Posts Tagged ‘college student summer’

Online Courses: Build a Better College Resume and Improve Your College Application without Leaving Home

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

High School students in their pajamas can enhance their college applications.
 
Colleges love to see that a high school student has taken online courses even if no credit is awarded for the course.   Online courses help your student demonstrate they can do college-level work and show their motivation to learn beyond basic curriculum requirements. By taking online courses, students can also explore interests in a particular profession or field of study. Students can also opt to take online classes that can earn them college credit.
 
Below we’ve listed some courses that can be taken online for credit and no credit. Some are free, some aren’t. This is not a comprehensive list, but a mere sampling.
 
Free online college courses for no credit:
 
Coursera
Coursera offers courses from the top universities, for free to everyone. Current courses come from Princeton University, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University of Pennsylvania. Courses range from the maths and sciences to poetry and world music.
 
edX
Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are teaming up to offer free, online, college-level courses under a joint superbrand known as edX. MIT currently offers web-based courses featuring discussion forums, short videos, and laboratory simulations, all under the guidance of MIT professors and teaching assistants. Harvard plans to officially announce its first courses in the summer and begin offering the courses in the fall.
 
Open courseware at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins is a respected medical school offering a selection of popular courses which would be of particular interest to students who plan to study medicine, or a related field.

Udacity
Udacity offers a variety of free online courses and students can sign up at any time. Currently all the courses being offered are computer related, and include: Building a Search Engine, Web Application Engineering, Applied Cryptography and Programming a Robotic Car.
 
Online college courses for credit:
 
Colleges offer independent study online courses that can be taken any time, any place for credit. They also offer a selection of online cohort courses that follow the semester calendar.

California State University
 
Miami Dade College
 
University of Texas
 
 
Online pre-college courses, some for credit and some not
 
Brown University (not for credit)
Students can demonstrate they can do Ivy League level academic work.
 
Northwestern College (for credit)
This is a college in Minnesota, not Northwestern University.
 
Oregon State University (for credit)
Through OSU’s Extended Campus, you can choose from over 40 college classes in subjects like Calculus, Art, German, Philosophy, Wildlife Conservation, Women Studies and Atmospheric Sciences.

Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science (not for credit)
Provides students with university-level online courses in mathematics and computer science.

Contact International College Counselors
If you have questions on online courses, credit transfer or college applications and are a client of International College Counselors, please contact our expert college advisors at www.internationalcollegecounselors.com

Make Summer Count

Monday, March 26th, 2012

High school students who want to shine on their college applications should consider the summer an ideal time to add some resume gold.

Contrary to popular belief, a student doesn’t need to build wells in Costa Rica, said college counselors at International College Counselors. There are many choices of summer activities that raise the APA (application point average).

“While there’s nothing wrong with a little down time, high school students with college aspirations should use the break to enhance their college applications,” said Mandee Heller Adler, founder of International College Counselors. Summer is coming up fast so here are some ideas for high schools students to make the most of the summer.

Enrichment Camp

There are hundreds of different summer enrichment programs, from the local to the international and, between them all, they offer thousands of opportunities. There are recreational camps, athletic camps, academic programs, volunteer programs, internships programs, and more. Some come with the opportunity to earn college credit. A number of programs give high school students the taste of life on a college campus.

Great summer job or internship

“Summer jobs and internships are great ways to gain valuable real-world experience,” said expert college advisor Adler. “In a tight job market like the one we’re experiencing now, your best bet may be the internship.”

An internship is unpaid (or token payment) work experience that provides students with an opportunity to gain experience in a field of interest. What isn’t gained in cash, is gained in experience, friends, and networking connections. Think of it as a summer course. With persistence and luck, you can even land an internship in a dream career.

Volunteering

It can be profitable to work for nothing. You can make a difference, gain experience make networking connections, and explore interests. For example, if you’re interested in a career in medicine, you can volunteer at a hospital or nursing home. The choices are endless and the hard work and time can pay off. Colleges and scholarship funds truly adore students who can demonstrate that they make the effort to help others. Then there’s always the fact that doing good is a wonderful reason to volunteer in itself.

Virtual Class or Dual Enrollment

Virtual classes and dual enrollment programs offer students a chance to explore something new. Both can help save time and money if you take classes that count both for high school credit and college credit. Depending on your school, the credit may reduce your course load per term or even allow you to graduate early.

For help from an experienced college advisor, please contact the expert college counselors at the Miami based International College Counselors of http://www.internationalcollegecounselors.com

International College Counselors
(954) 414-9986

About International College Counselors
International College Counselors is a Miami-based company that provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications. The college admissions counselors at International College Counselors work with domestic and international students. International College Counselors, founded by Mandee Heller Adler, tailors college counseling and college coaching services to address the goals, needs, and dreams of each student.

International College Counselors has seven offices in three countries.

College Advice for Summer Savings and Scholarships

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

 In this economy, it’s understandable that high school students are looking for jobs. As an alternative, if students can’t find a way to earn money, summer can be used to save money. Picking the right summer activities can equal money in the form of a scholarship or big savings at your student’s school of choice. 
 
Through the dual enrollment program, students can take classes at a local college- free of charge. Dual enrollment allows high school students to earn postsecondary credit toward a career and technical certificate, an associate degree, or a baccalaureate degree. That saves money for a summer activity, and when it comes to paying for college!   Depending on your student’s major, classes in this category may include: languages, maths, sciences and English.  The college credit earned can also be applied to most schools students eventually attend.  This will save them (and you) the cost of the class they took.  

Going further, certain scholarships are available for students who show high interest in pursuing certain careers. By using the summer to take a qualified interest to a higher level, your student may become eligible for these scholarships. Taking classes at a local community college or school can also show colleges a deep interest in a particular scholarly area that may make your student eligible for school scholarships.

If you have any other college questions, I’d be happy to answer them. Please write me here or at my personal email which can be found on my website.

Mandee Heller Adler, Founder and Principal of International College Counselors
www.internationalcollegecounselors.com 

International College Counselors
3107 Stirling Road, Suite 208
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33312 USA
(954) 414-9986

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