College Will Teach You A Thing Or Two About Email

Email in college is no joke. That’s not to say that it was a joke while you were in high school, but college life also prepares you how to professionally manage an inbox. During high school, you truthfully might not have used email much, as that inbox probably mostly filled up with promotions, giveaways, and the occasional email actually worth opening. In college, that’s not the case.

That inbox of yours can be compared to being a new pet owner, such as a dog owner. What was before a cute animal that you’d occasionally pet and visit now requires full-time energy to maintain, respond to, and necessitates that you stay up late at times to tend to it. Yes, that’s your new college email, and, no, it won’t be cute. While you won’t be flooded with emails like some working professionals, you’ll get you’ll fair share, and more than your fair share of ones worth opening.

All this emailing will be good practice for the real world. While hopefully you already know how to use email, managing your inbox is great practice for life after college. First off, you’ll need to responsibly check your email, which means more than giving it a quick glance once a day like you might do with your personal inbox. From updates from teachers, to messages from group project participants, to, yes, an email from your parents, you can’t use the excuse that you missed an email because you failed to check. That’s so ‘90s.

After all, if you can’t be trusted to be reasonable about checking your email, it’ll be a bad sign if you can’t handle that small responsibility. Fortunately, the task isn’t difficult. Responding, however, can be a bit more of a challenge. You’ve heard that you shouldn’t treat formal emails like text messages, and it’ll be good practice on how to get your message across politely and concisely, which is an underrated skill that college email can teach.

Email can also teach you a thing or two about organization. For the first time in your life, you might be in a situation where you have to find an old email. Have to—as in, your grade depends upon it! Hopefully you’ll quickly find that it’s to your advantage to keep email organized, as a messy inbox will make sifting through old emails a miserable task. Just as a clean dorm room will result in more convenience and less wasted time during college life, the same holds true with your inbox.

And if nothing else, using email will teach you the need to learn to type properly if you’re a two-finger typist. That’s a skill that will be useful for life, and will be something worth learning while in college.

Angels Are Real With In-State Angels

Congratulations, my friend! You have success­­fully navigated the treacherous waters of growing up and graduating high school. Now, here you are at college, far from home, out from under the thumb of your parents, free to become the person you’re going to be.

Not entirely free however, owing to that whole “out-of-state” tuition issue. Everyone was so impressed when you defied the odds and earned admission to this revered public

institution, envious of the great experiences available to you in distant lands. What is less impressive is the tuition bill that arrives each semester, requesting payment usually 3 or 4 times higher than “in-state” students.

If you’re lucky, you have parents willing and able to offset a significant portion of this sum. Not everyone is so blessed, and even so, in this economy, can you afford not to reduce the cost of college as much as possible?

Enter In-StateAngels (ISA), an organization dedicated to earning qualified students in-state tuition as fast as legally possible. Whether you’re just starting out, or are a couple semesters deep into college, ISA can save you tens of thousands of dollars by helping you make the switch to in-state status.

If you thought BioChem or Chaucer were complicated, try navigating the nebulous bureaucracy that is the university finance department. Given that there are literally millions of dollars on the line for schools, the system is not exactly designed to be simple and easy for students to make the switch.

The rules are constantly changing, often without notice, and each university may interpret these rules differently. The consequences of a misrepresented application can include criminal charges, retroactive reclassification of residency (i.e. you owe a ton of money all of a sudden), and academic disciplinary actions, such as expulsion or revocation of your degree.

That’s scary stuff and justifiably acts as a barrier to entry for many students, even those who have legitimate qualifications. These risks disappear when you have an Angel on your team.

Once ISA accepts you as a qualified candidate, they handle all the hassle and you pay nothing until you’re benefitting from in-state tuition. They do all the legwork, all but signing the forms for you. They are professionals experienced in managing all kinds of cases, meaning everything is above board, completely legitimate and legally beyond reproach. Your personal Angel even sticks with you throughout your college career to make sure you maintain that precious in-state status.

Circumstances always vary, but everyone deserves a great education, and no one wants to graduate burdened by massive amounts of debt. There are thousandsof strategies for reducing the cost of college, and a lot you can do to avoid excessive debt.

Qualifying for financial aid, discovering scholarships, getting a job, and frugal living are cornerstone tactics. Now, imagine if you were to employ these strategies but had only to pay half, or one-third the tuition? Would that be helpful?

If so, it might be worth a moment of your time to invoke your local In-State Angels. Between trying to graduate, figuring out what to be, who to be with or, perhaps most importantly, what to eat, you already have plenty of stressors to occupy your mind.

In-State Angels exists to remove “tuition” from your list of worries. Angels are real, and they are ready to help at a moment’s notice. All you have to do is ask.

-  David McConaghay

   InStateAngels.com

David McConaghay is a writer and professional enthusiast based in Boulder, Colorado. He supports In-State Angels based on his passionate belief that everyone deserves affordable access to higher education. You are invited to follow him on Twitter @DaveTelf.

Thinking About Freshman Year Now? Start Off College Strong With These Tips

After high school and before college, incoming freshmen are in a state of wonder. They are crossing over this metaphorical bridge, turning from teens to young adults. Entering college, they are expected to uphold a level of responsibility and not be distracted by all the new experiences they’re going to encounter. Yet to make freshman year a lot more enjoyable, see our to-do list below for a few tips.

Meet your roommate - Ask your school before move-in day for the contact information of your dorm roommate (note that some schools post this info online prior to move-in). It’s perfectly acceptable to send your roommate an email or make a call to introduce yourself, and it will make the first face-to-face introduction much easier. Everyone moving into the residence halls for the first time is nervous, and it helps to break the ice. I highly suggest connecting on Facebook or other social media outlets as well.  

Explore your hall - During a campus visit, go look around the community areas of your dorm. You’ll want to know where you can hang out and where you can study outside of your residence hall. This could also be a great place to meet new people.  A lot of times residence halls will have bulletins for upcoming events and introductions for organizations around campus. During your freshman year, you should invite your roommate or other residence hall members to attend these events with you. Again, I suggest using Facebook to connect with other incoming freshmen as well. There is normally a “(university) Class of (expected graduation year)” group that you can join. There, you’ll be able to connect, ask questions, and make friends.

Residence Hall Orientation Packet - There is normally a packet sent to your address a few months prior to move-in day that contains information on your dorm and on residence life. Yes, you should read this packet!  It will give you insight into the rules and regulations. This small piece of information can save you some embarrassment and keep you on schedule for move-in. Remember, this packet was made for you and is intended to help you. So read it. Trust us.

Prepare for Move-In Day – Move-in day will be hectic and fast paced. You will most likely have been given a certain allocated time to move in and a list of items to purchase that aren’t provided by your school. Luckily, DormCo provides a one-stop shop for all those creature comforts you need to live happily in the dorm. There, you can buy comforters, furniture, laundry, and bath supplies that aren’t normally provided to the students by their college. Also, Bellhops provides two young fellow college students to help move all of your stuff into the dorms. Those two college students are also great connections to make on your first day of college. They are normally sophomores and juniors and are veterans of the freshman year. They will be able to answer any questions you might have that aren’t clearly answered anywhere else. Have a great first year!

-- Tripp Stanford

    GetBellHops.com

Bellhops is a tech-enabled moving company that mobilizes thousands of college students to provide moving services in 120 cities across the country. Bellhops specializes in small, local moves, whether it be loading help, unloading help, or a local A to B move. The student bellhops that make this all possible are recruited, trained, and managed through an innovative workforce management system that allows Bellhops to deliver excellent customer service to each individual customer. Book your next move at www.getbellhops.com with the specialists in small, local moving. 

 

College Essays: A Few Words Of Wisdom For All Those Words To Be Written

Probably the biggest “problem” with college essays is, if you’re going for the A, you won’t always know how to achieve it. With a multiple-choice test, you know that if you fill in all the right bubbles, you’ll get the A. But the essays are more elusive, more subjective and less clear-cut. And that’s what makes them tricky. But, oh, the volume! You’ll write thousands and thousands of words while crafting college essays, so keep a few tips in mind when chasing that A.

First off, read the prompt. One of the scariest realizations in

college results from a fatal misreading of the essay prompt:
you get your paper back, and you realize you missed the

whole point. While the directions themselves might be a bit vague, there will be a sentence or two that clearly defines what you’re supposed to be doing with all those words. Are you to make an argument for something? Should you be critically analyzing a certain topic? Or, should you just be writing about some personal experience of yours and how it’s shaped you? Maybe you’re supposed to do all three in one essay, but the point remains the same: know the objective and topic, and keep that in mind the whole time.

Once you know the topic and have your focus defined, it’s also wise to stay on topic. This might sound obvious, but when you’re hammering out thousands of words, it can get tempting and easy to let yourself veer from the course. Such misalignment is easy to spot by the arbiter of your grade, so keep that professor happy and stay on topic. If you know the objective and focus of the essay, make sure every sentence relates to it.

Actually, writing isn’t the first step. Before writing, start thinking, and think deeply and critically. The point of any essay, really, is to have some insight; it should share something or reveal some idea that isn’t at first obvious or known. Your ability to construct and present such critical insight forms the foundation of any well-written essay. Yet if you don’t take your time to do some thinking before you start writing, you risk droning on and on with material that the reader (your professor) already knows. So when it comes to your shared ideas and arguments, bring something new to the table, or page, rather.

When you’re all done, read that paper aloud. You’ve heard that tip before, but it’s rarely practiced. By reading and speaking, you’ll catch all matter of awkward and wordy sentences. Even if you’re not an English major, if you read a sentence and say it, your ear will tell you if it sounds right or if it sounds like you’re new to your language.

When things get tough, just keep in mind that writing comes down to two things: what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. It’s a simple structure, really, although you know there will be times when you’ll be at a loss for words on the page. When that occurs, don’t be afraid to ask the professor for some ideas and advice. Professors love sharing this, and no rulebook ever said the task of writing had to be accomplished unaided.