In this issue:
- Introduction
- Student Loan Updates
- Scholarship Updates
- Featured Article: The Jobcast Preview
- A Word from our Sponsors
- Privacy and Subscription Information
- Back Issues
- Sponsor this newsletter!
Welcome to the March 2006 issue of the Financial Aid News. A lot's happened since the last newsletter, so we're going to introduce a new format in this issue to get you up to speed even faster. This issue, we've got student loan news out of Washington, lots of scholarships, a preview from our new e-book currently under development, and more. Remember, the Financial Aid Newsletter is a monthly publication. If you need financial aid information and scholarship updates more frequently than just once a month, tune into the free Financial Aid Podcast at http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com every weekday.
Enjoy this month's newsletter, forward it to your friends, and please send feedback to financialaidpodcast {at} gmail.com with any comments, suggestions, etc.
Christopher S. Penn
Publisher, The Student Financial Aid News
Producer/Director, The Financial Aid Podcast
A Publication of the Student Loan Network
1250 Hancock Street, Suite 703N
Quincy, MA 02169
Featured Sponsor: Student Loan Consolidation!
Consolidate your student loans immediately to stave off interest rate increases that are coming July 1, 2006. For new student loans, the recently passed Deficit Reduction Act will increase interest rates from as low as 4.7% currently to 6.8%, while the worst case scenario for students and graduates with existing loans shows a potential increase from as low as 4.7% to as high as 7.55%, an increase of 61%. If you don't consolidate your federal student loans immediately, you could find yourself paying thousands of extra dollars in interest for no good reason at all.
Consolidate your student loans today by called 877-328-1565 or visiting http://www.StudentLoanConsolidator.com
We've had a record number of visitors to our free FAFSA web site (if you haven't already filed your free FAFSA, do so at http://www.FAFSAonline.com now) indicating another year of record-breaking interest in financial aid. If you need help with the FAFSA, be sure to try our tutorial and walkthrough here:
http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-tutorial/
Also, if you have no interest in the FAFSA or have already received your student aid report with no aid in it, you may want to investigate private student loans. Learn more at:
http://www.AlternativeStudentLoan.com
or if you're a graduate student, visit:
http://www.GradLoans.com/private
It's been a HUGE month for scholarships at our free scholarship search web site, www.StudentScholarshipSearch.com - stop by today. Here's a selection of recent awards.
+ East Tennessee State University Academic Performance Scholarships
+ http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/New/2006-02-01.php
The Academic Performance Scholarship Program for Tennessee residents awards academic scholarships to entering freshmen and transfer students for the fall semester each year. Selection is competitive and awards are made to the students based on academic performance. The APS award amount is $3000 annually ($1500 per semester).
+ NFIB Young Entrepreneur Scholarship Award
+ http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/New/2006-02-02.php
This scholarship program is designed to set teen small-business owners on the path to entrepreneurship. Nationwide, at least 400 recipients will attend the university, college, community college or vocational/technical institute of their choice with $1,000 in tuition assistance from the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation. One outstanding student will receive a $10,000 award, and four regional winners will receive $5,000 each.
+ National Italian American Foundation Scholarships new
+ http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/New/2006-02-03.php
Those students from any ethnic background majoring or minoring in Italian language, Italian studies, Italian American studies or a related field, who demonstrate outstanding potential and high academic achievements. Scholarship awards range from $2,500-$10,000.
+ Kentucky Tuition Grant
+ http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/New/2006-02-10.php
The Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG) Program provides need-based grants to qualified Kentucky residents to attend the Commonwealth's independent colleges. Eligible institutions must be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (or an equivalent regional accrediting association) and not be comprised solely of religious instruction. For the 2005-2006 academic year, KTG awards range from $200 to $2,800.
+ Siemens Westinghouse Competition
+ http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/New/2006-02-24.php
The Competition promotes excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects in science, mathematics, engineering and technology or in combinations of these disciplines. The Competition provides you an opportunity to meet other students who share your interest in research, talk with distinguished scientists and, of course, win a scholarship for college. Scholarships for winning projects range from $1,000 for regional finalists to $100,000 for national winners. You can compete as an individual or as a member of a team.
Remember, you can get daily scholarship updates by listening to the Financial Aid Podcast and visiting the Student Scholarship Search web site!
http://www.StudentScholarshipSearch.com
http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com
Featured Article: The Jobcast, a Preview
Our new e-Book, JobCast: The Financial Aid Podcast Guide to Getting A Good Job, is targeted for publication on or around April 1, 2006. This is a preview of part of Chapter 3 on the proper use and construction of your resume.
The resume, or curriculum vitae (CV), is believed by many to be the single most important document in your entire job hunt. It actually isn't - that's your cover letter, which we'll get to in the next section. That doesn't mean the resume is unimportant, though, because it's quite important. Let's review a basic sales principle: you don't sell the steak. You sell the sizzle. People - hiring managers, consumers, professors, you name it, don't usually make decisions based on rational thought when it comes to other human beings. For more on this, check out Malcolm Gladwell's seminal work "Blink", available at a bookstore near you.
No, people make decisions based on emotion, and emotional is the last thing in the world the resume is. However, once people make a decision that's based on emotion, their rational mind works to justify it. That's where the resume comes in - it provides the logical, rational, fact-based justification that the logical mind needs to bring it in agreement with the emotional mind of the hiring manager. It's insurance against buyer's remorse and is what managers bring to their managers when they need to explain why they made a hiring decision. As such, your resume should be incontrovertible proof of why you are a good hire.
What does that mean for you and your resume? It should be fact-based, with information cut up into easily digestible and easily recited chunks. Numbers and concrete measures of your skills should leap off the page to instantly back up anything you say in a cover letter, solicitation, or interview. Think of your resume as the glossy brochure that accompanies you, the salesperson of you. Your resume doesn't have to be and should not be an encyclopedic recitation of your history on earth, but it also shouldn't be so thin that it provides no information a hiring manager's mind needs to back up an emotional choice.
So, let's talk nuts and bolts about resumes. First, there are a few fallacies to dispose of entirely. Fallacy number one: a resume should be one page. Wrong, wrong, wrong. A resume should be as short or as long as it needs to be in order to provide the data it needs to provide.
Fallacy number two: a resume needs to be the fanciest, best looking, most polished document possible. Again, wrong. What makes a resume valuable is the content. That's not to say it should be sloppy, of course, because it shouldn't, but if you're going to sink a lot of time into any one part of your job hunt, your resume should not be it. Make it functional, make it useful and attractive within reason, but make its content the highlight, and then spend your efforts crafting your sales message and interview skills.
Fallacy number three: "references upon request". This is a waste of space. It's kind of implied - if you are unwilling to provide references, then you're probably not going to get the job.
More next month!
And now a word from our sponsors...
Student loans of every kind and type! Get them while you can - here's a compendium of student loan and financial aid resources online:
- http://www.StaffordLoan.com - for federal Stafford loans
- http://www.ParentPLUSLoan.com - for PLUS loans for parents
- http://www.AlternativeStudentLoan.com - private student loans, no FAFSA
- http://www.GradLoans.com - graduate, law, and medical students
- http://www.InternationalStudentLoan.com - loans for itinerant students
- http://www.StudentLoanConsolidator.com - make your loans affordable after graduation
Other Financial Aid Sites
- http://www.StudentScholarshipSearch.com - free scholarship database
- http://www.GotScholarships.com - premium scholarship database
- http://www.InternationalScholarships.com - international student awards
- http://www.FAFSAonline.com - free FAFSA filing information
- http://www.FAFSAapplication.com - premium FAFSA filing service
- http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com - daily free financial aid info
Graduating this year? Make sure you have good insurance coverage after graduation. Check out GradInsurance.com to ensure you have insurance after you've left your parents' insurance policies. Visit:
No cell phone? No problem! iCallAbroad calling cards are thinner and lighter than any cell phone and easily recharged for domestic or international use. Visit:
Win lots of free stuff! The Financial Aid Podcast is celebrating 200 episodes. Celebrate with us and win cool prizes.
http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com/show200contest.php
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