I still remember being a restless high school senior waiting to cut my ties and finally make it to college. My sister had chosen a community college for her freshman-sophomore experience just three years before me, and since I followed in her footsteps in most areas I naturally considered taking the same route.

So on a hot day in mid-May back in 2004, my mom and I made the journey just one hour south of Wichita, Kansas, to check out the college that would soon be my new home. While my stay there was short – just two years until I could snag my associates degree – it was memorable. And the following two years spent at Wichita State University securing my bachelor’s degree were even more enjoyable than the first.

When I was looking for schools, my top priorities were proximity, price and degree offerings, among other minor considerations. Out-of-state universities weren’t an option for me as tuition would’ve been outrageous. And along the consideration of price, I also wanted a school that could offer me a scholarship.

Earlier this month, Forbes announced its list of top 650 colleges in America. Among its highest-ranking universities were Princeton, Williams College and Stanford, with Johnson & Wales and Texas Southern University snagging the last spots in 649th and 650th place.

While some have criticized the methods Forbes and other news sources, including US News and Newsweek, use to determine their respective rankings, there’s really no one, tried and true way to determine which colleges are superior. Because the truth is, everyone has their own opinion about what makes one college better than another. Read the rest of this entry »

When an unseasonal snow storm swept through the Northeast last week, many families were left without electricity. This means no heaters, no warm water, and the worst thing for high school seniors: no computers or internet to use to submit their early applications for college acceptance.

The deadline for many colleges for early application was November 1, 2011. For many students who wanted to apply early to their choice schools, the lack of power in their homes forced them to flock to local coffee shops, bookstores, and other public places that still had electricity to charge their laptops and working Internet connections in order to submit their applications.

“I actually had a nervous breakdown, said Victoria Ngo, a high school student who wanted to apply early admission to Villanova University. Ngo found herself without power and was unable to complete her personal statement, which was saved on her laptop, because the computer’s battery had died. Luckily, Ngo was able to go to her cousin’s home in another city where she could charge her computer and finish her personal statement on time.

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U.S. News recently released their lists of the top colleges in the USA. One of the lists that they released focused solely on Liberal Arts Colleges.

So how did U.S. News determine what makes an excellent liberal arts school? The scores are based partially on the quality of the education that students receive at the institutions and the financial burden families must take on in order to offer this education to their students. All schools that are regionally accredited and for-profit institutions are considered for this honor if they have respond to the statistical survey that U.S. News sends out each year. The students’ level of satisfaction is also taken into consideration, since U.S. News know that no raw set of data can truly evaluate a school’s value.

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Flashcards are a great way to learn a new language. They allow you to switch back and forth between your native language and the language you are trying to learn. You can separate the words you do know from those you are still learning. You can take them anywhere and study with them whenever you have some down time.

Flashcards are just a really wonderful thing. Unless you are studying Arabic and flying on an airplane, that is.

Nicholas George is a senior at Pomona College in California. He is studying physics and Arabic. According to The Los Angeles Times, George was flying back to school after spending time at home in Philadelphia last August. In his pocket, he had some Arabic-English flashcards so he could study them on the plane.

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