Race to College Success Blog

Balancing educational aspirations and family obligations as a grad student

racetocollegesuccess — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:00:21 +0000

While support is important at any educational level, graduate school often requires the support of family and loved ones to a greater degree than undergraduate studies. Large numbers of people are returning to school as grad students to advance or change careers and have already embarked on establishing families of their own. Four items to consider when deciding to go to grad school as a parent include:

First, if you are entertaining a return to school, be sure that you include spouses and loved ones in the deliberation process. You will be taking time away from relationships to complete your studies, so it is important that those affected have some part in the decision process. Make sure each person understands that you may be more absent in the relationship while completing your studies, and be sure to make an extra effort to reconnect with loved one during breaks.

Second, you need to understand the cost/benefit of your graduate work. How are you going to pay for it? If you are going to use student loans, do you understand the approximate monthly payments at degree completion? How much extra will you really earn with the degree? How will your graduate work impact the funding of your child’s college education? Depending on the age of your child, you may want to include them in the financial discussions to help prepare them for their own college journey.

Third, you need to consider the nature of the program. Are you looking at a campus-based program or an online program? For a campus program, have you factored in the commute time, time away from home, and transportation expenses? For an online program, do you have the necessary equipment? Every online program posts the minimum computer requirements on their website. For example, Capella University posts their minimum computer requirements as covering the processor, operating system, internet connection, and so forth needed to participate in courses. Make sure all of those expenses are factored into your application decision.

Fourth, if you have children, you can use your studying for modeling study skills. When children see that their parents have to make completing homework a priority, they see that the family truly does value education.

Pursuing graduate studies is possible for those who have families to consider. It simply requires more communication and collaboration from all members of the family.

Janelle Jalbert

May 2009

For additional information regarding preparing for graduate school and other levels of college, visit Edusistance or Race to College Success. Janelle can be contacted via email.

Tell Us What You Want to Know More About

racetocollegesuccess — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:07:54 +0000

We are looking for the questions, topics, concerns that YOU have regarding the college admissions process, funding higher education, and preparing for college. Please let us know what you what to read about with a quick post!

Janelle Jalbert

www.racetocollegesuccess.com

Art Portfolios and Anime

racetocollegesuccess — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:57:38 +0000

In talking with a variety of key decision makers in prestigious art programs and schools, the overwhelming consensus is that art potfolios have way too much anime. The people who review portfolios want greater diversity in submissions to illustrate the breadth of talent an artist has. This is just one sample of the information our college consultants can help applicants with to get students the edge in college admissions.

Janelle Jalbert

May 2009

Janelle Jalbert is the founder of Edusistance, a company assisting in education and business. Currently, Janelle is heading the “Race to College Success” program to assist students with a variety of college issues including: college preparation, college admissions, general education concerns such as SAT, ACT, and other test prep, college options, college majors, financial aid, scholarships, career planning, portfolio and resume development, essay writing, and such. Visit www.racetocollegesuccess.com for details. You can also follow Janelle and Race to College Success on Twitter (RacetoCollege) Facebook (RacetoCollegeSuccess), and MySpace (Race to College Success).

Looking for what you want to read about

racetocollegesuccess — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:57:51 +0000

Janelle Jalbert
May 2009

8th Grade College Readiness Exam Delayed by Economic Conditions

racetocollegesuccess — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:25:09 +0000

The College Board announced that it was delaying The Readistep exam due to the economic hardships schools are currently experiencing (Steinberg, New York Times, 5/14/09). The exam was a response to the ACT Explore exam. Both were targeted towards 8^th graders in preparation for more rigorous high school and college coursework. FairTest and others have criticized the exam as pushing the college admissions panic down to the middle school level.

While yet another standardized test does appear to add stress to students who already suffer from test fatigue, it is important to understand that students often have formulated their goals to attend college (not necessarily specific schools or majors) during the middle school years. It is critical that students find support and information regarding the college admissions process prior to entering high school, in order to be in the best position possible to take the more rigorous classes necessary for college admissions.

Janelle Jalbert

May 2009

Cal State U System Approves Fee Hike

racetocollegesuccess — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:03:30 +0000

Fees are continuing to go up for the 23 campuses of the CSU system. A 10% fee hike was approved earlier this week, resulting in an added $306 per year for students and bringing the total fees to over $3300/year (without living expenses, books, etc). This is the 7th fee hike in the past 7 years. The trend reinforces the fact that college education expenses are outpacing inflation and the cost of living at an alarming rate.

To help prepare for the realities of funding a college education, the Race to College Success program is dedicating a full Q&A session to financial concerns realted to paying for higher education at the June 26th mini-camp event at the Embassy Suites in Arcadia, CA. Visit www.racetocollegesuccess.com for more information.

Janelle Jalbert

May 2009

Silver Award Winner, Janelle Jalbert

racetocollegesuccess — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:52:02 +0000

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

May 7, 2009

Local author and business owner Janelle Jalbert, a silver award winner

Janelle Jalbert, chapter contributor to the anthology Conscious Entrepreneurs, joins her fellow contributors and Christine Kloser, who compiled the work, in celebrating a silver Nautilus Book Award in the business category. The Nautilus Award is one of the most prestigious book awards for consciousness raising books. Conscious Entrepreneurs is now under consideration for the Gold Award which will be announced at the end of May.

Janelle’s chapter is titled “Benchmarks, Birthdays, & the Authentic You: Four Principles for Honoring the You in Your Business” and can be purchased through www.edusistance.com or www.racetocollegesuccess.com under products and services. Janelle was one of 48 contributors to the anthology that covers a range of topics for entrepreneurs.

College Presidents Tackle Admissions Essays

racetocollegesuccess — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:49:33 +0000

In a Wall Street Journal article (Education, 5/6/09,Gamerman) presidents of the top 10 universities and colleges struggled with a task that tortures high-school seniors around the country every year: writing the college admissions essay. The presidents were asked to write an essay based on their own school’s application.

The rules were simple. The essays were not to exceed 500 words (though most did), and completed without professional assistance. Friends and family could advise but not rewrite. The WSJ selected the question from each application, so presidents wouldn’t pick the easy ones. They had about three weeks to write their essays.

The exercise showed just how challenging it is to write a college essay that stands out from the pack, yet doesn’t sound overly self-promotional or phony. Even some presidents say they grappled with the challenge and had second thoughts about the topics they chose.

Schools represented included Bernard College, Carleton College, Grinnell College, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Reed College, U of Chicago, U of Pennsylvania, Vassar College, and Wesleyan College.

While the Preseidents of prestigous universities struggled with their own school’s essays, you don’t have to go it alone. Race to College Success offers both essay writing workshops and essay revision assistance. While we don’t write the essay for you, we make it as painless as possible. Check out www.racetocollegesuccess.com for more details.

Janelle Jalbert

May 2009

View Your Transcript Like a Credit Report

racetocollegesuccess — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:00:09 +0000

As a high school student or parent, you must be active and aware of everything that is going on regarding college preparation in schools. That includes knowing and regularly reviewing transcripts. The best analogy is to view your transcript like a credit report that must be regularly reviewed for accuracy as the story below illustrates:

The Las Vegas Sun (4/30/09, Richmond) reported that the Clark County School District “is investigating irregularities in the academic records of 32 Western High School seniors to determine whether they were given credit for classes they didn’t take.” District officials are “trying to determine whether the problems are the result of human error, incompetence, or fraud.” In the investigation, “academic records of Western’s freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are also being scrutinized.” Superintendent Walt Ruffles said that the 32 seniors whose records are in question “were unaware they lacked the requisite academic credits until the investigation was launched.” The Las Vegas Sun notes, “About 25 of the students are making up missing classes through the district’s individualized study program and might graduate with their classmates in June.”

Students are now scrambling in the last month of school to make up required classes and are in danger of not graduating with their class and potentially having to put off college. Do not let this tragedy had to you or your son/daughter. Be sure to review transcripts after each semester and be aware of both the high school graduation requirements as well as the college entrance requirements.

This is one of the many services within the coaching of the Race to College Success program. Consider it transcript protection similar to credit report protection. For more information regarding the variety of products and services available go to www.racetocollegesuccess.com.

Understanding Campus Visits as a Student Athlete

racetocollegesuccess — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:16:06 +0000

If you are looking to a Div 1 or 2 school for your college career, you need to begin your college search by registering at the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. This is also the first step towards qualifying for athletic scholarships. Once you are registered, you will go through the certification process. This allows colleges to begin to recruit you as well. You can access the NCAA Clearinghouse online.

Div 3 schools do not require registration or certification, as they are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships.

The NCAA also dictates the way you visit college campuses. For a visit to be considered “official”, it means that the school is covering the costs of your visit. Since this can be seen as a monetary benefit, though necessary, the NCAA limits students to 5 official visits. That is five visits total. If you are a track and a football athlete, you cannot do five official visits for both sports. The limit is five, no matter what. Unofficial visits are visits where you and your family pay the expenses.

There is no limit to the unofficial visits you make. So, if you are interested in schools near home, it is advantageous to pick up the tab for your visit to the close schools and let your official visits be longer distance schools. A final bit of information to consider, your visits are limited to a 48 hour period.