Helpful College Advice to Guide You Through Graduation

Guess what? You’re headed to college or maybe you’re already in college! And by college I mean any type of formal education or training after high school. Be ready, because you’re headed to what will be the some of the most important years you can spend in one place. During the next 3, 4, or so years you will learn a lot and if you are not careful there will be even more you will miss out on learning.

The advice given here is pretty straightforward and it’s the same advice I would give to my younger siblings. I am going to try to offer some college advice and tips to help you be successful in the next few years so you won’t end up in debt and lost in the real world. And don’t worry if you’re already experiencing either or both of these, because I did and I am living proof that you can overcome and triumph! So let’s get to it, because I know how eager you are to get back to studying and doing homework, right?

Planning for College

First, we have to plan for college. And in this section we’re going to cover the top 5 strategies when planning for college:

GPA
Extracurricular Activities
SAT/ACT Scores
Financial Planning for College
What to Consider When Choosing Colleges

GPA

Also known as your grade point average. The average letter grades you earn in school based on a 0 to 4.0 or 5.0 scale. I’m bringing up the GPA first, because this number determines whether or not you graduate from high school. According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, “79 percent of colleges reporting grades are of ‘considerable importance’ in the admission decision”, so yeah your GPA matters!

Clubs and Sports

Getting involved is so important that I recommend my students try to get involved with at least 4-5 clubs and/or sports throughout high school and hold leadership positions in at least 2 of them. This could mean you’re the Secretary in Spanish Club and Vice President in Beta Club. The point is that you get involved in the extracurricular activities your school or organizations outside of school have to offer as early as your freshmen year. This way you develop skills and traits that will benefit you as a human and when it comes time to apply for college you will have a bunch of experiences and accomplishments to fill out on the “what did you do” section on the applications.

SAT/ACT

Next to your GPA, your SAT/ACT score is another grade that will have a big impact on getting into most colleges. I say most, because now there are over 1,000 colleges that do not require an SAT/ACT score. However, this is where your GPA plays a big role and how involved you were (see the first subjects above) if you decide to go to a college that does.

I still recommend you take the SAT or ACT and the best time to take this test is in your junior year of high school. Why should you take this test so early? Well, it’s not really early as I remember taking the SAT early in my second semester of my junior year. I did well on the test, but thankfully I allowed myself plenty of time to study more and take the exam a couple of more times to get a higher score. So take your first SAT or ACT test sometime during your junior year in high school. This way you will have time to review and study to do better a second or third time.

Financial Planning for College

I came from a family that did not have a lot of money to send me through college to and graduate debt free. In retrospect one of my biggest regrets was not taking advantage of a more affordable education at a community college and then transferring to the school of my dreams to complete a 4 year degree. Pay attention to this next statement: STAY AWAY FROM STUDENT LOANS. Hopefully that wasn’t understated. I want you to understand that there are so many avenues to graduate college debt free that you should never have to feel like you “need” to take a student loan. This is why I bring up the topic of scholarships. You have to realize there are millions of dollars in scholarships that go unclaimed and you have no excuse!

So what do you do? Go check out three websites: fastweb.com, scholarship.com and myscholly.com. You have to understand that your full-time job during your senior year of high school is to apply to hundreds and hundreds of scholarships. Better yet, apply to a minimum of 500 scholarships. Even if you only get a handful of let’s say 30-40 scholarships averaging about $500 each, that’s $15,000-$20,000 right there! Do you get my point? This is possible and I recommend this be your first avenue for handling your financial responsibility for college. Here are links to the sites that can help you apply for scholarships and the rates for membership:

http://www.fastweb.com/ (free membership)
https://www.scholarships.com/ (free membership)
https://myscholly.com/ ($2.99/mo subscription)

Now you’re probably wondering what happens if you don’t get any scholarships…what do you do? Well, see the next and final strategy in getting into college that I would say is just as important as your GPA: college choice.

Choosing College

I am going to give you the same advice I give to everyone I talk to: choose a college you can afford without student loans. Plain and simple. I get it, you want to go to the college your friends are going to, the college with an awesome football program, the college with a really cool fountain in the middle of campus, but none of those things will help you pay for your college education and build a future of prosperity for you. And so I will repeat loud and clear, CHOOSE A COLLEGE YOU CAN AFFORD.

CHOOSE A COLLEGE YOU CAN AFFORD.

Also, the majority of us don’t really know what we want to do until the 3rd of 4th year of college so it doesn’t make “cents” for you to have to pay so much money on education when you can be saving that money while worrying less about the finances. And at the same time you will free yourself to think about what you want to do and believe me you will be so much further along than if you did choose a more expensive route that led you to take on student loans.

When you are prepared to transfer to whatever college/university you always wanted to go, you will have completed so many of your courses that you are in a better position than half the people your age. Believe me, not everyone I entered Georgia Tech with made it past the first year and even more never made it to graduation. Be smart and choose the affordable path when planning out your college career.

Final Advice for Future College Students

College is all about the choices you make. The path you create for yourself in these next few years is established on a group of decisions that you must be educated on. And so here I list out 10 choices you can and can’t make in college:

10 Choices You Can and Can’t Make

Say NO to student loans.
Say NO to credit cards.
Say YES to goals.
Say YES to the library.
Say YES to extracurricular activities.
Say YES to study abroad.
Say YES to co-ops/internships.
Say YES to saving.
Say YES to career fairs and networking.
Say YES to graduating.

College Freshman Advice

Welcome to the first day of the first year of college. Whether you find yourself at a private institution or community college, I hope you’re beginning this journey without the assistance of student loans. If you did not check out the “Planning 4 College” section of this post then you need to go back up and read the information provided there. Your 4-year college education should not be something you have to go into debt for.

During your freshman year of college you are going to meet new people, think in new, different ways and explore parts of your life you never had before. I loved my college experience and though I made plenty of mistakes I enjoyed the process of growing in a higher institution of learning. The only problem with college was that it wasn’t a higher institution of preparation for life after college. Maybe that’s changed in more recent years, but many of us who graduated college in 2009 were not prepared for the responsibility that was waiting for us right after our graduation ceremony.

And so I’m here telling you in your first year of college to pay attention to this advice and the advice of the people I reference throughout Habesha Finance, because you need to make the right choices in these next 4-6 years of college. If you do this right, then the steps you take today will lead you to the leaps you will make tomorrow. If you don’t make the right choices in college, then you will only keep taking steps, sometimes backwards until you’re fed up and then guess what? We will be right here to help you redirect your life to get back on track towards your purpose and success that awaits you. But DO NOT procrastinate, because every day and every minute counts!

Goals

Everyone needs them: goals. Planning your college career and beyond is very important in the first year. The sooner you plan the better prepared you will be and the more successful you will become. And I don’t want you to just have some generic goals, like get A’s and B’s. You need to have more concrete, detailed goals.

Career Counseling

If you haven’t declared a major in your first semester, don’t worry. I actually changed my major half way into my second year of college and was still able to graduate in five and a half years. With that being said, I strongly urge you to visit the career counseling services in your freshman year to learn about the different fields out there in the real world. After all, you’re more than likely paying for these services through the college’s required fees. So, put the video game controller down or the television remote away and walk down to the career counseling office. You need to get plugged and get some guidance for your future career. This is your future and I want you to be happy choosing a career in a field that you will enjoy and benefit from.

Time Management

You’re in college, so of course time management is something you don’t feel compelled to do. This is absolutely a MUST. We want you to have fun and get involved on campus, but you cannot forget you’re in college to graduate and jumpstart your career. So many of my friends and I mismanaged the time we had so poorly that some of us were either kicked out due to bad grades or struggled and delayed graduation one or two years. A big part of your college experience is managing your time wisely. After my GPA dropped to about a 2.2 average I humbly embraced the “3 to 1” ratio study strategy. This meant that I would dedicate 3 hours studying and reviewing for every hour I was in class per week. For example, if Calculus is a 4 hour class weekly, then you need to spend 12 hours a week studying and reviewing what you learned in Calculus, plain and simple.

Also, the library is your place of refuge that you need to spend a lot of time in. There are so many resources there and I always found the library to be an atmosphere that I could concentrate in and be focused. I highly encourage you to at least spend one day out of the week in the library even if you don’t feel like you study well there, because your fees and tuition are keeping the lights on in there. Might as well just go in and take a tour of that place with all those ancient artifacts called books!

Get Involved

So many of your best college experiences will come from how involved you are. There are so many different organizations on campus for you to get involved with that you should have no problem finding a few to be a part of. Even if you’re not the “social” type you still need to explore and possibly reveal some untapped potential you never knew you had.

Some of the key questions to ask when you join a club/organization are:

Is this organization involved in doing community service work on campus? Outside of campus?
Does this organization offer opportunities to be a leader?
Are there any dues required with this club/organization to be a member?
How often are meetings held?
Is this club/organization related to my career choice or choice of major?

I want you to ask yourself these questions, because the experiences and friendships you gain through an organization should lead you to become a better you. So be wise with how and what you decide to get involved with in college. I like to encourage my students to find people and organizations who motivate you to be better right now and help you be your best tomorrow. Now that you have a basic foundation of what to do in your first year of college get ready! You’re beginning a new chapter of your life that will be awesome. Stay focused and keep good habits. College goes by so fast and every little choice you make has a big impact on where you will be years from now. And so, please feel free to continue onto the Second Year section of this guide where I am going to dive into study abroad, co-ops/internships, and introduce you to the concept of saving money now.

My final college freshman advice:

Get to know your teachers and visit them during office hours
Surround yourself with friends who are dedicated to their academics
Be diligent with your time management
Set goals: 1 year, 2 year, 3 year, 4+ year goals…and remember things happen, so don’t stress when minor adjustments need to be made. (I made a 5/100 on my first exam in college. I didn’t pass that class, but I took it again the following summer and earned an A. Don’t let failure discourage from fighting back and doing your best.)

Sophomore Year of College Advice

You’ve made it past the first year and feel like you’ve got the hang of this college thing. Good for you! Hopefully you were able to avoid the freshmen 15 (gaining 15 pounds in the first year of college). In your sophomore year of college you’re going to be as active if not more active than your first year as you start to consider some pretty cool opportunities like studying abroad and working an internship/co-op. I know you have homework you’re so eager to get back to so let’s cut straight to the 2nd year advice here on Habesha Finance.

Study Abroad

By far my best experience while I was in college was being able to travel to Metz, France for the Georgia Tech Lorraine study abroad program. Being able to spend an entire summer exploring all of Europe while knocking out some classes was definitely worth doing. Participating in a study abroad program wherever it may be provides an opportunity to learn about other perspectives from around the world in the field of your study. I did my study abroad program in the summer between my third and fourth year of college. I suggest enrolling in a study abroad program sometime between your second and third year of college, because I want you to be able to take advantage of other opportunities in college like internships and co-ops which we will discuss shortly.

Participating in a study abroad program wherever it may be provides an opportunity to learn about other perspectives from around the world

Study Abroad Tips:

Do not take student loans to do this, not even for the plane ticket. Studying abroad is not required, but a really great opportunity.
Try to enroll in a study abroad program with friends. One of my study abroad classmates was robbed on a train traveling by herself and I do not want this to happen to you.
Make sure you have the right supplies when you go, like a power travel adapter and a neck wallet (you can find these on Amazon or local superstore: Walmart, Target, etc.)

Internships and Co-ops

Let me say this first as we introduce this topic: do your best to graduate college with some type of real, practical experience in the field of study you complete. The opportunity for an internship or co-op (Co-operative Education, where you work during a semester or term and alternate with a term or semester of schooling) is only possible through college. I want you to gain some experience and learn the every day life of someone in the career that you are spending your years in college preparing for. Do you understand?

When I was in college I was offered a co-op position with AT&T as an engineer and completed one work term, before the program was cancelled due to budget constraints. Still that experience of working for a semester was great and I learned more about what I wanted to do and the direction I wanted to my career to go towards. Not to mention I was getting paid $17/hr for an entire summer of work in 2008…not bad for my first real engineering job right?

Also, I do not want you looking only for paid work experience during your college years. Be sure to consider volunteer internships or co-ops if available, especially because not all companies can afford to pay interns and co-ops. What you’re looking for is VALUABLE WORK EXPERIENCE in the field of your choice.

Another great work-type opportunity is research. This is where you get to assist college professors and faculty during a semester with a project or “research” in the field of study you are pursuing. Often times you will receive credit for this and sometimes a stipend (a fixed regular sum paid as a salary).

So now you have an idea of what to accomplish in your sophomore year of college and a lot of it is pretty cool, right? Alright well, get to it! Time is of the essence and these opportunities are waiting for YOU.

Third and Fourth Year College Advice

Two years of college under your belt and by now you’ve got the hang of things…or at least I hope you do. Even so, you’ve done an awesome job up to now and moving forward your courses will become more and more relevant to your major. And while you are accomplishing this we want you to be prepared for what lies after, the real world. Some of you may actually be graduating in your third year and so I wanted to include you in this final part of this guide.

So up to now we’ve checked off some of the choices we can make in college: getting involved, an internship or two, co-op program, and study abroad. I want you to be able to do all these things as early as you can, because in your final years of college you will need to be working on securing a career that you can start right after graduation. Of course you may be going straight to graduate school for higher degrees, but you will still need to plan.

Career Fairs and Networking

Career fairs and networking events are going to be a big part of what you do in your last year or two in college. These are exciting opportunities to meet professionals from all over the world who were once where you are right now. I hope they will be able to offer some good advice. Through these career fairs you will be able to make the connections you need to land some offers from different companies. I highly encourage everyone in college to attend a career fair and you actually don’t have to wait or put it off your first couple years. I recommend getting a preview of what career fairs are like and so that you can get a feel for what’s expected in your near future.

Some quick tips for career fairs:

Dress for business. This means business suit and nothing less. Dress as if you were getting ready for an interview
Pre-plan and research some basic information about the companies that will be attending the career fair.
Try to avoid asking questions that can be found on the companies websites.
Visit as many companies as possible, even the ones with the shortest lines.
Have a bunch of resumes ready. Passing out resumes is your full-time job before you actually get a full-time job. Your career counseling services should be able to assist you with creating an awesome resume. Otherwise there are a lot of online resources to help you with that. Start with the three links below and work from there:
Follow up with any representatives personally you met via email and thank them personally for attending the career fair.

The Big Graduation Day

Congratulations you’re graduating. This is the day you’ve worked so hard for these past few years and as you get ready for the next chapter of your life remember, always take steps today to make the big leaps tomorrow. You are now a college graduate and the world awaits you and so to help you prepare for the real world I invite you to check the Resources section of Habesha Finance. Here we provide you a solid foundation to build your success on and start the next part of your life the right way.

And remember all the tools and information on Habesha Finance is absolutely FREE. I want the next generation to be successful and purposeful to change this world the better and the only way this happens is that you get the tools right out of college to make the best choices. Our path in life is made up of the choices we make, so let’s make some smart choices!

It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. J. K. Rowling