The Strategic Collegiate

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 vast majority of college students, and even young adults, do not have a budget. I didn't have a budget for a very, very long time, and I'm entirely certain I'd have more money in the bank if I did. Why don't we do something that we know we should and makes complete sense? The answer is that budgets seem difficult, boring, and restrictive, when college is about spontaneity, fun, and passion. In this article, I'll help you make a budget and teach you some behavioral tricks to help you stick to it.  Disclaimer for legal purposes: This is based on my personal experience as a college student and I'm not a professional in personal finance. MAKING A BUDGET     You can make a simple budget using Excel or Google Sheets. Open one up and start two columns on the left: a category of purchase and next to that, the total. Download your statement from the last month from your bank, and go through every purchase, categorizing it and updating your total. It might look somet...

  A s a college student like me, money is probably on your mind frequently. I've covered funding your college by working and earning scholarships, and taking out loans if necessary, in my post, " Funding Your Education ." But those are just the tip of the iceberg. In this post I'll be discussing ways to save and make money in addition to your work paycheck. Disclaimer for legal purposes: This is based on my personal experience as a college student and I'm not a professional in personal finance or investing. SAVE MONEY     Do NOT buy your textbooks from the University bookstore without price shopping first. I actually got in trouble for telling this to students while working for our bookstore - whoops! - but it killed me to see freshman walk in and buy the first hardcover, brand new copy of the book they needed for every single class.  The only things you can't find secondhand for cheaper are online codes, like STEM or online classes might require, and the ...

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...

M any of last year's resolutions were completely thrown off course, leaving us feeling dread or uncertainty about making fresh New Year's Resolutions like we would in normal years. Despite any misgivings, and a greater doubt than ever in our ability to finish our resolutions, I find it important to still set goals. The year will still happen, and having goals is still so important even if they aren't certainly going to be finished by the end of the year. Behavioral science teaches us that transitions are motivating, and we can harness this power by using periods of transition - like New Years, or birthdays, or Spring cleaning - to motivate us to take action.     As a full time student for the last four years, my New Years resolutions have often been related to finances and academic achievement, or both. My goals this year are too; I want to get into great graduate schools and take control of my financial future (especially at this point of transition coming up - graduation!...

  S o you've been accepted to a college and made the decision to attend. Now what? Registering for your first semester will be different in some ways than in future semesters, but some things are true no matter what. Keep reading for tips to help you pick the right classes and get on the right track!      During your summer orientation, you'll go through some variation of this: You attend presentations, go on group tours and do ice breakers in small groups, then you'll be broken up by department then by major, given a little advice, then put in a room full of computers to register, with maybe one administrator in the room for technical difficulties. At this point, you have in front of you a list of recommended classes and a course search to pick between teachers and times. You're also, as a freshman, in the very last group of people to register and therefore some classes will have filled up, though there should be plenty of slots for core classes.     If yo...