Should I Take a Gap Year?

Hi everyone and Happy May! I cannot believe that May is already here and 2016 is almost half way over! I hope you all had a great time making your college decisions as yesterday was the National Enrollment Deadline. Just remember as you plan for the coming months, don't focus on the could'ves and the should'ves, instead focus on the university you accepted admission to and the great experiences you want to have there!

In follow up to Malia Obama's news that she will be attending Harvard University in the Fall of 2017 after a gap year, I thought I would talk to you all about planning to take a gap year.

A gap year is the 12+ months between high school graduation and entrance into a college or university as an undergraduate. Oftentimes, students will take this gap in education as a time to travel, spend with family, or work a little to gain some extra cash. Especially if you are interested in doing a Rotary Exchange experience in a foreign country, you can do it between these years. But, here's the major question: Should I take a gap year?

The first thing you need to think about is if a gap year is actually going to benefit you in the long-run. Did high school exhaust you or did you do everything you could to get through the last four years of high school? If so, a gap year or even a gap semester may be a good idea. It gives you an opportunity to refocus and enjoy a break from testing and homework. Especially if you had an illness, whether physical or mental, that left you grasping to complete the school year, take the extra time to focus on yourself and becoming healthy again!

Next, you will want to check with the university's admissions and financial aid office to determine if deferring your admissions (saving your acceptance/place for next year's class) is a possibility. There may be deadlines or guidelines that they can provide you to make it an easier transition and decision-making process. They may also be able to help you with any credit courses or experiences you may complete during your gap year.

Third, you will want to see if it is financially feasible for you to take that gap year. If you are choosing to travel, you will want to double-check and make sure that you or your family will be able to pay for it. This will be time without a part-time job and without schooling, so the only thing you will gain is life experience. While invaluable, make sure you consider the financial ramifications. If you decide to use your gap year to work at home, make sure you are using that money to save for the future, as opposed to spending it frivolously while you live at home. No matter what though, when making your decision try to make the best financial decision for your future as well.

Lastly, it is necessary to recognize that your goals and future aspirations may change during your gap year. Especially if you are traveling or working, it may show you a new career path to pursue. Because of this, a result of your gap year could be needing to reapply for admission to another university for another program. While you can't plan on this happening, it is important to have that conversation with yourself and with your family that these new experiences could provide you with a new mindset and future plan!

Taking a gap year is a serious decision to consider, so it is important to weigh the options correctly and appropriately. Have conversations with your school counselor, your family, and your admissions counselors to see if it is feasible and to gain advice on what to pursue during that gap year!

Are you planning to take a gap year or are you wondering more about it? Comment below with your plans, thoughts, or questions! I'd love to hear about it!

enjoy the chase,

skylar

P.S. Follow me on Instagram at @skylarclapperton  to keep up-to-date on blog posts and new YouTube videos! 

Finding a Job On Campus

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great and productive week! I can't believe that we are already a week into February ... before we know it, it'll be Spring Break! Today I wanted to talk to you all about finding jobs on campus, whether you're a student there now or just getting ideas for the future!

I know for a lot of students, affording a college education is a challenge, so working through college is a must. Without a doubt, my suggestion is to find a job on campus. While it may be appealing to work at PacSun or Ulta for the employee discount, off campus employment opportunities won't always understand if you have academic commitments. By no means should it be your goal to call off of work ever, but assignments come up, things you need to be home for, and group projects all happen and usually a job at the college will understand and be able to work around your absence.

Now, the opportunities may change due to your university's rules on work study and the availability of student positions, but here are some places you can look to make some money while on campus!

Financial Aid - My first stop would be the Financial Aid Office because they may have leads on what offices are hiring or when there will be openings in the future. When I was a Sophomore, I went to the Financial Aid Office the first week of classes to see what offices needed a student worker and from there I was hired in the Admissions Office as a student phone caller and the rest is history! But seriously, the Financial Aid office should have a good idea about who is hiring and who is not!

Information Desk - This is a great opportunity to get paid to socialize and possibly do your homework, depending on your college. The Information Desk is where you provide information to visitors, lost students, or people who just want to know more about an event. It is usually in your college's Student Center. It is typically a pretty low-key job where you get to interact with new and different people and get paid to talk with them.

Dining Services - A major employer at any university for students is the dining hall and the catering services. Especially at larger universities who have a variety of dining establishments and host a lot of conferences and events throughout the year, working in dining services is a sure way to make some extra cash. They usually will have shifts available throughout the day working at a cash register/swipe machine, serving on the lines, preparing dishes, or waitressing at the on-campus diner. There is also the availability to work weekends, unlike most student jobs at universities.

Tour Guide - Being a tour guide might not be incredibly lucrative, but it does give you some good experiences and can open the door to other earning opportunities. If you plan on staying on campus during breaks and even over the summer, I would suggest looking into it because of that. If you are on campus during the summer, there's a possibility that you could give a tour every day, twice a day if there aren't any other tour guides on campus. You also get to work Open House events on the weekends which also opens up the door for more money!

Phonathon - Working for Alumni Relations/Development can have its perks! Yes, you have to call and ask people to donate to your college, but you also get to connect with alumni (sometimes prestigious ones) and you can learn even more about the history of your college. Making connections with alumni can be crucial for your post-college life, so why not find a job where you can network, talk about your love for your college, and get paid to do it?

The Library - Typically, libraries rely on students to put books back on their shelves, help students with their researching methods, and just keep a general watch of the library (especially at night and on weekends). This can be a fun job, especially if you like books, but it also offers an element of social interaction by getting to work with the students and faculty that come into the library looking for books, magazines and articles.

Offices - This is pretty normal, but you can always ask around different offices to see if they have spare hours or need an extra hand on certain days. Think about the Business Office, Registrar's Office, Faculty Offices, Academic Affairs Office, Student Affairs Offices ... etc. There are a lot of great opportunities to serve administrators and their secretaries so definitely look into it.

Career and Resident Assistants - Some colleges and universities hire student assistants in their Career Services Office to help with resume critiquing and practice interviews. They usually have an application process, but if it is something you are seriously interested in doing, look into it and see if the Career Services Office has any openings. Being a Resident Assistant is not very lucrative at all considering the amount of effort you put into it, but you also reap some great rewards too; room to yourself, leadership experience, great references, and oftentimes your room is paid for in addition to a stipend of some kind.  Disclaimer: Becoming a Resident Assistant is not for the faint of heart, it is a lot of work and you keep some weird hours and schedules, but it is also incredibly rewarding of an experience and can definitely help your wallet if you feel committed to helping students throughout college.

I hope these suggestions have helped spark some ideas for you about finding a job on campus! Working on campus is a great way to earn some extra money or offset your tuition bill, while still being integrated into your college community! And who knows ... it may lead to even more opportunities in the future!

enjoy the chase,

skylar

Tips for Filing the FAFSA

Hi everyone! Starting January 1st, you have been able to file your FAFSA eligibility, so I wanted to give you all my pointers on filling it out! Here is the web address: https://fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm and you just click on "Start a New FAFSA."

Now, I am not the best resource for filling out the FAFSA, I was incredibly lucky and my dad helped me the past 6 years to complete the FAFSA, so he's more of an expert than I am, but I thought I would give you my hints and tricks for making a somewhat stressful thing a little easier. Once you get the hang of it though, it is pretty easy and self-explanatory.

1. Make sure you have your parents' and your W-2 forms from your employers. All of the financial information is for the previous year, so if you are filling it out now or this month, you will want tax information from 2015. This makes it easier to fill out the financial information that is needed, such as taxable income and salary information. What's great is the FAFSA form tells you what lines on the W-2 the information can be found ... such a time-saver!!

2. Put all of the colleges/universities you plan on applying to on your FAFSA. In case your college enrollment plans change, this makes sure that all of the universities you are applying to have the financial information they need. This way, if you change your mind half way through the summer, the university still has all the financial information to create a financial aid packet for you!

3. If you have a specific question about the FAFSA form, then you can reach out to your university's Financial Aid office or you can call your state's department of education. I would suggest calling the university's Financial Aid office because they can give you more specifics on what they expect, what they need, and ways to handle different problems that arise.

4. When you create your account for the first time, make sure you write down everything for getting into your account. Since you only use it maybe three times a year, you will want to know all of the passwords, PINs, and hint questions in case something goes weird when you log in next. **Keep a folder/notebook dedicated chiefly to your Financial Aid letters and loan application paperwork.

This is my Financial  Aid notebook that I have used for undergrad and grad school! The booklet was given to us at my High School's Financial Aid Night and then we just used it continuously throughout the entirety of my schooling. I also keep all of my financial aid package information from undergrad in there, as well as, the information about my federal and private loans that I have.

5. If you think you have unusual circumstances that cannot be explained on the FAFSA, then set up an appointment to meet with the university's Financial Aid Office. If you can explain things like extra medical expenses or a parent's job loss, then it may help with the financial outcome for that university. At least it can't hurt you, if you talk with them!

6. Once you receive your financial aid packet, if you are unhappy with the end result, you can appeal it to the university. Each college has a different procedure and process, but most have this option. If they really want you at their institution, they will work hard to find some extra money or may give you a work study opportunity to help off-set the cost of tuition.

ONLINE RESOURCES:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out 

This is from FAFSA and if you've not attended a Financial Aid workshop at your high school, you'll want to read over it to get a better understanding of all the intriquate parts. 

https://www.estrellamountain.edu/students/financial-aid/tips

Estrella Mountain Community College has a really great article on tips and common mistakes that studens make when they complete their FAFSA. This is a great resource and I would read through it first before completing your FAFSA.

http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml

If your parents are divorced or you have a unique family arrangement, then you will want to check out these guidelines for completing the FAFSA. It includes which set of parents to use, if they remarried, and how to include specific financials, like child support money. 

I hope this has helped you all just a little bit with filling out your FAFSA. Like I said, I am not an expert, by no means, but these tips will make the process just a little bit easier!

enjoy the chase,

skylar

Wish I Knew Wednesday

"I wish I would have gone to state school for undergrad to save up for a really good Master's program. I got a really good undergrad education but it was insanely expensive and I really wish I had put that kind of money into a Master's instead."
Amanda R., 23, Abington, Massachusetts

So this is a tricky one, every student is different, every person's financial aid package is different, and everyone's goals are different. For example, I got a better financial aid package at my private college than I would have gotten at a state university because of my merit scholarship. However, most students would get a better "end number" at a state college because their financial aid would most likely stay the same, while the cost significantly decreases. Nonetheless, each student and each university is different, so it is important to compare the "end cost" of each institution.

One suggestion that this statement brings to mind is that you need to look at the bigger picture of what you want to do in the long run. If you want to become a teacher, doctor, lawyer, psychologist, dietitian, or many other careers, you're going to need a Master's degree or higher (M.D. for doctor and J.D. for lawyer). Because of this, you should plan in terms of finances for the next six to eight years as well. The thing about graduate programs is that they rarely offer scholarship opportunities that cover a great portion of your tuition and fees. Because of that, the primary way of paying for these programs is through federal and private loans. These loans can become a huge ring-up after six straight years of schooling and interest accruing. 

Because of all of these factors, it is necessary to look at the big picture of everything: which university are you going to get the education you want, the extra-curricular opportunities you want, the professional contacts you want, and the finances you want. You should ask yourself if you are decreasing the quality of your experience by attending a "less expensive option." 

Ultimately you need to find the institution that fits all of your short-term and long-term needs!

enjoy the chase,

skylar

P.S. Check us out on Twitter at @Chasing_College and feel free to add comments below with what you'd like to see in the future on the blog!