Your major is the focal point of your college career. Many students even choose what school they attend based on their major. As important as it is to take all your core classes in your specialty, you should also consider classes in other disciplines. Even if you’re majoring in something seen as practical, such as Business, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t branch out a little. So, here are 5 college classes to take outside of your major.
Summer break long and relaxing. For many students it’s the only significant amount of free time they have. Whether you’re a high school senior preparing to send off college applications or an undergrad student looking to earn that master’s degree, summer is the perfect time to get a head start on applications before your fall term begins and you’re bogged down with school work. One of the most important parts of the admissions process is the essay and it takes the most time to complete.
Schools vary in their requirements for the essay. Some want two while others only want one. Some ask you to write about a specific topic while others give you free reign. Whatever the case, it’s good to always keep your best writing practices in mind.
Tips for undergraduate admissions essays.
College life brings a new amount of responsibility. Students suddenly have to manage more aspects of their lives than they did back in high school. From finances to homework, handling it all can be overwhelming. Thankfully, the digital age makes it easy and straightforward. If you have a smartphone or tablet, you have your choice of hundreds of apps to keep you organized.
To get you started, here are seven free apps that make management simple.
1. Mint
Mint is a free financial tracking app that lets you see all of your accounts and expenses in one place, which is very useful for college and beyond. Its bank-level security means that you can’t move funds, but neither can anyone else. You can track costs like rent, food, gas, and car payments. It’s easy to see when bills are due and where those sneaky hidden fees come in. You’ll even get notifications about unusual activity. Instead of trying to manage your money in your head or in stacks of papers, keep it all together in one simple app.
2. Chegg
Chegg is geared toward renting, buying and returning textbooks. With the mobile app, you simply scan the barcode to compare the best prices between Chegg and other book retailers. You can even sell your books directly to them, check shipping and due dates, and extend or purchase your rentals. Textbooks are expensive and many of them are priced between $80-$200. So, take advantage of an app that’ll help you save that money for other things.
3. Evernote
Store everything from lists to websites and music files in this award-winning free app. Evernote lets you keep your class notes, recipes, pictures, ideas and more in one easy to access place. It works with almost all computers and mobile devices. Sync your notes between devices so that it’s always up to date. Did a friend mention a good movie at lunch? Write it down in Evernote so you can look it up later. Create multiple notebooks for easy navigation and use tags to search anything in an instant.
4. StudyBlue
Create high quality flashcards in any subject to help you study on the go. You can quiz yourself and keep track of your score while waiting in line or during lunch breaks. The StudyBlue website allows you to search through hundreds of shared flashcards on any subject that students everywhere have made.
5. MyHomework
myHomework lets you easily keep track of assignments and due dates by color coding projects based on priority. You’ll know exactly what’s finished, what’s due and what’s late. For each day, you can see what classes you have and what homework to do. This app is great if you have trouble planning ahead for your assignments or if you can’t keep track of all your projects in your head.
6. Wikipanion
Get instant access to Wikipedia with this mobile app. You can bookmark and save pages to read later, create folders and share with your friends. Wikipanion formats each page for optimal viewing on iPhones and iPads, meaning all information is easy to see. Just don’t tell your professors you’re using it.
7. SparkNotes
The infamous “cheat” website now has an app that comes with 50 pre-installed study guides and access to many more online. Read up on Shakespeare or Dickinson in the ten minutes it takes to walk to class. Use it to look up summaries of that chapter you just couldn’t get to last night. Your English professors may roll their eyes, but at least you’ll be better prepared than if you’d read nothing at all.
College life can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. Keep it together with these apps so you’ll have more time to enjoy your experience.
For more information on how to best prepare for college, visit GradGuard!
Dorm life is one of the most memorable and exciting parts of the college experience, especially if you get along with everyone in your hall. In many cases, a good friend will be just ten feet away, but all that proximity can come at a serious cost. Disease often spreads like wildfire across college campuses due to cramped environments, increased stress and unhealthy eating habits. From common colds to more serious and permanent conditions, it’s important to take the necessary precautions to ensure your residency is safe and enjoyable.
The Internet is the cultural hub of our generation. All of the latest jokes and terms formulate in online communities and then creep up in everyday conversation. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Internet lingo–in fact, part of the humor comes from the fact that we know most of these phrases are grammatically incorrect. Despite what high school teachers and librarians say about technology making kids less literate, you can easily argue that between blog posts and online journals, people read more today than they have in the past. Even so, the Internet is a double-edged sword and it’s imperative that students understand the difference between forum posts and academic papers.
It should be obvious that you use proper grammar, spelling, and capitalization in your school papers. Your sentences should be complete thoughts and you should know how to write a paragraph. However, there are many students who reach their third or fourth year of college and still riddle their papers with basic mistakes.