College Survival Guide

Achieve Success in College

Resources to help you excel in college and beyond

You are on the path to success in college, your career and life. By now, we certainly hope you have started to take our free online courses or read our book to help you down the path to your ideal college and eventual career experience. If you have not, click here for our free College Exploration course or click below for more information on the book.

College Exploration: The Ultimate Guide to Selecting, Applying and Succeeding in School & Life

This guide helps you get what you want out of college and life. It provides topics in focusing, assessing, targeting, applying, interviewing, deciding, budgeting and succeeding in college.

Assuming you have already started the process, here are the resources mentioned in the courses and book.  If you have found any resources particularly helpful, please add them to the comments below.

Scholarship Search

FastWeb is a FREE scholarship search that helps people find valuable scholarship money to pay for college or an advanced degree.  Recommended by more than 18,000 guidance counselors and financial aid officers, FastWeb has information on over 600,000 scholarships worth over $3 billion dollars.  If you are looking for money for college we highly suggest you click the link below to register on FastWeb.
Register on FastWeb for scholarships and money for college!

Click here for the site that provides Financial Aid Resource Publications from the U.S. Department of Education

You can find valuable information on this site about student aid and scholarships from the government

Sadly, there are often scams related to scholarships, so you can view this FTC site for scams and warnings.

Credit Cards

Credit cards can be quite helpful, but you need to be extremely careful with them.  A student credit card brings both new freedom and new responsibility.  It helps build credit, but it is the student’s responsibility to maintain good standing with the credit card company by paying bills on time.  It is suggested to payoff the entire balance each month.  Be sure not to get over your head in debt.
Click here for a comparison of  student credit card offers

Health Insurance

Students are often concerned about health insurance.  We suggest you work with your insurance professional to find the best plan for you. A great place to look for rates is eHealthInsurance where you can find FREE Instant Quotes!

Traveling

You may have the need to travel to tour colleges, attend an interview, visit home or book flights for study abroad programs or Spring Break trips.  If you are looking to travel for less, click on the following links for discounts on travel, airfare, hotels, etc.

Travelocity SAVES You 20% or MORE on Air Fares
Search Here for Hotels.com Best Hotel Deals!
Round-Trip Flights through Priceline under $200!
Priceline.com Hotels – save up to 50%

Getting Organized

Keeping track of your calendar, staying organized and communicating effectively are very helpful to your success in college.  The following should help:

FranklinCovey is the global leader in productivity tools and training for individuals and organizations.

Communications

Staying in touch with loved ones back home or friends around the world is important as well.  Skype allows you to talk for free from computer to computer.  If you are interested in phone plans follow this link for Skype to provide unlimited calls to landlines.

Software

JourneyEd.com offers discounted software to students and educators nationwide. Students and educators can save up to 85% on the most popular software available.

Technology

Laptops for Less provides accessories for laptops, phones, etc.  Use this link for instant discounts and specials on thousands of products!

Assessments

Assessing your natural motivators, needs and interests is a highly important component in selecting a college, a major and an eventual career.  An entire section was devoted to assessments in our online classes. There are a number of assessments available.  Here are some of the best:

1. The Birkman Method® is the main assessment we use at Path Insight.  It provides very in depth feedback and a report with over 50 pages of results that is delivered by a certified Birkman consultant.  For more information on the Birkman Method®, click here. To sign-up to take the assessment, contact us.

2. AnalyzeMyCareer.com provides several assessments including Personality and Occupational for modest fees starting at $19.95 and provide instant feedback.

3. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This test assesses personality and has 70 questions. The basic version is free ($4.95 to $19.95 for a more detailed report).

Textbooks

Phat Campus is a leading online college bookstore that specializes in providing students with a large selection of high quality textbooks at low prices.

Or, you can search for new or used books on Amazon:

Branding Yourself

In preparing for internships or for use in your campus organizations, having business cards or other promotional materials can be quite helpful.

Vista Print allows you to print business cards and other products for free! Click the link below to access the site. Plus, if you so choose to make a purchase, you will have access to amazing savings:
Save up to 90% + get FREE Shipping from VistaPrint

Accessories
Save on Greek Clothing, Fraternity and Sorority Gifts & Merchandise at GreekGear.com

Staying Informed
You may be interested in keeping abreast of the news in your local market, especially when you start looking for a position. You can get a feel for the economy and see articles on companies that are hiring. One of the best resources is local business news from bizjournals. You can sign up for your local RSS feed here.

Preparing for an Interview

When it’s time for an internship or applying for a job, you will want to practice your interview skills.  Our online career search course provides very detailed information on the best ways to prepare for an interview. Additional sample interview questions can be found here and our consultants are available for individual interview coaching.