Thursday, October 28, 2010

NACAC Steps to College articles

I am constantly reading articles and news releases from various organizations to gain insight that will help all of you with college options. I received this email today from the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) distribution list and wanted to share this resource. I found this particular article to be informative, and thought many of the others may be helpful.

"NACAC's Steps to College articles serve as ongoing discussions of the important factors students face during the admission process. Their primary function, however, is to introduce and reinforce the issues students tend to neglect. The latest article in the series reexamines student debt and financial aid against the backdrop of a recession.

Looking Ahead: Student Debt and the College Admission Process directs students to look closely at their potential for debt very early in the admission process. The article also steers students toward sound financial aid resources from the Department of Education.

“Looking Ahead” joins a collection of other financial aid articles in the Steps to College series that speak directly to college applicants. Please pass along this article and others in the Steps series to interested students and families.

Sean Nyhan
Public Policy and Research Coordinator
National Association for College Admission Counseling"

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

PSAT Registration Reminder

We are registering sophomores and juniors for the PSAT. We mailed home a flyer, but wanted to send out a reminder in case you missed it.

The PSAT is Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 8:00AM in the Competition Gym at PHS. The cost of the exam is free for sophomores and $13 for juniors (checks payable to Perry High School). Students must register no later than Friday, October 8, 2010 in the Guidance Office. Space is limited, and registration is first-come-first-served.

We gathered sophomores and juniors from half of their lunch blocks today to give a quick presentation on the test. If you are interested in viewing the presentation, or if your student missed it, the following link will take you to the PowerPoint.

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/a-step-to-the-future.ppt#311,1,Slide 1

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Graduation Requirements versus Honors Diploma

As I double and triple check senior records to ensure graduation is possible for this spring, I thought it would be a great opportunity to remind everyone of our requirements. Perry students need a total of 24 credits to graduate, divided in the following areas:

4 English (English 9, 10, 11, and 12)
4 Math (including Geometry and Algebra 2)
4 Science (including Biology 1 and Chemistry 1)
4 Social Studies (including Global Studies, US History, and American Government)
0.5 Physical Education
0.5 Health
1 Fine Art, Business, or World Language
6 Electives (can be comprised of any credit)

Students must also pass all 5 areas of the Ohio Graduation Test - Reading, Mathematics, Writing, Citizenship, and Science.

To obtain an Honors Diploma in the state of Ohio, a student must fulfill Ohio requirements. This is different from our graduation requirements or our recognition of cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude. There are two categories for an Honors diploma - academic or career-technical. Please look through the requirements, as they are different for the class of 2011 and beyond. For example, to fulfill the science requirement, you must take Physics. We have also listed the requirements for honors diploma in our registration guide.

As always, please see your counselor if you have any questions.

Monday, August 30, 2010

College Major Quiz

The buzz has begun! Seniors are talking about their college ideas and applications, and many have begun to compare college major choices. Are you still undecided? Don't worry, many people are, even as they enter their sophomore year of college. To help rest your mind, I entered college set on double majoring in biology and music. I exited with a major in cultural anthropology. And now I'm a counselor. I was certain that I was going to be a doctor from at least fourth grade. Even the best laid plans can change when you find something unexpected that interests you.

There are some connections between my interests that I can see now. Every goal I had - doctor, orchestral musician, and counselor - required social interaction. Not sure how your future goals are connected? Try taking this quiz at About.com. The quiz utilizes Holland based theory to help you find a general area, and then you can narrow down your interests to find a possible major. For example, my result was "Social Personality," which suggests college majors in... wait for it... counseling and anthropology, among many others. The quiz takes about 3 minutes to complete and is only a starting point.

Something else to consider - it is okay to change your mind. Start exploring your academic and extracurricular interests and see if any college major or career choice starts to sound interesting. Research your options. Ask questions of people in the field. If you find something else, repeat the process. Stop by if you'd like more information on a specific major, career, or college. I'd be happy to help.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Welcome Back!

It was my intention to post the first day of school, to reflect on returning after a year away, to discuss all of the smiling faces and the new opportunities at Perry this fall. Somehow the time escaped, and it is the third day of school.

Thank you for making the first few days successful. Working through scheduling issues, credit checks, and the anxiety that accompanies the beginning of the new school year is always a challenge, but we made it. The first Friday of the school year approaches, bringing with it an opportunity to show our spirit (wear red!), spend time celebrating our extracurricular strengths, and reflect on the week while looking forward to the coming year.

A few reminders as we enter the year:

1. We are still on an alphabet split - I work with students A-K.
2. No schedule changes to courses that you requested. We go over this many times in the spring. We mean it.
3. Visit us early and often. Show initiative and seek us out before we have to track you down.
4. We do much more than work with your schedule. Talk to us about college, careers, testing, social needs, extracurricular involvement - whatever you need. Think of us as the Help Desk - we will assist you in navigating your path through high school.

Look for announcements and other notes here. I will be updating our department web page soon, and will note changes. I look forward to a great year!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Semester Final Exams

The semester final exam schedule is as follows:

Blocks 3-6 - Thursday, January 15, during normal class times

Blocks 1-2 - Friday, January 16, during normal class times

School will be dismissed at 11:00 on Friday, January 16.

Registration UPDATE

Since the Jan. 8 meeting was canceled due to inclement weather, we have changed the dates for registration slightly. The new time-line is:

January 15 - Rising Freshmen (class of 2013) and Sophomore (class of 2012) Information Evening - 7:00, Goodwin Theatre

January 30, 2008 - Rising Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior course requests are due

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Registration for 2009-2010 school year

The registration process for the 2009-2010 school year is beginning. Here are some important dates to remember:

January 8 - Rising Freshmen (class of 2013) Information Evening - 7:00, Goodwin Theatre

January 15 - Rising Sophomore (class of 2012) Information Evening - 7:00, Goodwin Theatre

January 23, 2008 - Rising Freshmen course requests are due

January 30, 2008 - Rising Sophomore, Junior, and Senior course requests are due

College Board (SAT) Score Choice Article

An interesting article on how College Board is presenting the Score Choice option for SAT scores:

"Giving Choice and Taking It Away" from insidehighered.com

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Cleveland Clinic Internship opportunity

Are you planning on a career in science, nursing, or medicine? The Cleveland Clinic has a 9-week summer, paid internship program. The criteria for applications is:

* 3.5 or better GPA on a 4.0 scale
* you must be 16 years old before June 1, 2009
* You must be in 10th or 11th grade

Apply online at clevelandclinic.org/CivicEducation. The application deadline is 4:30 PM, February 6, 2009.

Scholarship opportunity

After disease, humanity’s deadliest scourge has always been hate… hate has killed hundreds of millions. It knows no season and no limit. It is irrational and it is deadly. It is in us all. And it will live forever – unless we choose to stop it. The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage challenges students in grades 6-12 to combat acts of hatred, discrimination, and intolerance by participating in the Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out essay contest. The grand prize is a $100,000 college scholarship. Please see your Guidance Counselor for more details. The deadline is January 2, 2009.

"College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S."

Interesting NY Times article. Click here to read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/education/03college.html?_r=2&hp

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

PLAN is approaching

All sophomores will take the PLAN test on Tuesday, November 25, 2008. There is no cost nor need to register for this test.

Auburn Career Center Visitations

Auburn Career Center will be visiting on November 12 and 13 to give a presentation to all sophomores. Students will be called down to the media center alphabetically.

At this presentation, we will distribute permission slips to attend the December 11 visit day at Auburn, where students are able to observe two programs.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

New Website

The Perry Local School District has updated their web site. Check it out:

www.perry-lake.k12.oh.us.

Second grading period interims

Interims are approaching. The interim date of the second grading period is October 28th.

OGT - 11th and 12th grade

If you are a junior or senior and have not passed a portion of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), this is another reminder that testing is the week of October 27-31, 2008. The test dates according to subject area are:

Monday (27th) = Reading
Tuesday (28th) = Mathematics
Wednesday (29th) = Writing
Thursday (30th) = Science
Friday (31st) = Social Studies

Please refer to the reminder you will receive the day prior to testing for your testing location. If you have any questions, please see your counselor.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

End of Grading Period

The end of the first grading period is this Friday, Oct. 3, 2008. Report cards will be issued the following Friday, Oct. 10, 2008.

Monday, September 22, 2008

College Panel Calls for Less Focus on SATs

September 22, 2008

A commission convened by some of the country’s most influential college admissions officials is recommending that colleges and universities move away from their reliance on SAT and ACT scores and shift toward admissions exams more closely tied to the high school curriculum and achievement.

The commission’s report, the culmination of a yearlong study led by William R. Fitzsimmons, the dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard, comes amid growing concerns that the frenzy over standardized college admissions tests is misshaping secondary education and feeding a billion-dollar test-prep industry that encourages students to try to game the tests.

A growing number of colleges and universities, like Bates College in Maine, Lawrence University in Wisconsin, Wake Forest University in North Carolina and Smith College in Massachusetts, have made the SAT and ACT optional. And the report concludes that more institutions could make admissions decisions without requiring the SAT and ACT.

It encourages institutions to consider dropping admission test requirements unless they can prove that the benefits of such tests outweigh the negatives.

“It would be much better for the country,” Mr. Fitzsimmons said in an interview, “to have students focusing on high school courses that, based on evidence, will prepare them well for college and also prepare them well for the real world beyond college, instead of their spending enormous amounts of time trying to game the SAT.”

Mr. Fitzsimmons’s group, which was convened by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, also expresses concerns “that test scores appear to calcify differences based on class, race/ethnicity and parental educational attainment.” The report calls on admissions officials to be aware of such differences and to ensure that differences not related to a student’s ability to succeed academically be “mitigated in the admission process.”

“Society likes to think that the SAT measures people’s ability or merit,” Mr. Fitzsimmons said. “But no one in college admissions who visits the range of secondary schools we visit, and goes to the communities we visit — where you see the contrast between opportunities and fancy suburbs and some of the high schools that aren’t so fancy — can come away thinking that standardized tests can be a measure of someone’s true worth or ability.”

Mr. Fitzsimmons said that at Harvard high school grades and the College Board’s individual subject tests are considered better predictors of college success than the SAT, also administered by the College Board, or ACT, and that the university is studying the use of standardized tests in its admissions. He added that it was possible that the university might eventually make such tests optional.

The admission counseling association gave the report to The New York Times in advance of its official release at its annual meeting in Seattle this week. The report emphasizes academic research that suggests that test preparation and coaching results in an increase of 20 to 30 points on the SAT, which it calls “a modest gain (on the old 1600 scale)” that “is considerably less than the 100 point or more gains that are often accepted as conventional wisdom.” Even so, the report acknowledges that test preparation can raise scores, however modestly, and that students without the financial resources to get such help may be “penalized for lower test scores” in some admission and scholarship cases.

The report calls for an end to the practice of using minimum-admissions-test scores to determine students’ eligibility for merit aid. And it specifically urges the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to stop using PSAT scores as the initial screen for eligibility for recognition or scholarships. The National Merit Scholarship competition “contributes to the misperception of test scores as sole measures of ‘merit’ in a pervasive and highly visible manner,” the report says.

More than 280 four-year colleges do not require standardized test scores for admission, according to the study. The report says that the College Board’s Advanced Placement exams and Subject Tests and the International Baccalaureate exams are more closely linked to the high school curriculum than the SAT and ACT, and have little expensive test preparation associated with them.

The report suggests that what is needed is a new achievement test, pitched to a broad group of students, that would predict college grades as well as or better than available tests.

Using such an achievement test in admissions would “encourage high schools to broaden and improve curricula,” according to the report, and would also send a message to students to focus on their high school course material instead of on test preparation courses.

David Hawkins, the director of public policy and research for the association, pulled together the commission’s findings into the report. He said its value was “in the nearly explicit sentiment that the current admission tests are not optimal tools for admission in 2008.”

Robert Schaeffer, public education director for The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, a group critical of standardized admissions testing, called the report “a strong condemnation of the overreliance on test scores,” and said he expected it to carry much weight with association members, who include thousands of college admissions officials and high school guidance counselors.

One commission member, Steve Syverson, is vice president for enrollment at Lawrence University, which made the SAT and ACT optional several years ago. Mr. Syverson said he hoped the report would encourage more college admissions officials to question their use of standardized admissions tests.

“We’re all just making assumptions about these tests,” Mr. Syverson said, referring to the SAT and the ACT. “We’ve all grown up with it. It’s embedded in the culture. If you really ask around the country, how many admissions officers can tell you at their institution what the predictive validity of the test is? What does it add to our understanding? What do tests help you predict? You’d find a lot of them equate these tests with intelligence. It’s not an intelligence test.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/education/22admissions.htm?_r=1&oref=slogin

Thursday, September 18, 2008

College Applicants, Beware: Your Facebook Page Is Showing

High-school seniors already fretting about grades and test scores now have another worry: Will their Facebook or MySpace pages count against them in college admissions?

A new survey of 500 top colleges found that 10% of admissions officers acknowledged looking at social-networking sites to evaluate applicants. Of those colleges making use of the online information, 38% said that what they saw "negatively affected" their views of the applicant. Only a quarter of the schools checking the sites said their views were improved, according to the survey by education company Kaplan, a unit of Washington Post Co.

Some admissions officers said they had rejected students because of material on the sites. Jeff Olson, who heads research for Kaplan's test-preparation division, says one university did so after the student gushed about the school while visiting the campus, then trashed it online. Kaplan promised anonymity to the colleges, of which 320 responded. The company surveyed schools with the most selective admissions.

[College Applicants, Beware Facebook] Getty Images

Admissions officers have acknowledged looking at social-networking sites like Facebook to evaluate applicants.

The vast majority of the colleges surveyed had no policy about when it was appropriate for school officials to look at prospective students' social-networking sites. "We're in the early stage of a new technology," Mr. Olson says. "It's the Wild, Wild West. There are no clear boundaries or limits."

The lack of rules is already provoking debate among admissions officers. Some maintain that applicants' online data are public information that schools should vet to help protect the integrity of the institutions. Others say they are uncomfortable flipping through teenage Facebook pages.

Colleges' recent interest in social-networking sites is leading many aspiring students to take a hard look at their online habits and in some cases to remove or change postings. With a high-school graduating class nationwide of 3.3 million students, colleges are expected to be sifting through a record number of applications this year.

Nicholas Santangelo, a senior at Seton Hall Prep, a private school in West Orange, N.J., says he expects colleges might look at his Facebook site but hopes admissions officers realize the postings reflect only a partial view of any student. "There are some things I might think about getting rid of," says Nicholas, 17, who is considering such competitive schools as Amherst College and Wesleyan University.

Sites like Facebook and MySpace let users set up online profiles -- including pictures, videos and other personal information -- then solicit others to join their network of online "friends." Users can exchange messages, often publicly, and sometimes offer detailed descriptions of their activities, dreams and fears.

The sites have inspired many a national conversation over privacy and exhibitionism. Some job applicants have already discovered the hard way that employers often examine the sites to weed out candidates. Representatives of the sites say users can establish online privacy settings that let their pages be viewed only by invited "friends." MySpace is part of News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal. Facebook is closely held.

But Kaplan and many high-school guidance counselors say students often don't restrict public access on social-networking sites and, in any case, damaging information can find a way to leak out. David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, a professional organization, says schools don't have time to scour the Internet systematically to check out thousands of applicants. But he says admissions officers at times receive anonymous tips, which may be from rival applicants, about embarrassing Facebook or MySpace material, such as a picture of a student drunk at an underage party.

In another recent study, Nora Ganim Barnes, director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, found that 21% of colleges used social-networking sites for recruiting prospects and gathering information about applicants. It's especially common when universities are awarding scholarships because it isn't hard to go online for a handful of finalists. "No one wants to be on the front page of the newspaper for giving a scholarship to a murderer," she says. "Everybody is trying to protect their brands."

Thomas Griffin, director of undergraduate admissions at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, says the school will do an Internet search, including Facebook and other sites, if an application raises "red flags," such as a suspension from school. Mr. Griffin says several applicants a year have been rejected in part because of information on social-networking sites. In a recent case, the university researched a student who disclosed on his application that he had been disciplined for fighting. The school found a Facebook page with a picture of the applicant holding a gun. "We have to use this information to make the best decision for the university," Mr. Griffin says.

Janet Lavin Rapelye, dean of admission at Princeton University, says the school hasn't rejected any applicant because of information posted on the Internet. Princeton doesn't have time to look at all applicants' online information, but if an offensive Facebook post came to the college's attention, the school would examine it, Ms. Rapelye says. "All of us would consider anything that would cause us to doubt a student's character," she says.

Greg Roberts, senior associate dean of admission at the University of Virginia, says his staff is free to check out anonymous tips about social-networking sites or make use of the information if the admissions committee is evaluating a "tight" decision.

Sandra Starke, vice provost for enrollment management at the State University of New York at Binghamton, says she instructs her staff to ignore Facebook and other sites because she considers postings to be casual conversations, the online equivalent of street-corner banter. "At this age, the students are still experimenting," she says. "It's a time for them to learn. It's important for them to grow. We need to be careful how we might use Facebook."

Marc Prablek, a senior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in suburban St. Louis, considers Facebook information "out in the public" and fair game for colleges. The 17-year-old, with some 550 "friends," says, "I don't have anything bad on Facebook," but he may tweak his profile to be "more sophisticated."

Marc, who plans to apply early to Stanford University, says he won't mention that he loves to read X-Men comic books. His Facebook literary picks currently include "Crime and Punishment" and "Pride and Prejudice."

High-school guidance counselors advise applicants, even if they restrict public access on their sites, to refrain from including anything that could hurt them in college admissions. They especially caution against foul or offensive language, nudity, or photos of drinking and drug use.

"Students need to be accountable for their actions," says Scott Anderson, director of college guidance at St. George's Independent School, a private school near Memphis, Tenn. When writing on Facebook or MySpace, he says, they should be thinking, "Is this something you want your grandmother to see?"

Write to John Hechinger at john.hechinger@wsj.com

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Parents: When to back off, when to step in

  • "Helicopter parents" may result from generational changes in work, values
  • When safety becomes an issue, it's OK for parents to step in
  • Generally, parents should not intervene with bad roommates, grades in college
  • Experts say parents can pay the rent once, but don't make it a habit
By Elizabeth Landau
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Do you speed over to your child's school, or even college, whenever something goes wrong?

Many parents today insert themselves into even the most minute activities in their children's lives, a phenomenon that's known as "helicopter parenting."

But two child experts told CNN that parents should aim to empower their children to do things on their own.

"Parenting should be increasingly in the background as the child gets older," said Vivian Friedman, child-adolescent psychologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "If you do for your child for too long, they never learn to do for themselves."

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and author of the book "A Parent's Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens," said it's important to show children you believe they are capable of handling situations themselves, but always put safety first.

The "helicopter parent" trend may have arisen because the focus of marriage has shifted from the spouse to the child, Friedman said. An increase in divorce and a greater prevalence of two working spouses also contribute to parents' habits of spoiling their children.

"When [the kids] have little failures, they feel like our own failures," Ginsburg said. "What we need to understand is that our job as parents is not to finish our kids or produce perfect kids. It's to start our kids."

Here's what Friedman and Ginsburg recommended for various situations that may arise in your child's life:

1. The elementary school is putting on "Peter Pan" tomorrow. While you prepare a presentation for an important business meeting, your daughter calls and tells you she forgot her Tinkerbell costume for the dress rehearsal. "I'm the only one who's not dressed up," she tells you.

Friedman and Ginsburg agreed that it's OK to take care of it the first time she forgets the costume, but not if it becomes a habit.

"The first time: Find a housekeeper or neighbor to bring it over," Friedman said. "But if she does this routinely, she needs to suffer consequences to learn from the experience."

"One time, two-time mistake -- it's wonderful to pick up the pieces," Ginsburg said. "If, in fact, you always end up picking up pieces, you can't expect a kid to learn the valuable lesson that they can do it themselves. Learn from failure -- failure's a great thing when you learn how to recover yourself."

2. You're at the playground reading a newspaper and suddenly your daughter runs up to you crying. "They won't let me make sand castles with them," she whines.

Friedman said this one depends on age. For a 3- or 4-year-old, it's appropriate for the parent to go over to the group as a neutral adult and help the children learn that they need to include everybody.

But for a 7-year-old, it's borderline. "You could say, 'What seems to be the problem? Do you think there's a way we could all play together?' rather than 'You can't exclude my child,' " she said.

Ginsburg, on the other hand, said you can suggest to your child what to say, or recommend that she find someone else to play with, but you shouldn't communicate that your child isn't capable of handling the situation.

"Learning how to play nice with other people in the sandbox is a great metaphor for life," he said.

3. Kids in the seventh-grade class just won't leave your son alone, not even online. Besides shoving him against the lockers once in awhile, they've also set up a MySpace page making fun of his appearance and name.

Experts agree that you should step in here and notify the school. Friedman would also notify the parents of the children involved -- "Most rational, reasonable parents would not support their child doing that," she said.

Ginsburg emphasized that safety always comes first. "You don't allow your daughter to put her hand in the oven to learn it's hot," he said. "You don't allow a kid to be bullied when there should be systems in place to prevent bullying. "

4. Your son started college a month ago, and every time you call him he has a new story about his messy, party-loving roommate who distracts him from studying and interrupts his sleep. "I wouldn't mind as much if it were my own vomit on the floor," your son tells you. He says he'll just stick it out for the rest of the year.

Friedman and Ginsburg said they would not approach the college housing department and ask to have the young man moved, except in extreme or difficult circumstances -- such as if the child is in a special needs program and can't help himself, Friedman said.

"There's nothing wrong with asking open-ended questions to help your son figure it out," Ginsburg said. "It's OK to say 'Who can you talk to at the university to change your living situation?' What's not OK is to call the dean and say 'Move my son.' "

5. Always a technical genius, your daughter majors in electrical engineering and will surely become a pioneer of great innovations. But this semester, the last of her junior year, she failed her 18th-century literature class, which she took to fulfill the subject-area distribution requirements. This is going to look pretty bad on graduate school applications.

While the daughter can speak to the professor on her own, Friedman and Ginsburg said they would not intervene in this situation.

Special circumstances would be if the grade was truly unfair and there was real foul play involved, or if the professor was drunk -- but otherwise, Friedman said, "It's her F, it's not your F. I would do absolutely nothing."

6. Your daughter has been in the real world for a year, but she says she's not ready to keep herself afloat financially. For the third time this summer she asks for help paying the rent -- "phone bill would be extra nice," she adds. You also notice that she's got a new pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps, and an iPhone is sticking out of her purse.

Friedman said she would not allow this to come up a third time -- she would have made the daughter set up an automatic debit system early on so her child's rent comes out of the account when her paycheck is deposited. "By the third month, I would let her sink, but I'm not a helicopter parent," she said.

Ginsburg emphasized again the safety component: He would never want his daughter to become homeless. He would pay the first month's rent with clear expectations: She needs to learn how to make a budget, she can't spend money on other things until things like rent and food are taken care of, and she needs to know that this is a loan. "Seven months in a row: she needs to find a roommate," he said.

Finally, note that there are no villains here, Ginsburg said.

"The parents who we think do too much are still doing their very best," he said. "Real success involves resilience: the capacity to learn to bounce back on your own."

All AboutEducationParenting


Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/09/17/helicopter.parents/index.html

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tip of the Day - Time Management

Break it down!

Do you have an extensive assignment approaching, like your English research paper? Something so large can seem daunting, and you end up putting it off until the last minute. Break it down!

Outline the major due dates - topic, rough draft, bibliography, etc. Set dates for yourself on each part.

Is the required length 10 pages? Write a page a day for 10 days.

Little bits of success are motivating. Big disasters can ruin everything. Need help? Stop by!

Can Your Favorite Color Determine Your Perfect Job?

By Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com writer


Do you ever wish finding the perfect job could be as easy as one, two, three? According to new research, it might be as easy as red, yellow or blue.

That's right; by determining which primary, secondary and achromatic colors you prefer most and least, you can figure out a successful career path based on how you approach work, the types of workplaces where you work best and how you handle work tasks.

The Color Career Counselor (on CareerPath.com), powered by The Dewey Color System -- the world's only validated, non-language color-based career testing instrument -- uses color preferences to determine successful career paths. Dewey Sadka, author of "The Dewey Color System," says using colors instead of a questionnaire eliminates the chasm between self-perception and self-truth and reveals your core motivations.

"What if you misinterpret a [career assessment] question or the choices don't reflect your personality?" Sadka asks. "Color preference indicates your personality's best career fit. Preferred colors indicate passionate career pursuits; non-preferred choices establish workplace skills you least enjoy."

How it works

The Color Career Counselor is simple. First, you click your preferred primary color (red, yellow or blue). From there, you choose your preferred secondary (green, purple or orange) and achromatic (black, white or brown) colors.

"Your preferred colors determine how you attack each task. They indicate your talents -- what you prioritize first in order to be successful. They also highlight what you overdo, especially when you feel great," Sadka says.

For example, if you're partial to yellow, you're information-driven; blue preference people are idea-driven and people who prefer red are results-driven. If you favor green as your secondary color, you realistically evaluate situations; purple indicates you like fact-finding possibilities and orange signals that you scrutinize feasibility. Finally, if black is your choice from the achromatic colors, you consider value above all else; white shows that you like having options and brown confirms that you like implementation and accomplishing tasks.

On the other hand, your least preferred colors determine tasks and issues that you tend to forget.

For example, if your least favorite color is orange, sometimes you overcommit yourself by trying to do too much at once. If you dislike the color green, you try to fix everything for your colleagues rather than making them do it themselves. Or, if your least favorite is teal, you feel a deep need to prove you are competent.

In managing these areas head-on, Sadka says you won't miss the incidentals that could impede your success.

Put to the test

To see for myself if this "scientific" test was for real, I took the test three different times and got the same results each time, affirming that I am, in fact, in the right career.

I'm a "creator," says the Color Career Counselor. I'm "nonconforming, impulsive, expressive, romantic, intuitive, sensitive and emotional." It says I enjoy working independently, being creative, using my imagination and constantly learning something new.

For my suggested "creator occupations," I was given an extensive list of careers that included jobs I've considered (architect, interior decorator, English teacher), jobs people told me I should pursue (author, creative director, public relations) and jobs that I currently hold or aspire to in the future (reporter and editor).

What about you?

So are you a researcher, creator, social manager, persuader, doer or organizer? To find out what career path you should be following based on your preferred colors, here are a few examples of what certain choices say about you, and the careers and skills that complement them.

If you prefer yellow, purple and white: You're the communicator

You create profitable perspectives -- how to break into new accounts or be heard by other employees. By simply identifying a client's point of view, you develop strategies that open doors, even if they had already been shut. Your excellent communication skills can create problem-solving forums. Careers in corporate communications, marketing or religious occupations work best.

If you prefer red, green and black: You're the investor

You know the value of money and resources, as well as the intrinsic worth of each co-worker's contributions. Your supportive, yet analytical personality works best in finance, accounting, banking, manufacturing, property management, production analysis, investment, money management, consulting, product sales or teaching.

If you prefer blue, orange and brown: You're the activist

Your strong community beliefs and no-nonsense approach improve services for those around you. Occupations where you can improve existing specifications or impact social values work best for you. Consider careers in engineering, building, or developing new programs, companies or products. Also consider law enforcement, firefighting, social or government work.

These are only a few of hundreds of different color profiles. For your own free career evaluation, please visit: http://www.careerpath.com/

Rachel Zupek is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

Copyright 2008 CareerBuilder.com. All rights reserved.
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Story Filed Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 9:57 AM

College students: Don't limit dreams with debt

Huge school loans can hinder future growth. Think about potential income before signing the dotted line.

A college education has long been viewed as a ticket to a better quality of life. It is probably the most important decision a student will make and it may have the highest rate of return in achieving life goals. Unfortunately, some students do not think clearly about this decision, buying the "hot" college brand and assuming large amounts of debt. By overinvesting, they destroy their chances for a brighter future.

"Excessive student debt, often made without an explicit decision on its impact on future life choices, not only restricts traditional career choices but the basic ability of young people to take risks – requiring them to defer their dreams," says Robert Shireman, executive director for the nonprofit Project on Student Debt.

Carmen Berkeley, a 23-year-old who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh last year, assumed a huge financial burden to attend a public university as an out-of-state student.

"My life is definitely impacted by my $80,000 college debt from the University of Pittsburgh," she says. "I really want to go to law school, but can't unless I get a scholarship. Though I believe my college education was a good investment, I doubt I will ever own a car or a house."

The nonprofit US Student Association, where she serves as president, contributes a $200 monthly stipend to assist in retiring her loans. Once she completes 10 years of public service, Ms. Berkeley will also qualify for loan forgiveness under the 2007 Higher Education Act for a portion of her outstanding federal loans. Even with the stipend and loan forgiveness, it will take her more than 20 years to repay her debt.

Berkeley did not consider future income before assuming her loans, although she anticipated always working in the nonprofit or public sector. Her choices confirm a recent survey by student-loan provider Sallie Mae that post-graduate income was not a factor for 70 percent of students and parents in determining how much to borrow to finance a college degree.

So after the glossy college brochures arrive in the mail and the visits to leafy college campuses are over, students need to ask themselves: Can I afford this school without excessive borrowing? How long will it take to pay off that wonderful four-year experience at the campus of my dreams?

Students, remember: You will be deferring other dreams for a cool car, well-furnished pad, weekend ski trips, summer beach vacations, and the latest tech toys.

According to the Project on Student Debt, the average 2006 graduate carried $21,100 in loans. But student debt has a disproportionate effect on middle-class families. Families with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 will borrow nearly $5,000 a year to pay for college. Those that make less than $50,000 will borrow on average $3,900, and families that earn over $100,000 will borrow $3,710.

To begin paying off those loans, graduates of the class of 2008 will receive an average salary of $36,400 according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Sounds great, until those graduates have to pay taxes, bringing net income to $27,500 or approximately, $2,300 a month. According to federal tables, they can expect to spend $1,800 to $2,000 a month for rent, utilities, out-of-pocket healthcare, car payments, gasoline, insurance and, entertainment. The remaining $300 to $500 a month may seem comfortable enough for the $230 a month needed to repay a $20,000 student loan at 6.8 percent over a 10-year period.

But repaying college tuition is only one part of the debt equation.

"Social debt is another concern as students face the pressure of keeping up with other students, hanging with the right crowd," says Sharon Fries-Britt, an English professor at the University of Maryland. "Credit cards are being overextended, and students are indebting their future, limiting their life choices."

For students who don't want to have daunting repayment obligations, consider these ideas:

•Know the average amount of debt that students carry at each of your potential colleges. Check economicdiversity.org for more information.

•Use the 2009 US News college ranking table that values schools based on debt load (usnews.com/sections/rankings/index.html).

•Remember, you may not qualify for a grant based on need if your family's income exceeds $100,000, so don't assume a grant unless you are certain you qualify.

•If short on funds, choose a cheaper route. Live at home for two years, attend a community college, and transfer to a state university.

•Check out your likely starting salary at naceweb.org – don't plan to borrow more than your first year's income.

Dr. Kathleen Connell is a professor at Haas Graduate Business School, University of California, Berkeley.

Find this article at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0915/p14s01-wmgn.html