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Five Tips to Streamline Your College Application Process
By Jennifer Williamson June 29, 2009

Applying to college is stressful. One of the reasons why is that it’s a confusing and complex process. You may be applying to as many as six or eight schools. Each has different expectations, different applications and different essay requirements, and it can be a hassle to get all of those documents together. Read More


Recent Articles

How to Change Your Career in Tough Economic Times
By Jennifer Williamson July 03, 2009

Recent unemployment numbers are pretty grim. In 2008, unemployment rates rose to 7.2% and the year’s total job losses totaled over 2.8 million. Economic signs point to a continued drop in labor and an ongoing trend toward leaner, more cost-efficient companies—a bad sign for job-hunters. Read More

Things Your Guidance Counselor Never Told You About College
By Jennifer Williamson June 19, 2009

As a high school senior, you enter into college with certain misconceptions—misconceptions that your guidance counselor probably never did anything to dispel. Some things can only be learned with experience, but others it would benefit the average high school senior to know—especially as it pertains to financial decisions that could have an effect on the rest of your life. Read More

Applying to College: Writing a Killer Application Essay
By Jennifer Williamson June 17, 2009

If you’re writing an application essay, you need to stand out. Some colleges receive as many as 20,000 application essays—or more—and it’s likely that only a handful of admissions staff are tasked with reading through them all. Read More

Getting Your Teacher Certification: How Much Can You Do Online?
By Jennifer Williamson June 15, 2009

The profession of teaching requires a Bachelor’s degree and teacher certification at minimum, and some states require a Master’s as well.  Luckily, you can fulfill nearly all of the requirements of becoming a teacher online—allowing you to work while earning your degree. Read More

Top Five Financial Mistakes New College Graduates Make
By Jennifer Williamson June 09, 2009

Today’s economic outlook isn’t strong, and it’s a particularly harrowing time for college graduates. With student loan debt up and hiring depressed, many students are facing heavy debt burdens and reduced prospects of a job that will pay enough to manage that debt—while allowing them to live on their own. Read More

Reducing the Consequences of Private Student Loans
By Jennifer Williamson June 01, 2009

It’s been reported that banks are raising their standards for student loans—and giving out less private loan money in education as well as in mortgages and other loans. But Federal loans, grants and scholarships are getting harder to come by as well—and they aren’t growing to match the rate of tuition inflation. Read More

Top 75 College Education Tweets
By Jennifer Williamson & Shanon Woodruff May 28, 2009

Seems like everyone has a twitter account these days, but which ones are any good? After carefully scouring and analyzing some of the best tweets out there we have complied a list of the top 75 most useful college education resources on Twitter for online and traditional students. Read More

Is an Associate's Degree Worth It? Five Things to Consider First
By Jennifer Williamson May 21, 2009

An Associate’s degree is appealing to students for numerous reasons. It only takes two years to earn one, so full-time students are out of the job market for a shorter period of time than they would be while earning a Bachelor’' degree. Read More

Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Powerful Resume
By Jennifer Williamson May 12, 2009

In today’s tough job market, it’s more important than ever to create a strong resume that stands out in the crowd. Here are a few pointers for writing a strong resume that gets noticed—and gets you an interview. Read More

Taking the GRE: Tips for Success
By Jennifer Williamson May 08, 2009

The GRE, or Graduate Record Examination, is the general entry tests for most graduate schools in the U.S. If you want to earn your Master’s or PhD in almost any subject, you’ll have to pass this test first. Read More

Benefits to Being an Adult Learner
By Jennifer Williamson May 05, 2009

As a traditional student, your life is likely to follow a proscribed path: education first, then career, then kids. Nontraditional students do things a little differently, with kids or a job coming first. Read More

How Non-Traditional Students Are Changing Education
By Jennifer Williamson May 04, 2009

The “traditional” college student is easy to define: just transitioning from teen to adult, these students graduate from high school, live at college and attend classes full-time, and graduate with a degree four years later. Read More

The Housing Bubble Popped: Is Education Next?
By Jennifer Williamson April 23, 2009

Economic conditions forced housing prices sky-high—only to plummet at the onset of the recession, leaving many homeowners paying mortgages in excess of what their homes were worth and others unable to sell their homes without taking serious losses. Read More

Getting Your PhD Online: What You Need to Know
By Jennifer Williamson April 16, 2009

PhD students don’t study established knowledge—they create new knowledge. A PhD is the highest degree a student can aspire to, and it’s a credential that can open doors to the most exclusive research establishments and universities in the world. Read More

100 COMPLETELY FREE Distance Learning Resources for Homeschoolers
By Jennifer Williamson April 08, 2009

Home-schooling your kids? Check out these free online resources for parents and kids of all ages—including lesson plans, activities, educational online games, test prep, online high schools, forums and support groups. Read More

Why The Recession is a Perfect Time to Go Back to School
By Jennifer Williamson April 06, 2009

If you’re worried about getting a job in the recession, maybe you should stop trying. No, we’re not advocating giving up on your career—but we do suggest boosting your skills to give yourself a better edge in the job market. Read More

Evaluating Online Programs: How to Choose the Right College
By Jennifer Williamson March 30, 2009

Choosing the right online college is no easier than choosing a traditional college. There are thousands of schools out there, and some are bound to be a better fit for you than others. And with online schools, your choices are not limited by geography—and this can make finding the right one even more difficult. Read More

How to Build Rapport With Online Teachers
By Jennifer Williamson March 25, 2009

As a college student, building a friendship with your professors can often be beneficial to your future career. A professor can become a mentor, career advisor, and friend to students, and cultivating these relationships can often be a student’s first experience in networking. Read More

Work-Study Programs: What You Need to Know
By Jennifer Williamson March 17, 2009

College financial aid comes in many forms. Some financial aid you don’t have to pay back at all. Other aid you do have to pay back—with interest. Some you work for. Work-study programs are a type of financial aid that allows you to work in exchange for money toward your tuition. Read More

A Definitive Guide on Free Apps for Malware Removal
By Jennifer Williamson & Ben Pfeiffer March 10, 2009

You’re computer’s working fine one day. The next you’re seeing pop-ups all over your screen. Surprise—you’ve got Virtumonde, a malware program that not only plasters annoying pop-up ads all over your screen, but effectively hijacks your browser. Read More

Pulling an All-Nighter? How to Prepare.
By Jennifer Williamson March 03, 2009

Pulling an All-Nighter? How to Prepare. Staying up all night is practically a rite of passage for procrastinating college students. Go ahead: put off that twenty-page research paper til the night before. Read More

Six Reasons Why You Shouldn't Go Back to School
By Jennifer Williamson March 03, 2009

If you left school without finishing your degree—or if you’re contemplating a move to graduate school—you may be hearing a lot of positive reinforcement. Going back to school is often pitched as the cure-all for common job dissatisfaction: a better degree leads to a better job, a better salary and a better life. Read More

Contesting a Low Grade: How It's Done
By Jennifer Williamson February 27, 2009

It happens to every college student at least once. Final grades are posted for a class, and yours is lower than you expected. A lot lower. Many students don’t question the grade they’re assigned, or they accept the professor’s explanation after initial questioning. Read More

How to Get Good Grades on Essay Tests
By Jennifer Williamson February 19, 2009

You can handle multiple choice and short-answer tests. But when faced with a time limit and a blank page, many students panic. Essay tests can take some getting used to, but they’re not so bad if you know the strategy. Read More

The History of Distance Education
By Jennifer Williamson February 11, 2009

Think online education is something new? Think again. Online education has been around since the advent of the Internet, and before then, people have been using distance education to get ahead for several centuries. Read More

College Living: Top Ways to Save Money in 2009
By Jennifer Williamson February 06, 2009

College costs a lot of money, and many students leave with mountains of debt. Often tuition is only part of that debt—the rest is from credit cards. Even if you’re broke in college, there are plenty of ways to earn spending money and save on expenses. Read More

How to Land an IT Security Job: Frequently Asked Questions
By Jennifer Williamson January 29, 2009

Interested in a job as an IT security specialist? With more and more companies depending on online, database and network applications to store proprietary information and handle customer interaction, professionals who can ensure protection are in very high demand. Read More

Want to Work for Disney? Here's How
By Jennifer Williamson January 21, 2009

Disney’s movies combine masterful storytelling with rich animation—and many people with artistic skills were inspired as children by movies such as The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin to develop an interest in animation. Read More

Seven Tips to Improve Your Written Communication
By Jennifer Williamson January 15, 2009

In a traditional college, you have the chance to impress professors and students with your charm, intelligence and interpersonal skills in classes. Online, your writing often becomes your teachers’ and students’ only impression of you. Read More

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