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Making The Most Of Your College Dorm Space

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Filed Under: College

Maximizing College Dorm Space

Everyone and anyone who has ever gone away to college knows the value of space or the lack thereof in college dorms. Luckily times have changed and nowadays there are not only many creative and efficient ways to create storage space in your really small dorm space but also inventive and very useful organizing products.

Maximizing College Dorm Space

Is It a Couch, a Daybed or Both?

 

 

Using your bed to double as a couch is probably the only way to go when it comes to having space for television viewing.

When you are not busy sleeping in your bed and expect to have some friends over, make your bed up as usual and place some really big fluffy pillows up against the wall in numbers.

Your company now has a great space for kicking off their shoes and catching a show with you.

 

 

All-in-One Appliances

The greatest invention ever known to dorm life is the invention of the micro-fridge. It is a microwave and refrigerator in one combination.

The microwave is attached to the refrigerator so there is no movement when in use and the fridge is underneath.

 

Do Not Forget under the Bed

 

 

In dorm life, every ounce of space is necessary for utilization. Under the bed is one of the greatest places to store out-of-season clothing.

 

 

For example, winter sweaters, scarves, and hats can easily be stored in an under-the-bed container for when you need them.

Bulletin Boards Everywhere

 

 

Each and every wall of your dorm is up for grabs and bulletin boards make great places to store family photos, college notes, reminders, and even your jewelry.

 

 

Wherever there is wall space, hang a cork board and be creative. You can even place one right above your bed and hang a picture of your family pet to help you sleep peacefully at night.

Keep your jewelry on thumbtacks on a cork board and you will never lose it again.

 

 

Shelving

 

 

A college kid’s best friend has to be the use of a shelf. Shelves are easily placed anywhere and have multiple uses, from decorative to practical.

 

Shelves are a small room best friend. PB Teen no-nail organizer.

 

Books are easily stored on shelves, and picture frames or even toiletries are found easily on them.

The free-standing Elfa shelving you see below is a great option if you can’t install shelves on your wall.

Who’s behind the door?

A great way to create a landing area in your dorm is using the back of the door.

As soon as you arrive you’ll have a place to leave your keys, handbag, umbrella and anything else you need to come in and out for classes and activities.

Check this great portable solution, that you can take with you once you move, which makes it ideal for dorms and rentals.

The Ceiling

Do not forget the ceiling. The ceiling is a great place to post family and friend’s photos from back home.

You can even hang a net from one corner to the next with things you do not use every day, such as scarves and gloves or even just some old favorite stuffed animals.

With a little ingenuity, dorm storage can be fun and creative. What’s your favorite dorm organizing tip?

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Getting Organized to Move to College

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Filed Under: College

Tips & Products to Get Organized for College

So your kid is off to college in the fall. Congratulations!

It’s an exciting yet bittersweet time for both parents, and there are a lot of things to think about before your teen leaves home. The move to college requires some planning and organization. It may seem daunting at first, but by taking some steps now, you can reduce the stress of the college move-in and focus on enjoying your teen’s company.

Be prepared, flexible and patient. Your student’s college may send some information ahead of time. They may even probably do everything they can to help with the navigation and transition, but here are some suggestions to make the move to college as smooth as possible.

Getting Organized to Move to College

Do a Preview of What You Need.

It would be best if you and your teen can visit the college before your teen moves into the college dorm. If you can do it during a preview day, you will be able to see someone currently living in and this should give you an idea how the room is arranged and determine how much space your teen will have. A college visit will also help your teen become accustomed to the campus and help make her transition to her new surroundings much easier.

If you the opportunity to take measurements and pictures, even better. Create a small notebook with all the information you can gather and start jotting down anything you think will be needed or useful to your son or daughter.

Decide on What to Pack

Make move-in day go smoothly by preparing well at home. Now that you have seen her future dorm room, you can help your teen pack and prepare for the big move. Start with a checklist of things to bring. Organize the list, one item per line, by areas or by activities, like: sleep, clean, store, study.

The summer before your teen leaves for college is the best time to go through your teen’s wardrobe. What must be brought with him/her to college? Be realistic, and only bring what’s really necessary and useful. College dorms have limited storage, small or no-closets and bringing a well thought out wardrobe – or even a closet capsule – will make your teen’s life so much easier.

You also need to keep in mind differences in the climate so you can bring appropriate clothing. If you receive a suggested list of items to send to college with your teen, review the list and make sure that you don’t take more than will fit in your car!

Be Storage Savvy

Where to put all that stuff that’s ready to go? You will need boxes and plastic containers. You can get free, foldable boxes with lids from local merchants or you can invest in clear plastic boxes that you can save for the many moves your young adult will do in the near future. You won’t have to spend extra money on packing supplies, and you can fold them up and store them under your bed for later. For small items, use small clear plastic boxes to organize and sort items that typically get lost in a room. These boxes work great for school supplies, jewelry, etc! Organize your belongings in boxes by priority and make sure they are clearly marked.

Finally, keep a calendar or day planner for important dates such as housing registration and deposits, visitation days, class registration, move-in day, orientations, etc. This goes for both parent and student. You don’t want to miss any of these so write everything down!

With planning and preparation, you can help make your teen’s move to college smooth and well organized.

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Download the College Packing Checklist here

 

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Getting Ready for College Application

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Filed Under: College

Fast Facts: Preparing Your College Application

Applying to college has always been a multi-layered process and the competition is only growing tougher. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment in colleges across America is at an all-time high with 21 million students attending degree-granting institutions in 2010. Adding to this growth pattern, the number of students aged 25 and up is also increasing rapidly, with the percentage up by 34% between the years 2000 and 2010.

With so many more prospective students vying for spots at our nation’s institutions, knowing the process inside-and-out is the best way to get a leg up on the competition. Whether you are a high school senior planning for college, a professional looking to further your career or simply want to learn a new skill, applying to college requires careful planning and foresight. If you truly want to get noticed by admission counselors, read on and take notes.

College Application Checklist

Each institution requires a variety of materials from prospective candidates. Depending on your preferences, some colleges require supplemental materials to be sent along with your application.

Online colleges like Penn Foster, which offers programs like early childhood education associate degrees, have streamlined this complex process into a simple one-step online enrollment application.

Your first step should be to make yourself aware of all the requirements so that you can meet each school’s deadline.

Organize this information by creating a checklist outlining everything you will need for each school and prioritizing items based on due dates. This way, you won’t miss anything that is required and will have plenty of time to gather all the necessary documents.

What Colleges Want to See on Your Application

There are some staple items common to every application that you can have prepared and ready, no matter where you choose to apply. As collegeboard.org outlines, most schools require either a high school diploma or GED as a part of your educational history, so make sure you take the steps necessary to have this requirement fulfilled.

If you already hold a degree, you will need transcripts to verify this, and you should contact the school where you earned the degree in advance to acquire copies. Some institutions also require admissions test scores like the SAT. These should be sent directly from the testing agencies themselves.

Finally, you should seek out people who know your character, work ethic, and can speak positively about your academic persona, in order to write you letters of recommendation. Like applying for a job, it is important that you choose from a variety of people so that you can highlight the magnitude of ways in which you excel.

Make sure to contact these people well in advance of deadlines so that you can get these letters to their destinations without a hitch.

The Ticket is Your Essay

While test scores do play a role in your admission, the place where you can really shine is in your personal essay, or any supplementary questions a college requires. It is through your writing that you can show your true self, as scores can only give a skeletal idea of your personality.

Ultimately, weaker scores might be overlooked if you can shine a light on your strengths with your writing. The National Association for College Admission Counseling, (NACAC) advises that you start early, remain honest, take risks, and most importantly, take the time to revise your essay.

Leaving this part of your application for last minute will show, and you don’t want admissions counselors to get the sense that you cannot manage your time. You want the best parts of your personality to be showcased, and if your work has glaring grammatical errors and lack of focus, you will send the wrong message.

While applying for college can seem like a daunting task, preparing early can make the process a lot less stressful. So gear up, create your checklist and start writing. Ideally, by this time next year, you can be happily enrolled in the college of your dreams.

A Perfect College Application Essay

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Filed Under: College

5 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make in a College Application Essay

5 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make in a College Application Essay

The college application essay is one of the first impressions you make on a potential school. Along with your grades, coursework, leadership opportunities and extracurricular activities, admissions counselors use the essay to judge how well-prepared you are for college and whether you would fit in at their school.

This is a chance to demonstrate who you are and reveal a bit of your personality. Avoid these glaring mistakes to ensure they take you seriously:

#1. Don’t: Ignore the Word Count

Colleges set parameters for their admission essays for a reason. In many cases, admission officials have just a minute or two to spend on each application. An essay substantially over the word limit is good cause to toss an application to the “reject” pile. Carefully read all guidelines about the essay prompt, formatting guidelines and word count to avoid making a simple but costly mistake.

#2. Don’t: Write What You Think They Want to Hear

Before starting your application essay, think about the life experiences that have truly impacted the person you are. Don’t feel like you have to write that you’ve wanted to attend a particular school since you were four years old. Admission officers read countless essays each season, and they can easily identify work that is embellished or disingenuous. Write about whatever truly interests you. Your passion for 18th-century opera may seem offbeat, but it says more about your intellectual curiosity than a generic story about a teacher who changed your life.

#3. Don’t: Overshare Personal Information

There is a thin line between making an essay personal and making it too personal. Forbes.com recommends avoiding the “Three D’s”: death, disease or divorce. Personal stories about these events often come across as oversharing. Although your experience of having mental health issues or your favorite uncle’s death may have profoundly impacted your life, this is too much information for an application essay. Remember to be personal yet professional; don’t reveal more than you would tell a distant acquaintance at a party.

#4. Don’t: Forget to Proofread

Grammatical errors or spelling mistakes in your application is one of the easiest ways to get rejected. Failing to notice basic mistakes shows a lack of attention to detail and comes across as not caring about your work. Don’t rely on spellcheck function. Instead, read through your entire essay carefully, and ask a friend or family member to do the same.

#5. Don’t: Lie

The pressure to get into a great college or university can bring out the worst in students and their parents. Although parents might feel tempted to be hands-on in the essay-writing process, be careful not to change the content or voice of the admission essay. Experienced admission counselors can spot essays that have been polished by an adult.

Tips to Get Organized for College Applications

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Filed Under: College, Readers Love

Organizing Your Applications for College

Organizing your college applications

Your child is entering the senior year of high school, the pinnacle of his/her first steps in education. It’s going to be a busy year with challenging classes and extracurricular activities. Now is the time to help your senior start his/hers applications for college. It’s time for organization!

Step 1 – Determine 5 Good Fitting Colleges

The first step is to determine 5 colleges that are a good fit for your child’s educational goals. This may sound like too many schools, but educational consultants agree that having two colleges that by the numbers will easily accept your child, as well as two schools that are at reach for a child, is a great blend.

Search Criteria

Get organized with your search by talking with your child about the criteria for the search. This includes the location, size of the school, intended interest for a major and price range for your family. Your list can start off long, but narrowing it down to 5 schools makes the application process easier. Post this list where you and your child can see it and review it.

Step 2 – Organize the Application Process

Get organized with the application process laying it out on a chart or form that works for you and your child. The form should include all the requirements and deadlines for each college, including:

  • which application to use (Common, Universal, State Common, or the school itself)
  • SAT or ACT requirements
  • deadlines for sending the high school transcript
  • required essays, and
  • required recommendations
  • a form of mailing: by mail or online
  • contact information for the college
    • address
    • email address
    • phone number

Use this form as a file cover with the basic information you’ll need for each college.  

Attached is a .xls file by flashpointeducation.com for you to keep track of all the information in your application process.

Step 3 – Plan on a Calendar

Use a month at a glance calendar and plot out the deadlines with your child to sequence the requirements.

Break the requirements into segments that are manageable chunks.

Remember to allow ample time for tasks, such as the essays, that require extra time and attention. Establish deadlines that are a week in advance of stated deadlines, whether these are sent by mail or online. Have a weekly time when you and your child will work on each part of the process. Being organized helps everyone stay focused and on track, as well as function as a team.

Starting early on college applications is a bonus. By working on the application in late July and early August, your child will feel more confident as the school year begins. It will give time for your student to do outstanding work and not interfere with the demands of the school year. College applications are just one example of how relevant and important organizing is in the real world.

Helping your student navigate the process is a great introduction to project management. Create a team effort and model collaboration so your child sees how people work together positively. Even if organizing is not your strong suit, working together with your student will bring out the best in both of your organizing styles. Get organized and stay organized throughout the process. Update your chart with completed items and review letters sent from the colleges updating about the application process. Set up a small file box with hanging files for the paper part of the application process.

Organization helps you juggle all the demands of college applications and more!

Ellen Delap Professional OrganizerFor over 10 years, Certified Professional Organizer and Certified Family Manager Coach Ellen Delap has helped her clients make time and space for what’s important to them by organizing their homes, offices and their daily living. Ellen, owner of Professional-Organizer.com, works one-on-one with her clients in their home and offices streamlining their environment, creating effective strategies for an organized lifestyle and prioritizing organization in their daily routine. She holds ADD and Chronic Disorganization certificates and specializes in working with ADD and ADHD families, adults and students. Ellen has been featured on Stretch Your Dollar on ABC13 Houston, in articles in the Houston Chronicle, a guest speaker on radio KLOVE, and is a national expert on The Clutter Diet, an online organizing website. She is a Golden Circle member of the NAPO and a specialist in chronic disorganization and ADHD with the Institute of Challenging Disorganization. Learn more about her and her business at www.professional-organizer.com, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

 

Organized Way to Go Off to College

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Filed Under: College

Organized Way to Go Off to College

If you are heading to college after summer, first my congratulations! A very exciting time is about to begin for you and I still remember my first days in College as a Law student! It was a mixed feeling of “I can do it all” and “where should I start”, but with time, guidance and dedication all falls into place.

In my culture we don’t leave home early, being quite common to live with our parent until we marry. So, I didn’t have to worry about creating a whole new infrastructure of self-care, comfort, and safety when I started my university years. In the US and Europe however, it’s quite different and you’ll need many items that you took for granted at your parents home. To help you, I posted a very handy list to give you the upper hand when you’re off to college and shopping for your new room!

Here are 5 great posts to help you with your college moving time!

  1. College Dorm Checklist
  2. Organizing Cords
  3. Organizing Closet
  4. Moving Tips
  5. Linen & Laundry
  6. Organized for College
  7. College packing checklist – a free download

Get organized for college and enjoy a wonderful school year!