creeps closer for our college folders to be turned in, I realize just how ahead of many of my classmates I am. When I started my whole college search process, it was an absolute mess. I felt overwhelmed because of just how many schools I had to choose from and all the different factors that could play into my choice.

I myself have decided to apply to 10 colleges. I have read in multiple sources that 8 is a good number of colleges to plan on applying to, while anymore than 10 is a little much. How many colleges a students decides on applying to depends heavily on just how much time the student has to devote to applying to each school. And if you realize you don’t have time to apply to a lot of schools then don’t apply to a large amount of schools. All of my colleges are small liberal arts schools, and while most are in the Midwest, I have a few that are located along the east coast. Looking back though, I have realized that keeping myself organized really helped me narrow my list down.

One of the biggest helps was Collegeboard.com. This website, after creating a free online account with them, allows you to search through profiles of colleges online and allows you to build a list of schools that you could see yourself applying to. After making such a list with them, their site then will allow you to compare schools and look at different numbers and facts about each school, which really helped to see most of the numbers I wanted to see. When it came to student opinions on the school though, I relied on my book “The Best 366 Colleges” by Princeton Review. This book not only lets you see the numbers like the websites, but it also gives you insight into the student life, campus activities, and application due dates. The book even gives student quotes and explanations, which is nice getting a student produced response rather than the college feeding you a bunch of information that’s been sugar coated to make the college look even better.

So when you begin your college search, I would suggest going online and snooping around there. Also, I would advise you to either buy a copy of the Princeton Review’s “The Best 366 Colleges” or a book that is similar so that you not only get a view point on the college from the college, but also the view point of a student that attends the school.

Moving away from home and starting college is a major milestone in a young adult’s life. With the right preparation, the transition can be a successful one, and build a foundation for their four years on campus. Colleges recognize that freshmen, and new incoming students, need some assistance at the start of the semester. Following these tips can help you start the year, and your college career, off right!

1. Attend orientation
2. Ask questions
3. Be a part of campus life
4. Be open to new ideas
5. Don’t choose a major right away

For the first time in more than a decade, Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. holds the number one spot in the U.S. News and World Report 2009 issue of Best Colleges. It’s a prestigious position that’s annually held by Princeton, now sitting at number two, followed by Yale. Harvard has caught much attention in recent months, as its now being driven by a new female president, Drew Gilpin Faust, and made an unprecedented Ivy League move to open financial aid packages to students whose families earn less than $180,000 per year. The $35 billion endowment at Harvard helped it gain its first place position as well.

How does that factor in to the scores? U.S. News and World Report is 25% reputation, per a survey sent to college officials, and 75% quantitative data. The criterion includes financial aid resources, graduation/retention rates, financial resources, new student acceptance rates and alumni giving; recently they started looking at the ratio of lower income students enrolled at the school.

The rest of the Top 25 List

Tied for 4th- MIT, Stanford
6. University of Pennsylvania
7. California Institute of Technology
8. Columbia
9. Duke
10. University of Chicago
11. Dartmouth
Tied for 12. Northwestern University and Washington University
14. Cornell
15. John Hopkins University
16. Brown University
17. Rice University
Tied for 18. Emory University, University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt
21. University of California at Berkeley
22. Carnegie Mellon University
Tied for 23. Georgetown and University of Virginia
25. UCLA

Best Liberal Arts Colleges
1. Amherst College
2. Williams College
3. Swarthmore College
4. Wellesley College
5. Middlebury College

Best Undergrad Business Programs
1. University of Pennsylvania
2. MIT
3. University of California at Berkeley
3. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
5. NYU
(University of Texas- Austin tied for 6)

Best Undergrad Engineering Programs
1. MIT
2. Stanford University
2. University of California at Berkeley
4. California Institute of Technology
4. Georgia Institute of Technology
4. University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign

Best Historically Black Colleges
1. Spellman College
2. Howard University
3. Morehouse College
4. Hampton University
5. Fisk University

The U.S. News and World Report 2009 Best Colleges list also includes several sub-lists, with topics such as:
- Most Students in a Fraternity (#1 Clearwater Christian College)
- Most Students Who Study Abroad (#1 Lee University)
- Highest Acceptance Rate (#1 Bellevue University)
- Lowest Acceptance Rate (#1 Curtis Institute of Music)
- Highest Graduation Rate (#1 St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing)
- Most Students Living on Campus (#1 Salem International University)

The list is very informative as it breaks out additional information regarding enrollment and tuition for each college or university. Further information is available for purchase from U.S. News for about $15.

Ah, the college blow off course.  It’s the class that students register for because it’s easy.  Usually students register for a so-called blow off course because they have a difficult semester ahead, and they want to make sure there’s one easy course they can “blow off” while concentrating on the courses that are going to be making them miserable.

To some degree, this is a very smart strategy. If you have a lot of difficult classes, you absolutely should register for something that’s going to be less difficult.

Unfortunately, by choosing a class exclusively because you think it’s going to be a blow off class, you may be asking for trouble.  For one thing, few college classes are easy enough that you can truly blow them off and get a decent grade.  Yes, there are some– but trust me, this is unusual!

It’s so common for students to take a class that they mistakenly think is a blow off class, only to find that the class is way more work than they thought.  I learned this the hard way with a “math for non-majors” type of class I took sophomore year because I thought it would be easy.  It wasn’t, and I was lucky to get a C.

One common mistake students make when looking for a so-called blow off class is choosing a lower level class in a field that sounds like a blow off topic. “Intro to Poetry!” you might say. “How hard can that be?  That must be the perfect blow off class.”  Well, when you walk in the door and read the syllabus, and discover how many poems you have to read and write per week, you might change your mind.

Here’s a better strategy: if you have a tough schedule, concentrate on finding a class in an area you’re pretty good at.  If poetry is not your thing, then Intro to Poetry will not make your schedule any easier.  But if you like poetry and aced your high school English classes, the class might be a good break from your tough schedule–not because you plan to blow it off, but because you have the innate ability to do well without an excessive amount of work.  And another good strategy when you’re looking for an elective that’s not terribly difficult: ask around!  Your fellow students will tell you which profs and classes sound easy, but actually are not.

Of course, there really are some classes out there that are blow off classes.  If you really need a break, take a few of these–but only if you’re sure they’re really blow off classes.  And don’t take too many.  After all, you’re paying too much money for your education to just blow it off.

The current economic conditions in the U.S. are leaving many families strapped financially. With college students rushing out the door, they might not fully understand how these times are affecting your family. Financial expert Dave Ramsey encourages families to talk openly about it- so that students don’t have false expectations and learn to manage money responsibly.

His recommendations include:
- Debit cards not Credit cards

- Parents should check-in with students often

- Parents should work with students to design a budget

- Students can get a job

- Be prepared with a plan for financial emergencies