The admission process for college can become a very tedious prospect on the whole when you consider the number of tasks that students have to track and complete in order to get to that first lecture of the freshman year. One such component of the process that no one can afford to overlook is the “application deadline date”. Far too many students have had the bad experience of crossing the deadline due to some confusion or just plain absent mindedness, and finding out that their application ended even before it could begin.

Thankfully, there are quite a few colleges which follow a more flexible approach when it comes to the process of selection and admission of candidates. You could say that rolling admission is a type of admission system where the college does not announce a rigid apply before date. Therefore, candidates can apply at any time throughout the year. Some colleges keep the window open throughout the year, others keep it open for a significantly large period of time (like six months), and yet others accept admission applications at multiple times through the year (like fall, summer, spring et al).

Since no deadlines are expressly mentioned, the admission process for a single term closes as and when the seats for that particular session have been filled. Keeping that in mind, regardless of the fact that one can apply at any time of the year – most students are advised to still complete the application as early on in the academic session as possible, since this gives them an early bird advantage. The university will typically review the application and notify the applicant of their decision within a few weeks from submission, and in some cases even faster than that.


Advantages

• The admission process becomes much less stressful for the students.
• Data processing is more manageable for the college (because it’s not received in bulk).
• Colleges are able to spend more time on each application individually.
• Similarly, students have more time to make a better application.

Disadvantages

• Positive bias creeps in for the case of applications made early, and vice-versa.
• More deserving applicants may find it difficult to get a seat if they apply late.
• Grants & aids are also often provided on first come first serve basis, which students sometimes miss out.

List of Colleges & Universities in the United States which have rolling admissions

Did you know that one out of every four college freshmen drop out of college? What makes students who did perfectly well in high school – drop out? Here are some factors:

• Abuse of too much freedom – Freshmen are often not able to handle the sudden increase in the level of freedom afforded by a college environment. Partying too much, having too much fun and ignoring studies results in the inevitable.
• Becoming a social outcast – While some students are quick to make friends and form connections in college, others may go into a shell. Timid or introverted freshmen are at a significantly higher risk of feeling lonely and disconnected – which may sometimes even lead to disorders like clinical depression.
• Academic under-preparedness – College curriculum is universally more rigorous than that in high school and demands a higher degree of concentration and constant hard work. Some students are not cut out for it – that’s because they did not develop the right studying skills and/or strategies while in high school and just moseyed along.
• Financial problems – As tuition costs continue to increase, students without the help of scholarships may find it difficult to make ends meet or even pay for future semesters, thus ending their tenure at college.
• Choosing the wrong major – A student’s aspirations might change as they gain more insight into the subject or after they have had their summer training. What if you want to major in something that your college does not offer – what do you do then? Or you may choose a major and later realize that you made a wrong decision, such instances compel a student to drop out.
• Availability of other options – Some students might get the option of working a full time or part time job even before they graduate, this deters them from following the academic rigor and they take the easy way out.
• Dislike of school – If a student develops a sincere dislike towards the school they are in, it becomes mighty difficult to continue with the course. The dislike could stem from any number of reasons – perhaps the school is sports centric and the said student has no interest in sports, may be the school traditions are too orthodox for their taste, or more commonly, they don’t like the faculty.
• Lack of proper guidance – A student who was living with his parents in high school might find himself all alone in college and miss that support. Further, due to the increase in the ratio of student per class, as compared to a school – students might miss out on the individual attention and mentorship afforded by counselors and teachers in a school environment.

Judge
The role of a judge differs based on whether they are a judge in a criminal court or a civil court. A judge in a criminal court makes sure that the lawyers follow the rule of law, and often decide how long someone goes to jail. In civil courts judges decide who is right when the people who are suing each other decide that they do not want a jury, a judge may also out rightly reject a case on basis of it being not worthy of court’s time and/or if it is frivolous in nature. Median wage is $103,990.

Mediator
A mediator facilitates a parties discussion and helps to improve the quality of communication between them. Although mediators have no power to define or enforce an agreement, but they can help the parties to voluntarily reach agreement by helping them with the negotiation process. They do this by providing information about how the laws apply to various situations and advising the parties on the most cost effective solution applicable in their respective cases. Median wage is $63,250.

Paralegal
Paralegals are professional who assist lawyers with their paper work and other things that lead up to a litigation without actually carrying out the litigation themselves. Paralegals usually meet the clients first and then prepare notes for the attorney to review. They also draft legal documents like legal correspondence and documents that need to be filed with the court system. Median wage is $50,080.

Court Reporter
The job of a court reporter is to transcribe spoken or recorded speech into written form using a machine shorthand or digital recorder to produce official transcripts of court hearings and other official proceedings. The jobs does not have much scope for error and the court reporter must have sound knowledge of legal language, business law and English. The documents that the court reporter produces are the only account of the court proceedings and are vital to the credibility of the judicial system. Median wage is $52,460.

Are you finding it difficult to make ends meet at college? You’re not alone. The transition from high school to college brings with it the responsibility of managing money, and it can be tricky if you’ve never done it before. Of course, a good way to start is to start budgeting, but that’s only a part of the solution. The other part is to find out opportunities where you can save money and make your money work for you most efficiently.

1. Be on the lookout for offers that your bank provides. Most banks have tie-ups with eating outlets and shops to provide you discounts if you use your credit/debit card or internet banking to make the purchase. Use this facility.
2. If you use a credit card, make sure that you pay your bills on time. Failure to do so in the prescribed time will result in an obscene amount of interest that you will need to pay on the money owed. Also, make sure you pick a card that has no annual fees.
3. Sell all your old books that you do not need anymore and use the cash you earn to buy new ones. That being said, borrow books instead of buying them. It’s a smart way to save money.
4. If you live on campus and are paying for a partial or full meal plan, use it. Every time you eat out while still on the plan, not only are you spending money to have food, you are spending money on food that you never had (meal plan).
5. Are you spending way too much money for your morning cup of coffee? Assuming that a cup costs $2.50, you will be spending just a bit over $900 in a year. For that money, you can buy a coffee maker instead and have all you coffee you want, at any time of the day.
6. This is no age to buy a stereo or an audio jukebox or other such archaic and expensive equipment just to watch movies or listen to music. Computer speakers have good high and midrange and clean bass output. All you need is a free audio player like iTunes or Winamp and there’s your music system.
7. Rent a DVD, then share it amongst your friend. That way, you get to watch the movie at a fraction of the cost.
8. Offer your services as a tutor to freshman. Not only will you earn money but this will also make sure that you don’t forget what you have learnt.
9. Don’t spend money this weekend. Be creative in what you do, get a cup of coffee and wind up with a good book. Go for a walk in the park and play Frisbee with your friends. Fly a kite.
10. Being well read and aware of current affairs is a good thing. Sharing a newspaper subscription is even better. Not only will it cost half the money, you will also have the comfort of knowing that you saved paper.

It is not easy building a career which has to last for 20 to 30 years. But incidentally, much of your future depends on how well you prepare yourself now. And to give you an idea of how complicated this has become, practically nobody predicted 20 years ago that software engineering would become such a big employment generator; it all happened so fast!

The other notable point of importance is that many semi-skilled jobs that were either labor intensive or routine in nature have moved to countries like India. These were jobs that were draining corporations of their vital resources (read: money) and which, when moved to outsourcing mode, caught many Americans off-guard. Future jobs are such that they can’t be easily outsourced. These are the jobs of the future. They are based on knowledge and skill and need to be onshore.

• Tissue Engineering: For students of physiology, studying tissues and cell behavior can be made easy by making 3D functional models in-vitro. Functional models are made using cells, and devices which help cell growth. This is gaining popularity and MIT is the pioneer in this course.
• Data Miners: As the name suggests, it is virtually digging thru tons of data of and for business transactions. The purpose of mining data is to reach a meaningful format dependable enough to make predictions; tracing trends of customer behavior, for example. Don’t be misled; the future world is going to be data driven.
• Gene Programmers: George Washington University predicts that lab technicians can customize medicines by scanning DNA and using gene therapy to block disease. This can and probably will be a reality in less than 10 years.
• Neurotronic Engineers: The World Future Society says that human brains will be artificially extended by wiring microchips to the brain by these engineers by 2030. When this is possible, this opens a Pandora’s Box of a host of careers.
• Pharmers: No more pricks on your behind if ‘pharmers’ grow sufficient genetically engineered therapeutic crops. Watch out, you may have to eat a tomato for vaccination!
• Lawyers: The loyal warhorse. Don’t want believe that lawyers will not have sufficient clients in the future.
• Writers: Writers of all kinds, script writers, technical writers and content writers. All these professions are going to have an explosion.
• Network Systems And Data Communications Analyst: Wow! What does this mean, anyway? The systems analyst dealing with the specialist field which requires data communications knowledge. This job, in fact, is predicted to be on top.
• Actors: Reality and both virtual reality actors will be in great demand. Now, what is virtual reality actor? It is a virtual 3D model of an actor, which can be programmed to act just like him. We can hope to see Marlon Brando giving young actors a run for their money!
• Police: Like their cousins (lawyers) law enforcement professionals will always be present in the very distant and conceivable future. They just may not have to run after gangsters then.

These are challenging, breathtaking future career options which made the top 10. Like it or not, some professions will never go out of style!

The phone rang for the third time in a row, no one had the time to pick it up – the bid proposal had to be made before 8pm, therefore all hands had to be on the deck. Another ring, Cath reluctantly picked it up, it was her boss on the other end – “Listen, the deadline has been shifted back to 4pm, we will lose our chance if we don’t submit the proposal before that”. Cath felt her heart race faster and started breathing heavily, she was experiencing what the doctors commonly refer to as the fight-or-flight response. Even though most believed that it was an impossible target, the team worked at double the efficiency and somehow completed the task before 4pm. How did they do it? They certainly didn’t wave a magic wand to get the work done. The same stress that helped them complete their task in double quick time can make students blank out during an exam, or make a novice stutter during his speech until all you hear is under the breath mumbling.

Hans Selye, who is considered the founding father of stress research has this to say on the subject – “stress is not necessarily something bad – it all depends on how you take it. The stress of exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental.” Although, Hans thinks that stress can also be beneficial under some circumstances, it is ample clear that excessive amount of stress can be detrimental both to health and performance. If you find yourself continually stressed due to your environment, there are certain steps you can take to keep it in check.


Get some exercise – Your body releases “feel good” chemicals during exercise called endorphins. These chemicals provide relief from stress and pain and provide a feeling of natural well being much better than that possible by prescription drugs. If exercise was a drug, it would be the most powerful one on the planet.

Pursue a creative hobby – It could be writing, painting or maybe even playing a musical instrument. Perhaps, something even more unconventional – the point is to have some time just to yourself where you don’t have to think about work, money or relationships.

Be mindful of what you eat and drink – Alcohol and food abuse may provide temporary relief, but they do more harm than benefit to the body. Try to incorporate wholesome and nutritious food in your diet like whole grain bread or pasta, fish, broccoli and almonds. These foods are known to combat stress.

Remember that it is temporary – Most types of stress response is temporary and will persist only till the stressor (cause of stress) persists. Don’t let the feeling overwhelm you, it helps to think that it will be over any second.

Take out some “me” time – A lot of people who suffer from anxiety or stress fail to take time out for themselves. They always have too much work and too little time. Go for a movie on the weekend. Unwind with a relaxing dinner with your partner. Remember to give yourself the credit that you deserve.

The U.S. unemployment rate reached an all time of 10.4 percent in Jan 2010 in a period of ten years. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that not only has it become increasingly difficult to secure a job – but a lot of people have had to part with their jobs due to downsizing. Losing a job can be a traumatic experience, since a majority of people rely on the money to pay their bills, their car and house payments – things that are absolutely essential for living. Though it is natural to be in doldrums when this happens with anyone, the important part is to accept it and get back on the feet rather than lamenting endlessly about it.

Accept the situation and seek help if required

It is not only normal, but completely justified if you feel out of whack and experience low self confidence for a short period of time immediately after your job loss. But if days become weeks and all you want to do all day is sit around and wallow in self pity – you might need help. The problem is especially accentuated when you live alone and have no one to share your troubles with. Don’t hesitate to seek a counselor, lest you might slip into clinical depression.

Take care of finances and other practical things

If you are a U.S. citizen you can apply for unemployment compensation, although it might not be much but it will help you to keep things together until you find a more stable source of income. Look at your lifestyle and be mentally prepared to make some changes if you can’t afford it. Consider selling your car and using a bicycle instead. Not only will it save money, but the exercise will help you ward off depression. One thing you must avoid like a plague is taking out a loan or getting into a lot of debt during this time. Try to live within whatever little means you have instead.

Practice emotional resilience and get back on track

Stabilizing your financial situation is just a part of recovering from a job loss, the other part is practicing emotional resilience. When you are in a bad emotional state, it sucks away all your energy – you might sleep for 16 hours every day of the week and still feel tired and exhausted. You must avoid getting into this state in the first place. Instead of staying in at home or watching TV to take your mind off things considering doing activities that will bring about some tangible benefits – update your resume, go out and network with people, consider a career change is you can’t see much scope in your field. Dr. Al Siebert (author of The Survivor Personality and a leader of workshops for survivors) offers the following four points of action in order to increase your emotional resilience – write about how you feel, work on recovering your self esteem, find the lessons in your loss and practice empathy for difficult situations and people.

Advantages of online education

• No cost of transportation – since the course material is delivered right to your home on your computer and tests are also administered through the same medium, the cost of transportation is virtually eliminated.
• Personal attention – you may not have the option of physically talking to a professor, but instructors can be reached through e-mail and in some cases, voice chat. They will reply readily to help you with your challenges.
• Lesser overall cost – an online program generally works out to be more affordable than attending a physical university, and other than that you can also work while you study. Therefore, you are not only saving money, you have the option of making it too.
• Greater flexibility – you can pursue the course at your own pace and study at a time that in most convenient to you – early morning, late at night, wee hours. In a lot of cases, you can even choose the date on which you would like to take an exam.

Disadvantages of online education

• Employment – You may realize that recruiter gives preferential treatment to those who have graduated from traditional universities.
• Missing out on non verbal communication – one study at UCLA indicated that up to 93 percent of communication effectiveness is determined by nonverbal cues. You will completely miss that while studying online.
• Lack of facilities – Most traditional colleges offer facilities like gym, swimming pool, cafeteria, library. Not so for online schools.
• Less interaction and networking – Since there are no classroom sessions in an online course, you will feel the absence of personal interaction with professors and friends. Similarly, there is a lesser chance that you will be able to network and form long term relationships.

 
Online education is huge nowadays, the reason for that is that it has found many takers because of the convenience, flexibility and cost advantage it offers. Not only are new online schools mushrooming everywhere on the web, but a lot of traditional and well known universities have also started to offer online courses for students who have an economic or demographic disadvantage.

Here are some factors that you must consider before going ahead with the decision to pursue your degree online.

Are you a self learner?

Doing well in an online course requires you to be a self starter who is habitual to turning in the work at the right time, there will be no one nagging you to submit in your homework. In most cases there will be no compulsion on you to attend an online study or discussion sessions, you will learn only if you really want to. Without the right amount of motivation and dedication, you will realize that all the due dates keep passing you by, significantly increasing the time that you will take to complete the course.

Time consideration

If you are a working professional or if you desire that you have some free time to pursue your interests or hobbies while simultaneously working towards your degree, then online education just might be the right fit for you. It should be kept in mind that even though an online course gives you greater flexibility of time and you can study at your own pace, you will still have timelines for completion of work not unlike regular college.

Cost consideration

The tuition fees in most cases will be lower for an online course as compared to regular college. But there are other costs you need to factor in like the cost of a computer if you don’t have one, you will also need to take up an internet plan. Assuming that you already have the above, online education works out to be a more economical way to get your education. One thing that you will definitely save money on is transportation.

Reputation and accreditation

If you are going to invest a significant amount of your money and time into an online course, it makes sense to spend a fraction of it researching about the institute prior to joining it. As a rule, the older the institute, the better it is considered to be – this is so because age builds credibility. Find out what recruiters and past students have to say about the institute. Also, make sure you don’t become a victim of a degree mill scam by always checking for accreditation.

• A degree mill – provides a “real” degree from a fake college.
• A diploma mill – provides a fake degree from a real college.

That’s the distinction that most academicians draw between a degree mill and a diploma mill, although the terms are commonly used interchangeably. A degree mill is an organization that awards illegitimate degrees or diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies.

Degree mills provide a seemingly fast and easy alternative to a regular four year college degree. No waking up for classes, no need to spend endless amount of time writing assignment and studying for exams. Not only can you get a Bachelors degree in any field that you like, you can also earn your Masters or even Doctorate with ridiculously low amount of effort like submitting a ten page thesis or completing a multiple choice question test. The two things that degree mills ride on are affordability and convenience. The only education related activity they do is print out degrees, that’s their only expenditure. What the degree mills will not tell you is that the degrees, diplomas and certificate provided by them have no value in the real world besides the fact that you can hang them on a wall and pray that nobody asks about them. You cannot pursue higher education with these degrees, neither can you apply for a credit transfer. Most employers run a background check during induction process, even if you somehow slip through all that – there is always the risk that the employer will find out about the degree at a later date after which you will most likely be fired on ethical grounds.

In the 1980, the U.S. government started an operation against degree mills called DipScam, while it was effective and over 39 degree mills were shut down with legal action taken against some, the problem has resurfaced in a much larger way. With the advent of internet, starting a degree mill has become as simple as starting a website, setting up a fax and a printing machine. Anonymity being the basis of a successful operation. However, with a little bit of vigilance, you can protect yourself from this scam.

How can I tell when I see a degree mill?

• If it sounds too easy to be true, it probably is.
• While not all non accredited institutions are degree mills, it is still best to avoid them as far as you can.
• If you are being given a degree on the basis of your “life experience”.
• If you being offered a degree in return for a very low amount of money and relatively little or no work.
• There is an option to “purchase” a degree online and they will ship it to you in 3-10 business days.
• GPA and other academic details can be customized at the time of making the purchase.
• There are no requirements for admission and no clear basis on which the degree is being awarded.
• The website of the institute offer no information about the accrediting agency and/or it does not have a .edu domain name.