Since 2003, UC schools have offered Freshman Seminars to freshmen in addition to the obligatory lectures, discussions, and labs. Freshman Seminars are one-unit courses offered exclusively to freshmen. These courses are graded Pass/No Pass and are designed to give students a break from the rigor of their everyday schedules. Each Freshman Seminar has no more than 20 students, allowing professors to interact with the participating students on a level not possible in large lecture halls.
Freshman Seminars allow students to learn about a subject that may be of interest to them but may not necessarily have anything to do with their majors with less time commitment than an average class. Some students at UC San Diego opted to take a Freshman Seminar called The Physics of Surfing. This popular course combines hard science with the passion and pastime of many UCSD students—catching the perfect wave.
Professors strive to intrigue students with their Freshman Seminar topics, and perhaps convince a few to consider pursuing a major in their department. This spring, UCSD offered Freshman Seminars with titles such as: Urban Agriculture; Crime Scene Investigations; Cult Films of the 1950s – 2000s; Art, Language and Culture of Flamenco; Math in the Movies; Beginning Ukulele ("prior experience not needed but should not be afraid of singing"); Slavery in the Work of Mark Twain; Psychology of Humor; and Christian Exorcism in Modernity. Among UC Davis’s Freshman Seminars were American Roots Music, Who’s Afraid of Freud?, Physics of Baseball, Contemporary Shamanism, Life of the Poor in Victorian London, Zombies, and Introduction to Cryptology.
Posts in category Uncategorized
Catch a wave to school!
Get an edge over other applicants
High School Juniors:
Get the application edge over other students by participating in some great summer activities that other teens are not doing! This will get you noticed and make you stand out when those admissions officers are reading your application next November! Don't just participate, be a leader and then write about it in your admissions essays.
Some of these ideas might sound a little far fetched but they just might get you thinking of some new and exciting options.
1. Start a recycling program at your old elementary school. Make sure you partner with at least one teacher and get other adults involved. Show that you can plan, organize and manage adults as well as other teens and children.
2. Conduct some scientific research. Not as hard as it sounds, look in your community for a need or problem such as clean drinking water. Start taking samples from school drinking fountains and go from there. Get noticed by calling your local paper, radio and TV stations. Present the findings at a City Council meeting!
3. Write articles for your local paper. Not that hard, most local papers would be thrilled to have an occasional free lance writer that they do not have to pay!
4. Climb Mt. Everest/Mt. Everest Jr or swim the English Channel
5. Volunteer at a medical clinic in a third world country. Think about turning your family vacation into a Volunteer Vacation. Going on an extended trip to visit family? Have your relatives help set up a volunteer job for you.
Help run a local campaign. Is there a Special Election in your area this summer? Get involved in one of the campaigns that you care about.
Don't forget to document whatever you do and take notes for future essays!
Scholarships: Not Just For the Needy
In today’s trying financial climate, it is apparent that low-income families are not the only people looking for scholarship money to help ease the monetary burden of sending a child to college. Many colleges attempt to satisfy this need, as well as saving money themselves, by offering large scholarships to students from affluent families.
Since the mid-1990’s, the amount of grant aid awarded to families making over $100,000 a year has skyrocketed in many prominent institutions. Experts reason that this shift came as colleges realized that it was more cost-effective to offer aide packages to students from affluent backgrounds rather than students from lower-income brackets. For example, a student from a lower-income family may need $30,000-$40,000 in grant aid from a college, whereas a student from a higher income bracket may accept admission at the temptation of $10,000 in grant aid. Because of this, colleges are now making large amounts of grant money available to families making over $100,000 per year.
In order to be eligible for this grant money, students are advised to follow these guidelines:
1) Apply to schools that you know you qualify academically for. You are less likely to get grant money from a “reach” school than from a sure bet.
2) Don’t apply to big name private schools like Harvard and Yale. Pedigreed private schools can afford to give all accepted lower-income students the full financial aid that they need, and so students from higher income families are less likely to receive grants. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up on private schools—many are slashing their tuition by more than 50% for higher-income students.
3) Look at out-of-state schools. Many schools from other parts of the country are eager to accept students from the West, and often offer grant money to higher-income students. Especially look at big-name public schools, as they are eager to attract smart, affluent students.
4) APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID. Even if you are sure you won’t qualify, some schools wont consider giving you grant money unless you fill out the FAFSA and/or the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE. Rumor has it that President Obama will do away with the FAFSA but it has not happened yet so educate yourself! There is a 91% error rate on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid so get some professional help. Come to a College Planning Workshop and get the insider secrets you need to know. Visit www.collegeplanningexperts.com today.
“HOW THE STIMULUS ACT AFFECTS YOUR COLLEGE SAVINGS”
By Joe Hurley, founder, Savingforcollege.com
The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed by President Obama, could have an impact on how you build and spend your 529 college savings account. One change made by the Act: The list of eligible 529 expenses is expanded to include purchases of computer technology and equipment, along with Internet access for students and their families.
However, this expansion applies only to the years 2009 and 2010; starting again in 2011, computers etc. do not qualify unless required by the educational institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.
For students attending post-secondary school in 2009 and 2010, the Hope Scholarship credit is beefed up under the Act. The new temporary version, called the American Opportunity Tax Credit, is available to more families than was the old Hope credit. It can be used for the third and fourth years of college in addition to the first two years; course materials are included as an eligible expense; and the credit phases out at a higher range ($160-180,000 for joint filers and $80-90,000 for all others). Futhermore, the maximum annual credit amount increases from $1,800 in 2008 to $2,500 for this year and next (100% of the first $2,000 of eligible expenses plus 25% of the next $2,000 of eligible expenses); it can be applied against the alternative minimum tax; and it is up to 40% refundable for students not subject to the kiddie tax.
Families with a choice between the American Opportunity/Hope credit, the Lifetime Learning credit, and the above-the-line tuition deduction will almost always opt for the American Opportunity/Hope credit.
Under the anti-double-dipping rules, families will have less opportunity to take tax-free withdrawals from their 529 plans as compared with the old Hope credit because the new credit will consume more of their qualified expenses ($4,000 versus $2,000). However, they will have greater opportunity to take tax-free withdrawals from their 529 plans as compared with the Lifetime Learning credit, which uses up $10,000 in tuition costs to generate a maximum $2,000 credit.
Finally, the Act provides an incentive for your college freshman to move off campus and purchase a home by November 30, 2009. First-time homebuyers receive a 10% tax credit on the purchase price of the home, up to a maximum $8,000 credit. The tax credit must be repaid if the buyer moves away in less than three years, so beware if your child later wants to transfer schools. Housing costs qualify for tax-free 529 treatment, although the student must be enrolled at least half-time, and the eligible amount for an off- campus student is capped each year to the amount reported by the school in its "cost of attendance" summary.
If you have not registered for a FREE workshop on "How to pay for college without going broke, please visit www.collegeplanningexperts.com and register.