Category Archives: Education

September 12, 2012

3 Tips To A Successful School Year

Filed under: College Life, Education, Tips - Angelina
Tags: , , ,

Blogger Bio

 

 

 

 

Welcome back – school is now back in session! If you are like me, the idea of sitting in a classroom for hours and reading a textbook in a subject you might not give two hoots about does not sound nearly as appealing as laying in the warm sun somewhere. You might also be feeling overwhelmed with all the stuff you need to do now. As a college student in the same situation, I am drowning beneath a pile of need to do’s, and forgot to do’s.  I do have some good news; there is hope for you! With the helpful tips from this blog, you will soon be the organized envy of the slackers populating your class.

1) Make a To-Do List

It may seem as simple and common sense as breathing but if you do not currently do this, you will be surprised at the difference it makes.  You may think you can remember everything without writing it down, but do not take the risk.  Start out by listing your classes. Beneath each class list what you have to do for the next class period and what you will have to do for the class period after that. This way, you will stay on top of what needs to be done.

Write a Notebook To-Do List

Photo © Billie Hara

2) Get Ahead

College students are busy, busy, busy. That is just a simple fact.  Between classes, studying, homework, working a part time job, seeing friends, and maintaining your sanity, it is almost difficult to plan when you can breathe.  That is why it is so important to take advantage of your time when you have it.  If you have extra time, try to do some work to get ahead of the game!

Girl in Park Outside on Laptop Doing Homework

Photo © Ed Yourdon

3) Make Friends in Class

If you miss a day or if you did not understand something, knowing someone in the class who understands or can give you notes from what you missed can really help you out. Plus, you will have made a friend at the same time!

Study Group of College Friends Doing Homework

Photo © Utah State Library

These are just a few tips to make your college experience as easy as possible.  Whether you are a freshman or a returning student, these tips that will make your year much more successful.

Good Luck This Year!

Twitt
Add a Comment
Related Posts


May 2, 2012

The Nation’s 62 Most Generous Colleges

Filed under: Education - BookRenter Team
Tags: , , , ,

By Lynn O’Shaughnessy
A nationally recognized higher-ed expert and speaker, who is the author of The College Solution, a bestseller, and the creator of The College Solution blog. The 2nd edition of her book — The College Solution — will be released on Amazon on May 24, 2012.

Originally posted on on February 20, 2012.

The Nation’s 62 Most Generous CollegesWhat are the most generous colleges and universities in the country?

US News & World Report attempts to answer that question every year when it rolls out its lists of institutions that self report that they meet 100% of each student’s financial need.

Today I’m sharing the latest list that US News released last week. Not surprisingly, highly elite schools predominate. On the honor roll you’ll find members of the Ivy Leagues, for instance, as well as other prestigious universities like Rice, Stanford and Cal Tech along with prestigious liberal arts colleges such as Haverford, Middlebury, Smith and Carlton.

62 Most Generous Colleges and Universities

Continue reading →

Twitt
Add a Comment
Related Posts


February 22, 2012

5 Classes That Should Be Offered in College

Filed under: College Life, Education - BookRenter Team
Tags: , , ,

By guest blogger Serena Piper
Journalism major at the University of Oregon. Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus Oregon. Magazine, freelance blogger, future world traveler. In her spare time, she likes to read as many books as she can, go for long drives, and peruse news websites. Hopes to one day write for National Geographic.

When registering for new classes each term, do you ever come up with a list of classes you wish were offered? I know I wish my college offered Egyptology. I’ve spent the past week talking with a bunch of people about the classes they wish they could take at school. A lot of them were caught off guard by the question, but let’s face it: in between math problems, English essays, and our jobs, we don’t really have a lot of time to daydream about better and more interesting classes. It was interesting to me to hear what my friends would like to take a class on. They were great ideas and, who would’ve thought, classes I would enjoy too!

Here’s what people told me they’d like to learn about in college:

How to Catch Some Zzz’s
“A class that would teach me how to actually get eight hours of sleep each night would be so worth it,” sophomore Carly Davy said. “And if I actually got to sleep during the class, even better!”

Get Organized
Leave it to the girls to speak up about a class that teaches organizational skills. Of course, this might come in handy for the guys, too! “I would want someone to teach me how to organize my closet and my dresser so that it doesn’t look as cluttered,” Alandra Bailey said. Bailey says Pinterest has been her only inspiration to try and organize it herself. Hey, if HGTV makes money off teaching us how to organize our homes, why can’t colleges?

Fashion Trends
One student said they’d like to study fashion trends and why exactly they are a trend. In the February issue of Real Simple Magazine, one article talked about how geometric shapes is a popular trend on the runways right now. I’m all about dressing fashionably, but I don’t think anyone likes math enough to wear it! Maybe this class would teach us the dos and dont’s of fashion? Like What Not to Wear, classroom version.

Pick a country, any country. Photo by David Holt.

Pick a Country, Any Country
“I would like to take a class that assigns each student a country to study the entire term,” junior Megan Bauer said. Now this would be one fun way for the world to learn about other countries, not to mention completely easy! Who says physical fitness classes have to be the only easy classes?

The Art of Seduction!
Americans aren’t the only ones who would be lined up to take this class.  “I think that seducing people is part of our lives, and it’s nice to be the one getting seduced,” says Pelayo Perez, a junior from Gijon, Spain. College isn’t just a time to be “serious” about your future; it’s also a time to explore your interests, as far as they may reach. I wonder how many people would enroll in a class that teaches the basics of seducing someone?

What would you like to take a class on? As always, the sky is the limit!

And check out Online College’s list of the 15 Strangest College Courses in America.

Twitt
Add a Comment
Related Posts


February 15, 2012

Prepping for Graduate School Exams

Filed under: College Life, Education, Post Grad and Career - BookRenter Team
Tags: , , , , , ,

You are in the midst of exams and your Google calendar looks busier than a MySpace homepage. Prepping for a test that counts for much more than any you’ve taken in college may sound downright nuts. Yet if you want to go straight to grad school – bypassing a 9-to-5 job or a 6-month trot around the globe – you may want to crack open that LSAT, GMAT, GRE, or MCAT book now.

That is not to say you need to kill your precious T.V. time. But familiarizing yourself with the test now, even if that means spending a couple of hours a week, will help greatly. Then, when summer is near, you won’t be starting from ground-zero prep but will already have a little momentum.

For the MCAT especially, which, of the graduate tests, is the most cumulative knowledge based, the more you can start learning the better. And the MCAT, unlike the GRE, will relate to most the classes you are taking. Both strongly emphasize critical reading skills, vocabulary (especially the GRE) and writing chops (if you’ve been writing 30-page papers the shorts essays shouldn’t be a problem!).

Nonetheless, on the whole all tests reward college students, assuming you have spent the last few years hovered over books and have the GPA to prove it. However, if you are taking the GMAT and the GRE but only took a few math courses back when you were a freshman, you will want to make sure to brush up those quant skills now. And don’t worry – no calculus. Neither test contains math beyond basic algebra and geometry.

As a college student, you also benefit from having many around you prepping for the same test. Form study groups, share prep books, or just commiserate over the scores on your practice tests.

So block out a couple of hours a week, find a study buddy and get started prepping today. When summer rolls around, up your study time to two hours per day. If necessary, take an in-class or online course with a big GRE/GMAT/LSAT company. Come October, when it is time to take a test, you will be ready to do your best!

This post was written by Christopher Lele, test prep expert at Magoosh Test Prep. You can read more of his tips and strategies on our GRE blog or GMAT blog.

Twitt
View Comment | Add a Comment
Related Posts


January 9, 2012

WITI NextGen: ‘Women in Technology’ Encourages Girls to Pursue Science & Technology

Filed under: All Things Tech, Education - BookRenter Team
Tags: , , ,

By BookRenter Senior Web Engineer, Corinne Reitter
Corinne has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a minor in Psychology. She grew up and attended school in Canada but has lived in the US long enough to lose most of her Canadian accent. When Corinne isn’t working, she’s either traveling the world, training for her next marathon or triathlon, or just hanging out. She thinks more girls should be web engineers, as it’s really a natural fit.

As one of the only few women in our Engineering team here at BookRenter, I often wonder why there aren’t more of us.  And so for the past two years, I’ve been given the opportunity to host a mini conference at a much larger Women In Technology International Conference which occurs every October.  This mini conference, WITI NextGen, is targeted to girls between the ages of 12 and 17 who have some interest in Science and Technology.  I bring in speakers from various fields who spend 15 minutes giving a presentation about what they love about their career, how they got there and what is that they actually do. Last year it was more science oriented and this year it was more tech.  Whatever the case, the girls who attend seem to get a lot of it.

This year, the unguided focus landed on learning.  And not just learning for the sake of career direction, but learning for the sake of learning.  It even inspired me to take up some classes and I’m attending college again for the first time in over 10 years.  My presenters range from the incredibly geeky in their field to the most abstract how-did-I-get-here types. They all shared what worked in their lives, what didn’t, and how they coped with self-doubt and perseverance. What really works is these girls can relate.  Often I’m told how amazing it is that particular speakers remind the girls of themselves and this shows they can too have a career in science and technology.  After each speaker has given their presentation, the girls are given the opportunity to ask questions.  More often than not (possibly out of being too shy), the girls wrap around the speakers after the main event is done. Questions get answered. Emails are exchanged. And the possibility of new mentorships is in the making.

Why are there not more girls in technology fields? There seems to be an interest for it. I don’t think it’s because we don’t think we’re smart nor driven enough.  But maybe it’s because we set the bar so high, we don’t think we can actually reach it ourselves.

Wanna see the speakers from our 2011 summit? Check them out by clicking here.   (Included is another one of our very own BookRenter Data Detectives!)

Interested in attending next year? Keep an eye on this link: www.witi.com/summit for updates.

If you are in a technology field, I’d like to hear why you chose it. If you aren’t and you wanted to be at one time, why did you decide to not join this elite group? Comment below!

(Pictured above are some of the girls who attended our WITI Summit in 2011.)

Twitt
Add a Comment
Related Posts