The effects of the current economic downturn are long reaching.  As families continue to cut costs and save money to make it through tough times, college students are turning to credit cards to help fund their college education.

According to a study released yesterday by Sallie Mae, eighty-four percent of undergraduates had a least one credit card (survey results are from spring of 2008) which is up from seventy-six percent in 2004.  Half of all college students have four or more credit cards at the time of the survey.

It appears college students are carrying more credit cards and higher balances as they use credit cards to pay for textbooks, computer costs, school supplies and tuition.  In addition to traditional expenses associated with college the highest ranked “other” expenses are food, clothing and cosmetics.

Like so many people, sixty percent of college students are surprised by how much money they owe.  This is a common reaction for individuals that use their credit card for day-to-day expenses without properly tracking the amount of money they have charged.  Parents are not footing the bill either, with 82% of college students paying their own bill each month.  Only 17% reported paying the balance in full each month which means a larger percentage of students are incurring finance charges each month.

As college costs continue to rise, more students are facing the daunting task of trying to pay their expenses and keep their credit history clean.  College seniors graduating in 2008 had on average $4,138 in credit card debt which is up 44% from the 2004 study.  This situation will likely continue to get worse as private lenders are less inclined to loan money during the current economic climate which has certainly only worsened since the time this data was collected.  This can potentially result in college students paying even more for their education once you tack on interest rates and the high cost of graduating college with credit card debt.

So what advice is out there for college students who want to avoid the credit card debt trap?  Start by having a budget and sticking to it.  If you are racking up charges on your credit card you must know how much you are spending and on what, as well as how much money you have coming in to pay these expenses.   Once you have this information you can review your expenses and look for ways to cut costs or eliminate needless spending.  It may seem like a bit of a sacrifice today but in reality you are preventing years of financial struggle by keeping your debt under control.

College students are adults and like all other adults, struggling with high interest credit card debt limits your ability to reach your financial goals.  The best way to avoid this is by using your credit card responsibly, paying off your balance each month and living within (or below) your means.

Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DepositAccounts.com where you can compare rates of deposit accounts from dozens of banks in one place.  Trisha also writes regularly on the topics of personal finance and savings accounts.

Anyway, while meandering around campus I found myself quite amused by the drunkeness. I personally witnessed a girl get forcefully chased down and grabbed by an Illinois State Tropper because she had a beer in her hand. She was taken to the front seat of the police car and after about 20 minutes of pure hilarity she was let go with what looked to be some type of ticket in her hand.

Also while walking back from the heart of campus I walked past a university cop giving two punks public intoxication tickets for having beers on them. (Can these people be any dumber?)

Actually, it seems so, according to the Daily Illini, some genius attempted to climb from a second to third story balcony. Well, the railing gave way and he met the pavement. No word on his condition, though.

I was speaking about bag searching earlier today, and here is picture proof:

My apologies for not getting any original and hilarious pics up – I can’t locate my digital camera atm. Nonetheless, here is one (from today) from our daily newspaper.

Photo credits: http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2009/03/06/News/Students.Visitors.Get.Early.Start.On.Unofficial-3663627.shtml & http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2009/03/06/News/Cochrane.Says.Unofficial.Is.Bigger.Than.He.Intended-3663243.shtml

Usually at 8:40am, when I leave for my first class on Fridays the campus is dead and there isn’t but a few souls scuttling to class. Not so on Unofficial. Campus was hopping with hordes of drunk students in green shirts invading the sidewalks, streets, and quad. Loud music is bombarding you from every apartment and frat house, even including a few dorms this year. Girls are walking around in skimpy shorts and tube socks, and absolutely everyone is wearing green. It’s a sight to see.

Also spreading like the plague is the amount of police officers and security personnel. City of Champaign patty wagons and driving around just to remind everyone of the great pleasure of a $300 drinking ticket + community service time if caught wasted.

The security people are actually checking backpacks and purses for alcohol at the entrance to lecture halls. They’re even going as far as sniffing “water” bottles to see if there is other clear substances inside.

The publicity UoI has been receiving from Unofficial the past couple years isn’t making the administration happy, and they’re finally doing something about it.

Note: I will try to get a few entertaining pics later in the day / at night.

Photo credit: http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2007/02/20/News/Chancellor.Tightens.Regulations.On.Unofficial-2729924.shtml

Over the last few years of this unruly celebration, students have been caught in class with handles, fifths, 40’s, you name it. The recreation center becomes a dangerous place to be, and cops crawl every inch of the campus. It’s getting so out of control that even the Chicago Trib is reporting on unofficial.

Google “unofficial st Patrick’s day” and you’ll see UoI results everywhere.

At my dorm, bag searches began today (the day before Unofficial), and surprisingly (or not?) a handful of students got caught attempting to smuggle in alcohol. All I have to say is that I hope they enjoy their community service and another other repercussions of their actions.

The “more intelligent ones” are planning to party at nearby apartments and other non-University affiliate residences.

In just 7 or so hours the craziness will begin, and I’ll keep you updated on the interesting highlights throughout the day.

College Cost Inflation vs. General US Inflation

The graph above plots the year to year inflation of college costs (blue) in comparison to general United States year to year inflation. As you can see from the data, college tuition is about double general tuition for any given point.

Without spewing economics jargon at you, this means that the cost of college rises double in comparison to most other goods. If the price of a banana rose about 3% from 2004 to 2005, college tuition would rise about 6%. When you add in the current economic situation, you can see that this statistic is quite alarming, and many students will be prevented from going to their top choice solely to due costs, and that is a truly shame.

The Average Family’s Response

You’re probably wondering how this is affecting the whole college scene, including applications, admissions, and the short-run future of costs.

Applications

The most immediate affect that has already been observed and reported on by the NY Times is the surge of applicants to public schools (most notably state universities). State schools are by in large much less expensive than private colleges, and families are bargain shopping. It seems like the blissful “I won’t worry about college costs until after I graduate” bubble is finally starting to pop. I’ve been predicting this for quite a while, and it is finally coming  around. And while this is unfortunate, its been long over due and I hope it makes schools cut costs and become more reasonable (although that’s not likely for a while).

Another major affect of this economic bubble bursting is the surge of students planning to attend community colleges. MSNBC is reporting that community colleges are seeing a 12-13% applicant increase from year to year. This is because everyone is being told that they need to go to college; however, many families are strapped for cash. Note that community college saves 100% of the room and board costs, and is also a much lower tuition cost.

Admissions

With the increased demand to public and state schools, it is only natural that admissions are going to get more competitive. Schools are going to have a larger pool of applicants to select from, and can therefore be more choosy in who they accept. On the other hand, private schools may have to loosen up their criteria a bit in order to attract a larger crowd.

Note: Ivy league schools really aren’t going to be loosening their constraints any. Sorry to any longer-shot hopefuls!

Predicted Costs

Unfortunately, costs aren’t going to be heading south for the foreseeable future. Unless we see some sort of horrific economic collapse, prices are only to continue to rise.

The only upside I can foresee is that colleges may begin to decease their year to year increase. (For example, instead of raising costs $500 / year, they cut back to $300). In relating this back to the graph at the beginning of the post, I am hoping that the college tuition inflation line (blue) moves down closer to (if not equal or under!) the general United States inflation line (pink).

What Can You Do?

If you really want to take drastic action, send a letter to your congressman or to the universities you are applying to. Sitting and handing over money isn’t going to change anything. Your other option is to just ride it out. As mentioned previously, you can attend a community college for two years, but I must warn you, more and more 4 year institutions are not accepting community 2 year college credit. You can read more on that in the beginning your college search post of mine.

Additionally, you can get a part time job, work every extended school break, and even make a few bucks online (beware on this last one – there are scams everywhere). If you want some more information on making some real money online, please contact me and I would be glad to lend a hand.

Remember: Blissfully taking out loans and graduating $100,000+ in debt isn’t the answer! Make sure to take action early, the money goes fast when you’re in school.

As always, please drop me a comment below! I know you have valuable insight to contribute. I would also be very interested in hearing about how this economic situation has affected you and your college search / selection.

College tuition inflation vs. general USA inflation graph credit: http://www.finaid.org/savings/tuition-inflation.phtml

My apologies for not updating in QUITE a while, life has been pretty crazy. Nonetheless, I’m back and as a beginning gesture I completely revamped the theme and more changes will be coming. Please bear with me!

I should be coming out with video posts soon that will allow me to interact with everybody on a whole new level. Also, forums will eventually be added down the line once I obtain the necessary readership! To speed the process up, please tell your friends, family, dog, and cat about me. Also, please subscribe to the blog either by email or your favorite RSS / atom feed (if you don’t know what that means, choose the email option!)

Once again, thanks for hanging with me and buckle up for the ride ahead!

The Common Application (Common App) is quite a useful tool in your college admission process. It allows you to apply to 315 colleges with the use of only 1 application. That means instead of writing 315+ different essays, its 1 or 2.

In my opinion, all colleges should adopt to one universal application such as the Common App. If each school would like one separate, unique, and short answer essay, I would classify that as ok also. However, the current college application system is crazy! If it wasn’t so nuts, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog anyway!

The list of the 315 colleges that accept the Common App can be found here. In order for a college to be accepted into the Common App group of schools, they must give equal treatment to those using the Common App, as opposed to the “standard” application process. Hopefully these schools are actually doing so…

Some schools are actually using the Common Application as their ONLY form of application. The list of these schools can be found here. Included in this list is Northwestern, Yale, and Rice University. Hopefully colleges continue to follow the path being trail blazed by these powerhouse schools.

College Finances

Next post I will start my section on financing the rising cost of college. I will offer real-life experiences from someone who has (very) recently been there!

If you are simply wondering how important your admissions essays are in regards to the holistic application process, please read my last post.

Also as stated in my last post, I will not be going into minute detail about writing your essays. However, I will offer personalized assistance if contacted.

Topic

From my knowledge and previous experience, a topic or general prompt will be provided. It is much more difficult for college admissions staff to compare and judge completely dissimilar essays than it is similar essays.

If a prompt is not specific, write about something you feel comfortable and knowledgeable about. Also, think of what admissions personnel is looking for. This often includes leadership demonstration, work or volunteer experience, and/or an activity relating to your field of study. I would not recommend writing on the subject of academia, as your GPA, class rank, and test scores fill that area.

Where Do I Start?

Anywhere! The most difficult portions of essays is often the introduction and conclusion. Once you have your ideas on paper (or your screen), it is much easier to manipulate your existing ideas to form a solid, logical paper.

I often have 10 to 20 “mini” paragraphs, which I then form into larger portions and, finally, a cohesive essay.

Writing Tips

• Don’t Be Boring!
  • The college admissions staff reads thousands of papers per day. Your admissions essay is not the place to be mundane and typical. Especially if you are on the border (GPA, class rank, and test score wise), your essay must be extremely effective and exciting.
  • If you can write about an emotional experience, may it be saddening, frightening, or action-packed, please do so! It will capture the readers attention and give your paper longer than the average minute or two.
  • Convey your feelings to the reader! If you were crying tears of joy, your goal should be to have the admissions reader excited and jumping out of their chair!
• Style
  • As stated in my previous post, have your own style. You have been writing for about 10 years now, and you should have a definitive, catchy style to your writing. Vary sentence structure and word choice.
  • On the note of word choice: Your essay should not be the annual gathering of large words! Don’t hear me wrong, whenever I am writing an essay, I always have thesaurus up. They are great to find the word on the tip of your tongue or just to add some variety.
    • On a side note, my favorite are MSN Thesaurus and Thesaurus.com. They both offer a different variety of word choices.
  • More is not always better. Be concise and to the point. Wordiness can cause boredom and lose attention of your reader.
• Follow The Prompt
  • Answer the darn question! Don’t ramble on and write an autobiography if the question is “How will ___ College help fulfill your dreams?”
• Get Assistance
  • It is highly encouraged that you ask for a read over from, at minimum, your parents and siblings. Having a teacher or other mentor give their input can also be quite helpful.
  • Although I have not personally used an essay service, many applicants are using them to receive (what some argue) is an unfair advantage. Personally, I had three high school teachers and my mother read my essays. I was accepted to the University of Illinois, so I must have done something right…
    • If you insist on having a professional opinion, or want that extra advantage. I have heard EssayEdge.com
      does a bang-up job. The founder, Geoffrey Cook, also wrote Yahoo’s article on admissions essays.
  • You can never have too many opinions! If you don’t agree with what someone suggests, even after an explanation, just smile, nod, and ditch their suggestion!
• Don’t Panic
  • Take your time, and get ideas on paper. Like I stated earlier, it does not matter what order or way the information is lied out. Just get it on paper, and your life will become much easier!
  • Walk away from your essay and come back in a couple hours or a couple days, depending on your time constraint.
  • Don’t wait till the last minute! Get a jump start and work on your essays longer than your competition (other applicants!).
• Be an AppliCAN, Not an AppliCAN’T!
  • As cheesy as this sounds, I know many peers of mine didn’t apply themselves, get good grades, apply to top schools, and write solid essays. All because they where not confidant and saw themselves as appliCAN’Ts! You are reading this blog, and by doing so, you are becoming an appliCAN!

The End of Admissions (Kind Of)

This is my final post on “how to” admissions for quite a while. My next post will be on the Common Application, which will officially conclude the admissions series.

As the name suggests, admissions essays are one of many criteria that colleges use to accept or deny applicants.

Many colleges require a “personal statement” and a “professional statement.”

Personal Statement

The personal admissions essay often includes your interests, hobbies, and non-vocational goals. This often includes experiences and activities such as clubs and community service.

Professional Statement

Professional essays are usually based off the question, “What are your career goals?” or, “Where do you see yourself in 10, 15, or 20 years?” The specific institution will often also ask, “How do you see ___ College fitting into your professional goals?”

Do Admissions Essays Matter?

I am quite torn what it comes to answering this question. I would have to say, yes and no.

If you write complete bogus or use terrible grammar, your admissions essays will hurt you!

However, if you write solid, factual, and grammatically correct essays, I do believe that these essays cannot hurt you. Although I say that they cannot hurt you, I do not necessarily believe they will greatly strengthen your chances of acceptance. Colleges would much rather see a 4.0, 30 ACT with mediocre essays, than a 3.65, 26 ACT and exceptional essays.

Advice & Tips

As one who has undergone the tedious essay writing process, I will throw up a post on the most effective, productive, and influential way to write admissions essays. No, I will NOT be going into exquisite detail on how to write your essay. If you are reading this, you are already quite intelligent and probably have your own writing style.

That said, if anyone would like to send me their essay or like some assistance above and beyond my posts, I would be more than happy to help in any way I can.