The right time to start the college application process

Applying for college is short and sweet.  Just fill out and submit an application to the college of your choice between December and January of your senior year.  That’s all you need to do if your only intention is to apply.  However, getting accepted is another matter.  With that motivation, the process starts way earlier.  College applications are more protracted when you, the candidate, mull the major considerations of the admissions offices of your target colleges. 

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Major considerations for college admissions are a student’s academic record, extracurricular activities, SAT scores, and college essay.  Your academic record is assessed based on your GPA from ninth grade onwards. High school students need to perform well in core subjects like math, english, and history because a lot of colleges recalculate students’ GPAs to discount subjects like shop and drama.  An academic record becomes more impressive with appended grades for Advanced Placement (AP) classes.  These are more difficult than regular subjects, and they signal your preparation for more stringent college courses. 

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Extracurricular activities demonstrate a student’s flexibility to adjust to college life.  SATs are taken before the start of senior year, but since it can be taken several times and colleges only consider the highest score, a student may opt to take it during junior year.  In the event of low SAT scores, you can retake it fall of senior year.  Admissions essays can be drafted well in advance.  The essays are your window to reveal to your target colleges who you are and why you’ll be an asset to the school.  The personality reflected in your admissions essays undercuts records of your school performance. 

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In a calendar year, formally filing college applications and awaiting results take all of several months.  But before that, preparation should have already rolled on, with you ensuring as early as ninth grade that you have the required grades and attitude, which are part of the process.  A successful college application actually takes years to cultivate.  

David Charlow founded CollegeCapture to guide students in getting admitted to their dream colleges. Visit this website to know more about college application processes.

Advanced skill sets: Employers prefer degree holders

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Although many people say that a bachelor’s degree is no longer relevant in today’s employment market, many companies are in fact searching for workers who are college graduates. Advanced skill sets are required in all types of white collar business. Most employers believe that degree holders are more likely to exude more developed abilities than those who just finished high school.

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Many college admission experts have observed that the wage gap between workers who have a college degree and those who do not has been growing for the last few decades. In the late 1970s, the median wage was 40 percent higher for college graduates than for people with no more than a high school degree. Today, the wage premium is around 80 percent.

Indeed, many well-known billionaires are college dropouts. But for the record, their number is relatively small when compared to successful professionals who have actually earned a college degree or higher. The wage premiums of workers can be attributed to the ever-changing nature of jobs in America, where work responsibilities have already gone far from simple execution of office duties to acquiring large webs of global networks.

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For employers, a bachelor’s degree is an indicator of drive and talent. Hence, they normally throw keen reception toward hiring degree holders. This is proven true by the study conducted by Burning Glass, a company that analyzes job ads from thousands of online sources, ranging from major job boards to small and midsize employer sites. According to Matthew Sigelman, the company’s chief executive, most of today’s employers are now requiring college degrees for positions that did not traditionally require higher education.

David Charlow is a college admission expert who has been working in the education sector for 20 years. Know more about college education and its significance to employment by visiting this website.

David Charlow on student athletes and getting through college

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This David Charlow blog article dispenses tips to student athletes who want to be successful in college—on and off court.

They can effortlessly rouse the school spirit, bringing the whole university together as they win against their fiercest rival. They are touted as “superstars,” easily recognizable for their sporting skills and talent.

They are the student athletes. And although they may be treated as campus VIPs, they are still students who need to go to class, pass exams, and graduate.

Student athletes face a much tougher time in college, academic-wise. Their grueling training schedule and out-of-town matches could mean missed lessons and deadlines. They may get lots of love from fellow students but can earn stern looks from professors.

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For academic advisers like David Charlow, student athletes need to manage their time in order to win games and earn good grades. Below are a couple of tips on how student athletes can live a successful college life:

Sticking to a routine
With a daily routine, student athletes can keep their studies, practice, and social life in order. Along with having a routine, a to-do list is also recommended. To-do lists are a great tool to prioritize things. Sometimes, student athletes tend to become overwhelmed with their schedule, thus, it is important to keep things in order.

Coming up with Plan B
Most student athletes dream of competing professionally. The reality, however, is that fewer than 5 percent of all college athletes turn pro. Thus, academic advisers stress that student athletes devote time on their studies as well, in case their athletic career ends after college.

Student athletes are lauded for winning championships and more so for earning a degree.

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For more information on David Charlow, visit this website.

David Charlow and the most valuable college majors

Experts in the college admission process, like David Charlow, know that one of the toughest decisions college-bound students face is picking a major. Choosing a field to major in entails knowing your academic strengths and weaknesses. Another factor that comes into play when making a decision is how valuable that college degree will be in the future. With rising tuition costs and rapidly changing job landscape, picking a college major has become more important than ever.

So which college majors are most likely to land you a well-paying job right out of college? The 2011-2012 College Salary Report by the research firm PayScale reveals that a degree in engineering pays top dollar. For David Charlow and others who offer professional academic advising, this entails picking math or science-related courses. The PayScale report also shows that lucrative careers exist for history, English, and foreign language majors, but finding work at the current economy may be a challenge.

Below are the top 3 undergraduate college degrees by salary according to the PayScale report:

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1. Petroleum engineering –The starting median annual pay for a petroleum engineer is $97,900. Mid-career median annual pay for those who have at least 15 years of experience is $155,000.

2. Chemical engineering – A new grad can expect an annual pay of about $64,500. For those who have more than 10 years of experience, the annual pay hits around $109,000.

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3. Electrical engineering (EE) – Fresh-out-of-college EEs can expect a starting annual salary of $61,300. For those who have been working as a professional for more than a decade, the annual pay is about $103,000.

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For the full list of the PayScale report, click here.

David Charlow is an expert in academic advising. VisitPlan4CollegeSuccess.com to know more about his expertise.

David Charlow: In an economic fire, a college degree is the best extinguisher

Today’s economy is on fire, and extinguishing it means necessitating a well-educated workforce to counter its perils. College Capture founder David Charlow helps students attain a secure college education to allow them to grow academically and soon become the most productive members of the workforce and subdue the ongoing economic recession.

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According to a report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, the bulk of the jobs lost during and after the recession was held by employees who were not able to earn a complete college degree. On the other hand, most gains during the recovery were by workers who have at least gained some post-secondary education. “The gradual shift to more educated workers has been going on for decades,” the report states, “but the recession gave it a mighty push.”

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College planning advisors such as David Charlow suggest that the report—which identifies the effects of recession and recovery by education level and other categories—offers a forceful answer to the query whether a college education really matters in the economic scene.

In a gauge of productivity and economic importance, the better-educated applicant has the greater chance of securing employment. The basic skills in the real world are taught in the academe, and fixing the broken monetary system is mainly undertaken by college graduates.

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In the midst of an economic turmoil, only the fittest can survive. For more information, visit David Charlow and College Capture’s official website.

David Charlow: Surviving the freshman year in college

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Though best known for helping students and parents survive the highly demanding college admission process, David Charlow is also recognized for assisting pupils as they go through an even more important phase—the college life itself. Charlow, with two decades of experience as a student affairs professional, and his colleagues at College Capture provide new college students with some guidelines and tips that can help them excel in their first years in college. These guidelines include:

• Taking advantage of orientations. Campus tours and orientations are great ways for new students to become familiar not only of their new school but also of the people who will surround them on a daily basis. By getting acquainted of their environment, freshmen can become more relaxed and, thus, more receptive to learning.

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• Meeting with the academic adviser. David Charlow strongly advises students to take note of the people who can assist them through the whole course of their college life. These include the academic adviser, who can help them in resolving course conflicts, scheduling classes, and choosing majors and minors.

• Eating healthily. A busy schedule should never encourage skipping of meals. Freshmen should always remember to eat right so that they would not get sick, thus preventing unnecessary absences.

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By following these tips, and more, freshmen can fully understand just how fun and interesting college can really be.

Go to www.plan4collegesuccess.com to learn more about David Charlow and College Capture.

David Charlow: Why extra-curricular activities are important in college

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David Charlow is part of the team of admissions experts at College Capture and Reduce College Costs, which provides financial aid advice and teaches college students the ways on how to maximize their college experience, one of which is taking part in extra-curricular activities.

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Most college graduates agree that taking part in extra-curricular activities is one of the defining moments of their college experience. Aside from focusing on the academics, being active on college or university organizations is an important aspect of a student’s college life because it is where the student develops his or her social skills, becomes aware of current events, and expresses his or her interests outside academic work.

A financial aid expert, David Charlow has worked with various organizations that review financial aid applications.

In terms of developing students’ social skills, extra-curricular activities provide students of different backgrounds the opportunity to work together. This helps students not only in forming new connections but also in dealing with different types of people – something that will be useful when students graduate and get exposed to the real world.

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In addition, students who actively participate in extra-curricular activities are able to develop skills and traits, such as leadership and self-confidence, which can easily catch the attention of future employers and which can be useful when inside the workplace.

In addition, extra-curricular activities are also helpful in the students’ well-being. The time spent in participating in these activities can help lessen the stress caused by academic demands and can help in forming new and long-lasting friendships.

Visit www.plan4collegesuccess.com to learn more about David Charlow and how to have a successful college experience.