Feature Article: 10 Tips for Getting Good (or Better) Grades
Special Feature: How College is Different from High School
Bonus Feature: Johnny Goes to College: Part II -- Applying to Colleges
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
The Career Doctor: Answering Your Questions
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
It's a special Back to Campus time in our family. I'm teaching full-time
at Stetson University for the first time in five years. Dr. Randall Hansen is
beginning his fourteenth year at Stetson. Our son John begins his freshman year at
Stetson, and our daughter Mary will attend community college.
At QuintZine, we have never used our subscription list for any mailing
other than to send subscribers this newsletter. Later this month,
we plan to make a one-time exception when we send you an announcement
of a fantastic offer for anyone purchasing a copy of a book that
comes out on Aug. 30. Those who purchase the book online
will be taken to a special Thank You page with
literally thousands of dollars worth of offers at
no cost. Trust me, I've seen the offers, and they are
incredible. However, if you would prefer not to receive this
special one-time mailing later this month, please let us know.
Whether or not you're headed back to campus, check out
our job portal.
--Katharine Hansen, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Electronic Career Coach,
and editor at
kathy@quintcareers.com
Feature Article: Getting Better Grades
10 Tips for Getting Good (or Better) Grades
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
As a college professor, I am often asked for my advice on how students can get
better grades. And after a couple of years of refining my ideas, I have developed
these 10 tips. And by the way, these tips will work for you -- whether you are a
first-year student or a senior, whether at a small college or a large university.
These tips are universal. So, if you are struggling with grades and interested in
raising your grade point average, take a close look at these
10 tips for getting better grades.
Special Feature: College vs. High School
How College is Different from High School
by Jennifer Klein and Alicia LaPolla
In the movie Old School, Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn start a fake fraternity just
so they can relive their college experience. To keep their status as a student organization,
they must excel in a wide range of tasks that prove they are true college students. They
master everything from academics to community service. Although the tale is just a movie,
and you shouldn't believe everything you hear, sometimes Hollywood gets a few things right.
College really is the best time of your life. It is a time to be involved in everything your
college or university will have to offer. When you reach your 30s, you will likely
look back at your college experience and wish you really could do it all over again.
College is a time when the "cool kids" disappear. Who you eat lunch with does not define you as
a person. There is no such thing as "un-cool." Welcome to college, where you are now
considered an adult.
Johnny Goes to College: Part II -- Applying to Colleges
by Katharine Hansen
Note: This is the second part of a multi-part series tracking the college plans of a
high-school student.
High-school senior John Fischetti, just three days from graduation when
we interviewed him, thought he would apply to 10 or more colleges when we
last talked to him at the end of his high-school junior year.
And then there is the Quint Careers Blog.
It consists of career and job-search news, trends,
and scoops for job-seekers, compiled by the staff
of Quintessential Careers.
The blog is a great way to stay posted on the most
recent events occurring in the career and employment fields.
InternJobs.com is a national database of internships for students and recent
grads. Job-seekers can search the internship database by keywords or locations and can post
a resume online.
The site also offers employer profiles articles and advice, and an eNewsletter.
Susan writes: "I'm an entering freshmen college student and I just read your article on first-year
success in college. I am going to a large public university where a large majority of my classes will
have over 100 students. How exactly do I get to know my professor? Do I just go in and introduce myself?"
Judy writes: "I'm in workforce development and am working with someone who was fired
from a bank for cashing a fraudulent cashiers check; she claims that it was not her fault.
I'm tending to believe her based on the whole story. How can she handle this in an interview when
asked why she was fired from the bank?"
Kats writes: "Please help me...I'm dazed on how to get into medical school. You see, I really want
to become a doctor, but unfortunately my parents do not have the means to send me to med school.
Instead, I took up a science-related courses hoping that I can somehow catch up with the pre-med
students. But I'm not happy with my current course. I have heard some pre-med students in our school
are dissuading other hopeful medical students to enter med school. Does a bachelor of science degree versus
a bachelor of
arts degree really matter when applying to med school? Would it be more advisable to take up
the B.S instead of B.A? Please help me. I really do appreciate an expert's opinion right now."
Anonymous writes: "I really need some advice... I tried to give two weeks' notice at work today,
and the boss got angry and then came to me with a list of all the things that he was going to do
to make my job easier.....Was I talking to a wall??
I'm 51 years old, my husband has MS and can't work. I qualified for college waivers and loans, and I now
have a chance to finally pull us out of the very LOW income bracket. I will make more money going to school
four hours a day, five days a week, and will be training for a rewarding career that will not involve being
on my feet constantly, nine hours a day.
My employers are of a different nationality. I feel like I'm being duped. I don't want to leave
with hard feelings. What is your take on this situation? It seems like I was actually talking to a wall..."
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
A growing breed of undergraduates on college campuses is the independent or "nontraditional" student, reports
Boston.com.
Public and private universities, many of which did little for these students in the past,
are scrambling to accommodate them because their numbers have become far too large to ignore. Broadly
defined as financially independent, working adults, nontraditional students age 25 and up now make up
38 percent of postsecondary enrollment, compared with 28 percent in 1970, according to US Department
of Education estimates. On many campuses, they have become the majority. Only about a quarter of the
nation's 14.9 million undergraduates fit the "traditional" mold of enrolling right out of high
school, attending full time, and relying on their parents' purse strings.
Lack of high-school standardization, grade inflation and the new "teaching from
the test" teacher mentality brought on by education reform incentive programs is causing
a "dumbing down" of higher education, according to college professors who teach entry-level general-education
courses. This is particularly true among those who teach science, math and writing classes.
Are high school graduation requirements and college board scores enough to ensure college
readiness among high school graduates?
According to a recent survey by CollegeGrad.com, 87 percent of college
students or recent grads would be willing to accept an internship at lower pay than other
jobs in order to gain resume experience.
With the increasingly competitive job market, students are searching for every edge to land
that first job. Internship experience can provide that edge. "Students should think of internships
as an investment in their career future," said Brian Krueger, president of CollegeGrad.com. "Not only can
internships provide students with recognized work experience in their field, but a successful internship
can be the ticket to locking down a job offer early in the final year of college."
The results of this survey show that entry-level job-seekers are willing to make that investment.
Students may find it unnerving to put financial ease on hold. But successfully completing internships
while working hard to make ends meet (picking up a second job if needed) can pay large dividends in
the future.
Many employers are looking for some type of real-world experience among their college recruits.
"Internships can be the single best differentiator in achieving job-search success," Krueger says.
"If you were a good employee, the opportunity often exists to work for
the company you interned with."
If your school, organization, business or other
entity has a Web site, we welcome you to link to Quintessential Careers.
If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* How to Build a Personal Advisory Board
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Trends/Tips in Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Noncompete Clauses
* Sticky Job Interview Situations
* Situational Interviews
* 10 Resume Tips
* Why Hire a Resume Writer?
* Is Your Resume Lost in the Internet Void?
* Career Activist Quiz
* Practice Career Management to Avoid Career Crisis
* The Changing Landscape of College Admissions
* Offbeat Ways to Pay for College
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-Seekers
* Baby Boomers Beware
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Quiz: Marketing Yourself
* Marketing Yourself with internal/External Promotions
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Converting a Seasonal Job to a Permanent Position
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Career, College, and Job-Search Book reviews
. . . and much, much more!
Don't ever want to miss another issue of QuintZine? Get a free subscription to
the email version of QuintZine by completing our
subscription form.
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Let Dr. Randall S. Hansen, The Career Doctor, help you work through all your college, career, and job-search concerns,
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A growing breed of undergraduates on college campuses is the independent or "nontraditional" student, reports
Boston.com.
