by Jeremy Goodman

I, for one, have never had trouble sharing my thoughts and opinions in the traditional classroom. Even though many classmates have assured me otherwise, I often believe that I am "that guy" who never shuts up. Sometimes I consciously attempt to stay silent to give my classmates the opportunity to get a word in. [ Read The Rest ]

by Jeremy Goodman

Going to grad school as an adult just is not the same as those carefree undergraduate days. Adding full-time work on top of part-time school adds harsh realities to the rigors of academic life. Before you go back to school, here are eleven things you should consider: [ Read The Rest ]

by Jeremy Goodman

As happens once or twice a generation, we have reached at a turning point forcing us to reevaluate our nation's 4,000+ institutions of higher learning. For nearly four hundred years, American colleges have been fundamentally characterized by their service to society through the free exchange of ideas in the transmission and creation of knowledge. However, rather than focusing on the quality of learning, the touchstone of our moment in time is now campus safety and security. Instead of arguing about access, affordability, and accountability, we are focusing on the one issue that could have a major impact on our colleges relatively quickly - to the detriment of their mission of social service through learning. [ Read The Rest ]

by Laura Holm

You’ve taken the SAT, you’ve gotten into the university you like and you’ve talked to your future roommate. Once there, the first few weeks of college can seem like a bit of a drag. After orientation, the luxurious lifestyle of meeting new, interesting people, getting your dorm set up and having things to do ends. Class begins and suddenly, you’re trying to find time to balance it all. There is a way to have a great time at college, fulfilling both your social and academic dreams.
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Everyone, admissions counselors, experts and parents are always hot to trot with advice on how to choose a college. Most of it is good advice, but we adults tend to steer teenagers away from our own mistakes. At seventeen or eighteen (or sixteen now as college interventions are trending younger) teenagers fail, sometimes impressively, to see the bigger picture.
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Time to choose an alternate career path in case I ever flunk out of my current profession. Something to get me out of the office, you know? Away from clerical assignments, keyboards and fluorescent lights. I mean, not everyone is married to a desk job, why should I be? So for my hypothetical next job, what do you think about...?
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Job searching never used to confound me. Fresh off of my undergraduate career and searching through newspapers for some place to show off my skills, the entire process struck me as very straightforward. It worked like this. Newspapers print job ads. Job title seems intriguing. The details are scant. Whip off a dreadfully short resume. Mail it to the company.
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There is a body of research aimed to prove that people who are likeable have a quicker path to advancement, promotions and pay raises in the workplace. It helps to be smiles and sunshine if want to be well-liked, but only if that is your personality to begin with. People who fake it for the sake of being well-liked usually are not.
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by Gina Anderson

Lately, I've been hearing my friends, who are all college graduates with excellent experience, tell that they are searching for a second and third job just to pay the bills. We've all heard about how this new generation of college graduates are in debt up to their eyeballs before they even graduate from college and now they're graduating and having to work doubly as hard only to make as much or less than someone working at a fast food restaurant or janitor (even they have unions!). I have other friends who are doing hiring and they are telling me about how people with master's degrees are applying, in droves, to administrative assistant positions. Isn't there something wrong here when we, college graduates, particularly those of us working in international development and non-profit and trying to give back, must sacrifice our true dreams and goals to "earn a decent living" just to pay half of the rent. How many of us have roommates?

I graduated from a respectable institution of learning in the Washington, DC area with a very respectable bachelor's degree. I got a scholarship that paid 80% of my tuition, however, at $30,000 a year, the remaining 20% percent in loans have since added up. That was three years ago. Since then I've lived abroad in Japan for two years where I was paid fairly well (in foreign currency) for a fresh-out-of-college graduate and have been back in the States for a year.
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I always remember thinking, what's the big deal, it is only college? These days, it is a big deal, and higher education is a competitive market for your attention. Just remember it is easier to pick a college than the high school advisors, college guides and your parents make it out to be. Relax, take a deep breath and keep in mind these four indisputable truths about choosing a college.

1. A Little Information Goes a Little Way

I was not well prepared for selecting a college. My parents did not properly instill in me the need for selectivity and criteria, though they might be surprised to hear that now. All of my peers had dreams of a particular school, or a particular academic reputation, or they aimed for a certain city. I had distances.

The minimum distance was 500 miles from my mother and 500 miles from my father. In order to meet these criteria, the school needed to be somewhere in Nevada, or somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. For the record, the vector did eventually land me at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

But looking back now, I realize that I did very little in the way of research then. I did not know the right questions to ask, much less whom to ask them to. You already have the resources, but you have to do the legwork. Parents are a good start. Assess their expectations, particularly how much they expect to pay. Then set that information aside and start researching specific schools. You should use your guidance counselor as a resource, but do not forget the internet. And pay the campus a visit during the school year.
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