Research Opportunities
Ralph Becker
The Importance of High School Research

Many applicants to the most selective university programs share high grades, high test scores, solid recommendations and generous doses of community service and volunteer activities. Yet, if they want to set themselves apart from the pool of exceptional students, a significant research experience in STEM or the social sciences helps.

The Importance of High School Research

Writing the College Essay

Writing the College Essay

Straight-A students from some of the best high schools in the country become unhinged at the thought of crafting a 600-word essay in response to such a prompt: “Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you. Describe that influence.” (Recent Common Application, Question #3).  It’s not surprising-- very few students learn the craft of essay writing. It’s become such a neglected art that Harvard, among many of the most selective schools, now requires all its undergraduates, without exception, to take an expository writing class.  Knowing that the state of essay writing is in the doldrums, what might you do to attack this very daunting task?

Personal Finance Training for College Students

Personal Finance Training for College Students

With the average student loan debt in 2017 ranging between $20,000 and $25,000 and the amount of outstanding student loans exceeding $1.5 trillion nationally, it’s becoming imperative for students to understand basic financial literacy before they graduate and have to set budgets to pay back their share of this growing debt load.

3 Reasons to Try Out MOOCs Before Applying to College

3 Reasons to Try Out MOOCs Before Applying to College

Mahir Jethanandani’s California high school offered only a few classes related to business and finance – disciplines he was interested in exploring. So, he turned to massive open online courses, or MOOCs, offered through Coursera to learn on his own.

“It came with an extension of knowledge and fundamental concepts that I felt improved my understanding of subjects that I claimed that I loved” but didn’t have much exposure to, says the 18-year-old. MOOCs also led him to explore other disciplines he was curious about, including law and neuroscience.

Summer Reading for Students: Revamp Your Summer Reading

Summer Reading for Students: Revamp Your Summer Reading

To take your independent reading game to the next level, consider selecting books that take center stage on university lists. The following books have been recommended to current classes at UMass Amherst, Duke, Stanford, USC, Washington State, and Occidental College. Pick up one and see what you’re missing. You might just become addicted.

Getting to Know Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Getting to Know Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, (SLO) nestled on the California coast, lives and breathes its motto, its core philosophy, ‘Learning by Doing,’ in engineering, business, architecture, viticulture, and all newer majors such as statistics. Classes emphasize activities and discussions, lab and field work, hands-on projects, and collaborative work experiences.

The Benefits of Attending Community College, Especially for the First 2 Years

The Benefits of Attending Community College, Especially for the First 2 Years

At the end of December of last year, Alex Roa, an undergraduate researcher at UCLA, pulled together a well-reasoned set of arguments as to why one should never be shamed by attending a community college. In fact, from a standpoint of return on time and money and personal growth, community college might just be the best payback.  

Tuition Free Medical School

Tuition Free Medical School

The current medical school system in the US makes it quite expensive to become a doctor. According to the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) the median current debt of graduating medical students is just under $200,000 and the doesn’t include debt incurred as an undergraduate. Compound this with the opportunity costs, not joining the workforce until many are in their early 30s, and the debt burden truly is substantial.

UCSC-A Place for Those Caught Up in Computer Science, Molecular Biology and the 60s-70s with a Strong Propensity for Action

UCSC-A Place for Those Caught Up in Computer Science, Molecular Biology and the 60s-70s with a Strong Propensity for Action

Any place that has the Banana Slug as its mascot will either attract or repulse. At the University of California Santa Cruz,  for those who are allured,  there is distinctly a countercultural element, initially signaled by the Banana Slug, that is  better developed as one explores what the campus has to offer.

The Sino-American Technology Race: What it Means to US

The Sino-American Technology Race: What it Means to US

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the inventor of the Internet, has a full portfolio of high-tech ventures from accelerating molecular discoveries for new medicines, coatings, and dyes to Adaptable Navigation Systems so users (particularly the military) can navigate should GPS based systems get jammed  or are not available because of geography.