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College Application Blunders & How to Avoid Them



Moving from high school to college is generally regarded as your shift into adulthood and is supposed to be your mark of maturity. For most students, however, this is only a theoretical proposition until they’re actually physically in college.

Many do not make it to their preferred colleges, not because they lack the necessary credentials, but because they end up making some critical mistakes on their applications.

There are a few college application blunders that are very common, particularly because students don’t always realize how important certain elements of the application are, don’t pay enough attention, or think they can somehow circumvent admissions requirements. However, such mistakes can be easily rectified and actually substantially boost your chances of getting into your desired college.

Dishonesty: To start with, one of the most widespread and unethical practices that some applicants tend to resort to is dishonesty. A number of students believe it is okay to make up or otherwise exaggerate details that don’t actually reflect them. Some overemphasize grades, some embellish their extracurricular activities, while others plagiarize or lie on their essays and personal statements.

The point to remember here is that you need to come across as an honest and unique individual. While dealing with the essay portion, just be yourself and write about something that is personal to you. This is exactly what will make you stand out amongst the rest because colleges receive thousands of applications each year and so many are rejected because they have nothing unique to offer.

Also, don’t forget that admissions officers are getting streams and streams of applications and are presumably experienced enough and good enough at their jobs to pick out an application that doesn’t sound genuine.

Unanswered questions: The second error generally arises from a lack of awareness. Most students have a subject that they are not good at. Hence, even the brightest of students sometimes have to explain a bad grade on their transcripts. Students generally tend to overlook such issues. However, it is important that you address such a result instead of ignoring it. Owning up to it and explaining it will make you come across as a mature and responsible individual.

The key here is to understand that you shouldn’t risk leaving anything to chance or that whoever reads your application will just know what you mean if you don’t do your best to explain it. Also, don’t write anything that you cannot follow up with a proper explanation. In such cases, it is better to leave out the information.

Laziness: The third major error is slacking off while filling out the application forms. It can lead to a number of disastrous outcomes. For instance, students who don’t study the application forms carefully tend to overlook the fact that all applications are not the same. Hence, they tend to either omit important details or give unnecessary or incorrect information.

The biggest blunder occurs when students forget to change names and specific details for different colleges. This can cost you all the hard work that you otherwise put in to the application. Other errors include overlooking important and relevant information as required by the admissions department. In fact, it is advised to contact the relevant college department and inquire about your application and ascertain that they received all the necessary details.

The way to avoid such errors is to take the application process seriously and fill them out actively. The most important rule however is to proofread your applications a number of times before submission. In fact, get a friend or instructor to do it for you as well. This will ensure that your application is free of any careless mistakes.

Applying to college will likely be the most important thing you’ve done so far, so be careful not to try and use any shortcuts. Every last application deserves your full attention.

Students tend to make a number of other errors as well, however those are generally case specific and if you can attend to these major ones, you are very likely to produce a near flawless application.

5 Ways To Concentrate On Studying

concentrate on studying

Studying can be pretty tedious for most students, especially if the student has little to no interest in the material in question. This’ll make it hard to concentrate right off the bat and make students feel helpless and persecuted.

It’s not as bad as it sounds though—a few steps can go a long way with helping students better their relationship with school and academics in general, developing effective concentration techniques.

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Congratulations to Shayan, our iPad 2 Winner!



Finally the much anticipated video is here! It’s a very heart-warming moment when you see Shayan’s unbridled joy as he accepts his iPad 2! We took a drive over to Shayan’s place to give him his iPad 2 personally, and boy was he excited! Check out the video and stay tuned for more great giveaways!

Shayan was the lucky iPad 2 winner of our first “Why do you need an iPad?” Facebook competition. Stay tuned for more cool contests!

Spread the word! Here’s a link for the video on Youtube.

Do Study Groups Really Work?



When it comes to studying, some students prefer combined learning sessions, whereas others like to lock themselves up in their room and cram on their own. A commonly thrown around question in this regard is whether study groups are actually effective. To be honest, they may or may not be successful. It mostly depends on the sincerity of the individual and his or her degree of comfort in such a setting.

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How to Survive Exam Week

final exam studying

When exams come around even the most imperturbable students are always under more stress than they are the rest of the year. The blog Debt-free Scholar has a great list of things you can do to maximize your potential during exam week.

Get ready for some great tips on how to beat that stress! Two of our favorites (that are supposed to be common sense, but are unfortunately not so common) are just to eat and sleep right – and those really could make the difference between a passing or failing grade. Another winner is to double-check your exam times. Click on the link to read the full article.

Gadgets that Aid the Studying Process



There’s much more to studying these days than the time you relied on just your trusty notepad and humble pencil to get you through those hours of poring over books, drinking mug after mug of stale coffee and chowing down on any junk food that you can get your hands on. Gadgets have infiltrated every aspect of our lives, and students today never had it so good. There’s a plethora of options for them to choose from, some for practical purposes and most for entertainment.

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You need an iPad 2! Tell us why in 50 words or less and it could be yours!



Do you need an iPad 2?

Tell us the super special reason why you need an iPad 2 in under fifty words and have the chance to win one!

Here’s how it works: send us your responses before October 31 and the InterWebs will be your judge! The writer of the entry that gets the most “likes” will be the lucky winner!

Good luck and get going!