BetterGrads College News & Views is a weekly collection of college-themed posts around the web. Our social media team, partners and guest contributors take part in providing this service to you.

This week, we came across several articles related to being ready for college, what students think of the price tag for a degree, and some tips students can use when gearing up for the semester.

College Preparation:

ACT Scores show 1 in 4 high school grads are unprepared for college (TIME)

Standardized tests are questioned by many as a legitimate measuring system for a student’s success, but this year’s ACT results are out, regardless. Nearly 30 percent fell below the college-level standards in English, math, science and reading. Is this reflective of a larger problem? Or are there other ways we can effectively test students’ college preparedness?

Getting ready for college (Freelance Writer Network)

This author provides a comprehensive rundown of basic–and super important–things to keep in mind when prepping to leave home for college. From the basics of money managing to avoiding getting your laptop stolen, this is a good checklist to keep in mind when preparing for a new semester.

The Value of College:

Women get more value out of college than men do (Reuters)

Of more than 2,000 people surveyed by the Pew Research Center, 77 percent said women need a college degree to have a successful career. Comparatively, only 68 percent of the group predicted the same for men. Perhaps an 11 percent discrepancy is not glaring, but is it reflective of the general perception of gender an the value of a college degree? The survey went on to say that half of women thought a hefty tuition is worth the slumping debt, while only 37 percent of males agreed.

Beating the odds (STRYVE Magazine)

Some students don’t have an easy road to college, and this inspirational story will uplift you if you’re feeling unsure about what you can get out of the college experience. There can often be more opportunities for you than you think… You just have to look.

College Tips:

The best college admissions Twitter accounts you aren’t following (Student Advisor)

Still looking to apply for college? Want to transfer? Then find your dream school’s admissions office social media networks. This article lists the top college admissions Twitter accounts that are eager for students to engage with them online.

Study habits for college (Junhax)

Tired of boring, generic advice? This article gives some super-specific suggestions on how to make the most of your study time! A good opportunity to prepare before you get slammed at crunch time during midterms in a couple months.

This article is part of a counterpoint series between Keith Kaplan of BookRenter.com and Matt Gagnon of the BetterGrads social media team. This is Matt’s response to Keith’s article about the benefits of renting college textbooks.

Photo courtesty fayettevilleflyer via Flickr.

Everyone knows college textbooks are expensive. During my four years in college, I spent hundreds of dollars per quarter. That really adds up with three quarters per year for four whole years.

There are a variety of alternatives to buying books from your school’s campus bookstore, and renting books is generally very affordable.

But… before you rent all of your textbooks, here are some things to consider:

• You may end up wanting to keep your books. While some rental outlets offer an option for renters to buy their books, there is often an additional fee. This is important to keep in mind when renting to save money in the first place.
• Used books are very cheap too. While rented books are generally the lowest price, used books can be very cheap as well. Prices are very competitive with the glut of sellers for used books. It was typical to see used copies available for $3 or less when I bought used books for my history classes.
• You may need your textbook immediately. Some professors don’t release the required textbook list until the first day of class with the syllabus, and then they demand you complete the reading by the next day of class. In these cases, you really need to have the textbook in your hand that day. In order to do that, you are limited to buying from your campus bookstore, or an off-campus bookseller.
• No worry about sending your book back. When you reach the end of your quarter or semester, final exams should be your chief concern—not having to return your textbooks on time. Some book renters want your book back during the week of finals, and sometimes even before your finals are over. The last thing you may want are e-mail reminders to return your textbooks while you’re still studying for those final exams.
• When you buy your books, you have the option of selling them back. While the market on some books is flooded, many books can be sold for equal or higher value. In my experience, I bought some books from the campus bookstore and sold them on Amazon for more than I paid for.

Ultimately, there is no silver bullet medium for acquiring your textbooks. To find the best deal, you need to take the time to search and compare the campus bookstore, off-campus vendors, online renters and online sellers. It comes down to what your preferences are for book conditions, your desire to keep it, and timeliness in receiving it. Try out different methods, and find what works best for you.

This article is part of a counterpoint series between Keith Kaplan of BookRenter.com and Matt Gagnon of the BetterGrads social media team. Check back for Matt’s response to Keith’s support for renting college textbooks!

College textbooks, courtesy of Pesky Library.

When it comes time to buy textbooks for your class, we all know it can empty your wallet. Every year when I start classes it always seems like I’m throwing a few hundred dollars in one click of a button.

I’ve always thought: Why buy a textbook for $200+ when you’re probably going to return it at the end of the semester for less than half the price? Most times, bookstores and online stores won’t buy back a book because it’s an outdated edition.

How do we stop this phenomenon? Well, you may have heard of textbook rentals.

Within the past few years, textbook rentals have sky rocketed. Instead of buying your textbooks, you rent and return them after your class is finished.

After asking many students, it seems that many don’t know that renting textbooks can keep a lot of money in your wallet. To give you a better understanding of how textbook rentals work, here’s a breakdown of the advantages of renting textbooks:

• Renting textbooks is cheaper than buying textbooks. For example, the retail price for the textbook, “Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis” is $221.33. Renting this textbook could cost as low as $44.27. You save $177.06 by renting (that’s 80% of the price!)
• Some textbook rental sites offer free shipping. Textbook rental sites like BookRenter.com offer free shipping both ways: when you rent them, and then when you return them.
• Return books you didn’t need (for free). Some textbook rental sites offer a grace period for when returning books you don’t need.
• Great selection is just as great as buying a book. Every textbook rental site I have search has had all my textbooks available.
• Textbook rental lengths are flexible. Most rental sites offer time periods that range in length. They can begin at 30 days and go all the way to a full semester rental.
• Take notes in a rental textbook! Some site allow you to write notes, highlight and mark up their books. Of course, make sure to check the site’s policy first.
• Want to buy the book? You can! If you end up wanting to keep your rented textbooks, many sites will let you buy it at the end of the rental period.

When it comes down to it, textbook rentals are a great alternative to buying textbooks. They provide the student with a way to save money, and in this day and age, that’s not a bad idea.

Keith Kaplan
San Mateo, Calif.

Keith Kaplan is a recent Albion College graduate who plans to attend Teachers College, Columbia University to study instructional technology and media. This summer, he has worked as a social media intern with BookRenter.com.

How will you get around in your college town? (Photo courtesy MSPdude via Flickr)

A few weeks ago, Annemarie wrote about some tips for visiting colleges during the summer.  After you’ve decided where you go to school, figuring out how to get there and get around becomes much more of an issue.  Transportation is an inevitable cost in college – whether it’s the cost of getting to and from college every semester, or the cost of getting to and from classes, it can all add up pretty quickly. There are smarter ways to travel that will put a lighter load on your bank account, as well as the environment!

Planning is the name of the game – getting your trips on the calendar now will put you in a better position to reduce your transportation costs. University academic calendars are key! (They’re usually accessible through a link on the school’s homepage).

A travel budget will include expected costs of flights, gas and other transportation, like subways and buses. Book travel as soon as possible to avoid any surprises.

Flying

As you may have experienced, paying for flights at the last minute is the worst thing you can do. Keep in mind that transportation from the airport can be costly. Find out how much taxis and shuttles cost to and from your lodging. College towns tend to offer shuttle services that will drive you from the airport to your dorm room -  find these! Here are some sites to check out for resources: Kayak.com, Hipmunk.com and STA Travel.

Driving

If you live close enough to drive, you may have friends who also plan to check out the college.  Carpooling makes a lot of sense!  If you’re moving to campus this fall, consider sharing a giant U-Haul for your stuff.  And your carpool buddy doesn’t have to be someone you were great friends with in high school – college marks a new beginning, and this is a great way to start meeting new people. Before I had a car at college, I often reached out to people I went to high school with for ride shares, especially when I was going home during short breaks like Thanksgiving when I didn’t really have anything to bring home.  One ride sharing etiquette tip – ALWAYS offer to pitch in for gas, or you probably won’t be sharing rides with that person anymore.

Trains

Trains are a less common form of transportation these days, but at the right price point, taking the train can make a lot of sense.  If you’re traveling home and have a lot of studying, the train is a great place to get that done so you can spend more time at home hanging out with friends and family.  Like with flying, you can find some very reasonable train fares if you book tickets well ahead of time.

Bus/Subway

This is one of the cheapest and least convenient ways to travel – it is definitely worth a look if you’re exploring all of your options.  Busses are most often used for getting around campus, but they’re also an option for getting to and from home (find your way to the nearest Greyhound station and you can get just about anywhere).   It may or may not be cost-effective to buy a monthly bus pass, and many large campuses provide free busses that loop around campus, so you’ll likely be able to count on that for local travel.

These are just a few tips for making transportation easier on you – as with most financial aspects of college, planning is key!  Know what you’re going to be spending and organize your travel plans as early as possible and you’ll find yourself with more spending money at the end of the year than if you procrastinated.  Happy travels!

Photo courtesy Chicago Man via Flickr.

You’ve probably heard rumors about the school I attended. The school named the “Top Party School” in the U.S. by Playboy in 2002 and remains in the top 10. The school that had a sex scandal involving the student body vice president. The school that’s easy driving distance to both Las Vegas and Rocky Point, Mexico. Arizona State University. I wasn’t a partier in high school, yet I ended up at an infamous party school. Before starting, I got a lot of “Hey, isn’t that a huge party school?” from friends and family. After classes began, it didn’t change much.

My answer then (and still is): “Any college can be a party school. You make it what it is.”

Sure, at ASU you could find a frat party pretty much any night of the week. The bar scene on Mill Avenue and further north in Old Town Scottsdale is a happening place. Hookups with party-crazy freshmen were common in my dorm, Manzanita Hall (known affectionately by upperclassmen as “15 Floors of Whores”). As a whole, drugs, sex and alcohol were easy to come by.

However, maybe attributable to being a bit of a goody-goody, I kept a 3.8 grade average and graduated in three and a half years. Oh, I had fun, believe me. (Mom, Dad, if you’re reading this… if I wasn’t at the library, I was drinking milk at the cafeteria and getting eight solid hours of sleep each night!) Ok, yeah, I did partake in some underage spirits. I’m a firm believer in having fun. But I was also not about to throw away my education. I knew I was paying an exorbitant amount of out-of-state tuition, and I wasn’t about to waste the money my grandparents and parents had carefully saved. Plus, I really wanted a college degree. Have fun, yes… but study? Yup to that, too.

Things have definitely cooled down for ASU since I was there, mostly attributed to the new president’s desire to get the school in the top tiers of research universities and out of the top tiers of boobie magazine polls. As an ASU alumna, I’m glad. They’ve spent a lot of money and resources to improve education across the various colleges. This crack-down might put a damper on on-campus keg parties, but I guarantee someone will still be having a party every Friday night, and there’s always the opportunity to meet like-minded freshmen looking for a casual hook-up. If that’s literally all you want, why spend the thousands of dollars to attend college? Hit up your local college campus-adjacent bar.

The reputation ASU had as a party school didn’t come out of nowhere. I will concede it was probably (definitely) easier to find a party or drugs or whatever you wanted than at, say, Brigham Young University. Not saying the LDS community doesn’t have fun, but again, their college campuses have cleaner reputations. But again, you make it what it is. Whether or not you go to parties, also go to class, study and be able to enjoy non-alcoholic beverages, too (milk!). You’ll still have a blast, and you’ll have the added benefit of walking away at the end of it with tangible evidence of your experience: a college degree.

This article is part of the BetterGrads special series “BetterGrads Q&A.” Contributors are asked to pick one big question they had about college and tell how they found (or didn’t find) the answer. If you’d like to submit an article for this series, please read our editorial guidelines and let us know here.

Do more than just the official campus tour, says ASU alum Annemarie Moody. (Photo courtesy tacvbo via flickr.)

If you’re lucky enough (and brave enough) to consider a school more than 10 miles from home (You are! You can do it!), you’re going to have to visit it at least once. If you haven’t decided on a school yet, this summer is a great opportunity to explore your options. If you’ve got the time this summer, use it! Wander campuses without a guide, and see as much as you can.

One way of going about this quest is to make a family vacation out of it, like I did. The younger siblings and the parents will probably drive you crazy, but have everyone climb in the minivan (so dorky, I know, I lived it), and hit the road. If you’re curious about a state or city rather than a specific school, this is a great time to visit several schools. Larger, more popular schools tend to be fairly spaced out unless you’re looking at Southern California or the East Coast, but that’s why they call it a road trip. If you thought you might want to make the Rocky Mountain state your home for the next four years, for example, hitting all three major schools (University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado State University in Ft. Collins and University of Northern Colorado in Greeley) is a way to get a taste of the options.

When I took a family road trip the summer after my junior year of high school, we headed down from Denver to Tempe, Arizona, where we took a tour of Arizona State University and also took in the blossoms at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Heading west, we toured the University of Southern California and also made time for a day trip to Disneyland. Later that summer, we headed east and visited Columbia, Missouri to try out the main campus of the University of Missouri.

Yelp and CitySearch can also help you get a good picture of the area, like where to find the best pizza during late-night study sessions or where all the cute guys/girls go. Try it now, when you’ve got an objective audience (Mom will let you know if she genuinely likes the food you’ll be having away from her), and you’re not living off of change from the couch cushions or dining points. (For those who haven’t memorized freshman catalogues, dining points are many schools’ way of making extra money off of hungry students by having them pre-pay for food to be purchased on campus, either in the dining halls or in the fast service restaurants. Free meals are something you may miss, so take advantage!

I really didn’t use the Internet much when I was deciding on schools, but the breadth of information makes it super easy now. My family sticks with food chains whenever possible (Red Lobster by the freeway in Columbia, Missouri, the Chili’s in Tempe, Arizona), but I now think it’s more fun and adventurous to try local cuisine or student hot-spots.

And there’s more to learn than just from the official campus tour! Find non-school activities to do when you’re in town as well. We hit national parks and Disneyland because that’s my family’s thing, but if you’re into hiking, do a hike. Museums and other educational experiences might be too much to ask for a summer-minded student, but that’s a great way to get some culture. Take in a baseball game or go shopping if that’s what you enjoy. You’ll feel more confident heading to school knowing exactly where to find both the necessities and fun.

Also, take pictures and make some notes every evening. I, for one, was not a fan of the summer weather in Tempe. It’s hot and dry and can hit 120 degrees during late July. It’s miserable. However, the other pros outweighed this when I decided to go to school there. Pictures will help jog your memory when it comes to decision time.

Never mind what the brochures and alumni tell you: the only tried and tested way of making the best, most informed decision possible about college is to visit in person. Take in more than the official tour, and try to have some fun with it!

BetterGrads author David Miller is also the CEO of SlugBooks.com.

With your final college preparations looming as spring moves into summer, a painful cost is about to enter your reality: college textbooks. I started SlugBooks.com because I wanted to make it easier for college students to save money on their textbooks; there are a lot of misconceptions at the beginning of college about the cost of textbooks and the cheapest places to get them. Here’s a list of common textbook-buying myths and our rebuttals to help give you a better understanding of the process and how to maximize your savings!

MYTH: “If you have financial aid, you always need to buy books from the campus bookstore!”

Wrong! Just because you received a loan doesn’t mean you have to overpay for textbooks. Many forms of financial aid allow you to get reimbursed if you provide proof of payment (like a receipt from Amazon). If your book is $100 at the bookstore and only $25 online (we see this happen all the time), it might be worth it to cough up the $25 now and get reimbursed later.

MYTH: “The bookstore is the only place that has the right books – if you shop online, you might buy the wrong ones.”

Incorrect! The bookstore is just as prone to ordering the wrong book as anyone – if you want to be 100% sure you are buying the right books, e-mail your professor. If you do decide to shop around online – all you need is the ISBN number of each book (a unique 10 or 13 integer code specific to the book). Websites like Amazon.com and Half.com allow you to search by that number and get you straight to your book. You may hear things from your college bookstores about how the internet is not trustworthy; conveniently, the bookstores have an extremely vested interest in discrediting online retailers – don’t fall for it.

MYTH: “I’m going to get a USED copy at the bookstore!”

USED prices are often deceiving. Yes, the bookstore’s USED prices are much cheaper than NEW prices, but pay attention to these two qualifiers. First, when the bookstore has used books, there can be a pretty limited supply, so there’s no guarantee you’ll be paying the lower price! Second, we’ve seen occasions where the campus bookstore features a USED price for a book, even though they have no plans to receive any used books; in these cases, everyone is forced to buy at the NEW price. This usually happens because the bookstore has two different people ordering books and pricing books and these two folks aren’t always on the same page (in other words, this deceptive practice is not intentional). Bottom line: if you want a shot at getting a used book at the bookstore, plan on getting as early as possible, and confirm with the bookstore that they’re actually going to have used books!

MYTH: “The bookstore is always more expensive.”

False! Every website out there says “we have the cheapest textbooks, we’re cheaper than the bookstore”, but sadly there is no black and white answer to this question. It always depends on the book. Yes, the bookstore can be expensive, but sometimes ordering at the bookstore actually makes a lot of sense. People buy from the bookstore for a lot of legitimate reasons: it’s easy, it’s convenient, and on occasion they have the best price. Based on the numbers we’ve crunched, the campus bookstore is most often the lowest cost option for small, cheap paperbacks used in liberal arts classes – for these books, the prices online just aren’t that much cheaper, plus you have the occasional shipping cost to add onto online orders. Bottom line: anytime you are paying more than $20 for any book, it’s a good idea to check online; for books less than $20, the bookstore is probably your best bet.

MYTH: “I can’t order online because shipping will take too long!”

There are precautions you can take to make sure shipping isn’t an issue. First, ordering as early as possible is always a great tip. If you need your book really fast, order from a big rental site like Chegg or BookRenter – both of these companies are growing aggressively and they are maniacally focused on satisfying college students – they will do everything in their power not to disappoint! Online marketplaces like Amazon and Half are also very quick these days – the seller’s location is always a part of the listing information, so if you pick a seller located closer to you, you’ll have your book sooner! Another trick – check out sites that offer eBooks (Amazon Kindle, CourseSmart) – they usually provide an online version of the first chapter for free, so you can start reading your book immediately for free!

With everything going on at the beginning of your college experience, saving on textbooks may seem like a lot of work – but with a little effort, the savings really start to add up! Everyone ends up figuring out their personal favorite savings strategies, but the advice in this article should lay out a nice framework for monster savings.

Students unite for human rights (photo courtesy breakthetraffic.com)

As we enter college, few of us are prepared for the lifestyle change it entails. A key factor to remain successful in college is to enjoy the time that you are there. If you are miserable, then it will most certainly reflect in both your grades and your attitude about the experience.

What are your hobbies and interests? Incorporating these things into your academic life will prove to be much more enjoyable and help you set goals and work toward achievement in many disciplines. Start by looking for clubs and student organizations that fit with your values and interests. Being an active member in a club can give you the sense of achievement you may be looking for.

As a political science major, I don’t really fit well into particular party affiliated clubs such as College Republicans or College Democrats of America, but I wanted to participate in a student organization. I found that the more classes I took for my major, the more I wanted to be a part of the process. I wanted to help educate people about how important they are and the rights that they have under the U.S. Constitution. Some of the problems with our political youth is that they don’t participate very much and make uniformed decisions. Sometimes, we need someone to help educate and explain things to us while encouraging and explaining the benefits of participation of not only national politics but within our communities as well.

With nothing of the sort offered on campus, I am now in the works of becoming founder and president of the Active Americans club at Owens College.

Through forming the club, I have learned not only new roles as a leader and gained a new sense of responsibility, but how important like-minded friends are to academic success. Through our club, we not only identify policies that affect our education, families and communities, but we also learn about important legislation that was passed by our forefathers that has an under-appreciated impact on our everyday lives. We hold charity benefits for local organizations and to me, nothing makes me feel more accomplished than knowing you helped someone else. Your passion is reflected in your participation and communication with others. It encourages you to learn and remained informed. We work together for our community, charities, campus and each other so that we may better ourselves in the process.

To say that being in a club helped me academically would not do it justice. It has taught me many life lessons that will guide me through my professional life as well. The moral of the story is to go out there and participate! If it isn’t available to you, make it happen. This is the first step to finding success in the professional world. Make opportunities for yourself.

Dana Frederick
Perrysburg, Ohio
The author is a political science major and sociology minor at Owens Community College. She is currently working toward improving college retention for other students by serving as a peer mentor under Title III, a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Photo by Patrick Theiner via Flickr

…doesn’t exist.

Hollywood visions of undergraduate college often evoke historic brick buildings of lore, gently sloping campus paths lined with seemingly-erudite trees. Besweatered students rest on the grass with leather knapsacks, frisbees flying overhead. A young frat pledge hands out half-sheet flyers as students file into the dining center.

With the exception of the satirical new TV series “Community,” a clear-cut stereotype of the average undergraduate college student rests comfortably in the American mindset: age 18-22, bachelor’s degree track, middle-class, full-time student, beer enthusiast, likes to sleep in. Perhaps a sprinkle of Marxism or newfound love for performance art thrown in to spice things up.

But like any other demographic pool, the fish are much more diverse than your average koi pond. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released an interactive infographic that plots undergraduate college students by age, gender, level of attendance, race, income and most importantly, type of institution. Their findings are based on the 2007-8 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study by the U.S. Department of Education.

Here are some unstereotypical highlights:

• Less than half of all undergraduates attend college full-time.
• More than 40 percent of all undergraduates are 24 or older.
• More undergraduates attend 2-year colleges than 4-year public or private universities. Hello, community college!

These stats were pulled before the economic crisis of 2008, so perhaps the next study will reveal even more unstereotypical undergraduate findings, as more people rushed back to school when the job market plummeted. Perhaps freshman dorms will begin to offer more daycare facilities for undergraduate parents, or community college will stop being known as an automatic funnel for post-high school slackers.

The undergraduate college demographic is changing, whether Van Wilder likes it or not.

For specific stats, check out the infographic here.

Side effects include:

• heart disease
• stress
• depression

The author, attempting to cram for a mock English Lit final

No, these are not documented side effects from consuming too much candy on Halloween. And no, this is not a new FDA-mandated warning label that will appear on cans of the controversial energy drink Four Loko. Rather these are the some of the long-term side effects stemming from lack of sleep.

Lack of sleep is a hot topic amongst students. Most will acknowledge that  they do not get enough of  it on a nightly basis. Others will boast about their productivity during a late night study session and rave about their exam performance.

Fortunately, there are guys like Dr. Michael J. Breus to set the record straight. He’s done a ton of research on collegiate sleeping habits and its affect on performance in the classroom and on the pitch. And the statistics he cites are not too dreamy. Apparently only 11 percent of American college students report that they sleep well.

If that’s bad enough, consider the commonly held beliefs about the effectiveness of all night study sessions and the impact of sleep on athletic performance.

In the eyes of most college students, pulling an all-nighter is necessary for writing papers at the last minute or ensuring full comprehension of those oh-so-difficult Latin names of muscles for an upcoming Kinesiology exam. While pulling an all-nighter makes more sense when trying to accomplish the former, studies show that this is not case when completing tasks of the latter variety.

In fact, Dr. Breus cites a study from Harvard professor Dr. Robert Stickgold who has noted that the most critical period for sleep and memory consolidation is right after the acquisition of this new information. Thus, pulling an all-nighter is counter-intuitive to helping students retain information at the last minute. Big surprise!

And for the collegiate athlete who thinks that sleep before game day is a joke, sleep on this: Research shows that lack of sleep also impacts basic athletic function. For example, lack of sleep is known to impact free-throw shooting in basketball and serve accuracy in tennis. Consider this theory the next time your favorite NBA player is struggling from the charity stripe.

So, whether you are cramming at the last minute for that 300-level physics course final or practicing your free-throw form into the wee hours of the morning, if you want to get that “A” on that exam or “W” for your team respectively, you better get your zzzzzzzzzzzzs.