Deciding to go to college is a great choice for a productive life. However, a lousy college can not only keep you from getting decent higher education but a great college time as well. Your college time can affect the rest of your life significantly and help you get ready for the real challenges. For this reason, you need to conduct thorough research and take your time in choosing a good college. 

Start your college search with a few points in mind and your needs from it. The following are some essential tips to remember when surveying your college options for a promising future:

An Accreditation 

Colleges should be registered to some organization or administered with the state to be rated for their practicality. Every college needs to have this authentication, or else your degree won’t be recognized anywhere, and you could waste time. So make sure to survey every college with their accreditations and choose a national or regional accreditation, the latter being better. Even an online college with regional accreditation is an excellent choice to go for a noble degree. 

Career Prep 

The goal of an excellent college administration should be to let you go from the institute not only with a degree but a career path as well. To know that your selected college supplies this, you can talk to past students and take examples from their lives. Obviously, your main goal from entering a college and getting those student loans is to get a career to live a productive and paying life. For this reason, it’s also essential to note what real-life lessons the college provides besides career counseling as well.

Abundance of Programs

There are specific colleges specializing in one or two study areas, and those that provide a pool of programs form all the worlds’ pathways and studies. Colleges with a good amount of study program choices can be promising in getting you that college societal experience and will in jumping to any subject of your liking at any time. On the other hand, if you’re determined in your selected fried and want to get the best of it all from your college, it can help you with all the resources, fulfill career and study requirements, industry insight, and connection with the advanced faculty. 

Culture

A feeling of the college you visit tells you a lot about how your time there is going to be and if it will be advantageous to your college life and the one after it or not. In order to get the college life of your dreams, you will have to visit different campuses yourself and survey the student life with clubs, activities, and so on. However, if you have certain limitations or aren’t much of a people person, an online college with virtual student meetings and gatherings can be productive as well. 

Fees

A named college that is expensive and has you taking out substantial student loans isn’t always a necessity when choosing colleges. There are perfectly nice and highly accredited colleges out there that can give far better career advice and study programs with lesser fees or useful financial programs. However, don’t only look at the pricing structure; make sure you get the best of both and exit a college with a useful degree.

Most parents are keen to see their kids progress in terms of their education and go on to study at college or university. However, as the time for college gets nearer, a lot of parents start to panic that their child may not be as prepared as they should be. This can be particularly worrying if there is a chance that your child will be moving away from home when they go to college or university, as this means they will need to be far more independent.

The good news is that there are various ways in which you can prepare your teen for their college or university years. As a teen who is still finding their way in life, they are likely to be grateful for your advice and support. You can help them in many different ways, each of which will help to make their life a little easier when they are away from home and studying. In this article, we will look at some of the things you can do.

Some Steps You Can Take to Help Your Teen

You will find many ways in which you can help your teen when they start college – for instance, you can help them by buying the equipment they need or dorm essential so they have a comfortable environment in which to stay. You can cut the cost of purchases such as these by looking for promos such as Kohls discount codes. But what about the few years in the run-up to leaving school and starting college?

Voluntary Work

One of the things you can do is to get your teen to do some voluntary work at weekends before their college years. This is a great way to get them used to working in the real world and can help to develop their practical skills. It is also great in case they need to get a part-time job while at college, as they will have experience, new skills, and something to put on their resume.

Budgeting Practice

It is vital that you equip your teen with budgeting skills ready for when they leave home and need to fend for themselves financially. You can get them to help you with the household budgets to give them some practice. In addition, get them to open a bank account if they do not already have one, as they can then learn to manage their own allowance or any money they earn from a part-time/weekend job.

Summer Camp

Sending your teen to summer camp is a great way to get them used to being away from home, socializing with new people, and being independent. This will give them a taste of things to come while also enabling them to develop new skills and build their confidence levels. This is a great way to get them ready for life at college.

These are just a few of the ways you can help your teen to prepare for life at college. 

The COVID-19 pandemic was followed by lockdowns and subsequent travel bans. These put a damper on the aspirations of many students who want to pursue higher education abroad. As the borders gradually reopen, movement becomes less of a challenge. We shift our focus back to the age old question of how to fund overseas college studies.

Government support

In recognition of the economic challenges the Canadian government introduced some relief measures for foreign students. Before COVID-19 foreign students in Canada were allowed to do paid work for 20 hours per week. This has now been extended. International students employed in the essential services such as healthcare and energy can now work longer. Another such measure is the Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB). Employed or self-employed international students can apply for the CERB. It is given to applicants whose income has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These relief measures will be in place till the end of 2020. However their eligibility will likely be extended based on the situation.

Scholarships

Numerous scholarships are available to international students wishing to study in Canada. One of these is the Canadian Government’s Canada Scholarship 2020. This grant fully covers the cost of education. Students who plant to pursue bachelors, masters, and PhD courses are eligible to apply. Another scholarship scheme is the Laura Bassi Funding for International Students in Canada. This grant is available to masters and PhD aspirants, with support of up to CAD 2,500. Some universities also offer scholarships. The University of Toronto has recently increased the number of scholarships it offers to foreign students.
Those who aspire to earn college degrees in Canada will find a range of other scholarships and grants via online searches. Many of these schemes have been around for decades. Some are offered by special interest groups and institutions. Be sure to check your eligibility carefully before applying. Because of the large number of applicants it is important to apply early. The application process for some scholarships starts nearly a year in advance. Even a partial scholarship can significantly reduce the economic burden of studying at a prestigious institution abroad.

Student loans

Quality education can give one’s career a substantial head start. For many of us debt is not the preferred form of financing. However, when the goal is to get a world-class education, a study loan can be a valid option. Most banks readily offer loans to aspirants who possess a letter of acceptance from a reputed foreign university. Pie News, a website about international education news, reports that lending companies such as Prodigy Finance and Leverage Edu have expanded their loan offerings to international students. Aspirants usually obtain a study loan in the home country. They repay it gradually during the early years of their bright and promising careers.

Parental support

Quality education has remained expensive in most of the world. Parents continue to be the most common source of funding for foreign students in Canada. Student’s families send money online to cover the cost of the academic pursuits, as well as costs of living. Whatever your financing method, it is important to have it in place before making a visa application. Canadian student visas are only given out after verifying that the applicants can prove the availability of sufficient funds.

The move to e-learning

Canadian universities, like many others globally, shifted to distance learning models. Initially planned for May and June, this model may continue throughout the fall semester. According to University Affairs, a Canadian news website, most Canadian universities are planning to implement a hybrid learning model. It will combine in-person and online classes. The University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill University, University of Alberta, and other institutions will implement this system. The move to online learning has made some students reconsider the decision to study abroad. Part of the value of studying at a reputed institution is the ability to access on-campus resources such as libraries and labs. Being able to interact with fellow students and do team assignments is also a valuable part of the learning experience.

About the author:
Hemant G is a contributing writer at  Sparkwebs LLC, a Digital and Content Marketing Agency. When he’s not writing, he loves to travel, scuba dive, and watch documentaries.

Image by AJC ajcann.wordpress.com used under the Creative Commons license.

The study of numbers is a constantly growing field, and thanks to the explosion of the technology industry, mathematics has become one of the most lucrative majors in higher education. The study of math not only creates a technical ability to deal with numbers, but it teaches many analytical and problem-solving skills that are sought after and prized by employers across all industries. In addition, math puzzles are a good way to explore your math aptitude.

So if you’re wondering what it is that you can do with your degree in mathematics, here is just a small selection of options.

1. Accountancy and finance

Accounting and finance firms are constantly looking for employees with strong technical skills in mathematics and an ability to follow complex algorithms and economic equations to determine the strength of a company’s financial positioning. The various types of jobs include roles such as auditor, tax accountant, forensic accountant, management accountant and corporate advisor.

2. Actuarial sciences

As an actuary you will utilize various statistical information in order to create probabilities to inform your clients on different types of financial risk. Actuaries tend to be focused on business strategy, combining mathematically derived economic trends and information with practical solutions to insure sound investments and to minimize potential losses.

3. Banking

Banking careers that are open to students who’ve studied mathematics range from general retail banking to corporate investment banking. Both forms of careers deal mainly with financial assessments of various public and private financial structures, and the largest opportunities lie in departments of merger and acquisitions and lending and IPOs.

4. Statistics

If your main focus in mathematics was statistics, than your options for career industries are great, as virtually all major businesses and corporation employ statisticians to collect, analyze, and contextual data. Many statisticians also possess advanced IT skills, as they are usually required to work on larger company databases.

5. Academia

For mathematicians looking to pursue a career in academics and teaching, a great step is to study for a master of science in mathematics education. The academic side of math will allow you to not only teach the future generations of mathematicians, but to continue your own research pursuits within the field, usually leading to publication in magazines and journals. Academic postings can be wide-ranging, and your choice of specialty will dictate what level of education you teach at and in what department.

With such a specific degree like a BSc in mathematics, it can be easy to see why many people might think their future career prospects would be held to a few select fields, but in truth the study of math is a doorway to many prospects.

Ah yes, the dreaded SAT – one of the most popular standardized tests out there. As a test taker, there are several things you can do in advance to increase your chances of scoring higher on test day. In addition to these 3 must know tips for the SAT, here are a few more things to keep in mind:

Know how the test is scored

Not all tests are created equal, and not all tests are scored the same way. Luckily for us, the current version of the SAT has a great scoring policy – your raw score is simply the number of questions answered correctly. That’s it! There are no deductions or penalties for incorrect answers. If you answer 40 questions correctly and 4 questions incorrectly, you’ll get the same raw score as if you answer 40 questions correctly and just leave 4 blank.

This means that you should answer every question (even if you are guessing) because an incorrect answer will not count against you, but guessing will at least give you a chance of getting the answer right. But wait…there’s more!

The SAT’s multiple choice questions have 4 answer choices (A, B, C, and D). Since each answer choice has an equal probability of being correct (1/4 or 25%), you can maximize your chances of being correct by guessing the same letter every time (unless, of course, you know it’s wrong). However, if you guess randomly, you’re just chasing a moving target. So, just pick a letter (A – D), and if you have no idea what the answer is, just bubble in that same letter every time.

Study using the official SAT materials first

Standardized tests, like the SAT, tend to be pretty tricky. The word problems are intentionally confusing and can throw off even the most experienced test takers. For this reason, it’s very important to see as many different types of questions as possible, so that you can be exposed to the variety of ways a question can be asked.

The best way to get used to SAT questions is by studying official SAT material published by the CollegeBoard. The more practice problems you will see, the more familiar you will become with the way they are structured, worded, and presented. So when it comes to taking the real SAT, you’ll be in a much better place to say “I’ve seen this type of question of before, and I know what they are looking for!”

There is a ton of third party material out there, but it may not look like the real thing. So it’s best to practice with official material right on the CollegeBoard website!

Look for shortcuts

The beauty of a standardized test where showing your work doesn’t count is….it doesn’t matter how you get to the correct answer! The only thing that matters is that you get the question right. This affords test takers the ability to solve problems in any way they choose!

The math section is a great place to take advantage of this luxury! Instead of solving the problem using the “high school Algebra II way,” is there a simpler way to get to the correct answer?

•  Can you just plug in the answers?
• Can you eliminate answer choices that are obviously too big or too small?
• Can you use your graphing calculator to find solutions or intercepts?

As you work through practice tests and sample problems, see if you can find faster ways of solving the problem. In a timed test, a few seconds here or there can really add up, so knowing shortcuts can help you out big time!

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Today’s guest post is from Leo Rusinov, the founder of TutoringBoston, an education company specializing in K-12 Academic and SAT tutoring in Newton, MA. TutoringBoston is focused on providing both content and strategy instruction, and is committed to helping students achieve their academic goals through customized lesson plans, tailored instruction, and content differentiation. Tutoring Boston serves students in the Greater Boston area, as well as all over the country through online lessons.

The world has changed tremendously.

Decades ago, the word ‘Internet’ did not even exist in the dictionary. Now look at us:  Humanity now seems to need the Internet as much as the very air we breathe.

The birth of the World Wide Web has ushered in a plethora of possibilities. With a simple tap of your Smart Phone you can get access to any information, link up to anyone and become literally anything you wish to be.

However, as much as the internet has a lot of advantages, so does it have its cons.

Nowadays, children barely out of Kindergarten are granted access to the web. They are exposed to all sorts of materials without supervision and sadly most parents remain apathetic to the potential dangers lurking in the online world.

What can parents do to teach their children about internet safety?

Our children are the future.

They are the edifices to our foundations and as such, we owe it not only to them, but also to ourselves to give them a dignified and hopeful future.

In order to protect our kids from the dark aspects of the web, we must ensure that they are Cyber Security aware.

The first thing you need to do is to properly educate your children. Proper communication goes a long way so you will need to enlighten them about the dangers and risks of the online world.

Kids do not do what they are told, but imitate what they see

You cannot expect your children to follow your words of caution if you yourself continue to throw caution to the wind.

All too often, kids do not know how to properly create a safe online environment for themselves because no one has shown them how, so they would rather imitate what they see around them, and as a result, they could fall victim to all sorts of malicious schemes and plots online.

Children who reveal too much information about themselves online could end up being susceptible.  They could be stalked, bullied or worse: Their accounts could be hacked and they could become victims of identity theft.

Sadly, you yourself could unknowingly be teaching your kids to be vulnerable and reckless online.

At a young age, a child’s vulnerability is at its peak: They are easily influenced and ready to absorb information like a sponge.

According to Research, a lot of parents post far too much personal information about themselves and their family online.

This is not only unwise, but could lead to disastrous consequences.

What’s the solution? Practice what you preach!

The first thing you need to do is to work on yourself by educating yourself and engaging in good security practices.

Our kids mirror our behaviors. If they observe their parents taking the proper precautions like instituting rules to eliminating rogue downloads, they will most likely pick up the habit.

As a parent, you must ensure to introduce security concepts to your child and the earlier the better! A five your old is not too young to be taught the basic concepts of cyber security. All you need to do is to enlighten them in the most fun and engaging way possible.

Older children should not be left out. They should be taught to treat cyber security as they would real life security related situations.

Manage your child’s screen time

In order to ensure that your children do not stray you must remain vigilant and monitor their online activities.

Perhaps you could consider limiting the number of devices accessible to them; cut off the gadgets they don’t need.

Now, thanks to the improvement in technology, you can keep tabs on their activities on the phones and computers: Take for instance the Apple IOS devices and some Android tablets which allow restrictions on app usage.

Now, new Models of windows Computers and Apps come with built in parental controls which allow you to limit the amount of computer time each user account has per day and which applications they have access to.

Cyber security awareness isn’t something you could just instill overnight. It is a gradual process that evolves with time and Technology. The best way to stay safe online is to continue to engage in good security practices.

If a child is smart enough to work his/her way around a Smartphone, then he/she is old enough to be educated about cyber security.

College can be cripplingly expensive for many families, particularly those with a low income.

Even if we were to put the tuition fees to one side, you still have the rent, living expenses, travel costs and so on to consider… indeed, the prospect of sending kids to college can be a genuine uphill struggle for many families as tackling cost of college isn’t something all families can manage; however, where there’s a will there’s a way and there’s a lot to be said for adopting a state of resourcefulness at times when a lack of resources could otherwise hold you back.

Firstly, it should be noted that if you’re looking for a more frugal way to facilitate a decent college education, the majority of major universities are now offering distance learning as one of their platforms.  These courses can often save a huge amount of money in terms of travel, accommodation and daily living expenses. They also tend to be cheaper tuition fees as the college itself has less overhead to cover in comparison with people physically attending a course.  

That said, college isn’t purely about the educational experience in terms of academic understanding; there’s a lot to be said for the diverse social and experiential side of attending college in addition to the connections and networking opportunities they facilitate.

This article looks at how to cope with the crippling cost of college, from a ‘making money to fund college’ perspective, but before we go into that it seems pertinent to talk about the concept of making money particularly when it comes to people entering college and the world of work.

Once upon a time, we were told to work hard at school, get a good job, work our way up through the ranks and then retire with a secure financial future ahead of us.  Today, this advice is not only archaic, it’s potentially hazardous to our financial future, as everything has changed since we entered the new digital age of globalisation.

Today, it’s imperative to learn about topics such as personal branding, portfolio careers, side hustles and passive income in order to secure our financial destiny.  There’s been a huge social shift in the way we are making money; and it’s important to become more educated in this growing area of concern.

Whilst an academic education remains valuable it’s important students expand their view of education to incorporate money making and personal marketing concepts.  

There’s a popular saying that states the “more you earn the more you learn”.  This is a sound concept, however, when looking at education from a money making perspective, it should be noted that there are many people that dropout of college and financially surpass their well educated white collar friends by simply selling things on eBay.  

With this in mind, it should be noted that learning is not limited to academic education; indeed, if you were to learn how to invest in property these skills are likely to get you much further in life, on a financial basis, than having a generic degree.  There are some academic courses that are required to enter a particular profession, and these should be considered, but bear in mind, that oftentimes, you’ll find highly educated white collar workers attending weekend seminars on topics such as real estate investing, amazon trading, and digital marketing that are being led by people that didn’t go to college – they just got out there and did it.  

The one thing to bear in mind, when it comes to learning, is to ensure the time and money you put into the course provides a decent return on investment.

Now, let’s take a look at some ways to cope with the crippling cost of college from a money making perspective.  The majority of these tips are going to be focused on the student making money, yet as a parent, there is a great way to consider coping with the burdensome cost of rent.  

As an example, you could get a housing loan and purchase a four bedroom property, near campus, that you can then rent out to other students and make a profit each month on the loan from the rent paid.  This way, you can provide your family with a secure home that is cost neutral and actually goes some way to paying for trips home and so on.

If, however, you feel more inclined to put them to work and have them stand on their own two feet whilst still having enough time and energy to fully focus on their studies, you’ll want to consider these quirky ideas to make additional money whilst studying.

FLIP THRIFT STORE ITEMS ON EBAY

A quite enjoyable way to make money is to treasure hunt around thrift stores and yard sales, looking for items that you know have a strong desire on eBay.  Often, people aren’t aware of the value that’s in amongst the vats of items in thrift stores and with a bit of careful research and rummaging around boxes, you can find some incredible high profit deals.

SELL FREE ITEMS

Lots of people have items that are “free to a good home”, presuming you have the means and manpower to come and pick them up.  

You could simple use eBay, but If you match this with people putting requests in the ‘want to buy’ sections of newspapers and online listings, such as Craigslist this will be the most efficient and reliable way to ensure you are gathering items that you can sell on; after-all, you don’t want to have to rent out a storage unit just to put things nobody wants in storage.  

The most expensive aspect of this set up is having a vehicle large enough to transport the items, but this can pay for itself, if on top of the sale price for the item, you are able to charge a few dollars for delivery to the new customer.

DONATE BLOOD PLASMA

There’s a limit to how much you can make doing this, as there is a restriction to how many times a week you can attend, but typically your time investment would be around three hours per week in order to make $250 to $350 per month.  

Understandably, this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s a rewarding way to make money on the basis your blood plasma is necessary to help fuel life saving operations.

BABYSIT

Babysitting can be a great way to make easy money.  

If you’re lucky, in the evening the kids will be asleep most the time which means you’ll get free time in someone’s home to study in a distraction free environment.  There’s no greater feeling than being productive with your studies whilst at the same time, making money from doing very little.

MOW LAWNS

Whilst this is clearly restricted to three seasons of the year, if you were to charge $25 per lawn, and mow ten lawns a week (basically a weekend’s work) you’ll make $250 per week – that’s a $1,000 per month.

The best part of this, is that once you get regular customers, you can build up a monthly ‘round’ of appointments that generates a reliable stream of income; and doesn’t require you constantly getting new customers.

ONLINE OPTIONS

Today, you can even make an income online by being paid to browse websites or answer online questionnaires.  There are many ways to make money online that simply require an internet connection and a laptop. If you have creative skills in the area of web design, for instance, you could check out freelancer.com and get a variety of gigs direct from employers looking for freelance talent.

In summary, college can be cripplingly expensive but where there’s a will there’s a way and with such a vast plethora of money making opportunities available anything is possible.