Tired of School

Well, it’s time for another list of things to help you with school. This time I want to tackle how to lower your tuition costs. It’s always easiest to keep costs low if you know early in your academic career that money is tight, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to help lower the cost of school:

1. In-State vs. Out-of-State Tuition. You’re probably aware that most state-run colleges and universities charge more (double in my case) if you are a resident of another state while you are attending there. Most colleges have gotten wise to students who claim residency in a new state right before attending classes. You should get ahold of the residency requirements of your school and see if there is any circumstance that could get you in-state tuition.

2. Out-of-State Tuition Reciprocity. Some colleges make agreements with the colleges in other states to “trade” students. That means that if you go to the college one state over, then you’ll get in-state tuition because someone over there wants to go to the college in your state. Contact the financial aid office of the school you want to attend to see if you can get this sort of deal.

3. Attend Community College. Not necessarily for all your classes, but check the prices wherever you are because sometimes you can save at ton of money on the “required” classes that are not part of your major. A warning though, you need to make sure you understand the rules for transferring credits to your main campus. Some classes won’t transfer and there is usually a limit on the number of credits you can take this way (and when you can take them).

4. Work for the College. Find out if there is a work-study program of some kind that will cover your tuition costs if you work a few hours a week in a campus office.

–I hope these ideas helped. If so feel free to

This time of year can be overwhelming. Usually between now and finals week you have most of your work come due. Because professors like to put all your big-point assignments off until the end of the semester, you often do not really know what your grade will be in your classes, which means you do not know how to divide your efforts between classes. Finally, you are probably looking forward to the summer break so your mind does not want to focus on researching for papers or studying for tests. Here’s some things to do to help when you are…wait for it…tired of school.

1. Make a master schedule of when all your assignments are due. This way, you won’t have to flip back and forth between syllabi everyday to know what you have to turn in. Plus, if you notice that several assignments are due on or about the same day, then you can plan for that rather than finding out at the last minute.

2. While you’re making that master schedule, make a note about how important each assignment is to your final grade. A paper worth 5% of your grade will probably need less attention than a paper worth half your grade.

3. Get on a regular sleep cycle. I know this probably won’t happen for many people, but if you can force yourself to keep on a schedule until the end of the semester then your brain will be calmer because it knows when it is going to get rested again.

4. Figure out what time of day you work best and do your work then. You’ll get through work easier if you do it at your body’s prime time for working. Unfortunately, we tend to do the things we like during those times (exercise, meet with friends, hobbies). You can go back to using that time for fun when your work is done (hey, I rhymed, this must be my prime time).

5. Start a little early on assignments. You know those people who completed the final paper on the first week of class? Well, they hit some snags in completing the assignment and asked the professor/teacher for clarification. You, however, are not likely to feel that you can call your professor at 3 am on the date the assignment is due with questions. If you start a little early then you’ll at least have time to ask your questions during regular office hours.

–As a final note, don’t forget to schedule short (few minute) breaks a few times each hour to keep your brain running. Try not to turn on the TV for the break because TV shows are designed to keep you watching through the end (so they can make more money off the ads). Oh, and as of this writing no one has donated to this site to help pay the bills so feel free to:

I noticed that someone found their way to this website through a link I had to an old cycling blog I used to have. That got me to thinking that I should write up a plea for you to watch out for cyclists when you are driving around campus (and anywhere else). Larry and Sierra Gaunt died last year when a driver hit them while they were cycling in the Kansas City area. I ride the same route they were using often and I know it is a safe place to ride, which makes it doubly troublesome. I’m even a little squeamish about riding my bike alone anymore. I know college drivers are usually young and not as experienced as older drivers, plus some young drivers think it’s funny to scare riders. I’ve seen people throw things out car windows at cyclists. Now think about that, the bottle that was thrown could have easily disoriented the cyclist enough to get them to swerve into a ditch and break a collar bone. I don’t want to rant too long here, I just want to beg for you to drive carefully and to realize that only about 1% of the bike riders are intentionally jerks to drivers. The rest of us will get over if we know you are behind us.

Kind regards,

TiredThomas

Tired of School . net

I used to enjoy saving up my really big projects to complete during spring break… Let me try that again: I used to procrastinate on my big school projects until I realized that I had so much to get done that I had no choice but to spend my whole spring break in the library. For one week every spring, the musty smell of book stacks would be my home. I would search endlessly for the rare scrap of knowledge that would help me complete my projects. These were the days before Google Scholar and online pdf files of articles. Now I know you are tired of school and you have your work cut out for you, so let’s talk dos and don’ts on keeping you on your game while you are on “break.”

1. Caffeine: Caffeine is a double-edged sword…  For some people it helps increase focus and concentration. For other people, caffeine makes it hard to concentrate and hard to sleep. I’m even hearing about chest pains and other physical problems associated with caffeine intake. Consider not taking in any more caffeine than you already do so your body won’t get overwhelmed by the drug. I’m no doctor, so if you have any concerns about your caffeine intake (I’m looking at you rabid energy drink user), seek actual medical advice.

2. Sleep. Lack of sleep has been linked to weight gain and even can be a precursor to diabetes (click here for information about those claims). Spring break should be a time for rest and renewal, so try to get a good night’s/morning’s sleep if you can, even if you are spending the rest of the day working.

3. Eat better. It’s funny that during the times we need our brain to work the hardest–crunch time–we tend to order pizza or eat burgers. Instead of our brain thinking about your paper on the Psychology of Mathematics in Tribal Utah, you are sitting on the porcelain throne. At least make sure to get some fruit and vegetables to get that old bean up and running. Also, grab something for breakfast even if you aren’t hungry.

4. Make a list. Recently I was asked to write answers to a set of around 10 questions. These questions were worded so I thought I would have to write several paragraphs for each one. Imagine my amazement when I discovered a 300 letter limit on the answers. I saved myself a lot of work by understanding the assignment up front!  Go over your syllabus again and again until you understand what you need to do before you go through a lot of work that amounts to nothing.

5. Take breaks often. Every hour or less, take a few minutes’ break time to give your brain a rest. Listen to a song on your mp3 player, work on a soduku puzzle, count ceiling tiles–just do something different. Don’t forget to get back to work, though.

–I hope these ideas help, if you can:

Remember that “Life… is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”-Shakespeare

We’d all like a little extra money for college. Unless you happen to be one of the few who has plenty of money lying around, in which case I could really use some cash right now so click on that donate button to the right. For the rest of us, college is often an exercise in lots of free time but no money to make use of it. So, in our quest for college funds, we usually come across a general scholarship form that the college suggests that we fill out. So, who is General Scholarship and why does he want us to fill out a form (haha)? Well, go ahead and fill that sucker out. Sure you may think you have no distinguishing feature that makes you eligible for special consideration, but you never know. For example, I once got a scholarship from filling out this form because it turns out that there was a little-known fund for persons going to the college I was attending (40,000 students) who also graduated from the high school I had attended (graduating class of 89 people). There were only a couple of us at the college who fit that description and unless you filled out the form then you never even knew about the free money. So, the short answer is, yes, go ahead and fill out the forms and send in those essays. I cannot guarantee you easy money, but you can’t afford not to try. Oh, and if you do get some money out of this…why not try that donation button that I talked about earlier?

-TiredThomas