By AlyssaEDU on September 17, 2010
It always helps to be friendly with your professors. A great way to connect with them is if you are from or are familiar with the area. This does not mean you’re brown-nosing; it just means you are trying to find common ground other than class so you can establish a better connection with your professors.
One of my professors was raised in the same town I was. It gave us something unique to talk about and made her more understanding to issues I was having. It was like we shared a common bond and she was much more likely to excuse me from something than another student.
I am not saying to ask your professors a million weird questions in order to find a commonality, but listen carefully when they speak and maybe you can shoot them an E-mail to let them know you had a similar experience or are from the same area.
Doing this can greatly help your grades since the professor will know who you are when she reads your papers. There will be a connection between the two of you that the rest of the class does not have. This might sound strange and almost creepy, but keep it G-rated when finding common ground.
Your professors are people too and like to know they can share a little something with a student or feel more inclined to answer your questions to a fuller extent. You can learn much more if you have type of friendship with the professor than if you annoy them and show you do not care about your work.
Try to establish this connection over the first two or three weeks of school and it will help you for the entire semester. I find that having a location in common is one of the best ways to establish this connection so take notes and send out an E-mail about something you might have in common with your professors. It will work wonders for the remainder of the semester.
Posted in Campus Life | Tagged common ground, commonality, friendship, professors |
By AlyssaEDU on September 16, 2010
There are many great schools in New Jersey, but we just do not hear about a few of them. Just because a school does not get as much publicity as the other schools does not mean the education programs are lacking.
One such school that is only starting to get recognition is Ramapo College of New Jersey located in Mahwah. Over the years this college has become tougher to get into and more students have been applying.
A popular way to enter this school is through non-matriculation. Students who are not accepted can take courses for credits to prove they can do the work. This is great choice for some NJ students who want to attend.
Another school that does not get enough attention is William Paterson University. It used to be a local college but turned into a university after adding more majors to the roster. WPU is easier to get into than Ramapo, but still has a great reputation, especially for those who aspire to be teachers.
Lesser known schools such as these tend to hold a lower price tag than those with a lot of advertisements. Some of New Jersey’s bigger schools are Rutgers, Rowan, The College of New Jersey, and Princeton. These schools cost much more than Ramapo or William Paterson but are known for the stellar academics.
Each of these schools is located in a different part of the state so choosing one that is to your liking will be easy and you can keep it local if you want. Ramapo and William Paterson are both located in Northern New Jersey, but are far enough apart from one another.
Just because a school does not make its way onto billboards does not mean the programs are bad. Ramapo has a fantastic communications department so for those students who are looking into that field, Ramapo is a great option. Remember, if a school does not advertise much that means less money out of your pocket since there is less advertising to pay for.
Posted in Types of Schools | Tagged academics, princeton, ramapo college of new jersey, rowan, rutgers, schools in new jersey, william paterson university |
By AlyssaEDU on September 15, 2010
It might seem rather pointless to live at a school when you live in the same state, but it might be the right option for you. Many students see it as a chance to move away from home and start lives of their own. Others view it as an opportunity to experience college at its fullest. No matter what the reason, students have to do what they feel is right for them. A lot of students do not get a choice as their money or lack thereof decides their fate for them.
If you live in-state and decide to live on-campus it could be a fun experience. Knowing home is only a dive away can be a nice safety net for new students. A lot of kids have trouble moving far away as becoming home sick can always be an issue.
I decided to stay home throughout college and sometimes it backfired. I did wish that I lived on-campus at times because parents tend to treat you like you are still in high school if you continue to live under their roof. The experience of living away even when home is so close can be very important to students.
It allows for a certain growth along with a certain comfort. You are familiar with your surroundings yet you are out of the house. It seems like the best of both worlds, but money is something to consider. When living away from home, more money will be coming out of your pocket.
At that point, holding down a job would be extremely important, so think about that when you are making your college living decisions. If you live at home you would be saving a large amount of money as the chances of your parents charging you what the college would is not likely.
Campus life is much different than that of home life. It is a great experience to have under your belt, so weigh your options and see which decision is right for you as your finances.
Posted in Campus Life, New Jersey Life | Tagged job, living away from home, new students, parents |
By AlyssaEDU on September 14, 2010
Many students view going to college as a way to get away from home. The only problem here is the amount of money it is going to cost you to run away from your over-bearing parents. Whether you are from New Jersey, or any other state, keep in mind that by staying within your state, you will be saving yourself thousands of dollars every year.
If you are really keen on saving money, you could live home throughout the four year, though I know that it asking a lot of students who cannot wait to get away. Staying in-state, whether you live on-campus or off will save you money. The tuitions costs are generally lower for those who live in-state than those who have traveled.
If you can stay home, I would actually recommend it. I stayed home for my four years and saved a lot of money, plus I got to come home from class to a home-cooked meal. This might not be true for everyone, but staying home is not as bad as it seems. There was always a quiet place to do my homework and no one was knocking at my door asking me to go to parties.
Staying home gives students a better chance with no distractions, so add that on top of the money that you would save not living at school and it really sounds like a win-win situation. It is very understandable not wanting to live under the same roof as your parents for another four years, but when you add the money that would then be in your pocket it would likely sound worth it.
Weigh your options and see what works best for your situation. If living on-campus means more than the money then go for it. If not, try to work something out with your parents so they are okay with your living home and save some money. Good luck!
Posted in Campus Life, New Jersey Life | Tagged going to college, homework, saving money, staying home, tuitions |
By AlyssaEDU on August 30, 2010
Whenever you hear about colleges in the media, whether it is through Division I sports, academic discoveries or even large controversies, most of the schools involved are the bigger schools that have naturally become famous. But are these places really the ones for you or is there something different out there? You know not every school is huge. Find out which ones may be for you after the jump.
When you think about colleges in the state of New Jersey, the first two that come to mind are probably Princeton and Rutgers. These are two very big, very old and very prestigious schools that have been around for over 200 years. They’ve developed into behemoths that essentially treat most of their students as numbers and think of them later in terms of their potential endowment. Most students assume that places like this with huge lecture halls and campuses the size of cities are what all colleges are really about. But this is in fact very far from the truth: most colleges, even in New Jersey, really aren’t that big at all.
While there are a few huge schools in our state, most of them are very small. You can name all the decent sized ones as they are the most famous but there aren’t only two or three schools in the entire state. It easily rises into the double digits. Throughout the state, each county has a community college that functions as a two year degree program. These are naturally very small but most students believe that they’ll go on to big schools after graduating from these. Not so.
You can go to places like Rowan, Monmouth and TCNJ that are all decently sized but nowhere near a school like Rutgers. They maybe have one tenth of the students. There are even smaller places too. They essentially just function as larger high schools. Everyone knows everyone and you can form more personal relationships with those who attend. That’s just an experience you can’t receive at a larger school. And that’s the real benefit of a smaller school.
Posted in Choosing a College, Types of Schools | Tagged larger school, monmouth, personal relationships, princeton, rowan, rutgers, tcnj |
By AlyssaEDU on August 28, 2010
High school students are used to walking around in one big circle all the time to get to their classes without really ever having to think where they’re going. All the rooms are usually easy to figure out. Nobody ever gets lost in high school. Nobody. But college is an entirely different animal. Campuses are huge and hard to navigate, especially in the begining. So how do you get around? Read on to find out. 
Colleges aren’t nearly as easy to figure out as their high school brethren. Classes aren’t held in one building but in fact many buildings over varying areas. You have to go certain places to get your food and others to get your mail and another one to meet with your professor. That doesn’t even include when classes are in confusing places like below a residence hall.
First of all, you need maps to get around. Whether you memorize them before going out or bring one with you, they really become a necessity for students going through their first week of college. Not everything is laid out in front of you with friendly teachers there to lead you. In college, the professors don’t care about you, especially at big schools. Most of the time, other students are very helpful to others but it can be intimidating to go up to strangers and ask where a fairly famous building is.
Most big schools will also have more than one campus which can make things much more confusing. There can be up to ten times more buildings one on campus than another which can really throw a lot of students off. Not everything is very easy to find and when you factor in bus routes to places you’ve never even seen before, things can get really difficult for most students for at least the first week of school.
Colleges are fairly easy to find your way around after the first week. By the end of September, you’ll know the places like the back of your hand so don’t be worried at all.
Posted in Campus Life | Tagged campuses, colleges, maps |
By AlyssaEDU on August 28, 2010
If you don’t have a car, things really don’t seem that intimidating on campus. You can still use whatever campus transportation is provided to get around. Many students will not be able to afford cars so it probably won’t be that strange for you to be hoofing it. But what happens when you want to go back home from school? What do you do? Well, lucky for you NJ Transit provides a very useful service to most of the students of New Jersey colleges.
Most people before they go off to college just see buses and trains and assume they’re just filled with people going to work whether it is in New York or wherever. Business people litter these mass transit places and always seem to be in a hurry. You never imagine that the college crowd would be a major part of the NJ Transit machine. But in fact, they play a very large role in mass transit. After all, they are one of the major groups of people that need to commute. There are a very large number of students who go back and forth to school by train or bus, so really college students fill these things.
The easiest way to get to and from school is obviously by car but many students can’t afford one. Most students are put into debt by college expenses and therefore don’t have that much money to throw around. There’s a reason most college kids are stereotyped as asking their moms for money all the time.
The train is the most useful kind of transportation. It goes to places like Bergen County, the Jersey Shore, New York Penn Station, Newark Airport and many other smaller places. And if the train doesn’t go within walking distance of your house, you can always hop a bus after departing from the train. There’s really no place you can’t go by way of NJ Transit. A line to Atlantic City will soon be available but you can currently take buses there, so pretty much everything in the state is covered.
There’s nowhere you can’t go with mass transit. Whether it’s a sports game, concert or just going home, the train or bus can most likely get you there.
Posted in Campus Life, New Jersey Life, Transportation | Tagged buses and trains, campus transportation, college students, new jersey colleges |
By AlyssaEDU on August 20, 2010
There is a growing symptom of high school seniors all around the New Jersey area. It isn’t a lack of academic quality or lack of trying; it’s more of a longing to get out of this state as fast as humanly possible. The last thing they want to do, for whatever reason, is to stay here and go to one of the schools they’ve heard about for their entire lives. So we’re here to see why they want to leave and whether it’s justified based on colleges in New Jersey. Continue reading “NJ Universities vs. Surrounding States”
Posted in Choosing a College | Tagged academic quality, budgets, colleges in new jersey, eastern seaboard, harvard, high school seniors, ivy league schools, negative perception, princeton university, proximity, yale |
By AlyssaEDU on August 20, 2010
Parents always say they want the best for their children. It’s reflected in their actions, what they expose their kids to and what their fed, taught and spoken to about. But what happens when your wallet comes into play? Does it all go out the window? Well, it turns out that while financial aid is one of the top subjects when it comes to going to college, there’s a lot more to it than the media would have you believe. Keep reading to find out what’s going on with college and financial aid.
The first thing you have to know is that scholarships are usually much easier to come by than most people believe. It’s not like National Merit Scholarships that are only handed out to the top percentile of students in the United States. Basically if you get a solid SAT score compared to your other incoming classmates, then the world is your oyster. While other factors like GPA come in, the SAT score will usually always give you a scholarship if it’s high enough. And even if it’s not, there are other ways to get them whether they are through the local community, high school or the FAFSA. But the FAFSA doesn’t just give out scholarships, it makes the lives of so many people that much easier.
Loans, grants and a variety of other means based on need are given out through the FAFSA. While most of the money given out is in the form of loans that you will need to pay back, they are usually of very low interest so they will be easier for students to pay back later. Grants are also being handed out at a higher rate now because of new legislation introduced by Barrack Obama to increase the quality of education in the U.S. More people are going to college these days because of laws like this and all the need-based aid being given out.
It isn’t based on how well you did in high school or on the SATs. Your family’s financial state, no matter what it is, is the only factor taken into account when it comes to need-based aid. While it may not seem fair that a majority of aid isn’t based on merit, that’s just how the system works and you’ll have to learn to accept it.
Posted in Financial Aid | Tagged fafsa, financial aid, grants, loans, money, scholarship |
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One of my professors was raised in the same town I was. It gave us something unique to talk about and made her more understanding to issues I was having. It was like we shared a common bond and she was much more likely to excuse me from something than another student.
The most successful students from high schools often go to places like Princeton, Rutgers, TCNJ or other prestigious out of state locations. New Jersey isn’t exactly short on quality colleges. It seems like everybody at least goes to some kind of at least decent quality school. However, this isn’t the case with all students. Many have to go to a NJ Community college for two years before being able to move on. So which ones are the best? Keep reading to find out. 
