Expert Advice to Get You Started on Your College Application Essays

hands writing and on a keyboard representing starting your college college applicaiton essay

hands writing and on keyboard representing starting your college application essayIf you haven’t started your college application essays yet, it’s time to stop procrastinating and get to work. Why? Because even though the college application essay would seem to fall under academic tasks you have already mastered in high school, it is an essay after all, the reality is that it’s not. By that I mean it’s not an academic task.

The college application essay has nothing to do with your ability to craft an essay to demonstrate to a teacher your analytical abilities in literature or history. It has everything to do with figuring out who you are and how to show it to the people reading your application. Now which high school class covered self-discovery?

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Why Teen Checking Accounts Should be Part of Your College Prep

A teen checking their account balances while inserting a card into an ATM machine, with a focus on the action and the machine's user-friendly interface.

student using atm representing importance of teen checking accountsParents make sure that their kids are prepped for the college admissions process. They make sure they take the right classes, get the appropriate grades, study for the ACT or SAT, and participate in extracurricular activities. But do they make sure they’re equally ready to handle the financial aspects of independent living? Students may be able to do the math to calculate interest rates yet 43% don’t understand the differences between debit and credit cards.

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50-50 Highlights: Colleges with Highest Graduation Rates by State

A group of graduates from a state with the highest college graduation rates joyfully throwing their mortarboards into the air under a clear sky.

graduating students representing colleges with highest graduation rates by stateThe idea behind listing 50-50 colleges is that they offer most high school students a reasonable chance of admissions with an equally reasonable chance of graduation. As I’ve mentioned before, the most expensive college is the one you don’t graduate from. And while depressing, a 50% graduation rate is actually a fairly high standard. Out of 1,586 colleges, only 458 have a 50% or better graduation rate. Even so, you have to wonder, how high of a graduation rate is possible while still admitting at least 50% of students?

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50-50 Highlights: Colleges Awarding the Most Institutional Financial Aid

College graduate with money representing institutional aid

College graduate holding money representing institutional aidAnyone who has been paying attention to college costs and financial aid has probably heard that there really isn’t one set sticker price for college. It’s a lot like airline tickets. People sitting next to each other on a flight probably paid very different amounts for their tickets depending on when they bought them. Like airline tickets, very few families actually pay the sticker price for college.

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50-50 Highlights: Schools in the US News College Rankings Top 100

Wrecked truck representing US News Best College Rankings

Wrecked truck representing US News College Rankings(I’ve updated this post with the most recent rankings.)

Sorry. It’s the reason why traffic slows down on the opposite of the freeway from the accident. We just can’t help but look, if just for a second.  And while the list of 50-50 schools is going the opposite direction of the US News College Rankings, they did come out this month and we might as well get it over with and look.

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50-50 Highlights: Colleges with the Most Engineering Graduates

people studing engineering plans rerpesenting colleges with most engineers

Photo of engineers for most engineering graduatesStudents interested in majoring in engineering don’t have the luxury of waiting several semesters before starting work in their major. The demanding sequence of courses requires students to begin major requirements as freshman. Even starting as freshman, engineering majors often take more than four years to graduate.

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50-50 Highlights: Colleges with the Most Geographic Diversity

A person wearing jeans and a white shirt walks on an airport travelator while pulling a navy blue suitcase and carrying a black backpack, perhaps heading to one of the colleges with the most geographic diversity.

student with suitcase representing colleges with most geographic diversityWhen looking for a college, it’s a good idea to keep geography in mind. Apparently most families do but not in ways that will improve financial aid or enhance the student’s college education. According to The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2016, 53% of freshman attend college within 100 miles of home. Only 17.3% enroll at a college more than 500 miles from home.

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What You Need to Know About Studying Medicine and Law in Europe

female med student representing studying medicine in Europe

The following is a guest post by Kevin Newton who specializes in helping students apply to college in Europe. 

medical student representing studying medicine and law in EurporeFor many people, the chance to get a degree in three years by studying in Europe is already a considerable savings of time and money. However, for those students interested in a career in law or medicine, a European degree can mean even greater savings. This is because, unlike in the United States, there isn’t any separate  undergraduate degree requirement.

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