Parents: when it comes to helping your child choose a college, you may be tempted to make a decision based mostly on cost, reputation and, possibly, your own alma mater.

However, campus visits can provide insight and information on a school that can’t easily be ranked in statistics. Visiting a school can give you and your child a chance to get a gut feeling about the environment, which becomes just as important as cost and how many professors have a PhD.

Knowing what to look for and what to do on a campus visit can help ensure that your child makes the right decision. Familyeducation.com offers these tips to make your campus visit as beneficial as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, ‘Eight Summer Reads for the Career Conscious,’ Kate Lorenz outlines recommendations for career-conscious individuals who are reading for both pleasure and profit. However, as a fan of hot summertime days, I suggest these ’summer’ reads for the bitter cold days of winter. After all, what’s better than curling up under a blanket with a good book? Well, maybe you should include a cup of hot chocolate and glowing fireplace for the ultimate experience.

Check out the recommendations below for the best books for job hunters, best books to enlighten (and impress) and the best books for personal effectiveness. Read the rest of this entry »

“What will you major in?” Does that all-too-familiar question send you into a panic?

Relax. You’re still in high school, and you have plenty of time to choose a major. In fact, declaring your major early on limits the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity college offers: to explore different fields and discover ones you haven’t even heard of yet.

Why do students worry so much about choosing a major? Unfortunately, there are a lot of untruths floating around. Here’s your chance to compare myth to reality. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Liz Pulliam Weston in her article How to find free money for college, Federal and state grants serve as the biggest source of direct student aid. Here’s where to find funds for college and how to get them:

The best money is free money, especially when it comes to paying for a college education. And the biggest sources of free money these days are federal and state grants.

While scholarships make up less than 2% of student aid, grants make up nearly 40%, with loans filling in the rest. Read the rest of this entry »

While high school can be a fun and exciting four years, many of you may be ready to ditch the labels that high school social workings usually impose on everyone. Whether you were called “jock”, “nerd”, “band geek” or something worse, college is the perfect opportunity to drop those restrictive titles while still embracing the talents and interests that made you join the football team, the math leagues or the marching band in the first place.

This article by Vicki Salemi found on msn.encarta gives great tips on how you can find your true self in the four years after high school. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are on the path to becoming a guidance counselor, you’re heading toward a position that involves a great deal of interaction with others. Elementary-level school counselors through college-level guidance counselors work with students to promote and support their academic, personal and social development. It is essential for guidance counselors to be effective communicators, able to provide educational advice, career recommendations, and even help to those who may not be heading in the right direction at all.

Before you can secure your place in this field, you’ll have to successfully complete a different type of interaction process the job interview. Interviewing skills are important for any career field. However, guidance counselors not only need to excel to land a job, they should also be able to help future job-seekers with interview tips.

Learn from common mistakes made by others instead of committing an interview no-no. After all, as Kiplinger’s writer Peter Phelan states, the last thing you want to do is leave the wrong impression.

In his article, What Not to Say at a Job Interview, Phelan outlines 12 gaffes that could cost you a job. Read the rest of this entry »