I’ve been asked to host this edition of the Carnival of College Admission in-conjunction with Mark Montgomery, his excellent website and his expert advice on college admissions… along with a number of great bloggers and their helpful posts regarding everything from boarding schools, to grad schools, to law schools and even online schools.  In this edition we will also explore financial aid, Pell grants, the FAFSA and college fairs.  So lets dive right in and see what my fellow bloggers are talking about this week.

Because Dream Strategy helps families plan, prepare and pay for college; I really like this blog post from Gregg at Campus Bound and Upromise where he discusses the trials and tribulations from a parents perspective on the College Admissions Process .  Ashley, aka…CEOmum has a little advice for you after her son’s recent college interview.  She stresses to KNOW YOURSELF and BE YOURSELF and you will do fine.  Always listen to your mother.

Another contributor from Upromise is Alex who talks about Snagging Summer Internships and the best way to go about the process and how starting early will give you a leg up.  He also mentions getting your resume into the hands of as many people as possible to increase your chances of finding a great summer internship.

Julie Stewart of virtualcollegefairs.com loves making lists.  She gives you 5 ways to go green in your college search and then gives you 8 great tips for your campus interview.   Meanwhile, Dawn Papandrea gives a more random list and submits an article of 25 random things about career education from collegesurfing.com.

As Spring approaches juniors and seniors from around the country are visiting colleges and universities they may want to attend.  Tom Tessin has some great advice on College Fairs and what to expect when you arrive.  He highlights the benefits and how you can get all of your questions answered about campus life, the admissions process, financial aid and much more.  Online College wants to help you choose that college based on criteria you really want to think about.  Whether near or far away or big or small schools, ”The OC” points out the most important factors to consider when you are trying to decide where to go. 

Todd Johnson writes a great article on the College Common Data Set.  This post will also help you determine which college or university will be a fit for you using a standardized set of information about race, graduation rates, early decision applications and timing and so on.  If the school you are interested in does not give out it’s common data set, then send us an e-mail to info@dreamstrategy.com and a certified college planner will help you find what you need.  We have access to every school.

Are you looking for a scholarship?… John Fuqua from the Financial-Aid-Resource-Center.com gives students who are hoping for scholarships some amazing tips on utilizing his strategic plan to sell their application to the scholarship committees.  Surfer Sam rides a wave in to discuss The Best Opportunities For FREE College Scholarships and everything else you want to know about finding scholarships and avoiding the sharks who prey on those without this information.

We help our clients with their Dream Strategy to pay for college and retire wealthy.  Jake at goSwoop.com wonders what your college Admissions Office’s Listening Strategy is? How do you know if these admission offices are even listening to your concerns?  He offers his stance on what you can do to be heard at your school.

I know I’ve been blogging extensively about the FAFSA and the importance of filling it out and getting it in on time.  There is FREE MONEY to be had, but only if you fill one out.  Check out Jim’s post from Bargaineering.com and his take on the FAFSA and why it is so important.  If you won’t listen to me… maybe you’ll listen to him.  Speaking of filling out the FAFSA… If you want to get a Pell Grant from the government to help you pay for college, then you need to read Robyn Tellefsen’s helpful post about Pell Grants and how the Obama administration will give them a boost.

The Obama administration is also saddled with the burden of helping this country out of financial crisis, which has effected every industry in America and has obviously hit colleges and universities hard as well.  With endowments shrinking and college costs rising, Linda Abraham takes a unique look from an admissions perspective at the Financial Crisis… Danger or Opportunity in this quality post.  Staying on the topic of finances, check out Tom Hanson’s awesome advice and information in The College Student’s Guide to Personal Finance.   Tom hits on just about every topic to help college students manage their finances, not only today… but after college as well. 

After College?  What do you mean… Work? A career?  Unfortunately yes, that’s what happens to most of us, but Robyn Tellefsen joins us again and gives a bright perspective about finding a career that you’ll love in honor of this past Valentines Day.  Hey, if you can stay in school… you should.  Besides, looking for a job in this economy is pure torture.  Maybe Graduate School is the answer. Trista Crook offers her expertise in graduate programs for Biology Majors at the University of Washington for those of you who are not quite ready to dissect the job market.  Maybe you want to go to graduate school on-line?  Find out if it is right for you from OnlineGraduateSchool.com.  Thinking about The University of Phoenix?  “The Wrath of Khan” gives out some great info on the oldest online college and the many benefits this school has to offer.  KHHHAAAAANNNN!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, poor Star Trek reference… and now I just dated myself.

Jim from bargaineering.com joins us again and gives you more good advice.  This time he wants you to know the best credit card for college students.  Also, speaking from experience… don’t put things like beer, itunes, tattoos and more beer on your credit card while in college… put on your parents card!!!  Just kidding Mom’s and Dad’s.  Anyway, besides a credit card, what does every college student need?… Business Cards!  Yes, that’s right, business cards.  Chris Pund gives you 5 reasons why you need them.  Throw out your pen and paper… slip someone your digits via a business card… very cool.

Looking for web design classes? Verna Morris gives an insiders scoop on what’s available if you want to learn all about it in her informative post.  Sara Scrafford also talks about online training for web design and continuing education.  This blog is a real learn-gasm!  I had a learn-gasm when I read “The Sherwinator’s” blog post about Law School and how to brief a law school case for the first time.  Sounds like you better be prepared and know your stuff.

Leo Marshall definitely knows his stuff when it comes to boarding schools as he sounds off a little about defending childhood.  Maybe he’s right… we all need to slow down and remember what it was like to play touch football in the street after school or climb a tree and not be in such a rush to tweet, tweet, tweet.

Since I brought up tweeting, I have to say “I love Twitter” and have been using it as our greatest FREE marketing tool.  Social Networking is all the rage these days, but what about Social Media?  Tom Williams asks: Is there any ROI?  Is all this blogging, tweeting and facebooking really worth anything?

Wassan Humadi wants us all to know about the changes happening in Iraq on the education front.  Over the next 5 years, 50,000 students from Iraq will be sent to English speaking countries to pursue higher education.  This a huge step forward by the Iraqi Government toward improving international relations by allowing the first ever educational fair held in Baghdad.  Some of the attending colleges from the U.S. were the Universities of Kentucky, Virginia, Oregon and Texas A&M to name a few.

Last, but not least, Kamilia Butler-Peres wants to talk about heritage in school and the importance keeping culture alive in our students.  She also has a great blog theme surrounding dreams.  It reminds me of another great website…hmmm.

Anyway,  I want to thank the Carnival of College Admission and all of this weeks contributors for their outstanding posts and insights. I hope this information is beneficial to every visitor to this website and all of the accompanying sites you will uncover here.

If you want to learn more about posting your blog on the Carnival, just follow this link.