My Parents can’t/won’t Pay for College!

8 November 2011

I hear this a few times. Kids get into the school they really want to go to but their parents can’t/won’t help with their finances. I commend parents who do struggle to help their kids with college finances. My intention with this article is not to put down parents who don’t go that route. Instead, my intention is to address an issue many college students face.

First, you can go to the financial aid office and beg and plead all you want, but it won’t change the numbers they use. It isn’t just an individual university’s decision, but a federal decision to ALWAYS include the parent’s household income into the expected contribution. If you don’t like this, I suggest going out and voting. But that’s a different matter.

It really comes down to a personal decision — are you willing to take out loans for this particular university? If you do take out loans, no matter how much debt you’re in, you can VERY LIKELY pay it off after graduation. It’s just a matter of time, but, consider that time might be well into more than ten years.

Also, get a job. Even better is if you get jobs that help you in your field later on. Personally, I worked three different jobs during my undergrad (research assistant, TA, and in the dining hall). Yes, it’s difficult to manage that and give it your all in every class you take, but that’s part of college’s financial burden (again, if you don’t like it, go out and vote). A big part of college is time management, so if you get a job, you’re just honing that skill even further.

If your parents won’t fill out the FAFSA:

Try reminding them that having them fill out the form in no way obligates them to contribute to your college education. Tell them they’re genuinely screwing you over by not filling it out. Bug your financial aid office to bug your parents. A lot of parents are worried about privacy. Which, I’d seriously consider pressing the issue. I once (mostly jokingly) told a girl to consider if her parents were into tax evasion…she took me rather seriously and turned her parents into the IRS. It ended up paying for her education, go figure.

If all else fails, The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 has allowed for unsubsidized stafford loans which are not need-based. Yes, the interest rates are disgusting (did I mention voting?).

Other Problems:
A lot of times, parents use a sort of “bargaining” plan with their kids because they don’t approve of something. Two incredibly common situations I saw during college:

1. My parents don’t approve of whom I’m dating, so they won’t help pay.
2. My parents don’t approve of my major, so they won’t help pay.
3. Step-parents won’t help me.

My advice:

1. Lie
2. Suck it up and take the loans. It’s YOUR major and YOUR education. Don’t let them influence you just because of money. Not worth it at all in the end.
3. Sorry, I have no advice other than taking out loans in this situation. The federal government definitely includes their income and assets in their calculations. Maybe try persuading them further through your biological parent?

No matter the situation, I don’t think you should use the “my parent’s can’t/won’t pay for my college” as an excuse not to go to college. Even if it means working for a little while and saving up. Or an unfathomable amount in loans. The cost of a college experience is eventually priceless.

College Success Secrets

3 October 2011

It isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would have a college degree. With the new-found freedom students often find themselves enjoying in college…it can be easy to forget 3 little tricks to succeed in any college or university.

1. Attend class. I’m not kidding. If 8 am isn’t your style, don’t register for an 8 am class! You’re just setting yourself up for failure. If it’s a mandatory course and you got stuck with that time-slot…force yourself to cut a little on your social life in the evenings, get done with your homework early-ish, and give yourself enough sleep to wake up in time. Set 5 alarms if you need to. Set a breakfast date before class with a classmate to help you actually stick to some schedule.

2. Realistic time management. The key word here is realistic. The great thing about college is getting to know yourself better. That might mean knowing that if you don’t have people-interaction for more than 3 hours, you get seriously antsy. It might also mean that you remember things best if you look at it first thing in the morning or absolutely cannot focus on a problem set after having 3 cups of Ramen for lunch. Once you learn your little quirks, the next step is learning to plan ahead. When you work these two skills together, you can settle into a pretty nice successful college routine!

3. Get involved on campus. My first reason for this skill: you make connections. It’s 12:30 am and you’ve been stuck on the same problem for over 2 hours. Chances are the classmate you met in your specific major’s society that happens to live in your dorm is also up. You get to knock on their door and work together! My second reason for this skill: keeping up with your major’s current events. You’re at an university! This is where professors are collaborating all over the world to work towards amazing new developments. Now is not the time to live under a rock. And finally, if you don’t get out there…college can get seriously lonely. Don’t do it to yourself.

New Program Offers Public Student Grads Free College Tuition

5 January 2011

Yale University has introduced a new program – New Haven Promise. This is a program that will provide graduates of the city’s public high schools free tuition to ANY public college or university in the state. To qualify, students need:

  • students must have a 3.0 GPA
  • 90 percent attendance rate
  • positive discipline record
  • 40 hours of community service

I think this is fantastic! I might be a little biased though, because I went to a public high school. According to the New York Times, Yale is funding most of this program with $4.5 each year. Last year, 200 of the 1000 high school graduated in the city (okay, New Haven is pretty small….) would have qualified. 200 students going to college for free? That’s amazing! Because I highly despise the correlation between income and educational quality, this program definitely brings a smile to my face. So far, this program is up to run for 4 years, and then will re-evaluate itself (sounds like presidency). Parents, if you’re looking to move right as your children are entering high school, may I suggest moving to New Haven?

India Plans to Achieve “Education for All” by 2010. Yes, 2010…

22 December 2010

Before a slew of comments appear in my currently comment-less blog (hint HINT), let me start by saying I’m going back 8 years.  In 2002 (India plans to achieve ‘education for all’ by 2010 – The Times of India), “minister Murli Manohar Joshi [...] told a ministerial meeting at Abuja, Nigeria that India expected to reach an adult literacy rate of 79 per cent by 2010, while the target for the same had been set for 2015 as per the Dakar Declaration.  Let’s keep in mind here that the world average adult literacy rate in 1998 was 84%.  I haven’t been able to find figures for the most current figures, but it seems that India’s adult literacy rate was 66% in 2007.

One of the more interesting things I noted was the difference between men and women (and this really high rate of ~91% in Kerala….hand it to the South Indians!).  I am very disappointed in this disparity!

Here’s the numbers I am referring to:

http://www.iloveindia.com/population-of-india/literacy-rate.html

Really, I think the world, as a whole, is getting better.  And this makes me happy, as we move forward into 2011.  I believe the bigger question is, once we achieve such high literacy amongst the world, what sorts of good can we do with the mass literacy?  :)

Ivy-League College Application

10 December 2010

I finally decided to throw out the “ivy-league” title in my articles.  You knew I was going to use it eventually.  Earlier today, I was in Barnes and Nobles looking for a “how to speak Spanish” book.  The language section happens to be right next to the SAT/AP/ACT/GRE/GMAT, etc etc “helpful” books.  There was a girl who’d planted herself on the ground with her eyebrows furrowed into one of those Princeton Review books (SAT II Physics, actually).  I jumped at the opportunity to introduce myself (and hand out one of my brand spanking new business cards).  And she threw the question out at me:  “What tips do you have for college applications that are ivy-league standard?”  Well, the first thing I politely reminded her was that there are colleges without the title, but with just as high a standard.  But, basically, she asked me for a few tips and I decided I would write down what I told her.  For the sake of this article, it should be pointed out that she is a current senior – so my advice in this article is geared toward seniors.  BUT, ask me if you’re a junior.  A plethora of advice for you guys

1.  Don’t slack of senior year.

It’s incredibly easy to!  And while it is unlikely that your admission would be revoked based on a slight dip in grades upon your final semester….just don’t lose that focus.  You’ve been preparing for 3.5 years now, might as well stick it out for that last half.

But more importantly, that first semester senior year – you’ll have a lot going on, and if you make your class schedule noticeably easier that your past few years, you can bet that colleges are going to notice and note it.

2.  Who are you asking for teacher recommendations?

Well think about it…there’s usually a 20:1 student ratio in a classroom, but a teach tends to have 6 classes a day.  Okay, the numbers can vary across the board, but basically, there’s a lot of you (The high school student applying to awesome colleges) and only a few of them (the awesome and underpaid teachers).  So if your AP Calculus teacher is writing recommendation letters for everyone…you have to ask yourself, what will make yours any different?  It really isn’t their fault, or our educational system’s fault, that they have a sudden rush of requests with attached resumes handed to them (often within a week of the deadline too).  That’s right, it is your responsibility.  I cannot stress the art, the finesse, and all the intricacies that go into an application package.  If I had my way, I would want every major civil engineering firm I wanted to apply to have a formal application process like colleges require (cover letter, resume, CV, interview, and references seem akin to a college application, but trust me, there are huge differences).  This is where I like to step in, and show you how to weave your essays and letters together.  But, on your end, it’s a matter of starting early enough to make this web work.

3.  Avoid Qualifers

I put this one out there because I have this problem.  I rather enjoy using quite and possibly, somewhat, in conversation.  It detracts from your writing, and I definitely have to remind myself to not use such words, while writing.

4.  No resumes or autobiographies

Wait, isn’t it a “personal statement“?  The title is almost a trick.  Open up your essay document…if you have sentences like “I was born in…” or “I grew up with….”  or “my father and mother…”  Delete the document and start over.  Seriously, the first thing you have to do is come up with your essay theme.  This theme has to be something larger than you.

5.  Stress Management

I’m not old, so the following statement could be null.  If I had to classify the most stressful time in my life so far – it would be the apprehension I felt while applying to colleges.  “What if I didn’t get in?”  “Will I get in?”  Or, even better, “my first rejection letter…” (I actually got my first rejection and acceptance letter in the same day).  Stressful moments that come a close second?  Choosing a major then switching majors junior year, dealing with financial aid, and writing a graduate research thesis.  But, some of that, I’d happily relive.  The apprehension I felt in high school?  Not so much.  The best way to think about this is:

College admission officers are trying to gauge a two-way fit.  They know what sort of personalities do well at their schools.  So chances are, the college you DO get accepted to is one of the best ones for you.  And colleges that didn’t accept you, try to see that it has very, very, little to do with your intellectual capacity.

Common College Application Mistakes

5 December 2010

Truthfully, this list could get a little long, but I am going to start with the most important.

1.  Missing Deadlines

There are many inherent difficulties in the college application process that just provoke missing deadlines.  First colleges vary from one another, though there are some common deadlines – Dec 15, Dec 31, Jan 1.  But, then you get into early decision (ED), early action (EA), scholarship, college financial aid, federal financial aid, state financial aid, score submission, transcript submission, etc, etc, deadlines.  Suddenly, without a good plan of action, you’ve missed some important deadline.  Avoid this by making a table early on of all the colleges you want to apply to and all the deadlines.  Make sure to check it frequently, so you can refresh your memory as you also keep up with your current school activities!

2.  Mixing up Essays

When you become lazy and write one generic essay for all colleges, you forget to change the one or two places you have mentioned the university’s name.  This is simply terrible and can simply be avoided if you take the time to write different essays for each university.

3.  Starting Late

I say this for one simple reason.  Great essays do not happen overnight.  They happen after thinking of a good outline, several drafts and editing, and peer review.  Unfortunately, college application deadlines happen to coincide with midterms/finals.  This is all just a test of your time management skills.  Practice this skill now, colleges will see it, your essays will be great, AND you will be just that much more prepared for college.

4.  Approaching Teachers and Guidance Counselors Late and Unprepared

While your essays carry the most weight, your letters of recommendations carry significance too.  If you’ve planned out your application very carefully, you will master the art of making your essays and letters “flow” and NOT be repetitive.  If you don’t sit down with your recommendation writers and tell them your thoughts and desires, trust me, your letters will be nothing special.  This is especially important for the required guidance counselor letter.  Because face it, how many of us got our guidance counselor to really know us?  It certainly wasn’t on my agenda in high school.

5.  Lots of peer review – especially from parents

I am most certainly not saying you should not get outside help.  However, when people start putting their hands on your essay, the writing styles begin to vastly clash.  This becomes painfully obvious to colleges and why I suggest my help!  I can guide you from topic selection to a polished essay without dirtying your essay up with my writing style (regardless of how good my style is).  Truthfully, not many people can edit other people’s works with this talent.  This is because people don’t stop to first read your writing, empathize with your voice, and THEN begin editing.  If everyone edited your essays this way, no one would have their essays done in time (given the usual start time for application writing among high school students, as well as undergraduates).

College Holidays and GRE Advice

27 November 2010

When I was in college, the word “holiday” was a bit foreign to me.  I spent the winter “breaks” searching for summer internships/jobs and the summers working.  Junior year was especially lovely, as I began to think about grad school or a job.  But I was so busy with my current junior year activities that I did not really begin focusing on after-graduation prospects until my senior year.

I decided pretty early on that I wanted to go to grad school, so I took the GRE’s the winter of my sophomore year…without any preparation.  Yes, we can call that ego.  But the GRE’s decided to punch my ego in its most sensitive areas.  After years of super-advanced math and continuously being on a TI-89 (I love my 89), I had somehow forgotten to do basic math very quickly.  As such, time had been an issue for me on the test.  Surprisingly though, my vocabulary had stayed more or less intact from my extensive high-school-sat-prep-days.

The good news is, I took my bruised ego to my friend Nadia over Thanksgiving Break, junior year.  While spending the “holiday” at her house, we balanced having fun and studying for the GRE’s.  During the drive from Ithaca to her place is New Jersey, we tested each other on words.  While at her house, I woke up earlier than I would have liked, to practice on math-sets, before we headed out for the day.  Personally, I was proud of my discipline, and it definitely paid off, when I re-took the GRE’s a week after Thanksgiving Break.

Thus, I suggest prepping during one of your college breaks, then taking the test shortly afterward.  Otherwise, you are apt to forget the entire gamut of words you memorized, as well as lose a little of the test-taking rhythm you probably established while prepping.  This is not to say I think you should become some robot during your breaks – I certainly created some lifetime memories during my college breaks that did NOT include groaning over the $25 I spent on a GRE book (and here I thought all the money I gave Princeton Review and the ETS was done in high school).  However, I did sleep less than I would have liked during my college breaks.  But again, it really did pay off later.

My winter breaks were also the time I landed my summer jobs.  Or rather, began the process of landing my summer jobs.  Usually by early Spring semester, I knew what I would be doing for the summer.  This one little fact can really change the rest of your semester, as you are free to really focus on coursework.

My final note about college holidays is about the variation in times and types across the US.  In the south and northeast (I did my high school in Texas and my undergrad in New York), I was used to Fall Semester being more holiday-packed.  There was a Fall Break, a Thanksgiving Break, and a Winter Break.  By this knowledge, it was wise to take my more difficult courses during Fall Semester in undergrad.  That way, I had time to review the material – something I especially did over Fall Break.

Then, when I went to the Midwest for grad school, my beloved Fall Break had been ripped away from me.  So the semester felt a lot longer to me.

In general though, Spring Break was the only real break I had during the Spring Semester, regardless of where I was.  But, summer breaks were much longer in the Northeast and in the Midwest (my theory is that they want us to enjoy the heat as much as possible before we are nice and gloomy during the long winters).  That effected how much money I made during the summer, which was nice.  So overall, if you do not mind walking in below freezing weather for months at a time, the Northeast definitely offers holiday benefits.

So there you have it, my college holiday advice!  I do hope everyone had a fantastic and yummy thanksgiving and hopefully, you have leftovers to take with you when you head back to the dorms/your apartment, etc.  Home-cooked food is definitely one of the biggest perks of college breaks!

Writing an Excellent Scholarship Essay

25 November 2010

Recently, I helped a friend write a scholarship essay.  For sake of privacy (though he does not care that I am writing this), we will call him Bob.

When Bob came to me for help, it was very last minute.  So my immediate thought was “oh no, there is no way a quality essay can come out at 4 am….due by 2 pm).  I almost hastily said I was too tired to help, but I gave him a chance to actually complete his approach in asking me.

I come from a family of teachers.  My grandmother is a principal of a school in Calcutta, my mom teaches Pre-K to Kindergarten at a Montessori Academy, and my dad was a professor at SMU for many years (he also goes around as a guest professor to many places – Madison, Austin, Osaka, Japan, etc, etc).  Growing up in this sort of environment definitely adds a “teacher-like” dimension to my personality.  I really enjoy helping other people….especially in academics.  Because I know that’s an area I can really help in.

What any teacher will tell you, is that when a student comes for help, we take great joy when a rhythm is established from the start.  So when Bob came to me and immediately jumped into what he had already written, vaguely tried to say what his vision was, and what specifically he wanted help with, I knew we were well on our way to a great essay.  He had already done most of the hardest part, from there it was just a matter of working on flow (the second hardest part).

Here is my advice on a starting step for an excellent scholarship essay:

Note – this one process can take a really long time to polish!

Any good essay needs a theme and then details to support that theme.  Of course, finding a theme is not easy.  I once argued with a friend who claimed that most story-lines have been played out in books and movies.  This sounded much too bleak for my optimistic heart, till she dared me to come up with a story that she could not find an older reference for.  This went on for about two hours.

Two days ago, I jokingly told a friend:

“If that ever happened [in regards to me getting a piercing I would never get], tell the president that aliens exist, and I’ve been abducted and some clone-monster has been sent to the Earth.  The clone will be deceivingly sweet-looking.”

To which he responded:

“Oh, like in the star fighter movie?”

And for a minute there, I thought I was actually clever!  Then I go and learn that my wittiness has been stolen from me in 1984 (RottenTomatoes gives the movie a 74%, so the idea couldn’t have been that bad and my clone would have been cuter than Alex Rogan).

My point here is that with generations of brilliance before us, it takes a little more work on our part to be brilliant.  What Bob had done, was take something his tenth grade teacher in India (yes, Bob is now an Indian name) had told him, which was “I believe in the 3 D’s – Determination, Dedication, and Devotion.”  Personally, I like starting something with a quote, as trite as it might sound.  To this day, I’m convinced that my Feynman quote is what got me my scholarships at Cornell.

But pulling a quote isn’t the same as developing a theme.  You really need to understand your quote and how it relates to you.  I have two examples of how this can be done.  For Bob’s essay, we related how the 3 D’s were woven into his life as a dance teacher.  For my essay, I related Feynman’s quote specifically to how I understood Algebra.  By doing this, we developed themes.  Bob’s theme being his passion and views on how to move forward in life, and mine being how I didn’t believe in memorizing anything (probably why I never became a doctor).

Once a theme is established, it is crucial to find personal examples of support.  If you have interlaced your theme into all the complexities that is your life, this should be easy.  And from there, it is “just” a matter of establishing writing flow.  The better essays have enough examples to be “complex” but are written so fluidly, that it reads as “simple.”

Because I enjoy helping people in this regard, if you’re in the process of writing an application/scholarship essay, I would be happy to help!  The worst that could happen is that you write me off with no offense taken (Get it?  Write me off….?).  :)

Regardless, best of luck, “Bob”!

College in the US…when you’re not from the US

24 November 2010

For the past two months, I have been mixing with students at the University of Texas at Dallas (very close to my home, actually).  I joined some of their students and started dancing with them, and we later performed at the Dallas Museum of Art.

It was interesting, not just because of the dance, but also because I have been getting closer with the Indian culture and grad school life on an international level.

Honestly, the experience has been a huge eye-opener for me….as to how lucky I have been.  When I went to college, I worked both on-campus, off-campus, did research, got federal loans, etc etc.  As an international student, it is so different.  It’s definitely an adjustment beyond just getting used to the American culture (which changes continuously).

I have witnessed international students save money in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.  I have learned different thought processes and different ways of communication.  I now have new advice for those entering college.  Find the international students!  There is so much you can learn from them.  Also, they’re looking to learn from you, which is also fun.

I think the toughest part for international grad students is finding internships or jobs for the summer.  For students on a student visa, they can only work on-campus.  And in today’s economy, finding a company that offers sponsorship is much harder than it was even just five years ago.

One of the best things about America’s higher educational system is its diversity.  Personal growth is directly proportional to your arena of knowledge.  This arena is opened by the more cultures you dip your fingers and toes in.  I was lucky to get to know another culture by dipping my entire body in it (get it?  because I danced with my entire body?  I know, I make a lot of lame jokes).  So if you’re in college, become part of societies and groups that you wouldn’t immediately relate to.

And to all the international students who have come to the US to continue your education, thanks!  We all appreciate it.

Top Colleges

23 November 2010

College rankings have always bothered me.  Mainly because college is just so…personal.  How can you rank a college that is just for you?  I will share a pet-peeve.  There is a common saying that Cornell is the “easiest ivy to get into.”  But I am an engineer.  The title alone changes how colleges in my field should be ranked (putting Cornell well at the top amongst the ivies).  I know that graduate college rankings change upon department and that there are general field rankings…but still, a ranking system cannot be perfect.

With 4168 colleges in the world – this includes 2 and 4 year colleges…I imagine college ranking is one huge headache.  Good thing it is not my job or my intention.  But I can always critique.

I think the best way to find your “top college” is to talk to people.  For example, I am not just an engineer, but I am specifically a civil engineer.  So by talking to people in the industry, I know which schools top companies go to interview for positions I would like to be in.  What better way to find the best college in your field then to see which schools companies hire from?

I will admit though, I do enjoy checking US News and Report to see where my colleges lie in.  And yes, I do feel a personal joy when Cornell or UW-Madison move up.  I still don’t really stand by these rankings though!