Everyone knows how hard it is to get a job in the current economic recession. Many students are graduating, and instead of landing a wonderful new job, they are simply keeping their college job. The New York Times reports that less than 20 percent of graduating college students found a job last year. John Challenger, a job market consultant, said job-seekers “will have to find new ways to get in front of hiring authorities, look where other people are not and be willing to take jobs that most people would avoid.” And that’s where Priority Candidates comes into the situation.

Lesley Mitler created Priority Candidates to help recent college graduates find a job. Priority Candidates has also partnered with the Greenberg Education Group, a tutoring company in New York City.

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Taking the SAT, ACT, or PSAT is a nerve racking experience. I froze up my first time taking the ACT and didn’t finish the math section. I knew how to do it; it was just new and scary. It would have been awesome if I had been able to take a practice test beforehand. That way I would have known what to expect, how to pace myself, and known where to spend most of my time, based on my strengths and weaknesses.

Evidently the people at the Princeton Review have heard several people share my same concern. They have declared March 20, 2010 as National Testing Day they are offering a free full-length, SAT, ACT, or PSAT practice test to anyone who signs up.

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Sometimes I really wish I could pay someone to go to my classes for me. Especially when it’s raining, and all I want to do is stay in bed and sleep through my alarm clock. But, I couldn’t really do that, could I? I mean, nobody would really pay someone else to take classes for them, right?

Wrong. Daniel Higgins, a California resident, was recently arrested for immigration fraud when it was discovered that he was attending classes and taking exams for Middle Eastern students who wanted to keep their visas. These students would pay Higgins up to $1,500 to pretend to be them in their classes. Higgins was attending classes for more than 100 students from Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

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Grace Groner was a very sweet woman. Living through the Great Depression caused her to be very frugal with her limited income. She lived in a small, one-bedroom house. She never bought a car, because walking was free. She bought all of her clothes in rummage sales. Her house only had “a few plain pieces of furniture, some mismatched dishes, and an old television.”

Grace had attended Lake Forest College when she was younger, and evidently held the school close to her heart. Grace died in January 2010. A little bit later, her attorney told the president of Lake Forest College that Grace had left her inheritance to the school.

How much could a woman who could afford to wear second-hand clothes have in savings? The president of Lake Forest College was shocked to learn that Grace had $7 million.

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Just because students attended low-scoring elementary schools in Chicago doesn’t mean they can’t succeed in high school. Thanks to the No Child Left Behind Law, four selective-enrollment high schools in Chicago are accepting 100 top students from these low-scoring schools. These high schools are some of “the highest-scoring and most sought-after high schools in Chicago,” according to the Chicago Sun Times.

For students who now get to attend these schools, it is the opportunity of a lifetime. These college prep schools will offer the students more chances to succeed and improve their chances of attending college.

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Spring Break can be so much fun! You don’t have to go to school, and hopefully there’s no homework looming over your head. You’re spending some good, quality time with your friends, hitting up local hot-spots or traveling to new places.

But for some reasons, your parents keep telling you to be careful. What can go wrong? It’s all good fun on Spring Break.

Well, at least it is if you take some moderate precautions. Do have fun on Spring Break, but heed your parents’ advice to be careful so you don’t became one of those college students who goes on Spring Break and never comes home.

Tips for Staying Safe on Spring Break:

1. Never leave a bar, party, club or social event alone. Everyone knows there is safety in numbers. Chances are that you are less likely to be observant of your surroundings if you have been drinking and you will be an easier target for a criminal. Besides, it’s always more fun to be with your friends on Spring Break than to be alone, right?

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Here's my OnlineStudentPlanner for this week!

Being in college is probably one of the busiest times of my life. I have never had more assignments to turn in, tests to study for, and jobs to work.

I’ve tried several ways to stay on top of things. I used to try to keep an agenda in my head, but I’d always forget something. Then I tried a notebook agenda, but I didn’t like writing everything down and eventually regressed to trying to remember it all.

But now, a new website has solved my planning problems!

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Spring Break is usually synonymous with beach vacations. Playing in the waves, building sand castles, and staying in a swanky hotel with your friends is all part of the package. But when you add up hotels, plane tickets, gasoline, food, and souvenir costs, Spring Break can get pretty expensive, pretty fast.

If you can’t afford to shell out close to $1,000 for a beachy Spring Break or a trip to the mountains to go skiing, don’t stress out too much; you can still have fun on your week off from school. It takes a little more creativity, but you can plan a fun, budget-friendly Spring Break with your friends. Here are some options to get your brain thinking.

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When I filled out my college application form, the worst part was the essay. I struggled with it for days: “Tell us about yourself. What’s your typical day like? What are your interests? Who are you, really?”

Eek! 

How can I fully describe myself in 500 words? How can my dynamic personality pop off a page that only has black ink on it? That’s quite a challenge, if you ask me.

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Now, this might be a little biased, but I have to say that The University of Oklahoma is the best school in the country.

Okay, it might be a lot biased, but I do have my reasons for thinking this. I also don’t think I’m alone in my belief that my school is the best thing to ever happen to higher education. I’m betting that most college students think their school tops all others. Maybe Harvard has the best swimming team and maybe Rutgers has the best football team.

Every school has its own claim to fame, and now Madison Square Gardens is recognizing that.

MSG.com has created a website for college students to determine which of the 16 Big East schools is the best.

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