5 Myths About Student Debt

Student debt is a growing concern for many first generation and low income college students. And, sadly, there is a lot of misinformation floating around out there.

Instead of buying the hype, please check out 5 Myths About Student Debt from our friends over at HuffPost Education.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Listing continuing education classes on your resume

A reader writes:

"I know you have answered questions about putting specific classes & classes you will be taking in the future on your resume, but my question is slightly different... I am taking a gap year between high school and college and I don't have much education on my resume other than HS and an academic summer program. Although I'm not a "student" right now, I am taking two classes right now (continuing education courses) that are relevant to the places I am applying for internships/entry level jobs. If I list the classes at all, I'd do it upon completion. Should I do this at all? If so, how would that look? I am taking them at two different schools..."

You are a student if you are currently enrolled in continuing education classes and those classes are relevant to the things you are applying to. It is totally appropriate to list both "in progress" schools on your resume under Education. It might look something like this:

Education
ABC Community College & City College of XYZ
Event Planning Continuing Education
Spring 05/2012

• Relevant Coursework: Venue Contract Negotiations, Hospitality Management

Alternately, if you didn't want to list them on your resume, you can talk about the classes you are currently taking in your cover letter and how its relevant to the position, similar to this example.

Good luck making the most out of your gap year!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Take ownership of your grades, part II

Last semester I taught a class for first generation and low income college students on preparing for graduate school. Teaching this class also meant that I was grading students. I had a student (not-so-tactfully) disagree with some feedback I gave on an assignment.

But dealing with my student pales in comparison with an email one of my colleagues received. Check it out:

"Is there anyway you can possibly give me a high grade? I did try very hard in class but it was not able to translate my hard work onto the practicals.. I'm not asking for anything big, but to be raise to a C+ or a solid C please? I hope you have a great winter break as well. They will not accept me into Physical therapy school if I don't have a strong GPA. Please consider doing it out of the kindness of your heart."

EPIC. FAIL. Welcome to college, where you are expected to act like an adult and take ownership of your grades. This kind of behavior is totally out of line.

Professors and instructors do not give out grades, students earn them. As I've said before, you are responsible for your grades and what you did (or didn't do) to earn them. If you are in academic trouble or worried about how you're doing, work to prevent academic difficulty or deal with it appropriately.

As an instructor, I don't expect students to be happy with poor grades, but this email takes the cake... Please don't do this. EVER.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.