Posts Tagged high school
What Your Admissions Essay Absolutely Must Be About!
Over the years when I’ve helped students with their writing and their preparation for college one of the things that has always amazed me is that many students have no idea what their college admission essay should be about. Simply put the essay is about YOU. No matter what the question you are writing about is, no matter how strangely or obliquely the question is phrased YOU MUST WRITE ABOUT YOU.
Although the admissions essay is becoming more important every year, it still is NOT the most important part of your application packet. For the vast majority of colleges and universities, the admissions office will use the essay as a tiebreaker. If two students are very close in grades, character, recommendations, and test scores, the student with the better essay has a better chance of being admitted. The admission official is looking for something that will push the applications over into the pile he or she will recommend for acceptance.
However, rarely, if ever is an admissions essay going to gain admittance with a weak academic record, lack of participation in high school activities, and poor test scores. So don’t bank on your admissions essay to carry the ball for you. A well-written essay that isn’t backed by academic records and test scores indicate that someone else wrote the student’s admission essay.
Take a moment and think about how the admissions official will use your essay and what he or she wants. He or she wants to know something about you. He or she wants to know what makes you more worthy of admission than someone else.When you are writing your essay make it personal. Make it about you!
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The Science Education Belief In America
Political leaders, tech executives, and academics often claim that the U.S. is falling behind in math and science education. They cite poor test results, declining international rankings, and decreasing enrollment in the hard sciences. They urge us to improve our education system and to graduate more engineers and scientists to keep pace with countries such as India and China.
Yet a new report by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, tells a different story. The report disproves many confident pronouncements about the alleged weaknesses and failures of the U.S. education system. This data will certainly be examined by both sides in the debate over highly skilled workers and immigration. The argument by Microsoft, Google, Intel, and others is that there are not enough tech workers in the U.S.
The authors of the report, the Urban Institute’s Hal Salzman and Georgetown University professor Lindsay Lowell, show that math, science, and reading test scores at the primary and secondary level have increased over the past two decades, and U.S. students are now close to the top of international rankings. Perhaps just as surprising, the report finds that our education system actually produces more science and engineering graduates than the market demands.
These findings go against what has been the dominant position about our education system and our science and engineering workforce. Consider reports on national competitiveness that policymakers often turn to, such reports as the 2005 “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” by the National Academy of Sciences. This report says the U.S. is in dire straits because of poor math and science preparation.
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Get a High School Diploma Online
So you want to earn a high school diploma online? Before you begin, you need to decide why it is you want to start down that path.Please do not do it because you think it will be easier. This is rarely true; often it is exactly the opposite. While in traditional high schools, there is someone who monitors your education. When you take your high school education online, there is much more independence. That is both good and less good.
There are two basic kinds of online high school diploma programs. There are commercial programs and there are public programs. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. It is best to explore both to determine which is the right choice for you
Commercial Programs
Commercial online high school programs include schools like Penn Foster High School, Kaplan College Preparatory High School, and National High School. These programs offer an online high school program for varying amounts of money. The advantages to these types of programs is that most of them are available to students regardless of age. So, whether you are fifteen or fifty, you have access to the majority of these programs.
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How to Apply For Financial Aid
Parents and students alike are filled with pride and a sense of accomplishment after high school graduation. Memories of all the hard work it took to complete high school, together with the expectations that many families have for their high school graduates to continue their education, make this time exciting for everyone. However, once families begin to actually research the costs funding your education, they are daunted by the prospect of having to come up with thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars every year. While no one should disregard the fact that higher education is going to require sacrifice by all involved, everyone should understand that with hard work and planning, higher education is a very attainable goal. The following are some suggestions for negotiating funding options. Have a Firm Conversation about the College Choice
Many students are enamored with a particular institution of study for reasons other than academic rigor. Whether it’s the sports teams or the reputation for social environment, students may be drawn to very expensive colleges for reasons that do not stand up to appropriate scrutiny. Once the student and parents have discussed the real reasons for making a particular college their top choice, they both may discover that it is more feasible for the student to attend a less expensive university, or even a community college, close to home for a year or two to save money. If the student is still attracted to the more expensive college at that time, then the family may make a decision to spend more for the last year or two. However, perhaps the student has made a university his or her top choice for very valid reasons, in which case the family can begin to look at different funding options. Everyone Works to Contribute
It is important for students to realize that their education is their financial responsibility, as well as their parents. Students should be working part-time while in school, and work-study is usually a part of any offered financial aid package. While some students may balk at the intrusion into their social calendar that working may cause, all working students benefit from having to manage their work, study, and social times wisely and efficiently. During the summer months, all students should work as much as possible in order to save for the coming school year; families may even consider taking a year off from school to save money. An innovative way to spend a year off is to work for VISTA or Americorps, as these government-sponsored volunteer programs provide a school stipend of between four and five thousand dollars after a year of service. Some institutions will even match that stipend with a grant once the student begins study. Fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
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How to Apply For Financial Aid
Parents and students alike are filled with pride and a sense of accomplishment after high school graduation. Memories of all the hard work it took to complete high school, together with the expectations that many families have for their high school graduates to continue their education, make this time exciting for everyone. However, once families begin to actually research the costs funding your education, they are daunted by the prospect of having to come up with thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars every year. While no one should disregard the fact that higher education is going to require sacrifice by all involved, everyone should understand that with hard work and planning, higher education is a very attainable goal. The following are some suggestions for negotiating funding options. Have a Firm Conversation about the College Choice
Many students are enamored with a particular institution of study for reasons other than academic rigor. Whether it’s the sports teams or the reputation for social environment, students may be drawn to very expensive colleges for reasons that do not stand up to appropriate scrutiny. Once the student and parents have discussed the real reasons for making a particular college their top choice, they both may discover that it is more feasible for the student to attend a less expensive university, or even a community college, close to home for a year or two to save money. If the student is still attracted to the more expensive college at that time, then the family may make a decision to spend more for the last year or two. However, perhaps the student has made a university his or her top choice for very valid reasons, in which case the family can begin to look at different funding options. Everyone Works to Contribute
It is important for students to realize that their education is their financial responsibility, as well as their parents. Students should be working part-time while in school, and work-study is usually a part of any offered financial aid package. While some students may balk at the intrusion into their social calendar that working may cause, all working students benefit from having to manage their work, study, and social times wisely and efficiently. During the summer months, all students should work as much as possible in order to save for the coming school year; families may even consider taking a year off from school to save money. An innovative way to spend a year off is to work for VISTA or Americorps, as these government-sponsored volunteer programs provide a school stipend of between four and five thousand dollars after a year of service. Some institutions will even match that stipend with a grant once the student begins study. Fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
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