Getting Ready For College!

Wow! You are getting ready for college now...look at you!

After many months of hard work in your journey to getting to college, you are finally here. You put in your deposit and are getting ready on heading out.

If you are going away for school, I would suggest you bring your neccessities with you and get everything else over near school. Everything else would be: school supplies, dorm supplies, etc. Neccessities are things in your current room that you need for day-to-day acitivity like clothes, laptop, etc. Since you are traveling a way, you wouldn't want to be hurling around all this "extra stuff" if you can just wait to get it.

Even though I went to school just about two hours away from home, I didn't bring with me bedding, school supplies, etc. as it was just more things to transport. I just went ahead and bought it at a spot near school.

A word on what to bring from home if you are living at school: Most firstyears have a tendency of overpacking, worried that she may need something at school suddenly and not have it because she left it at home. What tends to happen is that you packed so much that  you are moving a lot of "stuff" back and forth between school and home unnecessarily, which can lead to extra money costs (ex: baggage fees at the airport) and you never use it all! Just think about if you really need it or not. 

If you are commuting to school, then no worries to you! The only thing you really have to think about buying are school supplies. I wasn't a commuter though, so I may be overlooking something(s).

A word on school supplies: I would wait until classes started and I had my schedule locked down before I bought anything. This way you can get a feel for what you need depending on the class. This can save you money as you will have a smaller chance in over-buying and having 3 extra binders collecting dust on a shelf.

Are there tips for new college students to consider on what is on the do and do not pack lists? Are there other things for commuter students to consider? Any stories to share from when you were getting ready for college? Leave a post and help the future!

Heard Back & Selecting Your College!

...What seems like 457234 years has now passed. Finally.

Good news or bad news first?

Good news: some schools accepted me.

Bad news: some schools rejected me.

Don't sweat it, ladies and gents! It happens to everyone, everywhere, everyday, at some point. It's a part of life to get turned down but don't worry, one day you will show him/her/it/whoever that it was their loss. Focus on the amazing work you had to go through to get those big, fat, acceptance packages.

As you get each acceptance package, read through the material they send you. If you need help with some of it bring it to a trusted friend or adult that may be able to break it down for you. Take note of which schools accepted you and what categories they fall into from your "final list."

Now, your background and family conditions dictate a pretty important part of these acceptances: your initial financial aid package.

For some, money is key here. Definitely go for your gut feel on it. If money is of utmost importance here, go for the school that gave you the most money.

For some, money is important but it is not the supreme ruler here. You are willing to take out some loans and/or figure out different means to handle your business. This comes into key for those of you with acceptances to multiple schools that belong in different categories of your final list - you may be willing to pay more to go to your reach school than pay less to go to your safety school. That part is all on you and what you are willing to go through. 

 When you look at your financial aid package, notice what the breakdown is for everything. Do you have federal loans? Perkins loans? Will you need private loans to pay for the leftover amount? How much aid for tuition/room & board are they giving you? Take a look at it all and try to go over it with someone who has gone through the process before. Maybe it's an older cousin, aunt, uncle, parent, guidance counselor, teacher, mentor, etc. but there has to be someone out there in your circle to help you with this. Reach out - it's really important.

Also, if you are disappointed with your financial aid package to your top choice and there is another school that offered you more money, no worries. This is a great opportunity to create an appeal letter to your top institution that highlights your desire to attend but how financial hardships may lead you to not going. Use the other school as an example of a place that is offering you more and try to use it as a negotiation tool to get more from your top choice. I can make another post on this if you want, but let me know!

Once you have all of that settled, you are in a better position to make a decision on your school. Take it all in and make your choice. Sounds overly-simplified, right? Everyone has a different situation and you each have different things to note before you make a final choice. That's all on you.

When you do make your choice...OMG! Congratulations!! You are going to be on your way to the college that best fits your needs.

Do you have other tips or things to take into account for soon-to-be college students? Let them know in a post! Did you go through this and selected a college? Where did you pick?! Submit a post down below to help move the future forward.

Complete & Send...Then Wait!

After working diligently on your applications and essays, you are ready to send!

...Well, not so fast there!!

Make sure you check over all of the pages in your applications (often filled out online) and have everything completed. Get an extra pair of eyes if you can to look it over, too.

Then, start making your application packages. Check all of your labels, addresses, vouchers (if you qualify) and complete them. Once they are ready to go, bring them into a post office to ge them weighed so you can get the appropriate price to send. Then, off they go!

Congratulations, this is a HUGE step and you made it. Results are made from what you put in so no doubt that your hard work will pay off.

Now, the wait...

Waiting...

Yes, you will be waiting for a while. The time varies from institution to institution but I remember submitting my applications in December and didn't hear back from schools until March so maybe that can help some of you for a benchmark.

Any advice for students getting ready to send and wait? Something helpful that I may have missed? Any questions or comments - post below!

Tips on the "BIG" College Essay

By now you have already started your college applications. You're now in the essay section and *POW* you see the 'big' essay question. You read the prompt and get scared. You may get anxious, nervous, etc. and don't know what to do...well, don't sweat it. I have your back!!

I have some tips that may help you in separating yourself out from an average essay. Remember, there may be 2-3 people who actually end up reading your college application and they read hundreds, if not thousands, during the application review season. You need to stand out from the rest of the stack, otherwise you are going to stay stuck in the pile.

Do you want to be remembered and have your reviewer go home at the end of the day and still be stuck on your application and essay? I think so. I have a friend of mine who worked in an Admissions Office reviewing applications. When we would hang out, she would sometimes bring up "amazing applicants" that stayed in her mind. I'm sure she doesn't stand alone on that so think about it when you create your application.

Some tips on the main essay:

Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm - take some time to write down ideas for your essay. Make conversations with people around you and bounce around ideas. Go to that friend/teacher/relative who is 'hard' on you and ask them for their advice. Chances are they won't be shy about it and it will pay off. Take time with this until you love your idea...when people are passionate about what they work on, results are amazing.

Get CREATIVE - reviewers go through dozens of applications daily...how many of those do you think follow the same kind of formality, flow, style and maybe even topic? Think about what you can bring to the table here in terms of storyline, style and personality. You want the reader to get your essay and get re-energized by it, inspired by it, and love it. Everyone has a story to tell...the key is how you decide to tell it. Be honest in your writing and let the magic flow.

Edit, edit, edit - yes, drafts. Maybe for draft one, you just sit and write on the topic with no restraints...maybe you write an outline first and then hit draft one in a specific sequence. It's all good. What's important is that you sit down with someone who can read through it and help you organize it into a better flow if you need it, review your grammar if you need it, or in general help with your gaps to make it the best piece of your writing possible. That 'hard' person in your life can really be key here because they won't hold back and if that person is tough on you, generally it means she wants the best for you (whether or not you see that right now).

I wrote my college application on my first roller coaster ride at the age of 17 and how it played like a movie in my head. I paralleled it to life and taking chances while acknowledging/embracing my past and looking into the future. I loved my essay and after following these steps, it was the best piece of creative writing I had written. I applied to 9 colleges and got accepted into 6 of them with it. The 3 I either got waitlisted to or rejected to were my reach schools that I defined in my last post...so think about it. My reach schools were Harvard, UPenn and Brown if that does anything in helping you consider taking my advice.

Do you have any tips for students that are ready to tackle their main college essay? What did you write about? Do you have something you want to ask about this for some help? Submit a comment so we can help the future together!

Building Your College Application

Hopefully you have about three months or so before your college applications are due for consideration. All schools have different deadlines, so make sure you visit the website to find out! 

While you are doing that, read to see if the school takes the Common App or if they have a custom application. I suggest making a list of the schools you are applying to and noting next to them what its college application entails. 

Applications typically follow a similar format: your personal information, your student statistics, short essays, and a main essay with some variation. 

Check out all of the essay questions and paste them into a Word document or something equivalent and get to work...seriously! Take time to think about your answers, make drafts and ask teachers, parents, mentors, whoever and as many as people as possible to take a look. Ask for their opinion on your writing, your answer and ask for them to make edits. The more eyes you get on your material before your final submission, the better. Please try to not be that student who leaves this to the last minute! It is too important!!! 

Get started as early as possible and get it done as soon as possible. Don't procrastinate ladies and gentlemen!!! I can't emphasize that enough. You want to give yourself the best chances at this new chapter of your life so set yourself to get the best opportunity. 

Another post is coming up on the "big" essay that intimidates many students. Relax...I have your back! 

Do you have other tips to help students ready to tackle college applications? Do you have questions or comments in regards to it? Post below so we can help the future together!

Finalizing Your School List

So, you went ahead and made your decisions on what kind of schools you want to apply to and all of that jazz...now what? Well, I have advice on making your final list!

First housekeeping item before we get into it: money! Most college applications run in the $35-50 range PER SCHOOL! That's hundreds of dollars just to apply. That's a tough financial situation for many families, especially in this economy and it can ultimately dictate how many schools you can apply to. I learned that some individuals qualify for college application fee waivers that allow you to apply to many institutions for free. I definitely took advantage of this help and if you qualify, here is the link from CollegeBoard.

Now that we have that out of the way...your list.

Eh, before that, let me cover something quickly on research. When you research the kind of schools you like, take note of the credentials of the institutions accepted students. You can find it in their profile and it includes things like student rank from their high school, SAT scores, etc. and it helps you get an idea of what your chances will be to get into that school. Don't worry if you don't meet all the criteria or if you exceed some...get a variety of schools in your bucket because they fall into certain categories that I'll explain now.

Ok, now we are really onto the list.

I would recommend applying to about 9-10 schools that fall under these categories:

Three safety schools: A safety school would be defined as a school that you exceed all the criteria for on their average accepted student profile. 

Let's say Maria has a 3.3GPA and a 1800 cumulative SAT score. She is looking through colleges and notes one that catches her eye called College X. The average accepted student had a 2.7 in high school and a 1400 cumulative SAT score. (Of course there are more criteria points but this is for you to get a basic understanding.) Anyways, in this case Maria exceeds both areas for an average accepted student and can most likely get in. This school would be a safety school for her. 

Three to four solid schools: A solid school would be defined as a school where you have more or less the average criteria of the accepted students. 

Maria continues her school research and stumbles on College B with an average student profile of a 3.1GPA and 1550 cumulative SAT score as well as College C with an average student profile of a 3.3GPA and 1900 cumulative SAT score. In both of those cases, Maria roughly fits the criteria of average students. I would say Maria has a solid chance of getting into both of those schools purely based off of those stats.

Three reach schools: A reach school would be defined as a school where your profile as a student is below the average accepted student. These can be your dream schools that you have less than 50% chance of getting into but hey, maybe with an awesome application and interview, could get you in the door.

Maria takes a look at a few Ivy League Schools and some other highly selective schools. She finds Colleges D and E that have an average student profile of a 3.8GPA and 2000 cumulative SAT score. Maria's stats are much lower but she puts them on her reach list. Two thoughts here - it never hurts to try and you don't want to look back and regret not making the attempt.  

All college hopefuls don't have the luxury of applying to 9-10 schools or reach schools, etc.. I know that. This is just based off of the help I received in going through this process and hopefully you can use this as a starting point on making your dream list. 

Do you have other tips on making a final college application list? Is there something you want explained more? Have a question or comment on this? Post below so we can help each other out.

Help on Your College Selection!

So, you are at the beginning of your college process and don't know where to start. No worries, I have your back!

In order to figure out what schools you want to apply to think about these questions:

Do you want to go to a large school or small one? Impact: A larger school means more people so if you love meeting tons of people or want an 'urban' feel that this may be for you. A smaller school gives you a personal feel and may be a better opportunity to build closer relationships (Disclaimer: I am biased to a small school. I didn't want to be classified as a number in the class and my school was a perfect fit for me with just about 3,000 people).

Do you want to go to school in a city or not? Impact: If you are from a city, you may use college as a chance to get into a different scene and vice versa (I went from Boston, MA to a 'smaller life').

Do you want to go to a private institution or a public one? Does it matter to you? Impact: Money matters. Private schools tend to be more expensive and if you go to a public school and stay in the same state you are from you can pay less for your education (There are more details [that I can do in another post] to this question like taking into account your grades and getting into a "needs-based" school which can help make a private education cheaper than actually going to a public institution - that was my case with Smith).

Do you want to live near/at home or want to take an exploratory adventure away? Impact: Living near/at home can reduce your education expenses dramatically by removing your "room & board" expenses on your college bill. Going away from home for school will provide you with a "fresh start" but will be a more expensive option (in many cases).

Once you figure out your answers, I recommend going to College Board and exploring some schools that meet your criteria. You can check out Forbes and USN to get some ideas of some schools you may want to consider for yourself but don't sweat it if your top school isn't here...all of these ranking sites use different criteria to make their selections and sometimes politics (which I won't get into) influence it. This is just for ideas.

Note that there is a give and take for all of these questions and answers, but that is part of the decision making process. If you want a more in-depth explanation for any of these points let me know! I have biases for all of them too given I had to make all of these choices about 5-6 years ago so note them too.

Have you gone through this process and have suggestions that I missed to consider? Are there other questions you have in selecting a college that is right for you that you want to know? Do you want some help in making some decisions on your choice? Post a comment and let me know so I can do my best to help you out!

Need Help With Your College Journey?

I was fortunate enough to get amazing college help (for free) when I was in high school from a non-profit organization called BottomLine. They provide one-on-one custom counseling through your entire college process, from school research to selecting the best school for you considering all things (including financial aid).

With that said, not everyone has the opportunity for something like that so I want to help those of you who have to go through this journey on your own. I am the first in my family who made it past high school and I know young people out there who share in that...so here is the first post related to college help!

Getting started: so you are in the summer before you enter your senior year or maybe earlier and you are thinking about which college is right for you. There is a lot to think about but don't be scared...take it one step at a time and you'll be good to go.

The College Process (more or less):

Deciding on the kind of schools you want to apply to

Researching those schools/visits

Making your final list

Building your college applications

Writing your 'big' essay

Sending your complete applications

Waiting...

Receiving acceptances (yay!) & rejections (it's ok - I got them!)

Reviewing your financial aid packages

Selecting your school!

Getting ready for college

Seems like a lot and I can't lie, it is. However, with enough planning (ideally starting end of your junior year of high school), and taking it one step at a time, we can get through this!

Here are some places that will be fundamental in your journey:

College Board

The Common App

FAFSA

CSS Profile

Did you go through the college process already and thought of something I missed? Let me know so I can give you credit and add it! Are you getting ready to go on this journey and are scared? Excited? I want to know! Are you the first in your family going to college? Tell me your story. Post a comment below and I'll hit you up!

The Early Bird Catches The Worm!

Good Morning & Happy Wednesday!

Here is a life lesson I learned early in my time at college (the hard way - darn Engineering schedule): the early bird catches the worm (seriously though).

With discipline, I made myself learn to wake up at 6:30AM EST so I could peacefully go through my morning routine and get to work by 8:00AM with a solid breakfast, shower, stretch and morning readings in my system. Back then it was for my morning Calculus classes and now it's for work.

I thought about how I could use extra morning time in the office to make myself current and up-to-date considering I don't have cable at my place (by choice). I decided to read articles online! I have four main categories that I like to hit each morning and anything I don't get a chance to read (because I opt to get some more work done in the office instead), I throw the articles into my Readability app and check them later when I have time (awesome free app).

The four main categories for me with where I go are:

general news: nytimes.com

'money' info: cnnmoney.com , fortune.com

technology info: techrepublic.com

personal development: blogs.hbr.org

I find that this pays off for me because it helps me 1) grow as an individual and 2) gives me talking points at work with coworkers and upper management when we are in meetings and something is referenced or there is the random walk-by in the office and you want to say something that will have your coworker/boss notice that you are trying to keep on top of things (it's in the details).

Being on top of the web information available to you online is a great advantage in the workplace. I recommend that whatever work sector you are in (in my case, technology), you should be reading up on that to keep yourself current and if nothing else, it builds your knowledge base in your field.

What are some things you do in the morning to keep yourself in the game or get ahead? Any tips to help others out? Post a comment below!

What Am I Doing Here?!

I've been wanting to make a blog for a while now but couldn't settle myself on one specific topic/niche. I (just) made a(n impulsive) decision to let it define itself over time once my content builds. Awesome.

The title was something hard to decide as well because after all, it needs to be something to capture an audience...I don't want to talk to myself here! "A Millennial Mind" makes all the sense in the world to me as my culture, interests, perspectives, opinions, etc. (that I hope to cover in this) offer insight to what "A Millennial" has in their mind while still acknowledging that this is just specific to me and not an attempt to generalize on my generation.

I am hoping this blog will help someone, somewhere whether it be from a college-related post, financial planning post, technology post, life post, etc. Life isn't about me - it's about what I can offer to help others!