The Strategic Collegiate

Is LinkedIn really necessary? Most employers and recruiters agree: yes! LinkedIn is the new CV, and it provides not only a personalized insight for potential employers, it also helps you make connections and have jobs come to you . I will cover the three parts of using LinkedIn, focusing on how you as a college student, who may have very limited work experience, can maximize your potential.  Getting Started Making Connections Attracting Job Opportunities Getting Started The first step is obviously to sign up and create your account. The first mistake some people make is not filling their profile out to 100% - LinkedIn's algorithm rewards you for completing your profile by making you more visible. I recommend making sure your profile is public as well. Make sure to complete the following checklist: Professional profile picture with your face taking up 75-80% of the circle Banner picture Headline About me Employment/education history and experience - fill out like your resume Skills,...

C ollege admissions essays can be difficult to write, as you have to stand out for the right reasons, usually have limited experience as a high school student, and feel pressured to know your entire life trajectory. College admissions essay prompts are getting more and more individualized, meaning each essay has to be more unique. The common application posts its prompts every year at https://www.commonapp.org/apply/essay-prompts and this year's include the following:   " 1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? ...

I n 2020, many students and teachers were rapidly pushed into online school without warning. There were many, many challenges in the spring for these schools, from the logistics to the finances of the entire student population moving on campus and transitioning tens of thousands of students to online classes. Students across the world struggled, including many of my classmates. Many of our teachers basically disappeared, without the knowledge or experience of doing online classes or just without sufficient time and support to prepare. Office hours were spotty, the syllabi were all thrown off, and some schools even opted to switch to pass/fail grading systems.     I won't be focusing on just COVID-era classes, but on all online classes in this post. As a student, it can be important to be able to take and succeed in online classes, and as this pandemic has shown us, it's entirely possible for future jobs to ask for or offer remote working opportunities. How can students be prod...

T he skill of time management is essential in college. You get much fewer reminders by parents and teachers to do your work, and significantly more long-term independent projects like papers and presentations. I'd like to here discuss my method of organization that has allowed me to succeed throughout college, including both in-person, summer, and online classes. I'll then talk about how to actually get yourself to do things and stop procrastinating - the biggest college student struggle! ORGANIZATION      For all classes, I use two things to organize myself: Google Calendar and my phone's reminder app. Google Calendar works for me because my university uses Gmail and I use a lot of Google products, but any reminder or calendar app will work the same as long as it's one that you like, with an easy to use interface, and your notifications are enabled. During the semester, I get so jumbled in my brain with work and different classes that I can be forgetful about commitmen...