February 23, 2012

Tuition in London & Sicily

Only a short time ago, I told you about all the excitement that awaited you through study abroad. This is the continuation of that article, where we will talk about how we can get you on the plane to the best months of your life. Financing is the one area that seemed to hold everyone back. You may be thinking “it’s too expensive”. I’m here to dispel that rumor.

In many cases, your school already has a study abroad department with at least a few options available to you. What you may not realize is that if the school organizes the trip and you pay tuition through them, your Grants, Scholarships and Loans are usable there as long as you follow your home school’s credit hour requirement. Short of just the flight, your college tuition bill should remain around the same.

In some cases, schools may have partnerships through other colleges. This allowed me to transfer my student benefits & loan package with me to another college, who arranged all the specifics pertaining to the trip. This works great for countries or cities that are not available at your current school. In effect, the intermediary university piloted my study abroad experience and transferred the credits to my home school after the program ended. Again, you should talk to your study abroad advisor about the specifics as each college has a different policy.

There is a great sum of scholarship money just waiting for college students interested in expanding their horizons. Sometimes even your school has special study abroad scholarships awaiting students. In addition, my current school has a special agreement with the University of Budapest, which allows a lucky student to attend tuition-free. See if your school has any special agreements like this. There are many third party scholarships waiting. The Gilman is one of the better known, but many more await your search through Google or a study abroad institution.

At the end of the day, with a little planning, Study Abroad is extremely feasible. Many scholarships await the adventurous college student. Your school looks to educate global students, and their programs are in place to help you achieve that, being globally aware.

Dylan Swartz

February 17, 2012

You Can Do WHAT With That?

In college, you are not dealt a lot of space. Shy of knocking down the wall (which you cannot do unfortunately), you have to maximize the space to suit your needs. This means using things in non-traditional or just unknown ways, especially when it comes to kitchen appliances. Usually dorm suites come standard with an oven, stovetop and refrigerator, all designed for massive families or meal planning. The devices I talk about may be less known, but are by no means less effective (maybe more so).

In a hurry, the hot pot is a great option for cooking ramen (the college staple), canned soup or filling Mac n Cheese. With a variable dial, these cooking pots allow you temperature control. Meaning you can quickly cook your food or if waiting for some friends, set the temperature lower so the flavors brew. Not to mention, this easy cooking method requires no cooking know how and are relatively straight forward to operate. Just a simple unplug and this hot pot can go anywhere you need it.

If you don’t have the time or patience to slave away around a stove, the rice cooker and steamer combo may be just the combo device you need. With a measuring cup, all you need to do is measure the amount of rice and water you need, turn it on and let the rice cooker do its job. In addition to perfectly cooking the rice, many units come with a steaming tray. This means you can steam broccoli, carrots and peas while your meal cooks.

Finally, coffee has been the life blood of college students as far back as studying has been important. But did you know that by taking out the coffee and filter from a coffee maker, you have an instant hot water brewer. This comes in handy if you want some hot apple cider during those long winter months. A roommate and I shared a small coffeepot once and used it to enjoy hot tea from a large 40 ounce coffee cup.

These kitchen appliances are only a sample of what you have available. Just a simple search through DormCo or Google will show you some neat stuff. Be sure to check with your school, as regulations vary from college to college (You may not be able to cook with a stovetop or similar device in your dorm ). As the college culture is constantly shifting, you can be assured that new devices will soon be revealed to address what students like you value in a device, speed, quality and cost. So, if you want smaller or smarter appliances in your dorm, the stuff you need is only a click away.

Dylan Swartz

February 8, 2012

Getting A Jump Start On College

Two words, Summer School. Those two words just 10 years ago evoked a picture of some miserable student, sitting in an unconditioned room somewhere, counting down the minutes until 3. What was once a last resort has now become a popular option among college students and not for the reasons you would think. Attending summer classes can provide you with many benefits. For instance, many students see summer school as a way to get ahead. It allows you to free up your schedule next semester. In addition, summer school may be the option to satisfy the urge you’ve always had to travel. Either way, after this article, you will never see summer school in the same way again.

All college students have a large share of prequisites they must take before graduating. These standard English, Math, Science and History Classes are seen as the foundation of a well-rounded education. With all the interesting classes offered at your school, it’s a case of too many classes, too little time. Yet, an English 100 or History 150 is holding you back from taking what you want. During the summer, these classes are still offered at many convenient times and will allow you to take the course in a quicker timeframe. Usually 1 month as opposed to 1 semester. Doing so frees up your following semester so you can take more courses related to your major.

Yet if you are like me and somewhat adventurous, another advantage of taking those core classes in the summer is that it will allow you to graduate earlier!! Transferring in 6-9 college credits from your High School is an awesome feat that some students are now managing. Yet with the average A.S. Degree being 60 credits, you have three semesters to complete 51 – 54 credits. Taking a 18 Credit/Hour semester is workable, but I had 15-16 Credit/Hour Semesters and highly recommend them to you as the perfect balance of life and school. Having the option to take 6-9 credit hours of school work during the summer will allow you flexibility when planning your future. Combining pre-college credits with summer classes can get you a good 15 credits (which is exactly ¼ of a 60 Credit, 4 semester program), leaving you with 3 semesters (45 credit hours).

You can also use this time to study at another college. I picked up 9 credit hours of language and a 3 credit hour business class during my summer time. This combined with my High School Experience granted me a total of 18 credits. So my college years of planning were much easier, allowing me to graduate a semester earlier and transfer to my Master Program.

In all, Summer School is not what it used to be. Many students are now realizing the benefits of studying during the summer. Now may be the time that you look at possible summer study as a means to advancing your college program. As usual, if you have any specific questions, leave me a comment and I will be glad to help you plan ahead.

Dylan Swartz

February 1, 2012

Too Much Free Time?

College will be one of the most memorable experiences of your life. During your experience, you’ll find that there is hardly ever a dull moment. With so much going on around you, there are so many options for you to consider. Should I join Flag Football and Reading Club this semester, or push Reading back for a Yoga Class? Better yet, joining all three seems to be a popular option. Even if this doesn’t sound like you now, let me show you why you should take advantage of the variety of Clubs and Activities offered by your College.

The best reason for participating in these activities is that is wards off boredom. Too often college students complain there is nothing to do around campus, “nothing at all” they say. Next time you are near a Student Union look around at all the flyers. Don’t be surprised if you see Boxing, Yoga, Martial Arts, Drawing, Manga, Recycling, International, Reading, Science, Nursing, Chiropractic, Student Enterprise, Dance, Swimming, Running as some options. With more clubs like Poetry, Student Union and Painting, the list keeps on going.

Even if you don’t see something on these lists you may like, do not be discouraged. You are more than encouraged to start your own club of interest. At my past school, a few friends and I were interested in Martial Arts. We looked around and could not find anything, so we did what students do, ask. We learned that you can start a club with some student signatures and a sponsoring teacher. So that is just what we did. We set our time and participated in a successful club for 4 semesters and had so much fun.

Even if you are unsure about what a club may do, attend a meeting and they will be pleased to show you. Many friendships are started simply by joining a club. Even if you have never done something like flag football or dance, you will meet great people and make some friends in the process.

So now you can’t say you’re bored.

By Dylan Swartz