If the School Fits…

The Los Angeles Times ran an article, where fashion columnist Adam Tschorn interviewed Neil Patrick Harris from “How I Met your Mother” who discussed how much he loves his Paul Smith and Dolce & Gabbana suits, because they fit and flatter his tall and narrow frame like no other. The article reminded me of the time when I purchased a suit the summer before my first year of college. Though it was one size above my true suit size, the store manager said that I would grow into it. After four years, and some occasional ribbing by former co-workers who made a habit of noting that my suit was too big each time I wore it to work, I never, “grew into my suit.” At BetterGrads, we think the idea of a great fit extends beyond the fashion world. Around this time of year, when prospective students begin to receive [...]

A decision you can sleep on

On Thursday, the New York Times ran an article describing a growing trend among senior citizens: sleep overs! After spending the daytime acquainting themselves with the facilities, retirement communities are offering prospective senior residents the opportunity to take in evening social events and the opportunity to spend the night. For senior citizens, this is a great way to gauge social life and other nuances associated with retirement homes that one could not glean from a brochure. Retirement communities are not the only institutions to offer this opportunity. Colleges do too! I dedicate this post to one of the great (and relatively uncelebrated) pre-college traditions: prospective student overnight visits! Why you should do it: College overnight visits offer prospective students (or more cutely known as, prospies) an unfiltered, in-your-face opportunity to experience collegiate social life in a way that guidebooks or facebook photos could never showcase. For example, such visits give [...]

College 101 Panels in the SF Bay Area in January 2010

BetterGrads will be offering four College 101 panels in January 2010 at San Francisco Bay Area High Schools, including Richmond High School and Oakland Technical High School.

Comparison-shopping for Colleges

With Hanukkah winding down and Christmas right around the corner, newspapers across the country this week have highlighted some cool websites and mobile phone applications that can make comparison shopping a lot easier. One product that caught my eye, was the mobile application, ShopSavvy, created by Big in Japan, a development company based out of Dallas, TX. Mentioned in the Wall Street Journal , and in the New York Times, the app allows people to take pictures of barcodes, upload them to ShopSavvy, and have ShopSavvy compare the price of that item across various retailers. Now, if Bettergrads had any input regarding how this app would function, I think our team would want the app to be able compare the cost of attending various colleges. Imagine being able to hold up an iPhone to any text document where the name of a college appears, and with the simple click of [...]

COLLEGE IS HOGWARTS!?

College reputations are never a reality - or never a complete reality, at least. Prospective college students would be very well advised to spend less time “drink[ing] in the tour guide’s every word” - on claims of Hogwarts or otherwise - and more time asking tough questions, doing extensive research and introspection, and, most importantly, engaging as many current college students and young professionals for their insights and actual experiences as they can.

Majoring in Halo!!!??

Toward the tail end of my senior year, I would end most weeknights with the following ritual: Around 11:00 PM, I would climb a flight of stairs up to Jason’s suite, and would engage in a 30 minute session of playing one of Electronic Arts’ best selling video games, FIFA 2009 on Jason’s XBox. I went through a long and embarrassing newbie curve. Jason, and his suitemate, Josh, would select the worst teams imaginable while I would try my best with FC Barcelona, (the equivalent of the Los Angeles Lakers, in terms of talent, but in the world of soccer). It was not until the third or forth week when the 10-0 drubbings turned into tight, 2-0 losses or, if I got lucky, a 1-0 win! Jason and Josh are skilled gamers. Their talents were not just limited to sports video games. They could hang with the best of them [...]

College is… duck confit.

Saul Sutcher, like many college students, grew tired of the uninspiring offerings of cafeteria food. But instead of wallow away with “overcooked, unseasoned pasta that lies on the plate as mush,” Saul used his cooking skills and entrepreneurial vision to launch Cafe Norris, a once-a-week gourmet cafe offering such fares as duck ragu, pancetta-wrapped quail, and tarte aux pommes for dessert. In an interview, Saul details this awesome venture and describes how his experiences in college helped him achieve his gourmet goals.

The original article is well-worth a read (find out how a top-notch summer internship helped Saul prepare for dishing the goods at Cafe Norris). Last week, I caught up with Saul to learn more about this awesome venture and find out how his experiences in college helped him achieve his gourmet goals.

Skills for Life

Somewhere within the never-ending piece of literature you might currently know as the Common Application (or any college application for that matter), you are asked to highlight some of your skills. Yes, it’s easy to write that you are proficient in Microsoft® Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® (the later will become the bane of your existence as you enter the collegiate world and eventually the working world). But there are two skills I wanted to highlight today, that will help you grow and succeed during your high school years and beyond. 1). Follow-Up or Fail This skill comes to you courtesy of author Keith Ferrazzi from his book Never Eat Alone (NEA). While Ferrazzi spends much of the book explaining the finer points of networking, he spends a significant portion discussing the importance of follow-up. So, what’s the big idea behind follow-up? Following-up shows you care and are thankful for that [...]

Rock Bottom to Rock Solid: How I Learned to Love College

A Wonderful Beginning When you start college, it can be easy to lose track of why you went there and what you’re really there for. Starting in college across the country, either I lost sight of that for a little while, or the reasons I went cross country weren’t the right ones. I was a freshman at Occidental, who was going to be a Political Science major in pursuit of a Law degree down the line because a law degree, even if I didn’t want to be a practicing lawyer, would be good graduate degree to have. It made sense on paper and when I answered my family and other adults with what I’d be doing at college. I thought it made sense to me. The problem was, I didn’t give half a damn about politics. I found it difficult to care about an American political system whose rules, classifications [...]

Stepping into Diversity

Placing yourself in a whole new environment and breaking the ice with many new people and experiences can be exciting yet a little nerve-wrecking at the same time. Openly and positively interacting with others that don’t quite share the same personality or don’t have the same character as you do is a breakthrough with reaching out beyond what you normally are accustomed to. Learning something new in which you’ve never came across to before opens up a whole new world of possibilities that you may never have thought would spark your interest. I knew college was going to be a fresh new start and a journey of growth and development, not only academically, but personally as well. For those of you going into college, the first piece of advice I could give is to make sure you go into the experience with an open mind. You’ll discover a lot about [...]