Buying your BOOK$

On the first day of class you are provided a syllabus, detailing each aspect of the course you have enrolled in. One such section is the course reading list. You are handed the syllabus and you immediately look at how many books, and articles you will have to read.

Sometimes there is just one, very large book. Other times, and most frequently, there are more than five distinct titles you will need to purchase from the book store...or so you think.

When I started at my junior college I bought every single book that was listed on the syllabus for each class. Needless to say this was very costly! Each semester I would head down to the monopolistic book store at my community college and pay an arm and a leg for a few books. One book (a math book) cost over three hundred dollars!

This is what I am suggesting you should do at the beginning of each semester. Look at the the reading list, see what books are "required." Then go through the schedule for the class and see where the readings come from each week. You will be surprised to find that some books that were listed as required, are not even used for the course! I can recall on more than one occasion that I would buy a book, and the professor would never ask us to read from it. Then I would sell it back to the book store for pennies!

Don't fall victim to the expensive book trap. Pay attention to what the syllabus outlines in terms of reading schedules. Be upfront with your professor. Ask her if you really need to purchase every single book, or if she can suggest books you need to get immediately.

At the beginning of each semester, this is what you need to do:

1. Find the course syllabus online for each you have enrolled in.
2. Do not buy books for any courses you are considering dropping later in the semester.
3. If there is a course you KNOW you must take, buy the books online through Amazon, or some other book purchasing site.
4. Contact students who have taken the course previously and see if they still have their books.
5. Seek out a book exchange program on campus or online.
6. Ask the professor if she has left a copy of the book on reserve in the library (no one ever utilizes this option and this could save you 300+ dollars each semester).

The unfortunate thing is that bookstores on campus are becoming a monstrosity for students already grappling with insane tuition hikes. The bottom line is that book stores are a rip-off. Even if they claim they "give back" to the campus on which they are located. Next time you are in your campus bookstore, ask how much they are really giving back. The percentage may shock you...

Apply for all scholarships!

Scholarships, and Grants are essentially free money for you to use towards school expenses. Some scholarships and grants come with restrictions for what the money can be used towards. For instance, if you win a $20,000 scholarship you have to (in most cases) use that money towards your school expenses and not buy a new car.

The main point of this post is to urge everyone to apply for any and all scholarships that you may be eligible for. Most college students think it is a waste of time to apply for grants and scholarships. Here are some of the reasons they come up with:

"I won't win...everyone will apply and they are only selecting one person."

"I don't think I am eligible...I could check, but that is too much work."

"If I apply I will be competing against the best of the best...how will I stand a chance?"

"What's the point? I am sure someone will be favored and they won't even read my application."

I too thought like this, and talked my way out of tens of thousands of dollars each semester. I finally went to the scholarship office at my community college and spoke with a counselor there. She shattered all of my pessimistic thoughts about applying for scholarships. This is what I learned from her.

1. Most people don't apply for scholarships. Why? Because of the pessimistic reasons listed above (I won't win, etc...).

2. All scholarships are awarded completely unbiasedly. The donors have rules for fair and equal disbursement of funds that the schools must follow.

3. Each application for a scholarship must be read by the awarding committee. This rule is also enforced by the donor.

4. In most cases, scholarships will have more than one winner. A donor may donate $20,000 for a scholarship fund and the committee may be able to award 4 winners @ $5,000 a scholarship, or even 20 winners @ $1,000 a scholarship. Never assume there can only be one winner.

The lady at the scholarship office also told me that in many cases, no one applies for a given scholarship and they have to save it for the next year hoping someone will take the free money from them. She also told me that many times one person will apply for a particular scholarship and win by default because no one else applied.

Go visit your scholarship office right now. You will be amazed by the amount of resources they have waiting for you to utilize. Even if you don't win a scholarship, just look at it as practice for the next application. You will surely win one if you keep practicing, and apply as much as possible.

After speaking with the scholarship counselor, I applied for and won many scholarships. Yes, there can be a lot of paperwork to fill out, essays to write, and interviews to be conducted, but at the end of the day the minimal work you have to put in to win a scholarship will pay off (literally).

What to do if the waiting list is full.

Due to the economic downturn, many community colleges across the country have seen an increase in enrollment, and as a result, many classes are overflowing with desperate college students trying to fulfill their degree requirements as quickly as possible. This means that it will be much more difficult for you to enroll in the general education courses you will need to take to satisfy your school's transfer requirements.

Many general education classes, such as, introductory english, general mathematics, history, etc. will be over flowing with students trying to fulfill their general education requirements. Typically, on the first day of classes many students will try to "crash" a course, which means that students who have not yet enrolled in the course, show up on the first day of classes to try to add the class.

Crashing a course is not always the worst option depending on the circumstance. Perhaps a personal experience will shed more light on this topic...

When I was registering for my first semester of classes I found that all the classes I was "planning" on enrolling into were full. Not just that the class was full, but the waiting-list was full as well. I couldn't even add to the wait-list to possibly be admitted when spots opened up.

Usually, a course will have a wait-list with up to ten spots for people to occupy when they are "waiting" to be admitted into the course. Depending on the class size, the wait-list can be small, or large. It is not uncommon to have a fifty person wait-list for a larger course. There is a general rule of thumb when trying to determine your chances of being enrolled into a course from the wait-list: Take the total number of available seats, not including the wait-list (ex.100 available seats) and assume that 10% of that number will come from the wait-list. So, if you are number 1-10 on the wait-list of 100 available seats, your chances of being enrolled in the course are quite good. If, you are number 23, or 40 on the wait-list for a course that has only 100 seats, the chances are fairly bleak you will be added.

When I found that I would be number 54 on the wait-list of a course that had only 80 available seats, I was very depressed and outraged. It was worse when I discovered that for some courses, I couldn't even add to the wait-list because it was full. This is what I would do to ensure I would get into a class I really needed:

1. Be sure to go to the first class meeting. You will be sure to encounter many other students that are in the same boat as you. Send the professor a brief e-mail explaining that you MUST take their course. Explain that you are a diligent student and will surely enjoy his/her course.

2. Go and talk with the professor face to face. Depending on the professor, he/she may work with you on getting you into the course even if you are 83 on the wait-list.

3. Even if the professor turns you down in front of everyone on the first day of class, go and visit them during their office hours. Having privacy with the professor may make them a bit more sympathetic towards your situation. I have found when professors are bombarded with students who need, need, need, they are far less likely to help you out.

4. Keep following up with the professor. Even if you are continually told no, you will be surprised when the professor gets tired of hearing from you each day during office hours and agrees to add you into the course.

5. If you have an upper-hand, such as being a senior, or a declared major, use that. Many times a professor will give seniors and declared majors priority on the wait-list.

If none of this works, you may want to contact the dean of your college. If you are one class away from graduating, I am sure your school will be able to make room for you in a course you desperately need. However, if you simply think it would be cool to take underwater basket weaving and many others have enrolled before you and filled up all the available spots, you may want to enroll in that course earlier the following semester.

BeWare of the "W."

A "W", or a withdraw from a course can actually make a difference in your transferring potential. Some people say that a "W" here and there on your transcript is insignificant, which I agree with. However, if you accumulate 3-4 "Ws" over the course of two years, you may have some explaining to do on your application.

A "W" signifies that you had to withdraw from a class fairly late into the semester. If you do not fully explain why you had to withdraw, it may look like you are a quitter to the admissions committee reviewing your application. Lets review some legitimate reasons why you may need to withdraw.

Throughout your community college career you are sure to enroll in classes that will not work for you; for whatever reasons. Perhaps you don't enjoy listening to the professor, the class time conflicts with your work schedule, or you decide the class expectations exceed your abilities. All of these reasons are legitimate for withdrawing from a course. Let us review some reasons that are not.

If you are taking a class with your friend, and they decide to withdraw, DO NOT withdraw just on this condition alone. If you decide sometime later in the semester that you don't "like" when the class is being held any longer, buckle down and move forward. Your course schedule will not always be ideal, but this is no reason to withdraw.

Withdrawing from a class should be used as a last resort. Again, a few won't really hurt you. But more than a few and you will draw negative attention to your application.

Common community college misconceptions.

Many people look down upon attending community college. Here are some common reasons people site when discouraging others from attending a community college.

1. Only losers go to community college.

2. Community college will take you longer to complete than going straight to a four-year college.

3. Going to a four-year University as a Freshmen is much better and more prestigious than going to community college.

4. It is hard to get classes at community college.

5. Professors don't care about their students at community college.

Let me be the first to tell you that all of the above reasons are completely untrue. Let me address each reason in turn.

1. While there are many students who are unmotivated at community college, the same is true at ANY four-year university. You will come across people who are only at a junior college to pass the time, but generally students are there to reach their ultimate academic goals.

2. You will stay at community college for as long as you want to stay there. If you apply yourself, and set goals, you can transfer to the school of your choice in two years. If you procrastinate while you are there, it will take you a long time to transfer.

3. Some people believe attending a four-year school straight from high school is more prestigious than transferring to a school later. I am not sure where this opinion comes from. Perhaps its the thought that transferring is a kind of loophole in the higher education system? At any rate, it is less than clear how being admitted as a Freshmen is more prestigious than transferring later.

4. Getting classes at community college can be a challenge if you do the following: forget to register for your classes. Register for your classes and then forget to pay, resulting in you being dropped from all of your classes. Lastly, not researching your classes before registering. Do your homework before the registration period and you will be fine.

5. Surely there are professors at community colleges who have mentally checked out and are only there to collect their tenured pay-check. However, you are sure to come across professors who have a sincere interest in their students. Show the slightest respect to your professors at your community college and they will be eager to help and assist you. Ask for help, and you will generally receive it. Professors at big four-year universities are far less likely to give you extra attention. Such professors have books to write, articles to publish and so on. Teaching for professors at big four-year schools plays a subsidiary role to everything else they are doing. I don't mean to say that there will not be professors who are great at four-year schools. I only want to suggest that professors are generally more available at community colleges.