Those of you who are using the Common Application to apply to colleges may be confused as to whether or not you must waive your right to access recommendations and other information contained in your application. Please use the following link to view a detailed explanation of the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-dTI2wJ_JA
As you can see, you must sign the FERPA waiver in order for your high school and teachers to release information about you to your prospective college. However, you do not need to waive your right to access the materials and recommendations they send.
Some students feel that failure to waive that right may be frowned upon by college admissions officers - that it may imply collusion on your part regarding what your recommenders write. If that were the case, why wouldn't the colleges suspect your grades as well. The letter of recommendation is just that - a recommendation. It is not an evaluation or a progress report. Ergo, the teacher who agrees to write one has agreed to highlight your attributes, like the letters of reference of old which many travelers carried to vouch for their character in parts unknown.
If you choose to waive that right, confident in the fact that you have chosen your recommenders wisely, you should at least get a copy of the letters. When you succeed in gaining admission to the college of your choice, you can use the letter to win an off-campus job in a town where you are most likely unknown and too new to get the backing of your current professors. It just may make the difference as to whether you or your legion of competitors get that barista job!
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Alert
I haven't posted a blog in quite a while since there was not much news to report. How many times can I write about how cautious you need to be when choosing a college in which to invest? This economy makes the investment all the riskier if you consider how the course of study you choose will affect your financial situation. Will it "make you" with a well paying and rewarding career or "break you" with a seemingly insurmountable debt and little job security? I wanted to blog today to alert you that this year's Money Magazine article on the best colleges is available and can be found online for free at the following site:
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2014/07/money_magazine_ranks_the_top_u.html
As I have reported in the past, the study is well designed and definitely worth a look to see how graduates' salaries compare with the cost/debt at specific colleges.
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2014/07/money_magazine_ranks_the_top_u.html
As I have reported in the past, the study is well designed and definitely worth a look to see how graduates' salaries compare with the cost/debt at specific colleges.
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Charting Your Own Course(s)
There is a fairly recent trend that is gaining traction - the Gap Year. Unlike what you may hope, it is not a year that you spend shopping at the GAP on an unlimited gift card. It is, "a period of time between completing high school and beginning college when a student steps outside the traditional classroom experience". I personally knew a very wealthy man who insisted each of his four children spend a year after high school in gainful employment/exploration before he would finance their college degrees, if they decided to pursue them. This was decades before the idea had a name or plethora of websites from which to get information and guidance.
Andrew Kelly, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute speaks about three alternatives to college in a short informative video which can be found at:
http://townhall.com/video/aei-three-alternatives-to-attending-college-n1817964
There are many programs out there that can help a student pursue these alternatives or narrow the field as to possible career avenues. Juniata College in Huntington, Pennsylvania has offered a more individually tailored program for years. It is called the "Program of Emphasis" where "students are afforded the option to create their own major" and can "explore many possibilities that would otherwise be restricted by a designated major". While an interesting concept, it may be more beneficial to someone who already has a course of study in mind. Plus, the annual tuition, room and board at Juniata runs upward of 40K! There are many Gap Year Fairs much like the traditional College Fairs. A schedule of these events, along with links to helpful sites that give more information and insight into this growing trend, can be found at:
http://www.usagapyearfairs.org
I found a very interesting program run by UnCollege, founded by Dale Stephens, about which I've written before. ("Just Say, 'No' "? - Wednesday, March 13, 2013). There is a fee but also an admissions process and it appears pretty selective. They advertise the program as follows:
It's a year-long program where fellows will be learning,
living abroad, and pursuing work that matters. Most Gap
Year Programs are loose conduits from high school to
college. Here, we teach you everything you need to know,
from traveling to building work you care about. We
provide the skills, the resources, and the access. All you
need to do is show up, and bring your best. We'll do the rest.
If I met the age requirement (18-28), I might apply myself!
http://www.uncollege.org/gapyear
Andrew Kelly, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute speaks about three alternatives to college in a short informative video which can be found at:
http://townhall.com/video/aei-three-alternatives-to-attending-college-n1817964
There are many programs out there that can help a student pursue these alternatives or narrow the field as to possible career avenues. Juniata College in Huntington, Pennsylvania has offered a more individually tailored program for years. It is called the "Program of Emphasis" where "students are afforded the option to create their own major" and can "explore many possibilities that would otherwise be restricted by a designated major". While an interesting concept, it may be more beneficial to someone who already has a course of study in mind. Plus, the annual tuition, room and board at Juniata runs upward of 40K! There are many Gap Year Fairs much like the traditional College Fairs. A schedule of these events, along with links to helpful sites that give more information and insight into this growing trend, can be found at:
http://www.usagapyearfairs.org
I found a very interesting program run by UnCollege, founded by Dale Stephens, about which I've written before. ("Just Say, 'No' "? - Wednesday, March 13, 2013). There is a fee but also an admissions process and it appears pretty selective. They advertise the program as follows:
It's a year-long program where fellows will be learning,
living abroad, and pursuing work that matters. Most Gap
Year Programs are loose conduits from high school to
college. Here, we teach you everything you need to know,
from traveling to building work you care about. We
provide the skills, the resources, and the access. All you
need to do is show up, and bring your best. We'll do the rest.
If I met the age requirement (18-28), I might apply myself!
http://www.uncollege.org/gapyear
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Re-programming
Michelle Obama's going on: 'Everbody must have college'-
Why? Why? What is the reason why everyone has to go
to college? Especially when college is so utterly
meaningless right now, it has no core curriculum and
people end up saddled with huge debts.
So opines the feminist cultural critic, Camille Paglia, in a recent interview in the Wall Street Journal.
(Saturday/Sunday, December 28-29, 2013) She goes on to state that the widespread emphasis on college is "social snobbery on the part of a lot of upper-middle-class families who want the sticker in the window". I'm happy to say that I share many of these views with Ms. Paglia, whom I admire, and have expressed them frequently in this blog.
As Glenn Harlan Reynolds, law professor at the University of Tennessee states in his new book, The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education From Itself
America's higher education problem calls for both
wiser choices by families and better value from
schools. For some students, this will mean choosing
a major carefully (opting for a more practical area of
study, like engineering over humanities), going to a
less expensive community college or skipping college
altogether to learn a trade.
("Degrees of Value: Making College Pay Off", Wall Street Journal, Saturday-Sunday, January 4-5, 2014)
The community college system has, in many regions, changed its model from a freshman program of unrelated courses to a more defined program wherein students' choices are limited to courses which will lead to a specific degree. Many times the program is designed to award certificates attesting to acquisition of employable skills along the way. Davis Jenkins, a senior research associate with the Community College Research Center at Columbia University states, "There's more attention to making the path through education to careers clearer, because people cannot afford to spend time earning unnecessary credits." (Wall Street Journal, Saturday-Sunday, December 14-15, 2013)
Mr. Reynolds agrees:
Today's emphasis on measuring college education in terms
of future earnings and employability may strike some as
philistine but most students have little choice. When you
could pay your way through college by waiting tables, the
idea that you should 'study what interests you' was more viable
than it is today, when the cost of a four-year degree often
runs to six figures. For an 18-year-old, investing such a sum
in education without a payoff makes no more sense than
buying a Ferrari on credit.
An interesting graphic from the Reynolds article highlights the following statistics:
71% College graduates in the class of 2012 who had student loan debt
$29,400 Average student debt per borrower
6% Annual increase in student debt at graduation from 2008 to 2012
As University of Michigan economics finance professor, Mark Perry, has calculated,
tuition for all universities, public and private, increased from 1978 to 2011
at an annual rate of 7.45%. By comparison, health-care costs increased
by only 5.8% and housing, notwithstanding the bubble, increased
at 4.3%. Family incomes, on the other hand, barely kept up
with the consumer-price index, which grew at an annual rate of 3.8%.
(WSJ, January 4-5, 2014)
41% College graduates who say their jobs don't require a college degree
I had contemplated not continuing my blog in 2014. Most of my "tips" regarding career exploration and planning were posted in the first year or two. (Yes, I began this blog four years ago this August.) Lately, I've been using my posts to draw attention to articles and books which may be of interest to students and parents looking for guidance. If you follow the suggestions I've made in archived posts, you should be finding these things out for yourself. Then I came upon the Paglia and Reynolds articles. They are just so worthwhile I needed to bring them to your attention and urge you to read them for yourselves. In the future I will post when something similar occurs. I won't be able to let you know specifics as to when that will be, as I have in the past. I may write weekly, monthly or not at all. I apologize for any inconvenience but I want to enjoy this experience and not make it a chore. As I've said often, most of this can be done on your own. I, most likely, will check in - or butt in, depending on your opinion of my posts - from time to time to keep you abreast of things.
HAPPY 2014 !
Why? Why? What is the reason why everyone has to go
to college? Especially when college is so utterly
meaningless right now, it has no core curriculum and
people end up saddled with huge debts.
So opines the feminist cultural critic, Camille Paglia, in a recent interview in the Wall Street Journal.
(Saturday/Sunday, December 28-29, 2013) She goes on to state that the widespread emphasis on college is "social snobbery on the part of a lot of upper-middle-class families who want the sticker in the window". I'm happy to say that I share many of these views with Ms. Paglia, whom I admire, and have expressed them frequently in this blog.
As Glenn Harlan Reynolds, law professor at the University of Tennessee states in his new book, The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education From Itself
America's higher education problem calls for both
wiser choices by families and better value from
schools. For some students, this will mean choosing
a major carefully (opting for a more practical area of
study, like engineering over humanities), going to a
less expensive community college or skipping college
altogether to learn a trade.
("Degrees of Value: Making College Pay Off", Wall Street Journal, Saturday-Sunday, January 4-5, 2014)
The community college system has, in many regions, changed its model from a freshman program of unrelated courses to a more defined program wherein students' choices are limited to courses which will lead to a specific degree. Many times the program is designed to award certificates attesting to acquisition of employable skills along the way. Davis Jenkins, a senior research associate with the Community College Research Center at Columbia University states, "There's more attention to making the path through education to careers clearer, because people cannot afford to spend time earning unnecessary credits." (Wall Street Journal, Saturday-Sunday, December 14-15, 2013)
Mr. Reynolds agrees:
Today's emphasis on measuring college education in terms
of future earnings and employability may strike some as
philistine but most students have little choice. When you
could pay your way through college by waiting tables, the
idea that you should 'study what interests you' was more viable
than it is today, when the cost of a four-year degree often
runs to six figures. For an 18-year-old, investing such a sum
in education without a payoff makes no more sense than
buying a Ferrari on credit.
An interesting graphic from the Reynolds article highlights the following statistics:
71% College graduates in the class of 2012 who had student loan debt
$29,400 Average student debt per borrower
6% Annual increase in student debt at graduation from 2008 to 2012
As University of Michigan economics finance professor, Mark Perry, has calculated,
tuition for all universities, public and private, increased from 1978 to 2011
at an annual rate of 7.45%. By comparison, health-care costs increased
by only 5.8% and housing, notwithstanding the bubble, increased
at 4.3%. Family incomes, on the other hand, barely kept up
with the consumer-price index, which grew at an annual rate of 3.8%.
(WSJ, January 4-5, 2014)
41% College graduates who say their jobs don't require a college degree
I had contemplated not continuing my blog in 2014. Most of my "tips" regarding career exploration and planning were posted in the first year or two. (Yes, I began this blog four years ago this August.) Lately, I've been using my posts to draw attention to articles and books which may be of interest to students and parents looking for guidance. If you follow the suggestions I've made in archived posts, you should be finding these things out for yourself. Then I came upon the Paglia and Reynolds articles. They are just so worthwhile I needed to bring them to your attention and urge you to read them for yourselves. In the future I will post when something similar occurs. I won't be able to let you know specifics as to when that will be, as I have in the past. I may write weekly, monthly or not at all. I apologize for any inconvenience but I want to enjoy this experience and not make it a chore. As I've said often, most of this can be done on your own. I, most likely, will check in - or butt in, depending on your opinion of my posts - from time to time to keep you abreast of things.
HAPPY 2014 !
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