Education & College

What you should be doing now to get into college

By Stephanie Choate

Featured Article
fireflymag.com-Dec

 

Fireflymag.com talked to three college advisors to find out what you should be doing right now to get ready for the college application process. The advisors: Sarah Soule, director of admissions for Vermont Commons School, also runs a private consulting business; Howard Verman, consultant for Strategies For College, has been an educator for 35 years;Nancy Milne owner of a private consulting business, Milne Collegiate Consulting, was formerly the director of admissions at Cornell University.

So, here’s what you should be doing…

 

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Ten random scholarships you just might get

By Jessica Sanders

Featured Article
fireflymag.com-Dec

 

After you’ve gone through all the tradition scholarship channels –talking to your college, your high school counselor and Vermont Student Assistance Corporation—it’s time to look a little bit off the beaten path. Here are 10 weird scholarships to get you started. Hey, you never know.

  

Red Vines Drawing Contest

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College Lifestyle:

Fireflymag.com

Featured Article
fireflymag.com-Dec

 

 

Aside from taking classes and learning to live on your own, every college student has one more major thing to deal with: living in a tiny room with a complete stranger.

Your roommate might be really cool, or they could be a little crazy. You don’t have to be best friends, but you do have to deal with each other. Your school probably won’t let you change roommates every time you don’t like someone, so here are some tips for making it work.

 

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fireflymag.com-Dec
Getting a jump-start on college
By Stephanie Choate

The first week of classes at Florida International University in Miami was a breeze for Lyndon native Sarah Stenson.

Stenson had already taken three college courses while she was in high school, which helped her know what to expect and how to handle it.

“The beginning of classes would not have gone by easy if I hadn’t done it,” said Stenson, 18. “I knew what to expect coming in, so I wasn’t so nervous. I wasn’t freaking out as much as I would have been.”

fireflymag.com-Apr
Turning a passion for food into a career
By Stephanie Choate

Betsy Birdsall carefully puts the finishing touches on a flourless chocolate cake, perfecting a dusting of cocoa powder in the shape of a flower.

The smell of baking treats fills the kitchen of La Brioche Bakery & Café, run by New England Culinary Institute. It’s a warm spring afternoon, and NECI students are hard at work in the kitchens of the Montpelier school’s eateries.

“I’ve loved (NECI) so far,” said Birdsall, who hopes to be a restaurant pastry chef. “It’s small, so you are a person, not just a number.”

fireflymag.com-Feb
Champlain students pitch ideas in 90 seconds
Stephanie Choate

You never know who you might run into.

That’s the idea behind Champlain College’s Elevator Pitch Competition, where students have 90 seconds to pitch their idea, or themselves, to an imaginary executive in an imaginary elevator.

Eighteen students vied for three $500 cash prizes in the contest, held Tuesday night. Each student’s goal was to get a follow-up meeting with the executive, dubbed “the suit.”

Op-ed: VSAC still at work to help Vermonters plan and pay for education
By Don Vickers

Many people stop me on the street to ask what’s in store for Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, and the Vermonters we serve, in the wake of legislation eliminating our role as a federal education loan provider. Some things are still in flux, but I wanted to share where we stand as the 2010–11 school year begins:

Free course helps students prepare for college
By Stephanie Choate

A free course at Community College of Vermont can help you get ready for college.

Nearly 1,500 Vermont high school students take CCV’s Introduction to College Studies each year. Students meet once a week for two hours at twelve locations throughout the state. 

 “The goal of the course is to help students basically learn to how to succeed in college,” said Natalie Searle, director of secondary education initiatives at CCV. “We want to help all students feel that they can go to college.”

VSAC offering fixed-rate private loans
By Stephanie Choate

Vermont students will have a new tool to help them pay for college this fall.

Vermont Student Assistance Corporation will be offering new fixed rate private loans later in August. VSAC has secured funding for $23 million in loans, which will be available on a first-come first-served basis.

While federal loans remain the best option for students—with lower interest rates and the best terms—there is a limit to how much money students can borrow, said Irene Racz, VSAC’s director of public affairs. As of July 1, federal loans are only available through the government.

NEFCU offers scholarships
fireflymag.com

New England Federal Credit Union is accepting applications for its 2010 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or STEM, Scholarships. Three scholarships of $3,000 each will be awarded.

Applicants must be NEFCU members and pursuing a degree in biology sciences, physical sciences, mathematical sciences, computer and information services, geosciences, engineering, or technology areas related to the listed fields.

Scholarships will be awarded to students who best demonstrate commitment to their field. Applications must be postmarked by April 30.

Scholarships for students with juvenile arthritis
fireflymag.com

The Arthritis Foundation is offering several $1,000 college scholarships to high school seniors or college undergraduates with arthritis living in New England. Applications are due April 16.

Students must have juvenile arthritis that has been diagnosed by a physician. A volunteer committee judges scholarship applications based on academic achievement, disease impact, and volunteer service to the school or community.

Firefly Teen Magazine-Oct
First pharmacy college in Vermont opens in Colchester
By Stephanie Choate

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, or ACPHS, opened a satellite campus for graduate students in Colchester on Aug. 31 – the first pharmacy program in the state.

Seventy students from 20 states, including three from Vermont, were chosen from more than 1,200 applicants.

Firefly Teen Magazine-Oct
Southern Vermont College nursing program gets an upgrade
By Stephanie Choate

Southern Vermont College’s nursing program has traded in plastic dummies for a brand-new simulation lab, complete with high-tech simulated patients.

“They have very complex and incredible abilities, and they’ve been designed to mimic actual diseases and situations in the hospital,” said Patricia Wrightsman, nursing program chairwoman.

Yes, you can go to college
By Stephanie Choate

If you want to go to college, there is a way to do it.

That’s the message the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, known as VSAC, wants to get across to all Vermont students.

“There’s definitely a way, there are definitely many resources available,” said Stacey Wheeler, 19, who got help from VSAC’s outreach program.

For many students, college is the automatic path after high school. But for others – especially those whose parents didn’t go to college – the process can be overwhelming, making college seem out of reach.