December is the best month filled with holiday cheer, amazing food, and time spent with family but before this fun time happens, students have to get through the struggles of finals week. If you are anything like my student, finals week is a stressful one. And with finals going virtual this year, some students may be taking them from home. We turned to our interns, many of whom are juniors and seniors for their top tips for finals week.

And So the Story Goes... Winter break, visions of sugar plums dancing in your head, family time, and maybe a family vacation; and having your student ho [...]

Here we come, home for Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years, so we are going t need to compromise. For students, coming home for Thanksgiving this year doesn’t necessarily just mean a 3-day break where we come home on Wednesday and are gone by Sunday because most colleges have decided to go online after Thanksgiving. This means that we will likely not make our return to campus until mid-January of 2021, if not later if that is what we choose to do. Some students who have leases are choosing to return to school after Thanksgiving and ride out the three weeks of in-between. Students in dorms also have the option to come back, but others may choose to stay home. Most sorority houses will be open for the two weeks after Thanksgiving so women will have a place to take exams.

What You Should Do Before You Head Out for Holiday Break Right before students head out for Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, and Spring Break, they’ve [...]

Getting Accepted to The College of Your Choice So you want to be an …. Owl, Nole, Gator, Knight, Bull, Osprey, Dawg, Terp, Hoosier, and more. There is s [...]

You may have already toured some of the colleges your student is considering, but once the acceptances start coming in, students have to make decisions as to where they envision themselves for real. Your students may have specific things that will help them weigh out the pros and cons of each college and they may be rather diverse from the things that you are interested in for them. Either way, taking a tour can help make a big decision.

Imagine if colleges could personally interview all their applicants before deciding who will receive an acceptance or a rejection. It will surely give them a better picture of each student; a glimpse at what their grades, test scores, and formal resumes do not show. That is the purpose of the college essay or the personal statement. This is the place to showcase not only your writing skills but to expose a bit of who you are because you are surely far more than numbers. This is one of those rare times in life where you can essentially brag a bit.

In a recent news story, it was reported that graduate school enrollment may increase in the coming months and years. Not surprised, because it seems like a positive thing for new graduates to do with their idle time if they can’t find a job. We still began to wonder if it is the best option. The truth is, we are all about furthering one’s education. The question; however, still remains as to whether the benefits of additional schooling will outweigh the prospective job opportunities during a) an economic turndown b) the hovering unprecedented times and c) the student’s chosen field. It’s not like grad school is suddenly going to be free; therefore, possibly, requiring student loans.

Graduating during a pandemic is not at all how I imagined starting my life as an adult. When I was a student at the University of Central Florida, I spent years fantasizing about how my life would be after graduation. I would travel for a few months before jumpstarting my dream career, making a lot of friends along the way. Instead of what I was daydreaming, I got the exact opposite. I couldn’t even finish my senior year of college in person. As soon as I left campus to go home for Spring Break, I never went back. I never got the chance to say celebrate downtown one last time, take my senior pictures, or say goodbye to my very best friends.

For high school seniors who will not know what school they are attending, you can submit a FAFSA application for schools you are planning on attending and then update your application down the road. If your financial situation has changed since filing a tax return, do not hold off and starting the application process. You can discuss the change in finances with the financial affairs office once you know your student's school.

There is nothing like a good coffee shop. I’m not talking about the one pictured in countless Seinfeld episodes. I much prefer the one frequented on Friends. In real life, though coffee places have come to be so much more than a place to grab a cup of coffee. Need a place to study alone or with a small group; there are plenty of places around that will make you feel like you are hanging in your living room – without the distraction of your actual living room. Get cozy on the couches, or find one with a big farm table for your study group to gather around.

Nothing makes succeeding at school even harder than when our student gets sick. Forget coronavirus which we know is a possibility. Before this pandemic, the biggest concern was the Flu Season. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, vaccination rates on US college campuses fall well short of the target recommendation. Many colleges offer the flu shot for free with the Florida universities waging a Flu Shot competition last year in the first 4 U’s Fight the Flu- btw UCF won. 

I cannot stress this point enough: they need to follow up after every contact or application! Amusing personal side story on this note: my son was looking for a job to have while he was in college. I helped him make a nice resume and he targeted restaurants and stores he wanted to work within a half-mile radius of his apartment.

Tattoo’s you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. They are a symbol, a representation of a generation, of experience, personal expression. College students usually have a few, right? I’m a branding mentor and I think the best way to explain branding to college students is to explain why it’s like a tattoo. Here we go, as a kid, this generation has grown up with the internet, social media, and all the positives and negatives that brings. They aren’t bothered by it and certainly are not afraid of it. They have been working at getting into college, studying and worrying about where this earth is going.

The money call came in the fourth week of school when my freshman year roommate got a call from her dad saying that she spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars ever since school started. Trust me that was not a fun conversation to listen to especially since our beds were five feet apart and I literally had no option but too awkwardly listen to the conversation. Let’s just say, she learned how to budget really fast, maybe because her dad threatened to cut off her allowance but I guess we will never know for sure. 

Sometimes, just having a little advice can be very reassuring. We’ve trained for this moment for about eighteen years and somehow when it gets here, we often feel blindsided. Perhaps, if someone would have told me, well, this… You probably won’t talk every day. Generally, we have found you’re more apt to hear from daughters a bit more than sons. The best time to talk is often on their walk to or from classes. If that call is important to you, you may want to consider how their class schedule works on your own. However; do not sit by the phone.

You only get to be a freshman in college once, so before you go, our interns want to share some advice. While none of them know what it is like to start college during a pandemic and that will create a unique set of circumstances, you will still have some great experiences. The beginning of your first year in college is overwhelming, stressful, but most importantly exciting. Looking back, you want to have the best memories and have made the year something you will keep with you for the rest of your life.

A lot is out of our control and many facets of our lives are being impacted including school, work, finances, socializing, and travel. Waiting in limbo can create a lot of stress, anxiety, fear, and depression, and that may leave some in unchartered territories on how to cope. Be gentle with yourself, but also acknowledge that you are already navigating this; you are building resiliency and you did not even realize it!

College students are gearing up for yet another school year but now with a whole lot more uncertainty than students past. Terms with the words “crisis” and “epidemic” are being used by top experts to describe the mental health challenges American college students are facing. A 2018 and 2019 student survey conducted by the American College Health Association (ACHA) indicated that approximately 60% of students felt “overwhelming” anxiety, and 40% felt severe depressive symptoms that interfered with daily functioning.

Books average around $1000 annually (These figures are averages and will vary from student to student and university to university.They are indirect costs not billed by the university). Now that students are getting ready to return to school, the reality begins. The whole reason they are at college is to learn and take classes, meaning they will need to have the necessary tools to do so, including books. Textbooks can be very expensive, so it is important to make informed decisions when picking out books to buy or rent.

Safe, sane, and happy? As colleges devise plans to reopen in the fall, they are also coming up with ways to keep our students safe, sane and healthy. However, no matter what rules they come up with and how many masks they distribute; students have to adhere to them if they are going to be effective. Sadly, as soon as the bars opened in one college town; they were packed with mask-free college students desperate for some long-awaited fun, and within a week, students started to test positive for Covid19.

College can be challenging for all students which is why finding ways to make connections with others who identify similarly can make a big difference. Although LGBTQ PRIDE is becoming more prevalent, the LGBTQ community often face additional pressures or concerns. The majority of college campuses today offer resources and information about support systems available to both help navigate the college environment and make connections in a group setting.

Campus diversity amongst students has grown over the years and most colleges acknowledge the need to honor African America College groups. Colleges also propose to create campuses that maintain an inclusive atmosphere; allowing all its students to gain exposure, perceptions, global awareness, and a willingness to collaborate peacefully and freely. College campuses strive to support their black organizations and students.

If you have a student in college, we are sure that sometimes (or perhaps all the time), you feel like you are a financial institution, giving money to your students to help offset the cost of college. That would not make you alone as, according to the Pew Research Center, three in 5 parents with children between 18 and 29 have given their kids some financial help in the last year including assistance with bills and groceries, education costs, and rent or mortgage.

All of our kids have certain expectations before they go to college about what it will be like academically. They ask themselves if they will transition smoothly given the rigor of their high school curriculum. They wonder if they have the tools necessary to succeed in the higher ed environment. Some make assumptions that it won’t even be a transition because they feel so ready. The reality of what they encounter is seldom what they anticipated on multiple levels.

As we are quarantined, many have discovered fun ways to spend our days. From family Olympics to our own obstacle courses using household items, it is reminiscent of the days when we made up our own games using only our imaginations and whatever we could rummage up in the house. Being a sports family, we truly missed spring training and opening day of baseball, spring football debut of our favorite college teams, and of course, all the sports that would normally be taking place. So why not try to bring the sports back into your own home and throw a backyard tailgate to support your favorite team? We’ve got you covered with cornhole sets, pop up table tennis sets, four-game set, hook and ring games, target practice games, tumble towers, and more. Enjoy great savings, support your favorite team, and make some family memories with your own backyard tailgate. Click by the school or see college games in general. Read more...

Joining a club helps your students build a community and network. Meeting people will help their transition into college go smoother and these connections and friendships can last forever. Joining clubs and organizations allows students to discover their passions and strengths, and to make connections for future resumes and employment.

Fall and spring semester career and internship fairs serve as a springboard to planning for the future. Students who have not yet secured a job or internship may start considering their options. For students who are graduating in the fall or spring that have not secured a job, this is an opportunity to meet recruiters and interact in person before a full formal interview.