Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges

Is college worth it? Forbes says, most of the time, no. Unless you happen to make it to the top of their America’s Best 650 Colleges annual list.

Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges list is annually updated and one of the many ‘best college’ lists available to prospective undergrad student. It looks to answer the simple question of “What schools are worth going to?”

Forbes looks at the economics of being an incoming student and ranks the top 650 American universities by their expected return, i.e., how much your degree is likely to give back compared to the amount of money it cost. The specific values which are evaluated are quality of professors, career prospects and post-graduate success, graduation rates, student satisfaction, and student debt. A schools reputation is not directly taken into account, though it could influence the other values, but the student reputation (measured by the frequency of winning prestigious and competitive third-party awards and percentage of students continuing on to earn a Ph.D.) is considered.

The specific measurements and methodology was created and conducted by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity on behalf of Forbes. The complete methodology is available in a detailed 16-page document (PDF).

The big problem “best” lists have is how frequent they change.

Rankings

College Being decided to compare this year’s Forbes list with the list from five years ago to see how the rankings have changed and which colleges continue to make the top of the list.

The Ivy League: Princeton University continues to be at number 1. Yale University and Columbia University have each moved up a few spots and are in the top 10, Brown and University of Pennsylvania moved up a lot and are now in the top 20. Dartmouth College and Cornell University improved a lot and are at 34 and 51, respectively. Harvard was the only Ivy League school to drop in ranking.

Honorable Mentions: MIT, Stanford, and University of Chicago also hugely improved their rankings and are now all in the top 20.

Notable Schools

Hampden-Sydney has been high on the Forbes rankings since 2008. Hampden-Sydney (about 1,000 students) is a small men’s university in Virginia and has been around since 1775, before the American Revolution. Hampden-Sydney College courses include sciences, fine arts, English, foreign languages, government, religion, math and computer science. The school ranked 4 in Forbes 2010 Best Private Colleges in the South list.

Boston University has improved its ranking and is now in the top 100 American schools. BU is a large private university in New England. Its strengths include a core curriculum of education, a varied program of study with 18 different schools or colleges, a diverse student population, and Division I sports.

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Associate’s Degrees Are Worth A Second Look

Over the last several decades an increasing amount of pressure has been placed on college students by parents and academic advisors and educators to forgo the Associate’s degree and instead pursue a Bachelor’s degree. As a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science, I can tell you that when I was in college at a traditional large university and expressed some interest in obtaining an Associate’s I was discouraged by my college advisor. And I understand why:

  • Advisors know that your earnings potential with a Bachelor’s is much higher. That’s a legit reason.
  • Advisors also know that universities typically charge more per hour, not to mention they keep you paying tuition twice as long or longer for that Bachelor’s. That’s a little shady.

The truth is that with some majors, Click to continue reading…

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Different Ways to Fight Off College Stress

As we get a taste of college life, so many things change. Whether we like it or not, we have to go with the flow and adhere to these changes in order to fully grasp the new chapter of our lives.

College and Stress

Majority of college students have to blend in a new environment, deal with new challenges and meet new people. For some, the transition from living with the family to being on your own and independent seems scary at the same time exciting. And then there goes the demands of school works and college activities, plus the social life. All of these tasks and responsibilities spells one word – STRESS.

Let’s face it, college life is a stressful time. Stress highly affects one’s mental and physical harmony. That is why, it is vital to take some time to alleviate and get rid of those stress-causing things. Each one of us has a preferred means of dealing with stress. Here are healthy ways to battle stress that are applicable to college students. With the following techniques, you don’t need to spend money for over-the-counter pills.

Go for healthy diet.

One may have big appetite during high Click to continue reading…

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Top Culinary Schools in North America

The mystique of international cuisine is well-known, but not every chef-to-be can afford to move overseas and seek the tutelage of a world famous European chef. What’s an aspiring but continentally constrained chef to do? The good news is that there are many phenomenal and well-respected culinary schools right here at home. Here we’ll survey some of the top-tier programs and review some of the unique and interesting opportunities each one has to offer.

4. Le Cordon Bleu

Le Cordon Bleu has been around and teaching future chefs for over 100 years, and over that time has garnered and impressive reputation for turning out quality graduates and numerous internationally known stars. Renowned chefs  Mario Batali, Giada De Laurentiis, Simone Beck, and even Julia Child all graduated from Le Cordon Bleu (interestingly, Jeff Probst—of Survivor fame—also graduated from Le Cordon Bleu!). Le Cordon Bleu is a multi-campus school with locations in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Miami, Orlando, Pittsburg, Portland, Sacramento, Scottsdale, Seattle, and St. Louis. This means that wherever you live, there’s a Le Cordon Bleu near you, ready to help you enter the world of professional culinary arts. The Boston school, in particular, has recently been receiving high praise for its educational quality.

3. The International Culinary School

The International Culinary School at the Art Institutes is another well-known and well-respected multi-campus American culinary school, with locations in the cities of Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Indianapolis, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, Philadelphia, Nashville, Washington DC, Houston, Seattle, and others. One of the unique features of the International Culinary School at the Art Institutes is its focused association with the Food Network. This special relationship means that the quality of curriculum and faculty is top-tier, and allows the school to bring in some of the stars of the Food Network’s programs to mix elbows with its students and offer career and culinary advice.

2. The French Culinary Institute, New York City

Want to learn to prepare and serve traditional French cuisine, but can’t afford to move to France and learn from their native chefs? Look no further than the French Culinary Institute, New York City. Voted Best Vocational Cooking School in America in 2010, and called “the finest cooking school in America” by famous chef and writer Anthony Bourdain, this school has a well-deserved reputation, known internationally as offering one of the top culinary programs outside of Europe. The French Culinary Institute, New York City is a part of the International Culinary Center.

Click to continue reading…

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5 Scholarship Websites Every College Applicant Should Be Aware Of

What is the most vital part of the process of applying for college? Some applicants would say it is passing all exams or making sure that your high-school transcript looks good. Others may state that the most important part is preparing all the needed documents and selecting the institution. 

Each of these answers is true. However, there is one more thing that you might be missing out. Let’s discuss scholarships.

With tuition costs going up by leaps and bounds, an awarded scholarship can become a lucky ticket for many high-school graduates. College scholarships and grants can give you a good kick-start into adult life and help cope with a variety of financial issues.

Unfortunately, many young people are ignoring this opportunity, thinking that obtaining a scholarship is extremely hard or even impossible for them. 

This judgment is not always true. Of course, it may be hard to find the right opportunity and prepare all the documents. Presenting a top-notch essay isn’t easy as well unless you turn to a professional write my essay online service. However, all it takes is a bit of dedication and work. 

Besides, if you know exactly where to search for such opportunities, it is already halfway to success! In this article, we have prepared a list of top five scholarship websites that will help you get the financial help you need. Let’s dive in!

College Applicant’s Toolkit: Best Scholarship Sites to Keep at Hand

Despite a common belief, finding scholarships can be easy as A, B, C! Just a few decades ago, this process used to be much more complicated and time-consuming. Times have changed, and now, students can do the same quickly and easily.

The easiest way to discover available opportunities is to use specialized websites that have a database of various grants and scholarships. As a rule, applicants can search through a base with the help of multiple filters such as gender, country of origin, academic level, special interests, etc. 

How to pick the right website? It could be hard if you’d have to do it on your own, but we’ve got you covered! Below, we have collected some of the best sites to help you fund your education.

1. Fastweb

Even if you haven’t heard of it yet, trust us, Fastweb is one of those must-have tools for all college applicants! This resource features a convenient tool for finding funding.

Also, here, you can discover tons of internships and jobs. Finally, at Fastweb, students can research different colleges and find up to date information about each institution with ease. Therefore, if you still haven’t used this platform, be sure to give it a try!

2. FinAid

Our next top pick is a widely known online resource for university applicants. Here you can find comprehensive information about different types of funding, including grants, financial aid, scholarships, and more.

One of the most significant benefits of FinAid is that it makes finding opportunities simple and helps you determine which ones are the right options!

3. CollegeBoard

For those of you who have never heard of it before, the College Board is one of the oldest educational organizations in the world. Thus, it is fair to say that the resources offered by this community are reliable and helpful.

The same applies to their extensive database of funding opportunities called CollegeBoard, where students from all across the globe can discover a variety of options.

4. Chegg Scholarships

This platform’s database contains over 25,000 options, so the chances that everyone will find something suitable are pretty high! The reason why we like this platform a lot is that Chegg Scholarships features an extremely intuitive and convenient searching tool. At the same time, it provides quite accurate matches based on the details you type in.

5. Peterson’s

The last but not least handy option on this list is Peterson’s. It is a smart online platform created to help young people find funding for their education quickly and easily. 

The searching tool used at this service has pretty high filtering capabilities, allowing you to find a perfect match based on your needs!

Final Words

If you are starting off to university, be prepared to face a handful of various challenges daily. In most cases, life in a campus becomes a transition point from a teenager into an adult. 

Clearly, this transition can’t pass unnoticed. You can’t avoid some hardships in the studying process. However, one thing you can do right now is to make sure that financial issues won’t be among those issues you may face!

Although obtaining high-quality education is much more available today, it is still expensive. And the cost keeps growing with each year. Applying for grants and scholarships, you can ease the financial burden and get more of your campus years.

Hopefully, this article will help future students find just the right opportunities for them. Using any of the websites mentioned above, you can save plenty of time and discover the most exciting scholarships available out there. 

Now, all that’s left to do is to believe in yourself and do your best to get the funding you need!

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