Inquiring minds want to know – what is it like to major in journalism? Well, if you’ve got one of those particularly inquisitive minds, this area of study would probably fit you perfectly. A field where the sole purpose is to learn about new things and share them with the world, students who are naturally curious and determined to get answers to open questions should be more than ready to take this on. Certain challenges come along with it, however. Obstacles regarding boundaries and knowing when to keep reaching and when to recognize limits are explored. Depending on the area of journalism you want to go into, various skills conce ... Read More About Should I Major in Journalism?

Many of our tutors at Varsity Tutors are more than just highly effective teachers; they have significant professional accomplishments and experiences to share with their students. Evan Benn, a Varsity Tutors tutor specializing in undergraduate and graduate school admissions essays, is a successful journalist with an impressive professional track record. Evan graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 2004 and went on to work for The Miami Herald as a hard-news reporter for five years. He later relocated to St. Louis where he landed a position at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, moving through severa ... Read More About Journalism Career Experiences of a Northwestern University Alumnus

What is a search without knowing what you’re searching for? Sure, you are searching for the right college to attend, but how can you really make that selection if you don’t know exactly what it is you want? You've been working with that ACT tutor and perfecting your GPA - but additionally, no college search should commence without a precise understanding of the kind of experience you’re looking for. The details are infinite and require a lot of attention. Applying to a bunch of schools just because you feel like you should is not a fruitful plan, because just knowing that you want to go to college is not enough. It is not eno ... Read More About College Search Tip: Narrow Down Your Application Choices

A pretty straight-forward major, yet still with so many options. The study of Education is a great road to be on. It’s focused, fulfilling, and determinative of a clear career path. But it is not a path you should choose just for the safety – teaching is one of those positions that should be reserved only for those who are sincerely passionate about it. If you want to be an educator, you should ideally first be a student who is sincerely passionate about learning. Selecting this major should be a promise to yourself that you will bring that passion and keep it with you as long as you reside in the education world. Skills Needed: D ... Read More About Choosing a College Major: Education

Cómo estás? Comment ça va? Wie geht es dir? If you’re taking a foreign language in school, you probably understand at least one of these phrases. Then again, being that these are the most common languages to study and they all mean some version of “How’s it going,” it’s likely that you can recognize them all anyway. With most schools requiring a foreign language study, it’s extremely common for students to begin learning their chosen language in late junior high. Nobody said grasping a foreign language was going to be easy, however. It takes a lot of discipline, thorough review, and dete ... Read More About How to Approach Learning a Foreign Language

If you decide to major in English, prepare to do a lot of reading. Of course, most students who choose this field of study enjoy reading anyway, so this shouldn’t be much to ask. However, studying English as a major in college calls for a whole new level of reading that you may not be fully prepared for. In addition to that, you will face a larger world of writing – but again, this is an activity you hopefully already enjoy. Yet, regardless of how much you genuinely admire reading and writing, there are elements of the English major world that you’ll need to familiarize yourself with in order to get through these classes suc ... Read More About Things to Focus On as an English Major

It is widely assumed that the college experience is only a four-year one. Many students embark on this journey believing four years is all they’ll have, as if college will automatically end once that proclaimed time period has passed. However, college doesn’t necessarily wrap up in four years so easily. In fact, the amount of time you spend there is very much in your control. Unlike in high school when teachers and various meetings helped you map out your schedule every semester along the way, no one will be closely overseeing that aspect of your college classes. If you don’t keep track of what subjects and how many hours you ... Read More About How to Graduate On Time in College

To be frank, journalism is a tough job market – especially now.  The field is changing and positions are being eliminated.  Yet, this is also one of the fields that offers a great deal of opportunities for students to take advantage of to build up their resumé before they even graduate.  This should be a particularly appealing concept right now since the ability to build experience in the actual workforce after graduation is dwindling before our eyes – for several fields.  But thankfully, there is still a lot of freedom for journalism students to get their bylines out there. The most obvious go-to is the ... Read More About Things To Focus On as a Journalism Major

Time and time again, people may tell you not to stress over deciding on a major right away.  They generally advise you to take your time contemplating, that you can change it at any time so there should be no pressure at all.  While all of this may be true in a sense, the difficulty of adapting your curriculum to a major switch cannot be underestimated – but it often is. People are quick to glamorize the freedom of being able to change your mind regarding your career path at any time in college, but the truth is, you can only change your mind so many times before it significantly lengthens your college career.  With every ... Read More About Picking a Major Early in College

It’s no secret that as students get older, classes get harder.  Curriculums get more and more challenging as you move up the education ladder one year at a time, so graduating high school seniors will rightfully assume college classes are going to be significantly more difficult.  This is a correct assumption, but a number of myths surrounding the subject of university courses tend to take over students’ minds as well.  Here are a few myths debunked. #1: You’ll only have to take classes you’re actually interested in. The key word that makes this myth untrue is only.  Of course, when you get to coll ... Read More About 4 Myths About College Classes - Busted

By Chloe Brown (The second part in the series of an insider's account of her college admissions process and college life) My time at Williams was exactly what I wanted it to be, even though it wasn’t what I necessarily expected it to be. But that’s a large part of what makes college so exciting—it’s exactly the sort of place where you’re supposed to surprise yourself, push your own limits, and be inspired by things you didn’t even know about. When I came to Williams, I was certain I would be an English major, learn French, and continue singing classically as I had throughout high school. Everyone else chan ... Read More About My Experience At Williams College

Spring is here and high school seniors across the nation are eagerly awaiting admission decisions to arrive in their inboxes or mailboxes.  After your initial celebration of being accepted into your dream school(s), take the time to do careful research to find your “best fit” college.  Being admitted was just the beginning.  Below are some tips to further help your decision. Talk to alumni: beyond the amenities and fine dining you’re expecting in college, the academics that you’ll have to succeed in to obtain a degree will be a key factor in shaping your next four years.  For colleges in which you h ... Read More About How To Pick Your College

The classes you take outweigh the grades you earn in them – or at least that’s the case at most grad schools. Grad schools want to see that you challenged yourself academically, instead of just padding your GPA. While most schools still require a strong GPA to be accepted, they pay very close attention to the classes you took. For example, an A in a cooking class like “Cuisine 101” can actually hurt your chances of being accepted, and a B (or even a B-) in an Advanced Chemistry class can improve your chances, especially if you’re applying to a science program. But, ultimately if you can earn an A in your Advanced ... Read More About Best Classes For Grad School Admissions

GRE scores, GPA, transcripts, letters of recommendation, quality of undergrad school, admission essay / personal statement, research, and even where you live can all impact your admission chances. Some of those factors are completely beyond your control and others are somewhat controllable. But, there is one factor that can greatly improve your chances of being accepted, and you can completely control it. That factor is research experience. Research experience is not required to apply to graduate school. But, it has become increasingly more popular, to the point where if you don’t have a project, it hurts your chances. Research c ... Read More About Why Research Experience Is Important For Grad School Apps

Med schools will consider where you attended undergraduate college. However, it may not be as important as you think. What is more important is your undergrad school’s commitment to preparing students for med school. Many undergrad schools are affiliated with a med school and a hospital, which can create more opportunities for students. Learn how MCAT tutors can help you improve your chances of acceptance into a top med school.  Being affiliated with a hospital can help undergrad students gain clinical experience. At these schools, you can easily find research opportunities in labs or even internships with the affiliate ... Read More About How Your Undergrad School Affects Med School Chances

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM programs) have historically been the toughest majors, with science and engineering leading the way, according to an article in the New York Times. However, the STEM fields also have the largest potential to boost America’s economy, and that is why President Obama is placing a major emphasis on these programs. But, it’s not going to be easy. Politicians and educators have been trying to improve students’ test scores in the STEM fields for years, and they are running out of ideas. Currently, American students trail behind many foreign countries in STEM fields, and Washington is ... Read More About How To Succeed In Science And Engineering

The average tuition for the top 10 colleges has increased around 25% the last six years, starting with the 2004-2005 school year through the 2009-2010 school year.            Also, these tuition costs do not include room and board, meal plans, books, other mandatory fees, etc. These are simply base tuition numbers, and tuition can increase or decrease depending on the major within a university. This can vary dramatically from university-to-university.            One of the biggest reasons listed is that states have stopped or reduced spending ... Read More About Why College Tuition Is Increasing

Every college student is forced or encouraged to take a bunch of general education classes that are unrelated to his/her major. There are administrators on both side of the argument, lobbying for their case, according to an article in the Washington Post. One group, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, has been compiling research to argue for its case. It found that many colleges require three or fewer of the basic subjects, such as math, science, foreign language, composition, the fundaments of U.S. history, economics, literature, composition, etc. The group analyzed 1,007 colleges and found that three fifths of those schools do not ... Read More About Why A General Education

Employers have raised their standards to the point where many now require a master’s degree instead of a bachelor’s degree, according to an article in the New York Times. Employers can be very selective in whom they hire as the unemployment rate rises. Combine that with the fact that a higher percentage of people now have bachelor’s degrees than they did 10 years ago, and careers are just looking bleak for recent college graduates. The master’s is now the fastest growing degree, as 657,000 were awarded in 2009, twice as many since the 1980s. The rate has skyrocketed in the past few years as many with bachelor degrees ... Read More About Why Advanced Degrees Are Becoming More Popular

Two Stanford professors have announced that they will offer a free online class on artificial intelligence, according to an article in the New York Times. Stanford professors, Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig – two of the world’s best-known artificial intelligence experts – will teach the course. Over 112,000 and counting people have already enrolled in the class, which is nearly six times the entire Stanford student body. Students range from high school to retirees, and the course will represent students from 175 countries. Thrun and Norvig said that they will teach this course as part of an education experiment ... Read More About Stanford Offers Free Artificial Intelligence Class Online

In terms of bang for your buck – public colleges may have a better return on investment that previously thought.  An article in the Washington Post cited an article from SmartMoney magazine, which measured the value of colleges by their graduates’ salaries in proportion to the tuition they paid as students. However, this is only a “value” metric, and SmartMoney magazine admitted that its scale is far from perfect. Its analysis does not take financial aid into consideration. Some colleges post high tuition prices but offer huge scholarships to nearly every student. It’s a marketing ploy. Many Ivy League sch ... Read More About Assessing ROI Of A College Degree

“Small” is not a word many students hear when colleges talk about their class sizes anymore, and when they do use that word – they’re most likely using it incorrectly. Major budget cuts have forced many colleges to cut costs. The easiest and most effective way for colleges to do that was by slimming down on their staff (both professors and administrators). The national, public universities were hit harder than private universities, and research universities were hit the hardest. See more from Varsity Tutors here on budget cuts leading to larger class sizes. But, not all schools have increased their class sizes, and ... Read More About Colleges With Small Class Sizes

Employment rates and starting salaries for graduating college students entering the job market have fallen drastically in the last few years, according to an article in the New York Times. Only 55.6% of 2009 college graduates found jobs that actually used their degrees; 22.4% are unemployed, and 22% are working jobs that do not use their college degrees. Students were surveyed in the spring; so these numbers could have changed by their graduation dates. However, 90% of graduates in 2006-2007 had jobs (that were relevant to their degrees) during the spring before their graduation. The median starting salary for 2009 and 2010 college graduate ... Read More About Why College Grads Face A Tough Job Market

Education funding may be down in the past few years, but one private donor is starting to pour more money back into education – that one donor is Bill Gates. Gates is cracking his piggy bank to the tune of $373 million in 2009 for education and an additional $78 million to advocacy, according to an article in the New York Times. The $78 million poured into advocacy was four times the amount the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation spent in 2005 on advocacy. The money donated on education and advocacy do not go to the same areas. The advocacy money funds grassroots organizations that Gates and his wife support. For example, the Gates Foun ... Read More About How Bill Gates Influences Education Reform

College stress has many origins, ranging from your roommate not believing in deodorant, being able to simultaneously touch all four walls in your dorm room to academic rigor. However, an article in The Daily Beast presented a formula to rank the top 50 most stressful colleges in America. Its formula declared cost and competitiveness as the leading factors of stress. Cost (tuition plus room and board) can create stress before, during and after college for many students. Students at more expensive universities are more likely to take on part time jobs and/or student loans. Both of which can create tremendous amounts of stress. The stress ... Read More About Ranking Colleges By Stress Level

Most undergraduate students are seeking four-year college degrees. However, some students end up staying for an extra quarter, semester or even year if they change their majors, take the wrong electives or add a minor or specialization. It happens more often than one would think. So to further increase their educational quality, some colleges are guaranteeing that incoming freshmen will receive a degree within four years, according to an article in the Washington Post. Randolph-Macon College in Ashland Virginia recently announced that it was guaranteeing degrees within four years, assuming students follow a few institutional policies. If som ... Read More About How You Can Be Guaranteed A College Degree

Years of education, of knowledge, of learning, but what exactly does it amount to? Are college grads actually better at certain tasks than non grads, and how much more qualified are they than non grads? These questions are continuously asked and are nearly impossible to correctly answer. But, the Lumina Foundation released a report published in an article in the Washington Post, addressing these exact questions. The report seeks to define what college graduates should be able to do. It concluded that college graduates, despite field of study, should demonstrate abilities in five areas of competence. According to the study, graduates should ... Read More About What Should College Graduates Know

Foreign languages are making a comeback. Modest? Sure. Slight? Yes. But a comeback indeed, as enrollment in foreign language majors has been rising steadily, according to the Washington Post. Enrollment in every foreign language has been consistently rising slightly, according to a new survey by the Modern Language Association of America, published in the Washington Post. The trend of all foreign languages rising slightly is fairly new. Language enrollments for French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian and Japanese have been on enrollment roller coasters, experiencing short-lived ups and down in, according to past surveys by the Modern Languag ... Read More About Rise Of Foreign Language Enrollment

The percentage of students taking college courses online has nearly tripled since 2002, according to an article in The Washington Post.             The Washington Post cited a study that stated 29% of college students took at least one online course in the fall of 2009, compared to 10% in 2002.             The 2010 study, Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010, noted that online education has been growing continuously. Online enrollment increased from 1.6 million in 2002 to 3.2 million in 2005 to 5.6 million i ... Read More About Rise Of Online College Courses

Colleges strive to provide students with the latest, most innovative technology and services, funded through research and development spending.             Universities’ research and development spending increased 5.8 percent in 2008, according to the latest National Science Foundation survey, cited by an article in The Washington Post. The private college industry chipped in a relatively small but growing portion of the 5.8 percent.             This has been a continuous trend.  Research and development spending rose 12 p ... Read More About Research Spending Of American Colleges

President Barack Obama is now encouraging adults to go back to college and receive the degrees they never finished, in hopes of America regaining the lead of producing college graduates, according to an article in The Washington Post.             There are an estimated 37 million adults 25-64 who went to college but never graduated.             The Lumina Foundation is leading a four-year $14.8 million project throughout America to encourage adults to receive their degrees. The Lumina Foundation will partner with other organizations ... Read More About Increasing College Completion Rates

America was once the leader in postsecondary degrees. However, in recent years it has fallen far from the top.             The Lumina Foundation for Education placed a goal in 2008 for a college completion rate of 60 percent by 2025. America will not reach that goal, according to an article in The Washington Post.             The foundation claims to be the first organization to set this benchmark, which was later adopted by President Barack Obama and other education administrators.         &n ... Read More About The American Education Gap

There has always been much debate on how valuable a college degree is. Some are convinced it’s a waste of money and time that could have been spent working and earning income. Others say it’s a necessary education experience that will give one a competitive advantage.             A recent study was conducted by the College Board – the same company that creates the SAT – claiming that a college degree’s value is growing, according to an article in The New York Times.             Workers who had college de ... Read More About The Value Of College Degrees

The United States is no longer the global leader in postsecondary degrees, according to an article in the The Washington Post.             A postsecondary degree is any degree that one attains after high school. It could be an Associate’s Degree, Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree.             This trend is consistent with other findings that k-12 students in the United States are lagging behind many other foreign students.             The Washington Post cit ... Read More About US Trailing In Higher Education

The tips below will provide students with insights from an article in The US News & World Report regarding the pros and cons of small/large colleges.             Typically research colleges are much larger, and their professors focus highly on research, opposed to teaching.             Here are 10 benefits of attending a research university: 1. The best researchers can be the best teachers: There is a common held belief that professors who focus mainly on research are not committed to the classroom and are therefore poor teacher ... Read More About Choosing A Research University

The American workforce is changing rapidly as more and more employers are beginning to make college degrees a prerequisite for jobs, according to an article in The New York Times.               In 2018, many more jobs will demand at least a two-year associate’s degree opposed to only a high school diploma. In fact, the number of these types of jobs will outnumber the people who are qualified with the proper amount of education by three million, according to a report that will be released by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. The report was cite ... Read More About Importance Of College Degrees

A Master’s degree traditionally carries an honorable, intelligent and prestigious clout; however, the value of this clout is a moot point.             To some, a Master’s degree is a sign of intellectual superiority, but to others it could simply be a framed piece of paper that needs to be dusted regularly. There are many pros and cons to pursuing a Master’s degree, and it would be wise for students to make the decision of whether they will pursue one early.  As the economy plummets, the interest in graduate programs increases.        ... Read More About The Value Of A Masters Degree

Current college seniors (2010 graduating class) are finding it much easier to land jobs than the preceding 2009 class, according to an article in the New York Times.             2009 was one of the worst job-seeking years in history for college seniors. However, the National Association of Colleges and Employers recently reported that 5 percent more college seniors are finding jobs in 2010, compared to 2009.             Employers are looking for accounting, engineering, computing and mathematics majors, according to Edwin Koc, resear ... Read More About The American Job Market

Global warming and other climate/energy concerns have sparked a sharp interest in many college students, leading them to pursue careers in these fields, according to an article in The Los Angeles Times.             Educators are suggesting that there will be an increasing number of jobs in this market in years to come. Educators also noted that students are pursuing science and engineering studies to fulfill these jobs.             The rising interest is so recent that most colleges have not been able to clearly document the latest n ... Read More About Interest Rises In Clean Energy Careers

Digital education: It’s growing. It’s exploding. It’s the future of learning. But, what exactly is it and how can it help the classroom?             Here are several digital tools that can be great resources to help teachers and students create successful learning environments. Feel free to add to this post with digital tools you have used or heard of. Electronic textbooks: Mainly used by college professors. These allow professors to digitally edit and change the information in textbooks. This helps professors create a textbook that is fully customized to each class. Al ... Read More About Digital Learning Tools

Online education: it seems so simple, so convenient. So perfect for you? It could be; however, there are several mistakes that online teachers frequently see students make, according to The US News & World Report. The US News & World Report published eight, common mistakes associated with online education.  1. Not verifying the school’s credibility: Most students go to college and other schools to receive credits. However, some employers and colleges simply will not accept some online schools’ credits. They put no credence in some of these unaccredited online schools. Therefore, attending certain online schools are a ... Read More About Online Education Pitfalls

            President Barack Obama will send a proposal to congress for an education system reform the week of March 14, according to The Los Angeles Times.             Obama’s proposal will also reform the No Child Left Behind project to improve high schools and give graduates the “the best chance to succeed in a changing world,” Obama told the Los Angeles Times.             His plans developed in the midst of many reports stating that America’s education ... Read More About Reworking The Education System

Dear high school seniors, when you sit in a cubicle for the next 50 years of your life for nine hours a day, what do you want to do? Think about it, and let yourself know in a few years.             The earlier one can declare a major the better. However, it is very important for students not to pigeon-hole themselves into majors before college even starts. Choosing a major is one of the most important decisions students can make, and they need to choose carefully. After all, it very well could be what you do every day for the next 50 years.        &nbs ... Read More About College Majors

            This post is being written while listening to Professor Jim Newton’s Communication Studies 187: Journalistic Ethics from the University of California Los Angeles for free.             The lecture is an hour-long video clip from YouTube. The U.S. News and World Report states that many college professors are uploading their lectures to online sites, extending higher education past students and teachers to all people. Their lectures are publicly available to anyone interested.         ... Read More About Free Online College Lectures

            The Advance Placement program is increasing in high schools throughout the nation, bringing more opportunities to students, according to The New York Times.             The A.P. program was originally created to allow top students to take college-level classes and earn college credit. Most high schools offer A.P. classes in a variety of different subjects. A.P. students take the A.P. exam, and they can earn college credit at most institutions with a passing score of 3, 4, or 5. The exam is scored 1-5, with 5 as the highest ... Read More About AP Program Grows

There are varying studies that “prove” the value of college degrees, and yet there are others that “prove” colleges do not actually make one more valuable. However, the bottom line is that simply going to college will not automatically enhance one’s value in the job market.             The New York Times asked “how much does the actual teaching and learning that happens on campus really matter.” Many people who have college degrees are working blue-collar jobs. However, statistics claim that the median earnings for people who have a 4-year bachelo ... Read More About True Value of College Degrees

Computer programming skills prove to be great asset In a world that is rapidly going digital, many employers are looking for people who understand the digital world and computer programming skills as well as their field of study. These people who can combine computer programming skills with the knowledge of their field will be more attractive to employers, according to The New York Times. Many young students are reluctant to pursue these careers because the skills are difficult to quickly learn, and schools do not teach the material at a deeper level. Many high school programs only give students a surface level, computer programming educati ... Read More About Computer Programming Skills Prove To Be Great Asset

There are many reasons why college is different than high school; however, the main reason is the different way you will be forced to think. High school teachers preach that you will think critically in their high school courses, but most students are not fully introduced to this type of thinking until college starts. High school classes do require some critical thinking, but not nearly as much as colleges do. The entire course curriculum can be different. High school classes rely on memorizing dates, definitions and other facts. However, college challenges students to know and apply the knowledge to the professional business world or everyd ... Read More About College Demands Critical Thinking