Mar 23 2009

The Value of an Online Degree

Posted by Education

Many people wonder, “What is the true value of an online degree?” In reality, there is no price that can be put on higher education. In today’s world, the job market has become extremely competitive. For every position that becomes available, there are dozens of applicants who are trying just as hard as you to get that position. Because of this, employers have to be extremely selective when they are attempting to pick the best candidate for each position that they offer. When employers are evaluating new candidates, there are several factors that they seriously scrutinize.

One of these factors is work experience. In the eyes of employers, work experience is one of the most important things that a candidate can possess. Relevant work experience is normally a strong indication of a candidate’s ability to succeed in a specific field. However, it is important that any work experience you have, whether in a related or different field as the current job that you are applying for, have a positive reference attached to it. Almost all employers, especially those interviewing for positions with multiple applicants, will call your previous employers, supervisors or managers. Although you can write whatever you want on your resume, these phone calls serve as a true test of your character. By having a direct conversation with an authority figure from your previous job, a potential employer can find out various facts about your character, abilities and interactions with other people. Although in some situations the person that is contacted may not provide the most accurate picture of you, most potential employers will put a lot of weight into these conversations that they have. Therefore, it is extremely important that you try as hard as possible to end your term of employment on a pleasant note.

Although work experience degree is an extremely important factor for employers when they are evaluating potential job candidates, it is not necessarily the single most important factor. The other factor that is just as important, if not more important, in the eyes of employers is the candidate’s educational background. Regardless of the type of job that you are applying for, a strong educational background is extremely important. If you do not have a college degree, there are many employers that will not give you any further consideration for a job, regardless of how much work experience you have already obtained. For many who did not have the opportunity to attend a traditional college, this is a very scary prospect. However, this is where the true value of an online degree shines through. Thanks to the multitude of online degree programs which are available, people who never thought they would have an opportunity to earn a degree are now accomplishing their goal on their own terms.

Thanks to the design of online degrees, anyone can earn one on their own schedule. Unlike traditional colleges and universities, online degree programs are designed with busy individuals in mind. Whether you have a full-time job or a family to take care of, an online degree program allows you to obtain a degree in your precious spare time. This is one of the things that truly shows the value of an online degree. By obtaining an online degree, you are opening the door to a multitude of exciting opportunities. Whether you are looking for a promotion within your current company or a new, more lucrative career, an online degree is the best way for you to accomplish your goals.

As you can see, there is truly no price that can be put on an online degree. The value that an online degree gives you far outweighs any monetary investment that is required. Regardless of the reason you are interested in obtaining it, the value that an online degree will add to your life is tremendous.

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Mar 21 2009

Financial Aid; Can you negotiate?

Posted by Education

Parents and students often ask if it is possible to negotiiate with a college to improve the initial financial aid package they have been offered.

Like most questions about financial aid, many variables must be considered before coming up with an answer. And, there is no “one size fits all” answer.

It is accurate to say, however, that in some instances, meeting with a financial aid or admissions counselor can lead to a better financial aid package than the one offered initially.

Virtually all colleges and universities require students seeking financial aid to answer questions on a federal form (called a FAFSA) designed to provide an indication of a student’s need for financial aid. Some private colleges also use a second form to obtain additional relevant financial information.

The financial information on a student’s FAFSA is fed into a formula to determine whether or not he or she is eligible for federal grants and/or subsidized (low interest) student loans. Understand that other kinds of aid, including many scholarships and unsubsidized loans, do not require established need, but federal grants and subsidized loans do. You also need to realize that federal dollars can not be used to award more dollars than required to meet a student’s full need.

So, unless you make a mistake on your FAFSA, you’ll only be able to increase your federal financial aid if you can demonstrate to a financial aid counselor that you have suffered financial reversals since submitting your FAFSA or that you are the victim of special circumstances. Generally, a successful appeal requires solid documentation.

Colleges can be much more flexible with their own funds than they can with federal dollars. Many can and do offer academic, leadership and many other scholarships without regard to need. The Harvard’s, Yale’s, and Princeton’s of the world seldom offer any funds not based on need, but they meet the full financial need of every student they enroll.

Other colleges and universities, especially second and third tier privates, often use institutional scholarships to compete with more selective and/or less expensive colleges. Such schools are generally very comfortable using their own dollars to sweeten the pot for high-achieving students.

Therefore, students admitted to such colleges might very well be able to meet with an admissions counselor and come away with additional funds if they can demonstrate that attending the college in question would be a financial stretch or that their other college options are significantly less expensive. Note that this kind of conversation should be held with an admissions counselor, not a financial aid counselor.

When requesting more aid…need based or otherwise…remember that you are not buying a car. Ultimatums, rudeness, and aggressive behavior will surely be counter productive. And, you must remember that admissions and financial aid offers do not enjoy unlimited discretion. While I would not encourage anyone to try to save the last dollar on educational costs, there is no harm in requesting necessary help.

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Mar 15 2009

College Books – Save money and a money making idea, too

Posted by Education

Any student attending College or University will have a long list of, allegedly essential, books to buy. Only half of these books will ever be read to any extent and after the year is over the books are never used again. They will sit in corners or clutter up cupboards.

There is an enormous market in pre-owned college books. It is organized formally through bookshops and websites, and informally through college notice boards. Students will usually be able to buy the books they need at far below their new cost, once they start their course.

Bookshops and online bookshops will buy textbooks at the end of the year for a pittance, because there are no buyers in the market at that time. These companies hold onto the books for 2 months, and then sell them for the new, higher market price at the beginning of the new college year. The market price in September is much higher because now, there are more book buyers than book sellers in the market.

If you are selling last year’s books the best way to get most of your money back is to hang onto them until the new college year starts, then advertise them on campus, or use EBay or Amazon to sell them.

If you want to buy your next year’s books for the best price then ask around, even advertise on campus, or throw a website together and buy them in May or June, not September. You could even make a business of this. You could borrow money to buy hundreds of books in early summer, buying your stock for next to nothing. You then sell your stock in the fall, realize your profit, pay off the loan, and still have enough to buy books next May without borrowing.

You need to do your research with the faculties to find out which courses are changing significantly, which ones are expanding numbers and which courses will be taking on less students next year.

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Mar 06 2009

College Scholarships For Biology Majors

Posted by Education

Graduate School biology majors may be preparing for a variety of careers. They could be future chiropractors or veterinarians. A human biology major could be a professor or a wildlife scientist. And they most likely leave college to learn about reptile life in the Southwest in the winter.

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Jan 03 2009

Online College Degrees

Posted by Education

In today’s competitive world, a degree is the surest way to climb your career ladder. A degree helps you to get closer to your goals and is a representation of your knacks and skills. It is hard to imagine a successful career (entrepreneurs excluded) without a degree. Therefore a degree is a must in order to lunch into a great career where your skills are properly utilized. But at times, many of us do lag behind due to the absence of a college degree. The reasons can be many for not getting a college degree but the reciprocations are more or less the same.

To ensure that you never face such circumstances just because you don’t have a college degree, many universities in the United States and Europe have come up with online college degrees, which help you get a valid college degree while you work. Sometime such online degrees help you to complete your college education while you earn for it. This is very essential with the growing cost of quality education. So in today’s scenario the online college degrees offer more flexibility and time to complete a specific program while you are managing your job.

While the online college degree programs offer a wide variety of courses with complete flexibility, you need to be absolutely sure about some of the facts and information regarding them. Here we share a few important tips with you that will help you decide on the online college degree program in a better way.

Rather than deciding which online business degree is right for you, it is always better to decide what your career goals are or what your current job calls for. For example, if in case you want to start your own small business, then a degree in marketing is what you can count on. Similarly, if you are currently working as a manager at your place of business then a leadership degree may get you the skills you need to get a promotion and a raise in your present job.

After deciding on the program you want to pursue the second important part is to choose the right university. The university you choose should be accredited so that the degree you obtain has value in the business. Secondly, the staff and the faculties at the university should be experienced in the program you choose so that you can be absolutely sure of the guidance you will get there.

An online degree is the surest way of completing your education. It is quite easy as you don’t need to visit or attend the college. A four-year college degree can be fairly easy task to complete on the Internet. And if you have prior credits to transfer or relevant work experience then you can complete the degree as less as in six-month time. This helps you a lot in your career. So completing an online college degree is the best way to add some edge to your career and to get more compatible with the increasing competition.

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Dec 10 2008

Exploring Online College Degrees

Posted by Education

Have you been to a college for any reason? And you did not get the results you were expecting? Now come on you people, did you not hear these people yelling at you to go out their and get a degree in something? I am not sure if they managed to reiterate the point enough. It now seems that typical stuff like this only concerns future doctors and lawyers. All I can say is thanks for helping to put such an annoying thought into our little heads.

The fact is that without thinking of our goals you can always be sure that parents have certain goal or aspirations of their own in mind. Now nevertheless we all have to set our own goals from which to achieve results. If you have actually failed to get a degree then all is not lost because there is options available to us online.

Yes – there is Accounting, Math, English and all sorts of degrees that you can complete from the comfort of your own home. This is the kind of thing that makes the web such an amazing opportunity for almost everyone.

Have you even heard that you could earn an accounting degree from an online university? This may sounds bizarre, I know. This is now a possibility that is open to everyone.

Through being able to do this online you have a lot less worries about time which things are on at and such which leaves a great opportunity for you to really enjoy yourself at the same time. But do not forget that if you intend on dodging work, you will fail the same as you would in other circumstances.

I think the best thing about going online is that you can maintain an existing job whilst getting a degree. This is almost imperative to some people who simply cannot afford to pay the massive fees associated with getting an education when not in a job.

Filed under : Colleges | 1 Comment »
Dec 02 2008

Things You DON’T Want In Your College Admission Essay

Posted by Education

These days, it seems that university admission committees think that acing your SATs, boosting your GPA, and having glowing recommendations are not good enough to guarantee admission to your dream school. After the entrance exams and submission of other requirements, they still require you to write a college admission essay. True, the essay is an added work, but it is your opportunity to market yourself to your dream university. Application essays allow you another opportunity to convince the school board to accept you. It also gives the board an overview of how you are as a student and individual. Therefore, the prospect of writing your college application essay must not be taken lightly – your essay can spell the difference between acceptance and rejection.

Even if a college admission essay is your chance to express yourself, it requires good and effective writing. Just typing something up does not qualify as an admission essay – this is your best bet if you want your essay to meet the document shredder. Good and effective writing means that you have to curb your enthusiasm for self-expression and be on guard about things that have the potential to ruin your essay. A study on admission essays submitted in recent years show several common mistakes. These mistakes range from content to grammatical mistakes – the very things you don’t want in your essay.

Most universities provide guide questions for essay writing but you don’t have to answer each one in detail unless they expressly ask you to do so. The questions were just provided to give you an idea what to write about. But candidates often write mile-long essays thinking that the longer the college application essay is, the more impressive. This is contrary to what admission officials are saying. Compositions that are unnecessarily lengthy are thought of as lacking in language mastery and clear thinking. Lengthy essays often lose focus and become circuitous while too short essays come up, well, short. Take out unnecessary words like too many adjectives, and instead, focus on using nouns and verbs. A good application essay should be concise but informative and interesting.

Speaking of being informative and interesting, resumes, SAT scores, and GPAs are not crucial in a college admission essay. They are not interesting and they do not provide new information about you. The admission board has your resume and academic records — they don’t need these in your essay. Brown-nosing and excessive praise for the university do not impress admission officials. They are great and they know it. They also know what they can do for their students, so you don’t have to remind them. Take all these details out of your essay; nobody needs them. Come up and write about a topic that you feel passionate about to showcase your strengths as an individual. An essay about your stint as a volunteer is more interesting than grade enumeration.

Of course, good writing also means good grammar. College application essays with spelling errors give the impression of sloppiness. So do essay with errors in grammar and punctuation. Grammar books are effective solutions for these problems. Write a draft of your college application letter and reread it. Having other people – especially your English teacher – to read and point out errors is also a good idea. Revise and rewrite as often as needed and get as many comments as possible. Do this until your essay becomes concise and error-free.

The essay is about you, your talents, and how the school can benefit from accepting you. Writing an effective college application essay can be taxing but it can pave the way for your entrance into a brighter future.

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Nov 13 2008

Job Outlook – Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Posted by Education

When it comes to accurate diagnosis of many conditions and diseases, diagnostic imaging leads the way. However, the equipment is only as good as the professionals who operate it and evaluate the results. That’s why qualified diagnostic medical sonographers are so highly valued. Through specialized health care training, sonographers play an essential role in helping patients achieve and maintain good health.

Diagnostic imaging has been in existence for decades. Virtually everyone is familiar with x-rays, which use radiation to create images. However, magnetic resonance imaging – using giant magnets and radio waves – is also popular. Due to its decreased risk and non-existent side effects, sonography is becoming the preferred choice of physicians for many types of diagnostics. With sound waves, sonographers can view images and capture them for later evaluation by doctors.

Health Care Training

Health education programs are available through a variety of sources, including specialized schools, the military and more. Depending on the institution chosen, you may study physics and instruments as well as abdominal, small parts and OB/GYN applications. You may also cover gray scale and color-flow Doppler sonography during the health education program.

Job Responsibilities

The vast majority of sonographers work at hospitals, though some are employed by individual medical practices. While most often associated with pregnancy, sonography is widely used for the diagnosis of non-pregnancy related conditions. As a sonographer, you might be responsible for:

Interacting With Patients – Many patients will be nervous about their procedure. The sound-conducting gel that must be used, the transducers, computer monitor and other equipment can be frightening to someone who has never experienced this type of diagnostic imaging. Explaining what to expect will be of great comfort to patients.

Preparing Patient Histories – Before the sonogram begins, you may be responsible for collecting pertinent information about the patient’s medical history. Because certain ailments and medicines might have a bearing on the results of the scan, they should be noted prior to a sonogram being performed.

Performing Sonograms – Knowing how to position the patient to get the best view, which ways the equipment responds best, when you have captured images that will be beneficial to the doctor and more all play a role in performing a good sonogram. If any of these are not at their optimum, it could affect the doctor’s diagnosis and, therefore, the patient’s treatment.

Preparing Reports – After taking measurements, calculating values and analyzing their findings, sonographers who have detailed health care training compile specific reports for physicians. Using the information from the sonographer, the doctor determines a final diagnosis.

In addition to attending a health education program in general sonography, you may also choose to continue your studies in order to specialize in a particular area. OB/GYN, abdominal sonography, neurosonography, breast sonography and others are common areas of concentration.

OB/GYN – Working exclusively with women, a sonographer at an OB/GYN office will conduct scans of the female reproductive system for diagnostic purposes. The sonographer may also examine fetuses and track the growth and development of babies.

Abdominal – Primarily dealing with the gallbladder, bile ducts, kidneys, liver, pancreas and spleen, a sonographer conducts procedures within the abdominal cavity.

Neurosonography – Using frequencies and beam shapes different than other sonographs, the neurosonographer focuses his/her attention on the nervous system, including the brain, scanning to detect strokes and other medical conditions.

Breast – With high-frequency tranducers made exclusively for breast tissue, the breast sonographer studies breast cancer, tumors and blood supplies, as well as helping with biopsies.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics website (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos273.htm), “Employment of diagnostic medical sonographers is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2014 as the population grows and ages, increasing the demand for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic technology. In addition to job openings from growth, some job openings will arise from the need to replace sonographers who leave the occupation permanently.”

“Opportunities should be favorable because sonography is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative to radiologic procedures as patients seek safer treatment methods. Unlike most diagnostic imaging methods, sonography does not involve radiation, so harmful side effects and complications from repeated use are rarer for both the patient and the sonographer. Sonographic technology is expected to evolve rapidly and to spawn many new sonography procedures, such as 3D- and 4D-sonography for use in obstetric and ophthalmologic diagnosis.”

If you have a love for science and math, good communication and interpersonal skills, a career path in sonography might be for you. Take the time to further investigate this exciting vocation and see for yourself!

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