What to do? What to do? Put those paws on the road. College visit tips . . . Part 1

OK–this is a shopping experience. Really! This is all about finding a place to study that, in and out of the classroom, fits your needs. Keep in mind that there are plenty of schools to choose from–the hard part is ending up with one choice. Go from a big list to a small list–that will help. When you are on campus or doing your research, be a first-class detective. You are going to live here 24/7. Don’t just aimlessly wander around campus “oohing” and “aahing” at the pretty buildings.

• Whenever possible, visit when classes are in session. I’m not saying you can never go during a college break time, but realize that the feel of campus is very different when students are not present. Summer visits can be screening visits–providing ways to determine if you might like to come back to this campus when classes are in session.

• Plan ahead! Colleges want notice that you are coming. They want your visit to be good.

• Go to class. In fact, go to several classes, if possible. This allows you to size up the professors and the students and see how you feel about working with both groups. (I like art—so visiting this class was a natural for me.)


• Eat the food–in the dining hall. Investigate meal plan options. Mom isn’t going to be there to cook for you. While you will indeed eat out now and then–pizza is, after all, a requirement for many college diets–eating out costs money and money is hard to come by for most college students. There are tons of places to spend it and never enough of it to go around.

• If the college permits it, spend the night in the residence hall. Leave the hotels to the parental types. Life styles in residence halls can vary dramatically from college to college. When you check out the options for housing, remember to ask to see a typical first-year room–not the not-a-thing-out-of-place model unit that many colleges have. Seeing where real students who are currently enrolled live is the best option–you see how rooms are arranged and how real students use the space assigned to them. Remember that residence hall options can arrange from the palatial why-would-anyone-ever-want-to-leave places to that variety that has you asking: isn’t this a broom closet?

• Check out the laundry facilities. Yep . . . you’ll have to do your own laundry in most cases. If you aren’t sure why, you better ask someone at home why you don’t wash everything in hot water and why you don’t wash the navy blues with the stark white items!

All this talk about laundry makes me tired. I need a nap in a nice comfy chair!

TTYL8R,

Clyde

I’ve got a fever…SPRING FEVER!

First of all, to answer the question of inquiring minds, it did in fact SNOW ON THE BEACH!!! It was just a flurry, mind you, and it only lasted about five minutes. In fact, by the time I got my camera out to document this momentous occasion, it had turned into a nasty sleet and I had to run for shelter as my furry coat was getting soaked!!

But now, after too many weeks of cold and dreary weather down in my neck of the woods, it is beginning to feel like SPRING!! The sun is out, the daffodils are blooming, and my foster brothers and sisters are eagerly kicking off their boots and sliding on the flip-flops that had been gathering dust in their closets. Yes, the first hint of warm weather brings Frisbee games, driving with the windows rolled down, and SPRING FEVER!

Spring Fever – you know, when you walk outside to embrace the smell of green grass and clover and the sun is shining so bright it makes everything beneath it just glow and it makes you so happy you forget all of your worries…like the paper due tomorrow, the test you have on Friday, and second semester exams! All of your obligations seem to disappear as you trade your schoolwork in for a walk on the beach or a late-night excursion with your buddies because it’s been ages since you could open the sunroof and touch the stars. And who could possibly blame you for setting aside Madame Bovary to catch up on Lady Gaga as you soak up the latest tabloid news on your front porch swing? After all…where I live, it seems like SPRING!

Heed this warning, however: Don’t get BURNED or BLINDED by the sunshine!!!! What do I mean? It’s fine to enjoy the warmer temperatures, but don’t get so absorbed in the carefree mood the weather brings that you completely neglect your schoolwork, deadlines and other obligations. You know they call them beach BUMS for a reason. There CAN be too much of a good thing. Take a minute to tiptoe through the tulips, but take your books with you to absorb the best of both worlds. Those tests and papers don’t just magically float away like dandelion fluff.

Better go stock up on my sunscreen…and grab my backpack on the way. I have to get back to work and give you some more information about college visits.

Woof,
Clyde

Laissez-Les Bons Temps Roulez!

Or, to the lay dog, Let the good times roll!

And roll, and roll…the parades have been rolling down here where I live for three weeks now in preparation for the Big Event: MARDI GRAS!!!!

Yep, me and thousands of other revelers have been crowding the streets, barking a “Throw me something, Mister!” for MoonPies, doubloons, peanuts, cups, toys and, of course, BEADS!

My friends and I look forward to the Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, season every year, when the indulgence of the holiday season culminates in a few glorious, colorful, mystical days of parades, balls, and FOOD! And when the final bead is thrown and the last, lingering slice of king cake is consumed, the Lenten season begins.

This year’s Mardi Gras is especially eventful as we celebrate BOTH the holiday AND the Super Bowl!!! As I told you earlier, I live smack dab in the middle of Saints’ Territory and we are so stoked to see them come marching in with that beautiful trophy.

This will be my only entry this week, but when the celebrating is over, I’ll be back to focusing on the college visit process. For now, it’s time for fun.

Gotta go. It’s time to get my zydeco on.

Woof,
Clyde

M, T, W, Th, Fr . . . What matters on a college visit anyway?

Newsflash: Colleges care if you are interested in them. Don’t believe me? NACAC’s (the National Association for College Admission Counseling) 2009 State of College Admission report noted that demonstrated interest as a factor in admissions, for the colleges reporting information, went from 7% in 2003 (the first year it was reported as a factor) to 21% in 2009. That is a big jump!


My counselor would be the first to tell you those are dog scrap numbers compared to the influence of an applicant’s GPA, rigor of courses taken, etc., but she’d also tell you, showing interest in a school has skyrocketed as an admissions factor. Now before your paws fall off from fretting, while the admissions impact of demonstrated interest has sky rocketed, lots of other factors still play a far larger role–things like GPA, rigor of the high school program, and, in some cases, standardized tests. (Also remember that www.fairtest.org has a list of more than 800 colleges that no longer require standardized tests as part of the admissions process.)

My counselor would also tell you there are tons of ways to show interest without jetting to campus and zipping around like Sherlock Holmes while you are there. Here are some other ways to show a college it is on your radar screen:

• Write for information–the old-fashioned way with a stamp or use e-mail
• Go to a college fair and talk with the rep
• Fill out an information card from a poster at your school
• Attend an area, state, or regional presentation by a college or group of colleges
• Have an interview with an alum in your area that the college has designated for such purposes
• Talk to an admissions representative when they visit your school

Visiting colleges should be fun–if it isn’t you’re doing something WRONG! But . . . it is also work if you do it correctly. Here’s what my counselor tells me: Never–not ever–not one single time has she had to “teach” a prospective college student or a currently enrolled student how to have fun on a college campus. However, learning how to study when you are in charge of yourself 24/7, scheduling your time wisely, budgeting your money–that’s a different story. These tasks take effort, discipline, and real paw pressure! Frankly, hmmm makes me think of hot dogs . . . makes me think of eating . . . Visiting a college takes discipline. If you’re going to spend the money to make the visit, get all you can out of the trip.

More on that later– weather bulletin newsflash. We have snow in the forecast! Anybody know if they make ice skates for dogs? Do you remember where I live–let me remind you
–sun, sand, water? Back with you later with more visit tips–gotta go cover up the azaleas!

Clyde

Road Trip

Spring definitely hasn’t sprung where I live . . . it was twenty-five degrees colder here this morning than it was yesterday morning? Oh well, at least I’m not pawing around in the snow and ice like so many of my friends. Take Lilly and Molly
right now Hawaii and Florida are looking better and better as possible places for them to go to college.☺ My friend Dublin hates the winter weather–gives her so many bad hair days.

However, I know you can’t just consider the climate and weather when you select options for education after high school. I am thinking about taking a trip–checking out some more schools. I want to make sure I have really good options and good information. Not every individual can hound around on campuses. If you can’t go in person, remember to go virtually–the Internet makes most everything available at the point of your mouse. Ask your counselor for information. Talk to former students from your school. Talk to college alums in your area. I mean D I G for all the information you can get.

While I was thinking about my situation, I realized juniors will soon be heading out for college visits–some of my foster siblings at school who are juniors have already been on college visits and lots of them have talked to our counselor about plans for after high school. If you are a junior, what are you waiting for–get into your counselor’s/adviser’s office for a barking good conversation about your future.

For seniors, there could be interview visits at colleges for scholarship programs, second trips to reassess possible college matches, and the highly popular accepted students sessions that are cropping up all over. Those are visits at colleges where students who have been accepted are invited to a scheduled get-together to do a final run-through at a given college. The plus to these sessions is that you can be on campus with students who, unlike the traveling packs of students and parents on traditional college visits, actually might be in class with you in the fall following your senior year.

So . . . for a few of our chats to come, I’m going to talk about college visits. But, I’m also gonna woof about some fun things cause I’m about to go on winter break. I live in the land of Mardi Gras (and, I’m technically in Who Dat Nation territory).

Before I head out, I need to pack.


Do you think dogs have to pay extra for checked baggage?

Woof,
Clyde

Will Work for Bones...

So, you’ve sat down with your parents and worked out an estimated budget for next year. They’ve told you how much they can send you every month, you know about how much you’ll be getting in scholarship and grant money, but you look at the bottom line…and you’re STILL in the red! What are your options? Well, you can consider student loans…but don’t forget, you eventually have to pay those back. Newsflash—if you leave school early without graduating, you don’t get to wait until you would have graduated to begin repaying the loans! Can you say UGLY? What else can you do? Consider the unthinkable: GET A JOB.

A job? In college? Aren’t you going to have enough on your plate just going to class, writing papers and studying, not to mention adjusting to a whole new environment, trying to make friends and establish some sort of social life for yourself, and exploring clubs and other organizations to feel like a part of your college community? Of course! But…let me share with you a few things my buddies in college have told me about the benefits of having a job in college…aside from the paycheck.

First let’s talk work study. What is this? If you qualify for it, work study is a form of financial aid that offers you a job through on campus to offset some of your tuition and expenses. The benefits of work study are numerous. First of all, you will have the opportunity to set your work schedule around your class schedule. Additionally, if you are able to get a position in the department of your major, you will have the chance to become more immersed in your own career path. As an added bonus, you will have a greater chance of rubbing shoulders with the very professors you maybe in the classroom with later on…which can always help you down the road.

As for a job off campus? The benefits are tremendous here, as well. First off, if you’ve never had a job until this point, there’s no time like the present to start BUILDING WORK EXPERIENCE. Take the opportunity to beef up that resume! Worried about the time commitment? This is a good point to consider, however, for some for my friends, the added responsibility of a job made them more adept at time management. A job enabled them to stay more focused during their time spent studying and their final grades were a positive refection of this. Some other pluses? If you take a position at a restaurant or retail store close to campus, chances are you’ll not only be working with other students, but you’ll in a constant environment of other students…and—there could be free food or a discount associated with these types of jobs. I like free food! What a great way to meet new people? Furthermore, it says a lot about a person who is working to help fund his or her own education. It shows you understand that it is important to invest in yourself! Not only is this another excellent resume-builder, but the boss you have in college is a prime candidate to provide you with a glowing letter of recommendation down the road…when you’re applying for that job you’re going to class for.

A final word about student loans. For some, they’re an inevitable resource; and don’t forget: A degree you have to borrow money to pay for is better than no degree at all. A word to the wise, however: DON’T BORROW MORE THAN YOU REALLY NEED. Case in point, my buddy Roscoe accepted the full amount he was eligible for every semester, even though he only needed about half to cover his expenses. What did he do with the residual cash? He equipped his apartment with a brand new entertainment center and furniture. Don’t get me wrong, I think his roommates got a lot of mileage out of Guitar Hero and the satellite service with 800 channels. And I know Roscoe enjoyed brushing up on his Chem. homework in that La-Z-Boy, but do you know how much that stuff costs with a 6.8% (or more) APR over 20 years. Well, Roscoe graduated last year and as he now adjusts to life in the REAL WORLD, he’s just beginning to find out. Lucky for Roscoe, he hung on to that recliner, because right now he’s feeling a little…trapped.
Woof,
Clyde

Dollars and $ense . . . Where’s the Money? Part 3

Remember that not all aid dollars are created equally. This aid/scholarship thing can be confusing. There’s free money (scholarships, grants, etc.) that may or may not consider a student’s/family’s need. But, schools can consider need, merit or both when awarding funds. The key is knowing how schools that interest you handle their aid/scholarships.

There’s self-help money too–loans, work-study, etc. Remember my motto:


Did you go see your counselor? Mine gave me some really good, need-based financial aid tips that she got from the Dean of Admissions, Bob Clagett at Middlebury. It’s great info and Dean Clagett said it was OK to share it with you.


Yes . . . college is expensive, but remember there are rewards to completing college (you are more likely to have health insurance, less likely to be unemployed, more likely to vote, etc.).

Thinking about all of this paperwork is exhausting. I’m gonna take a little rest and then hit the forms.

Woooooooooooof,
Clyde

Stretching Your Dollars...

I talked earlier about what you need and what you THINK you need at college.

The difference? Let’s see...

Take the basics – food and shelter:
You NEED a roof over your head. Do you need a brand-spanking new apartment with amenities (and price tag) that rival those of a country club? Nope. Chances are, you’ll be required to live in campus housing for AT LEAST the first year. Don’t be discouraged. Residence halls these days are a world away from those your parents may remember (and, frankly some of them can top a country club atmosphere). Many include the niceties you’d otherwise have to pay extra for – Internet service, cable, rec centers, laundry, microwaves …those can come in handy for those late-night snacks you’ll need while studying.

Which brings me to my favorite topic – FOOD. You’re days of home-cooked meals are gone for a while, but that doesn’t mean you need to supplement with three restaurant meals a day. And I don’t mean you just have to nix the four-star meals either. Let’s take a college standard – pizza. Now, I can polish off one large with the works and not blink an eye. But how much does that set me back? About 20 bucks a pop. Let’s see, if I had a pizza every night…that’s $140 a week – whoa! $560 a month!!!! Even ONCE a week is pricey – four Friday nights equals $80 a month! That’s a lot of iTunes® to forfeit.

A few more misconceptions:
You don’t NEED to buy brand new books for class. Instead, check out the used section at you college bookstore and shop online at sites like amazon.com. An added bonus for used books? Many times they’re already covered in highlighter and marginal notes – it could save you the trouble, but don’t think you can get by with just using someone else’s work—can you say uh-oh?

You don’t NEED a car! Yes, you read that correctly. YOU DON’T NEED A CAR. (I actually don’t even have a driver’s license yet—that is a topic for another blog entry down the line.) The caveat to this is if you’re living by yourself, off-campus, and have no means of public transportation, but you could still consider a carpool, or a bike. Some campuses don’t even allow freshman to bring cars to campus, so the decision is made for you. Walk to class. This is better for the environment and for your wallet. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of your surroundings and have a better chance of discovering an impromptu Frisbee game on the quad. What better way to make friends and show your stuff in front of the ladies? And if it’s raining? Don’t worry, most schools provide bus transportation and many run off-campus routes on the weekends if you need to hit the grocery store or bank.

You don’t NEED a computer. The possible exception to this is if the nature of your major requires you to have one for special software, presentations, etc. Otherwise, utilize the library, your dorm lounge, the coffee shop, student union, or a myriad of other locations your school has equipped with this 21st century necessity so YOU don’t have to make the investment yourself. Side note: this is another great way to make friends!

All this being said, don’t think you have to live in a barren room existing on water and saltines to survive in college. What you now call sacrifices, you may later learn to appreciate. When I talk to my friends who are well into their college experiences, they say their having the best times of their lives. Is it because they’re rolling in the dough? The complete opposite! Funny how the best memories can be made from midnight runs to McDonald’s with five of your friends to order off the dollar menu when you collectively have $14.37 among you to last through the end of the week. Or raiding your roommate’s care package when he returns from a weekend at home with five of his mom’s best lasagnas.

I better get back to working on my budget. I wonder how long a package of rawhide can last me...

Woof,
Clyde