When in college, we often realize right from the beginning how many papers we’re going to be writing.  Writing papers, typing up notes, etc is all much easier if you can improve your typing.  A lot of students wish they could improve their typing skills, and become a faster typer.  It takes time, but there are a few things you can do if you are currently poor at typing!  Improve your skills today by consider a few of these tips.

Familiarize – First of all, you want to familiarize yourself with the keyboard.  Try to memorize where the majority of the keys are.  If you can do this, you will have a much better sense of where the keys are when you’re looking for them.

Activities – If you consider trying things like AIM, and just spending a few hours on the Internet, you will also improve your typing skills.  Download AIM, find out what your friends screen names are, and type/talk away.  Doing this for a little bit each day will really help you out!

Hour a day- If you’re really looking to become a better typer fast, be sure to spend an hour a day just typing.  Get a book, and try to type exactly what the book says.  Try looking at the keyboard, and then try not looking.

Notes – When in class, if you have a laptop, try to type out your notes instead of writing them.  This is another good way to soak up the lecture notes, and is also good practice at the same time.

Software – If these aren’t working for you, consider getting a software that will help you.  Software like Mavis Beacon is something a lot of people try, and practice before they become a great typer.  It is a fun way of practicing, and can improve your typing in just one day!

Becoming a good typer takes a while, a lot of practice, and is something you need to continue doing before you forget what you already know.  So, if you’re looking to improve your typing skills starting today, be sure to consider a few of these tips!

We all have different dreams and mindsets when we think of college.  Some of us want to go to a private school, while others just want to commute at a community college.  We all want different things, and sometimes that even means going to college out of state.  A lot of students do this each year, but that doesn’t mean it’s for you.  Going to college out of state is a big decision, so before you make one, consider these pros and cons!

Pros:

• We get to explore a whole new state.
• We get the opportunity to not only explore a new state, but to live in one.
• It may help you grow up more, gain responsibility, and see what the real world is like.
• You can make all new friends that you never would have if you stayed home.
• This is a chance of a lifetime.
• You will have an amazing story to tell when you graduate.
• You may like the state so much, you decide to move there when you graduate.

Cons:

• You will be far away from friends and family.
• You may not know anyone when you first attend the college.
• You will have all new surroundings (although that’s not always a bad thing.)
• You will have to learn all about a new state.
• You can’t just come home in a few minutes, but instead more likely hours if not days.
• Once you’re there, if you don’t like it you will need to finish at least a semester.
• It may take a while to get used to, or maybe you never will.

Going to college out of state is something you should do if you’ve always dreamt of it.  If you just thought of the idea, and you’re a person that gets homesick easily, it may not be for you.  Although, you never know until you try.  If you’re unsure, really think about it, and go over these pros and cons, and wait awhile until you make your final decision.

We start thinking about college early in high school.  We realize how many colleges there are to choose from, what we want to major in, and if we want to stay in state or attend college out of state.  There are several options, and possibilities, but it’s important to think about what is best for you.  Not to mention, there is the choice to go to a public college or a private college.  If you’re thinking about considering a private college, check out what the top 10 private colleges are listed below.

1. Princeton University – Although the price of this college per year is outrageous, it is the number one private college.  You must have some pretty good grades, factoring in that only 10% of the students that apply get accepted.
2. California Institute of Technology – This is a smaller college since class sizes are around 230 people per year.  This is another tough college to get into, 17% of students get accepted.
3. Harvard University – We all know about Harvard.  This is one of the best schools in the world!  The acceptance rate is just a slim 9%!
4. Swarthmore College – If you’ve never heard of this college, it is in Pennsylvania, and it’s known as the #4 private college!  It’s acceptance rate is a higher percentage being 18%
5. Williams College – Williams comes in number 5, and has an acceptance rate of 18.5%.
6. Amherst College – Another great school, yet another costly price of $48,353 per year.  To get accepted, you must be in the 18%.
7. Wellesley College – If you’re looking for a better shot to get accepted, be sure to consider this college!  It has an acceptance rate of %35!
8. Yale University - This college costs around $50,350/year and has an acceptance rate of 10%.
9. Columbia University – At almost $50,000 a year, you have a 8.68% of getting into this college.
10. Northwestern University – Lastly, we have Northwestern which is another larger private college.  The acceptance rate on this is a little higher compared to the others being 27%.

As you can see, there are some great colleges out there!  Private colleges are great colleges, they just happen to be a little more expensive most of the time.  Although, if you’ve studied hard all your life, and you want to make it happen, do good on your testing, and get accepted into one of these top 10!

Do you need a cell phone for this upcoming college year, or are you going to upgrade your phone?  With so many phones on the market, it’s hard to choose one, and since every carrier like ATT, and Verizon offer inclusive deals, you may find a phone you like, but it’s only exclusive to one company like the IPhone.  Regardless, here are some of the phones that you should consider when you’re looking for a new one.

Samsung Eternity a867: The Samsung Eternity is a black, and chrome phone bringing you a very large vivid 3.2 inch touchscreen.  This 3G enable phone comes with the AT&T navigator, mobile music, video share, and more.  If that’s enough, you’re going to get a 3.2 mega-pixel camera, and you’ll be able to talk up to 5 hours and have 240 hours of standby time.

BlackBerry Curve 8900: This newer BlackBerry model has just about anything you can think of.  It has the lightest, sleekest, and the thinnest full QWERTY keyboard.  It comes equipped with a 3.2 mega-pixel digital camera, hands-free communication, and stereo music streaming.  You can chat for up to 5.5 hours, and it has 360 hours worth of standby time.

LG Dare VX9700: The Dare comes equipped with a 3 inch touchscreen, with handwriting recognition.  Access Verizon’s music and video service via their very fast EV-DO data network.  The Dare comes equipped with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera, blue-tooth stereo streaming, as well as a MicroSD compatible up to 8GB.

T-Mobile G1 Phone with Google: The T1 is one of the first phones to equip Google’s new Android operating system.  Network with wi-fi, blue-tooth with hands-free calls, as well as a 3 mega-pixel camera.  Get up to 5 hours of talk time, and 130 hours of standby time.

Apple IPhone: You’ve heard of this phone day, after day, and it’s an amazing phone.  Choose from thousands of apps that can keep you entertained, and help you with school.  Be sure to check out a post I made a while back talking about the top IPhone applications for students.    The IPhone comes equipped with a 3 mega-pixel camera, touchscreen, video recording, and so much more.  Ask a friend that has one, and see what he/she thinks!

The economy is rough in today’s world, but that shouldn’t stop you from finding a job.  If you have an education, you already have an upper hand on many of the people that are out there looking for work.  If you sit back, and look at the people who are looking for work, they are the ones that have come off of $40 a hour job doing factory work.  These are the same people that will want $40 a hour without a college education.

So, what if you have an education, and you want a job.  How do you stand out at a college job fair?

Research the job fairs in your area

The first thing that you want to do is explore the job fairs in your area.  You may find out that some of them aren’t going to interest you.  Some job fairs are only catered to particular groups.  For example, you may find that one job fair is for those looking for airline based jobs.

Look at what you’re going to wear

Instead of dressing like everyone else, wear something nice, but stand out.  You want people to remember you by what you wear.  You can dress in a suit, but wear a lighter color.  Also, consider wearing a little pin on your jacket.  You don’t want to over do it, but you don’t want to blend in with the crowd either.

Your resume needs to be great

If you’re not good with writing resumes, you may want to consider a professional service, but if you’re good at writing them, make sure that a few other eyes read it over as well.  They may find errors that you didn’t notice.  Your appearance, as well as your resume needs to stand out as well.  Refer to this great About.com article if you want more information on how to create a fantastic resume.

Make sure you can get the position

Don’t go out there, and apply for every position known to man.  You’re going to just tick off the employer ,and they may blacklist your from future jobs.  Look for the jobs that you can do, and you know you can do, and apply for them.  If you meet the qualifications, and you have a killer interview, you can almost consider the job yours.

Know what you’re going to say

Just like what you’re going to wear, know what you’re going to say.  Don’t be afraid if you say the same thing to every employer.  Practice something that’s unique, and effective.  You don’t want to be cocky, but rather friendly.  Ask questions, and don’t be desperate.

If you can accomplish and attack all of these tasks, you can take job hunting to a whole another level.  Don’t forget to also submit you resumes online, while not attending job fairs.  Services like ResumeRabbit will do all the dirty work for you!  Jobs are always out there, so be motivated, and find that dream job today.