PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
PLAY
Interview With Lawrence Goldstone, Author Of The Anatomy of Deception
PLAY
PLAY
The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Obsession, Commerce, and Adventure
PLAY
Interview With Joseph Boyden, Author of Through Black Spruce
PLAY
PLAY
Interview with Nino Ricci, Governor-General Award-Winning Author
If you’re heading off to college or university this year you may be experiencing mixed feelings. Excited to be on your own, but still a little nervous about the unknown.
WatchMojo has some tips for living with a college roommate Here.
Here are some things to know so that you can know what to expect in all aspects of campus life.
According to Sympatico.MSN
Living
Living in a dorm can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your expectations. One thing you should forget about is privacy. The person you share your dorm room with will know about everything you do, so if you can, make sure you get along and are accepting of your roommate. Be prepared for 4 a.m. prank fire alarms when it is snowing outside and intrusions of your private space.
On the positive side, your dorm room can become a hangout place where you will unwind from the stresses of your classes. Remember, things that may annoy you about the crammed aspect of living may become your most amusing memories years from now. After all, whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
Classes
Get yourself into the frame of mind to begin good study habits as early as possible. Your GPA is important and once it is tampered with, it will be hard to fix it. Do your readings and assignments on time. In college there is a lot of work and not so much time. Once you put something off, assignments and reading will start to pile up. If you skip something once, you might get away with it, but procrastination will become your worst enemy.
Also, as time passes you will develop selective reading habits as you will figure out what is crucial to read and what is not, so don’t worry. By second semester you will be able to cut yourself some slack.
While some classes are mandatory, do not feel the pressure to complete it at the first try. If you feel you have overloaded yourself, drop it and try it again in the summer or next year. It is better to have lost some money than to jeopardize all of your classes because you have too much on your plate.
Studying
Find a spot where you can really pay attention and study. If you found it, do yourself a favour and do not tell your friends where it is. Make it a habit to study there and your body will adjust. Whenever you sit there your mind will get into study mode and you will get a lot more done.
Go to class! It will make studying easier. Also, professors like to drop exam hints in class. After all, you pay for school so why not be there?
Food And Health
Fast food is convenient, but it cannot be your meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and let’s not forget about those late night snacks). Try to cook on your own if you can; it’s cheaper and healthier than those prepared foods. If you stick to fast food, you will most likely be a living example of the ‘Freshman 15’.
Don’t forget to exercise. Working out does not have to be vigorous sweating at the gym. Play some ball or throw a Frisbee after class.
Professors
You will quickly learn that it is more fruitful to be on the teacher’s gold list than that of your fellow students. Goofs who sit at the back and try to entertain others will less likely pass the class than those sitting in the front glued with their attention to the professor.
If you can, try to make yourself noticed. Ask questions because there is no such thing as a stupid question. If your professor or TA sees that you are interested, you are more likely to get a higher grade.
Socializing
Join a club where you can meet people with the same interests as you. If you are generally shy, try to kick it to the curb, let loose and socialize, because in today’s world, it is truly not entirely what you know, but who you know.
Money
Money will be tight in college and university. Besides high tuition fees, you will find that your institution will find every excuse to reach into your pocket.
So plan ahead with your money if you can. Get a meal card that you can use all around campus at cafeterias or food places. In the first weeks you will feel like a big spender because your card will be full, but please pay attention to how much you spend. Otherwise, in the end you will be forced to eat week-old bagels. Ration your money and know exactly how much you have for each day.
Here’s an insider secret: buy your books used and online. It will save you a fortune.
Be Yourself
Going to college symbolizes growing up and becoming an adult, and most people enter the experience with tremendous hopes for what the next few years will turn out to be. I ask you now to sit down and be rational, lower your expectations and be realistic.
You might not instantly become the BMO or the coolest thing and you will not be the top of the class unless you are nearly a genius. Go to college with an open mind and expect anything to happen. Be your own person, not who your friends or parents want you to be.
Khadijah Williams grew up with her mother and younger sister, moving in and out of homeless shelters in the Los Angeles area for most of her childhood. She attended 12 schools in 12 years, but somehow managed to show that she was a gifted student. She worked through typical problems that people on the street have to deal with – pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers – and used that experience to learn how to keep good habits and find mentors. After her mother and sister disappeared from the homeless shelter one night, Khadijah went to stay with the Londons for the rest of her 12th grade year. They pushed her to apply to Harvard, and finally she was accepted. Read more…
Since 1 March, at least nine American universities have received anonymous donations totaling over $45 million. The catch is: the school had to promise not to try to find out the benefactor’s identity. It is not clear whether the source is an individual, a group with similar interest or an organization. Some of the schools even went so far as to contact the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Homeland Security to verify that the money was not ill-gotten.
The unknown supporter also stipulated that the majority of the money should go to student scholarships, while the rest can fund research, equipment and operating expenses. Read more…
Schools and students alike are concerned the failed economy will force dropouts. With college already costing around $50,000 for room, board, books, tuition, etc, some student have had to make tough decisions to leave school, take out bigger loans, or get part-time jobs. Some may even switch to schools with cheaper tuition rates. Read more…
Not that it’s a popular practice, but if you’re applying to college and you have a Facebook, MySpace, or some other kind of public profile, be careful - your school-to-be could check to make sure you’re the kind of person they want representing their school. For the most part, these schools don’t have time to be checking every student’s profile, but if they receive a tip about something questionable, they might check it out. Of course, you can easily prevent this by A) changing your settings to private, where only your friends can access your profile, or B) not putting anything stupid on there in the first place. But where’s the fun in that? Read more…
Getting into and paying for college may seem like a daunting task. But here are a few tips that may make things easier:
Don’t assume that a school is too expensive for you (the “sticker price” may be far more than a student will end up paying) - so apply to a wide range of universities, both public and private.
Apply to both in-state and out-of-state universities - schools value geographic diversity in their student bodies, and will give competitive rates to get it.
You don’t have to be poor to qualify for financial aid.
Make sure your credit rating, and that of your co-signer, is strong. This will help when applying for loans.
Something for parents to keep in mind: you can borrow money to pay for an education, but you can’t for retirement. So don’t pay for tuition at the expense of your retirement funds.
Check out various college-savings accounts.
Learn as much as you can about the financial aid process.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire - March 31, 2008) - Compared to post-secondary students at public colleges, students pursuing post-secondary studies at privately operated career colleges tend to be older, with a mean age of 29, and have a greater reliance on government student financial aid. In addition, most of them (72 per cent) are women, and they are more likely to have dependents under 18 and less likely to have financial backing from family.
These are several key findings of the Survey of Canadian Career College Students, the first major study of students attending career colleges. The survey, jointly commissioned by the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and Human Resources and Social Development Canada, with the cooperation of the National Association of Career Colleges, was conducted by R. A. Malatest and Associates Ltd.
Other key findings include:
- Six out of 10 students attending private post-secondary institutions took a break, after completing high school, of between one and 10 years before returning to their studies;
- Less than one in 10 indicated that they would have preferred to attend university;
- Most seek education that will equip them for specific jobs and careers, taking courses of seven to 12 months’ duration, compared to one- to four-year study programs in public colleges;
- The average cost of these programs is more than $14,000, and more than half of private career college students anticipate a debt load of $10,000 or more, compared to about one-third of public college students.
The study’s central objectives were to understand the socio-economic background of students attending private post-secondary institutions, identify the reasons and factors for choosing such an institution, assess students’ work and educational transition plans post program, and detail the level of student satisfaction with the education and services provided. The study is available at http://www.millenniumscholarships.ca/en/research/AllPublications.asp.
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is a private, independent organization created by an act of Parliament in 1998, with a mandate to deliver bursaries and scholarships to Canadian post-secondary students until the end of 2009. The Foundation encourages students to strive for excellence and to pursue their post-secondary studies. To date, it has awarded more than 900,000 bursaries and scholarships, worth some $2.6 billion, to Canadian post-secondary students. Approximately five per cent of these awards have been distributed to students in private career colleges.
