Archive for the ‘College Search’ Category
Silicon Valley mogul to teach at Stanford
Students who are filling out college applications in hope of learning the skills to become the next Mark Zuckerberg or Biz Stone may be in for some good news. According to Reuters, Peter Thiel will soon be teaching at Stanford University in California.
Thiel will teach a class on the foundations and principles of startup businesses. Students filling out college applications for the renowned technical school could learn how to launch software and technology enterprises of their own from one of Silicon Valley's most outspoken mavericks.
Thiel is the co-founder of online payment giant PayPal and a well-known entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, who previously foresaw the rise of Facebook, social gaming and professional networking sites like LinkedIn. Such firms rely heavily on innovative computer scientists to develop the sophisticated software behind these well-known platforms.
Computer science is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing majors at campuses around the country. According to Network World, students can command substantial salaries upon graduation due to increased demand for skilled technology professionals, and the complex range of skills required to succeed in today's technology sector.
"I think the job market is what's driving the growth," Bruce Porter, chair of the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, told the news source. "The government has made it clear that computer science is a growth field, and I think that message is getting back to students and their parents."
To capitalize on this trend, many schools are actively embracing a startup culture on campus. According to GeekWire, officials at the University of Washington recently pledged to double the number of startup technology businesses coming out of the school by launching a new incubator that can accommodate 25 businesses. Several startups have already moved into the new facilities, including a cloud storage computing business, a small nanotechnology company and a sustainable building materials firm.
According to news blog Mashable, internships can be really important in helping you transition from college life to launching a startup business. Elliott Spelman, an intern at WePay and graduate of the University of Southern California, said that professionalism and being realistic about employers' perceptions of younger employees were vital to succeeding in today's business world.
If you're thinking of filling out college applications or are doing a college search, don't be tempted by superstar professors or guest speakers. Find the college for you by identifying the course you want to study at a price that makes sense.
BYU “mathletes” rap to raise awareness of program
A group of self-styled "mathletes" at Brigham Young University (BYU) were transformed from whiz kids to overnight superstars thanks to the reporting of The Washington Post, according to university officials.
The students, Sam Dittmer, Hiram Golze and Robert Yang, made an amateur rap video after basketball practice highlighting their recent wins over the competitive math teams of several colleges. Following a decisive victory over the University of Utah, the three students won against teams from Duke University, Yale University and Vanderbilt University, placing third in a national pool of 99 teams.
In addition to celebrating the achievements and mathematical abilities of the team, university officials hope that the YouTube video and subsequent report by a national newspaper could highlight how math can be cool, and encourage students to fill out college applications to the school.
According to the newspaper, lyrics featured in the video include the line, "Don't try to keep up once the math race gets going, when you're halfway done, they’ll be already Tebowing."
Math can be a real asset to graduates in today's competitive jobs market. If you're thinking about filling out college applications for a mathematical course of study, look into whether your prospective schools offer competitions like this one to help develop your skills.
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Colleges commended for community service
Many young people who fill out college applications also want to change the world for the better. To recognize the ways that schools around the country are making a difference in their communities, the Department of Education has presented five schools with a Presidential Award for their efforts.
The Presidential Award of the 2012 Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is the highest honor a college can be given for community outreach efforts. The recipients of this year's awards were Carson-Newman College, Miami University, North Carolina State University, Seattle University and the University of Pennsylvania. The schools were chosen for the efforts of their students and faculty in helping communities in need, such as following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"We applaud the honor roll schools, their faculty and students for their commitment to make service a priority in and out of the classroom," Robert Velasco, acting chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), said in a statement. "Together, service and learning increase civic engagement while fostering social innovation among students, empowering them to solve challenges within their communities."
When you're doing a college search, talk to your admissions adviser about volunteer opportunities on campus. Many schools are actively involved in improving the lives of people in their communities.
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Recess!
In this Thursday feature, we will suggest a topic or question and ask you to submit a short essay, say, about 200-400 words about that subject that provides thoughtful advice to your classmates based on your experience.
Here are the rules:
1. Post your submission to the comment section below.
2. Submissions will be be open for 3 days.
The winning submission’s author will:
3. Receive a Cappex cap
4. Be featured on our blog as a guest blogger as well as our Facebook page –> See last week’s winner here!
We know you all have amazing things to say and share with your peers. So here’s your chance.
Today’s topic:
Campus visits
Would you recommend that students visit colleges before they apply or after they’ve heard a college decision? What should you do on a campus visit? When should you take a trip? Etc… etc… etc…
We’re excited to hear what you have to say!
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Today’s students using social media tools to benefit their studies
In today's information age, students have been using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to help them study for quite some time. However, a relatively new service called Pinterest has been making waves in academia, according to Edudemic.
A virtual bulletin board, Pinterest allows users to "pin" images, web pages and other useful material they come across online to their own personalized dashboard. Students can leverage the power and simplicity of this service to help them in their studies.
The site allows users to search for items related to education, as well as browse other people's boards to find useful, informative and interesting things online. Helpful anatomical diagrams, chemical compositions, reading lists and works of art can all be found within a few clicks, and are easily saved to a user's board for later reference. Groups of students can also create shared boards, which could be useful when compiling class research projects or working toward common goals.
Social media is becoming more prevalent in academia. According to Sci-Tech Today, recent studies indicate that nearly two-thirds of faculty members polled used at least one social media platform in their lectures.
If you're using the internet to find the college for you, try searching for your prospective schools on Pinterest to see what people are saying.
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The 25 Most Spirited Colleges
Looking for a college where it’s totally the norm to wear school colors at all times and even start purchasing normal day, outerwear, socks and all kinds of accessories in school colors? Looking for the kind of school where you can regularly cheer your face off at games? Looking for a school where the pride for the school lives on long after graduation? Well then, according to Inside College, these are the schools for you!
25 incredibly spirited colleges:
University of California – Berkeley
University of California – Los Angeles
University of Southern California
Are you looking for a college with major spirit? Is college spirit appealing or unattractive? Share your feelings in the comment section below!
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Texas colleges offering degrees for $10,000
Academic leaders of several universities and community colleges in Texas say that four-year degrees that cost just $10,000 are now within reach for many students, according to The Texas Tribune.
Speaking at the education panel of the SXSW festival in Austin, Maria Ferrar, president of Texas A&M University-San Antonio, said that a bachelor's degree in information technology with an emphasis on network security could cost as little as $9,700, thanks to increased collaboration between community colleges and four-year schools. She added that work would continue to make degrees that could help students find work after graduation more affordable.
"This is a start," said Ferrar, as quoted by the news source. "We are looking at other programs that absolutely meet the needs of the region, state and the country and that will really yield a job at the end of that degree."
Early in 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry called on education experts and academic leaders to create undergraduate degrees that cost $10,000 or less, according to the American Statesman. At the time, legislators and universities were unsure if this goal could be met, but it appears that Texas could set a standard for providing high-quality, affordable education to students.
When you're doing a college search, make sure to look into exactly how much your degree could cost you. Don't commit to any decisions before you've crunched the numbers.
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Former MIT professor builds record-breaking robot
Students who have an enthusiasm for science and technology may be interested to hear about a record-breaking project headed by a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Marc Raibert, a former professor at the prestigious technical school, built a cheetah-like robot that beat the current world robotics locomotion record of 18 miles per hour, according to The Washington Post.
Raibert is head of Boston Dynamics, a robotics company that will lease its Cheetah robot to the U.S. military. According to the news source, authentic movement such as walking and running is very difficult to achieve with robots as they don't have a sense of balance. Raibert's achievement could be an inspiration to the thousands of students filling out out college applications for science, technology, engineering and math – or STEM – degree programs.
According to eSchoolNews, President Barack Obama said improving the quality of STEM education in the U.S. is crucial for America's continued success and competitiveness on the world stage. The president and his administration have launched a series of initiatives aimed at encouraging students to fill out college applications for STEM majors, including a science fair held at the White House.
Are you thinking of studying a STEM major? What do you think of this Cheetah robot?
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New site launched to give students more graduation data
Although it's not the only thing you should think about during a college search, the graduation rates of your prospective schools do matter. To provide students with more information on the completion rates of schools across the country, The Chronicle of Higher Education recently launched a new website.
The Chronicle compiled data from students beginning their studies in 2004. Information on how many students graduated on time is available for more than 3,800 public universities, community colleges, and private and for-profit schools. Colleges with notable graduation rates, such as Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, are profiled, as are schools with lower completion rates.
Many states are taking improvement of college graduation rates seriously. According to KENS 5 News, some experts say that how selective colleges are can make graduation data appear skewed.
"If we stick to graduation rates, public universities are always going to look less successful than private and elite institutions, because the surest way to assure high graduation rates is to increase selectivity," Diana Natalicio, president of the University of Texas-El Paso, told the news source.
If you're filling out college applications, make sure to consider all aspects of a prospective school, not just the graduation rate. Although it's certainly important, there are other factors you should think about, including tuition fees and financial aid opportunities.
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Many Americans view college favorably, according to report
According to a new report by the Pew Research Center, 60 percent of American adults have a positive opinion of higher education.
As well as highlighting the generally positive view of colleges in America, the survey also revealed that a large majority of parents from all political affiliations said they expected their own children to attend college. Reasons for young people to attend college identified in the survey include personal and intellectual growth and job training. The report follows a previous study that revealed more than 80 percent of college graduates felt their degree was a worthwhile investment in their futures.
Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce conducted its own survey on the value of a college degree. According to data from the center, students with bachelor's degrees earn, on average, 81 percent more than individuals who only get their high school diplomas.
If you're thinking of filling out college applications, be sure to do a thorough college search. Choose a major that interests you, but don't forget to consider your employment prospects. It's important to study something you're passionate about, but you need to think about how your degree can help you find a job after you graduate.
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