If you're going to work in college, you might as well make the most of it. One way of doing that is to look for a company that will not only pay you for your job, but will also help to pay for your schooling! Many companies have a "tuition reimbursement" plan, varying in the amount given, how many years given, if the degree needs to connect to your job, and other factors. Some tuition reimbursement plans are very lenient: benefits start on the 1st day of your job and can be applied to any major! Other programs are more specific: you must have worked there for a year, can only be used at one college, or require you to major in a field related to your work. Maybe not every plan is right for you, but there is probably one that will be right for your plans. Even though you need to do some homework to find a good match, don't bypass it because you think that "it's too good to be true". Tuition Reimbursement programs come in all shapes and sizes...they are good AND true!
Sidenote: many of these companies apply tuition reimbursement to their "part-time workers" (average of 20 hours / week). Even though it's tricky to balance work with school, research continues to show that having a part-time job actually helps you manage your time better than if you didn't work at all. What does that mean? It means that you are forced to work for 20 hours, followed by focused studying in the 2-3 hour windows you have throughout the day. Did you catch that? Focused studying instead of what you would do without a job, which usually involves procrastinating for those same 20 hours and studying at the last-minute anyway. There is a point where working combined with school can be too much, but most students that work 10-20 hours a week find that the work schedule actually helps them balance their studies, rather than hurting their grades.
Check out these links to find a company that would fit with your education plans, and verify that the program is still being used. Also note that these links are only a beginning--there are many companies that have tuition-reimbursement plans that don't advertise their perks. Be willing to ask friends and family to find local companies that would do the same. Here is a start to finding a job that will not only a paycheck, but help with college costs:
15 Companies That Will Pay for Your Tuition
4 Fast Food Jobs that Pay For Tuition
Free College Education
You probably noticed that Starbucks and UPS came up on multiple lists, and for good reason. It's because their programs have been up-and-running for multiple years. They are stable and a good bet for many students looking for a tuition reimbursement program that is here to stay.
Let me know if you want to incorporate this into your own college success plan, or if you need more help researching the details. I'm excited to see which students take advantage of this program!
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
How to Organize: Scholarship Applications
One of my motivated, on-the-top students, sent me this question in preparation for one of our meetings:
Comment below if you think this is a great idea, and how it works for you! Excited to hear from you!
I would like to see a sample scholarship calendar or get some suggestions for effective ways to organize my application time. A lot of my summer will be organization for senior year, so I think that it would be meaningful to talk about time management and organization strategies these summer months.
Wow! I love that she is thinking forward, knowing that she will need to be organized during her senior year to make it count. She is using her summer to plan ahead! Even though I'm here to help, she recognizes that she is in charge of her own success, because the scholarships she will apply for are very different from the next person. As much as I can advise--the individual student needs to keep track of the scholarship deadlines specific to their goals. But how? How do you possibly sort through hundreds of scholarships, and keep track of all these deadlines? Read on...
I used to counsel students to keep track of things in a standard notebook--a couple pages for each month. But as all scholarships have moved to the web, using the notebook for this has become antiquated. I did some research of what other people have used, and found this great idea from the UNIGO website. By the way, take some time and explore UNIGO--it's a massive website with loads of helpful information. You can even get lost in the website, and a little overwhelmed. If that starts to happen, click on this specific link: UNIGO Post: Organizing Applications .
Did you click on it and read it? Pretty awesome technique. I love XCEL, and think it is the perfect format to organize scholarships. I just wish I had come up with it myself! Ever heard of that phrase: "Beg, Borrow, and Steal"? That applies here--if someone is willing to share a great idea for getting the job done--use it! And this is a great idea!
Here are some things I would add:
- Don't feel locked into using the spreadsheet provided by UNIGO. You can create your own spreadsheet! Keep the critical fields if you create your own spreadsheet: the name of the scholarship, the URL address, deadline, $ awarded, and what is required to apply.
- It is easy to rearrange information in XCEL, so don't be afraid to add or move lines of data. You might simply want to add in scholarships first--then worry about organizing it according to the deadlines.
- Instead of only listing the "deadline", put in the "window" the application can be submitted: the open date through the end date. Some scholarships have a 1 month window, others extend to 3 months or even 6 months. This way, even if 10 applications have the same deadline, they probably have varying beginning dates, and you can submit them throughout that time, hence increasing the amount of scholarships you have applied to without stressing yourself out in any one month.
- Use XCEL to help you organize. There are tab buttons at the bottom to add more "sheets" as needed. If you are creating the spreadsheet early in high school, it would be helpful to create a "sheet" for each year of high school, and then a "sheet" for scholarships that can be completed once you are in college. I would advise using one sheet as a "master" sheet--where all the scholarships are listed.
Comment below if you think this is a great idea, and how it works for you! Excited to hear from you!
Monday, June 6, 2016
"Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be"....Book Review, Part Two
I can't believe I'm doing this--I'm reading this book twice. If the college admissions craze is a little much for you, or if you don't know what you should look for in a "good" college because all you recognize are the big names that have become synonymous with "good", then pick up this book and read. By the way--there are LOADS of EXCELLENT colleges that you probably have never heard of, but still do a superb job of educating in the classroom, proving opportunities out of the classroom, and instilling young adults with a good dose of realism, drive, and abilities...in addition to the college diploma.
Here are some great quotes from the book, "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be". These quotes are some of my favorites because they communicate a good dose of common-sense about what college is and can be, and how students can be realistic and hopeful about their college dreams simultaneously. Read on...
Quote #1...From an interview between Author Frank Bruni and Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce. Introduction, pg. 11
"Life is something that happens slowly, and whether or not they go to their first choice isn't that important...it's not the difference between Yale and jail. It's the difference between Yale and the University of Wisconsin or some other school where they can get an excellent education.
"They should be thinking more about what they're going to do with their lives. And what college is supposed to do is allow you to live more fully in your time."
Frank Bruni continues, "It's supposed to prime you for the next chapter of learning, and for the chapter beyond that. It's supposed to put you in touch with yourself, so that you know more about your strengths, weaknesses and values and can use that information as your mooring and compass in a tumultuous, unpredictable world. It's supposed to set you on your way, and if you expect it to be a guarantee forevermore of smooth sailing, then you've got trouble infinitely greater than any rejection notice."
I think this quote is awesome! It's easy to think that if you aren't going to a selective college, that you simply aren't getting a great education. That just isn't true. There are still devoted professors and great programs at many colleges--you just have to open your eyes, wipe off the gloss of Ivy-adulation, and take advantage of the opportunities at hand. Also, college is more a launching pad than a finish line--and keeping that in mind helps to keep it in perspective.
---------------------
Quote #2...From an interview between Author Frank Bruni and Chris Christie, Governor of New Hersey. Chapter One, pg. 24
"What I got out of being at a place like Delaware was a real diversity in terms of the economic and social strata of the people who went there. I met lots of different people who had lots of different life experiences.
"The thing that really disturbs me (about the college admissions mania) is the extraordinary pressure that some parents were putting on their kids from the seventh or eighth grade. That's something we don't quite yet know what effect it's going to have on kids over the long haul. My fear is that these kids are always going to be evaluating their self-worth in terms of whether they hit the next rung society has placed in front of them at exactly the time that society has placed it. And that's dangerous, because you're going to slip and fall in your life."
True. You will absolutely get a greater slice of the social strata at a state college than at an elite, private college. And this can really help you connect with people not only during the 4 years of college, but in all the years after.
--------------------
Quote #3...From Jeffrey Brenzel, a former dean of admissions at Yale, explaining why the U.S. News & World Report College Rankings are problematic. Chapter Four, pg. 93
"Rankings tend to ignore the very criteria that may be most important to an applicant, such as specific academic offerings, intellectual and social climate, ease of access to faculty, international opportunities and placement rates for careers or for graduate and professional school."
This book will reveal just how much we rely on rankings (even if we think we don't). The other great thing? The author, Frank Bruni, takes time to explain all the components that DO affect the rankings, and most of them have no baring on what a student will actually experience in college.
--------------------
Quote #4...Chapter Six, pg. 134
"Every year, the media finds and fawns over the rare students offered admission to all eight Ivy League schools, and Ronald Nelson, from the Memphis area, was one of them. Newspaper stories marveled at him; MSNBC and other networks invited him on air. But his story had a fresh wrinkle. Nelson turned down Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the rest of them and chose instead to stay in the South, at the University of Alabama. Its lower price tag and the bounty of aid it gave him were two reasons. But he also cited another: He'd been invited to take classes at Alabama's honors college, which promised him an environment of especially dedicated, high-achieving students within a larger, more diverse community of more than 30,000 undergraduates.
"That decision threw a spotlight on the rise of honors programs and colleges, which a growing number of public schools are starting, refining and assertively promoting. Students in turn are becoming more aware of them and giving them more consideration, but could pay them even greater heed--and should. Honors programs and colleges are ignored, for example, by far too many students who are fixated on the Ivy League, who may well find their hopes dashed by Ivy League admissions offices, who could benefit mightily from exposure to a state university's student body and who just might find that the financial equation at a state university's honors college works in their favor. Honors programs and honors colleges give students some of the virtues and perks of private schools without some of the drawbacks, such as exorbitant tuition and an enclave of extreme privilege."
We are so lucky in Utah! Most of the universities in Utah have great Honors Programs. Take time to research them--each one has different strengths to fit different students. Many have extra funding for students, honors dorms, internship opportunities, and special courses that exceed standard course offerings.
----------------------
Four quotes. Just a glimpse of the jewels you will find on every page of this book. Also, the book is now in paperback so it's pretty cheap for the life-changing advice it gives. ($14.99). Comment below and share any questions and/or thoughts you have. I'd love to hear from you!
Here are some great quotes from the book, "Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be". These quotes are some of my favorites because they communicate a good dose of common-sense about what college is and can be, and how students can be realistic and hopeful about their college dreams simultaneously. Read on...
Quote #1...From an interview between Author Frank Bruni and Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce. Introduction, pg. 11
"Life is something that happens slowly, and whether or not they go to their first choice isn't that important...it's not the difference between Yale and jail. It's the difference between Yale and the University of Wisconsin or some other school where they can get an excellent education.
"They should be thinking more about what they're going to do with their lives. And what college is supposed to do is allow you to live more fully in your time."
Frank Bruni continues, "It's supposed to prime you for the next chapter of learning, and for the chapter beyond that. It's supposed to put you in touch with yourself, so that you know more about your strengths, weaknesses and values and can use that information as your mooring and compass in a tumultuous, unpredictable world. It's supposed to set you on your way, and if you expect it to be a guarantee forevermore of smooth sailing, then you've got trouble infinitely greater than any rejection notice."
I think this quote is awesome! It's easy to think that if you aren't going to a selective college, that you simply aren't getting a great education. That just isn't true. There are still devoted professors and great programs at many colleges--you just have to open your eyes, wipe off the gloss of Ivy-adulation, and take advantage of the opportunities at hand. Also, college is more a launching pad than a finish line--and keeping that in mind helps to keep it in perspective.
---------------------
Quote #2...From an interview between Author Frank Bruni and Chris Christie, Governor of New Hersey. Chapter One, pg. 24
"What I got out of being at a place like Delaware was a real diversity in terms of the economic and social strata of the people who went there. I met lots of different people who had lots of different life experiences.
"The thing that really disturbs me (about the college admissions mania) is the extraordinary pressure that some parents were putting on their kids from the seventh or eighth grade. That's something we don't quite yet know what effect it's going to have on kids over the long haul. My fear is that these kids are always going to be evaluating their self-worth in terms of whether they hit the next rung society has placed in front of them at exactly the time that society has placed it. And that's dangerous, because you're going to slip and fall in your life."
True. You will absolutely get a greater slice of the social strata at a state college than at an elite, private college. And this can really help you connect with people not only during the 4 years of college, but in all the years after.
--------------------
Quote #3...From Jeffrey Brenzel, a former dean of admissions at Yale, explaining why the U.S. News & World Report College Rankings are problematic. Chapter Four, pg. 93
"Rankings tend to ignore the very criteria that may be most important to an applicant, such as specific academic offerings, intellectual and social climate, ease of access to faculty, international opportunities and placement rates for careers or for graduate and professional school."
This book will reveal just how much we rely on rankings (even if we think we don't). The other great thing? The author, Frank Bruni, takes time to explain all the components that DO affect the rankings, and most of them have no baring on what a student will actually experience in college.
--------------------
Quote #4...Chapter Six, pg. 134
"Every year, the media finds and fawns over the rare students offered admission to all eight Ivy League schools, and Ronald Nelson, from the Memphis area, was one of them. Newspaper stories marveled at him; MSNBC and other networks invited him on air. But his story had a fresh wrinkle. Nelson turned down Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the rest of them and chose instead to stay in the South, at the University of Alabama. Its lower price tag and the bounty of aid it gave him were two reasons. But he also cited another: He'd been invited to take classes at Alabama's honors college, which promised him an environment of especially dedicated, high-achieving students within a larger, more diverse community of more than 30,000 undergraduates.
"That decision threw a spotlight on the rise of honors programs and colleges, which a growing number of public schools are starting, refining and assertively promoting. Students in turn are becoming more aware of them and giving them more consideration, but could pay them even greater heed--and should. Honors programs and colleges are ignored, for example, by far too many students who are fixated on the Ivy League, who may well find their hopes dashed by Ivy League admissions offices, who could benefit mightily from exposure to a state university's student body and who just might find that the financial equation at a state university's honors college works in their favor. Honors programs and honors colleges give students some of the virtues and perks of private schools without some of the drawbacks, such as exorbitant tuition and an enclave of extreme privilege."
We are so lucky in Utah! Most of the universities in Utah have great Honors Programs. Take time to research them--each one has different strengths to fit different students. Many have extra funding for students, honors dorms, internship opportunities, and special courses that exceed standard course offerings.
----------------------
Four quotes. Just a glimpse of the jewels you will find on every page of this book. Also, the book is now in paperback so it's pretty cheap for the life-changing advice it gives. ($14.99). Comment below and share any questions and/or thoughts you have. I'd love to hear from you!
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