Bank of America Student Leaders Internship

Bank of America is offering 5 future community leaders an opportunity to learn about banking as part of a rigorous internship and leadership development program. The goal of the program is allow students to experience first-hand how they can help shape communities now and in the future. Past participants have gone on to further their educational and career goals so that they can continue to improve themselves and their communities.

While participating in the program students will be mentored by bankers and other Bank of America staff, and participate in community service activities alongside local Bank of America executives. The program is available to students in each of Bank of America's 44 markets. The internship is paid.

To be considered as a student leader, you must:
Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident
Currently be a junior or senior in high school (or UK equivalent)
Be in good standing at your high school
Be able to participate in a series of leadership activities arranged by Bank of America (summer 2007)
Be able to participate in an 8-week (35-hours per week), paid internship at a local nonprofit/charitable organization

Applications are being accepted January 2-March 9, 2007. Students may nominate themselves, or have someone else nominate them. Letters of recommendation should be included with your application (Have recommenders email them to you).

Apply online!

Change Your World...And Get Paid

The focus of this blog is to help improve your chances of getting into college. But, my ultimate goal is to provide as much information as possible on opportunities to help everyone lay the foundation for a better life. College is a doorway to a successful life. And, every good application packet includes examples of your past leadership experiences and volunteer work. This post contains great opportunities to add some amazing stuff to your application!

Have you ever dreamed of changing your world, of making things better for kids who grow up in the same situations and community that you did? What's holding you back?

What holds most people back is that they simply don't know what to do. The rest of us are held back by a lack of resources to make change happen--no money, no help.

There's good news. Several businesses and organizations have teamed up to support your dreams of improving the world around you. Here's are a couple of notable ones:

• Staples/Youth Ventures "That Was Easy" Initiative -Staples, the office supply retailer, has teamed up with Youth Ventures, an organization that inspires, coaches, and invests up to $1000 in teams of young people aged 12-20 to start social ventures. Your new venture must address one of these areas of social need: health, environment, diversity, education, youth, community and civic engagement. For example, setting up a weekend produce market in a neighborhood that doesn't have access to fresh produce as a way of improving the health of people living in poor neighborhoods. Check out more examples. Launch your own social venture through Youth Venture by (1) completing and submitting one Action Plan as a team and (2) present your idea to a Selection Panel who will decide whether the action plan will be launched. If your Venture is approved by the panel, you will receive a grant of up to $1000 and coaching to help you launch your Venture. If you have any questions, or if you would like someone from Youth Venture to review a draft of your plan, email thatwaseasy@youthventure.org. Download the action plan worksheet.
  

• There's also a "That Was Easy" Competition where youth venturers can win a free trip to Staples headquarters for special award ceremony and consulting opportunities, $1,000 Venture funding, and a$5,000 Staples shopping spree (Grand Prize). Enter the competition.

Where You Live Impacts Success In Life

You've heard the expression "It's not where you've been, but where you're going". Well, it turns out this is absolutely wrong. In it's report titled Quality Counts 2007: From Cradle to Career: Connecting American Education From Birth to Adulthood, Editorial Projects in Education found that the state in which you live has a significant influence on whether or not student's attend college, and ultimately on their career prospects.

The report used a Chance for Success Index to rank states based on how well their students scored against 13 key indicators in their development and education, including family income, parental education, linguistic integration, preschool enrollment, high school graduation, postsecondary participation, annual income and steady employment.

Each state starts with a score of zero then gains points based on how well they fare against each indicator. Researchers concluded that "it matters where children live...At almost every stage, a child born in Virginia is significantly more likely to experience success than the average child born in the United States, while a child born in New Mexico is likely to face an accumulating series of hurdles that puts him/her further and further behind."

Best States for Student Success:

1. Virginia
2. Connecticut
3. Minnesota
4. New Jersey
5. Maryland
6. Massachusetts
7. New Hampshire

Worst States for Student Success:

1. New Mexico
2. Louisiana
3. Arizona
4. Texas
5. Tennessee
6. Mississippi
7. Alabama

The Quality Counts report also featured a few other interesting points about state of the states:

• 41 states and the District of Columbia have early-learning standards (Pre-K) that are in line with academic standards for elementary schools (meaning that Pre-K students are actually prepared for kindergarten)
• 13 states have a formal definition of school readiness (How do the other states you know if a child is ready if you can define what "ready" means?)
• 16 states require districts to assess readiness of entering students (It's great to have standards, but they don't matter if you don't check to see if pre-K education providers are actually succeeding in readying students to enter school?)
• 18 states have interventions for children who are not ready (Wow! Only 18 states think it's a good idea to help children who are not ready to get ready?)
• Only 11 states have a formal definition of college readiness
• 9 states make college-prep curriculum the standard
• 6 states align their state high school tests with what it takes to succeed in college (They use college entrance exams to determine whether students are ready)

Find out where your state ranks on each of these indicators

So what do you do if you live in state that does not score well? Don't give up, first and foremost. There is always an exception to every rule, especially when it comes to the possibilities of the human mind and spirit.

Here's what you can do to ensure you are ready for the college you want to attend:

• Get a copy of the admissions requirements (Find out if you need to write an essay, what is the minimum and average GPA and test scores, what are the other requirements)
• Call the admissions office and ask to speak with an admissions representative or someone on the admissions committee. Tell them you are a prospective student and need to talk to someone about what it takes to be accepted there.
• If your GPA is lower than they might usually accept, find out what you can do to make your application more attractive (Usually, it's getting high test scores)
• If you've taken the ACT or SAT and didn't score well, take it again!
• Ask about opportunities to test out of introductory classes (CLEP tests, proficiency exams)
• Take AP tests in subjects you think you can score well in (It doesn't matter that you didn't take the AP class)
• Load up on extra classes if you still have time (12th graders should take a full load their final year in order to improve their GPAs)
• Ask teachers for extra credit or "challenge assignments" to try to bring up low grades in classes
• Take a college-level course (or two) during the summer
• Complete as much community service or meaningful extracurricular activities as you can (Volunteer hours, or even hours devoted to an interesting hobby or sport can spark interest in your application)
• If you are an athlete or artist, ask for a try-out, audition or portfolio review
• Ask to meet and interview with local alumni (They can't necessarily get you in, but they can put in a good word and help you put together your application packet)
• Ask for an interview (Usually not required, but can't hurt if your application is struggling)

Need more? Check out Everybody Else's Guide To Getting Into College, the book.

Democrats Promise Lower Student Loan Interest

New Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi promised to slash student loan interest once the Democrats took over Congress. The rate cut applies only to federally subsidized (the government pays the interest on these loans while the student is enrolled in college) student loans given to students as part of their financial aid packages. Loans taken out by parents of students will not qualify for the rate cut.

The plan is to phase in the rate cuts over the next 5 years, beginning with a cut from 6.8% to 6.1% in 2007.

The plan is to be financed by reducing funds allotted to private lenders who offer student loans. Critics of the plan, including some Democrats, argue that the $6-billion in savings should be used to increase Pell Grants rather than to cut interest rates. Pell Grants are grants awarded to thousands of this country's poorest students to allow them to attend college.

The arguments against cutting interest rates are as follows:

• Reducing interest rates does nothing to increase the affordability of college (Pell Grants would allow tens of thousands of poor students to attend college)
• Reducing interest rates does not encourage any more students to attend college; it just helps those who are already enrolled and have already taken out loans
• Reducing subsidies to private lenders only reduces the number of options available to students and their parents when seeking financial aid

What do you think?

Athletes Work Harder To Play

The NCAA's 40-60-80 rule, or the progress toward degree requirement, was established in 2003 in an effort to increase the graduation rate of student athletes. The 40-60-80 rule mandates that, to remain eligible to compete, athletes must complete 40 percent of their degree requirements by the end of their second year in college, and an additional 20 percent each year thereafter.

Three years later it's still too early to tell if the NCAA is making progress toward its goal of more graduates, but new studies show that athletes are certainly working harder to play.

On its face, this seems like a good outcome. However, the athletes are not necessarily working harder at their studies, but on choosing what to study.

The 40-60-80 rule forces athletes to take core, or required, classes sooner (the first 2 years) and to take fewer electives. This is significant because many athletes cram their course loads with easy, elective courses because they are easier to balance with their sports commitments, make it easier to earn higher grades and thereby, to remain eligible to play.

Players who want to remain eligible to play, and meet the progress toward degree requirements, are compelled to select and stick with a major earlier in their college careers, and to select majors that require fewer core courses. Some athletes have complained that their career choices are limited to majors that lead to lower-paying jobs (Communications versus Pre-Med).

The NCAA's own study of 10,000 student-athletes at colleges around the country found that approximately 40% of players said playing college sports had prevented them from taking courses they wanted. Twenty-percent said playing sports affected the majors they chose.

A study conducted at Ohio's Kent State revealed that one-third of the 1,000 athletes surveyed believed that the [40-60-80 rule] had limited their career options, caused them anxiety over choosing a major, or penalized them unfairly for changing majors.

Get more information on NCAA Eligibility Rules