Friday, February 24, 2012

Applying for Scholarships Online - Tips For Writing Effective Scholarship Essays

Are you going to college? The good news is there is an abundance of money that you can tap for a free college education by applying for scholarships online. The bad news is you will have to write an essay to get it. If you truly feel it is bad news that you need to write an essay, then, you need this set of tips to make sure that you do get that money.

The first thing that you need to know is that you will need to put the essay question into a context for you to be able to write a convincing, compelling essay. If you cannot contextualize your thoughts, they will be just like cymbals clanging, making a noise but not moving anyone's heart. The question is: how do you contextualize the essay question so that you can write it excellently? You will need 2 kinds of information. One is about the sponsor. You should know what cause they represent, or what is the nature of their business, what is their stance about social corporate responsibility, or what are the things that they are averse to.

The other is your stance. How do you look at the essay question, what are your passions surrounding it? If it aligned with the sponsor's stance, make a good point of presenting why you share their views, and if you are opposed, make a strong argument of your opinion when applying for scholarships online.

When you write like this, you are not just theoretically answering an essay question which is usually hollow. You are writing a commitment, an engagement, a promise. If you can do this you will me across as someone who the sponsors can count on.

The second thing that you need to do is that no one can write a perfect essay the first time. You need to put it down, rest your mind, the reread your essay. Check for excessive emotion or too wordy sentences or phrases. Look out for innocuous words or statements that are better rewritten. Be alert for breaks in ideas as this will lower the value of your work.

Finally, keep a keen eye for spelling or grammatical errors. A perfect work is just that, perfect, with no errors of content or structure.Writing an essay as good as this one discussed here will surely bring you college education money by applying for scholarships online. Getting a scholarship for college does not have to be so hard. Apply now.

Job Prospects For Online News Article Writers Are Expanding

Electronic news has nearly replaced print media. More and more opportunities are available for web-based article writers. Today, you do not have to have a journalism degree to write electronic news articles. A Bachelor's or an Associate's degree and a concentrated field (or fields) of study can be sufficient in most cases, but you still need to know the basics of how to write a news article.

Writing a news article is fairly straightforward. Some writer's enjoy this form of writing because it involves mainly facts. Although news articles can require some creativity, there is not an overwhelming amount of creative writing involved; they follow a simple format. Once it is mastered, you can crank out as many articles that you care to write.

A news article reports information about a recent event. The first step in writing an article is to choose a newsworthy event. The writer may want to explore an important event that would be of interest to his or her readership. Therefore, it is imperative that the writer knows the reader demographics. Knowing their interests will help the writer narrow down his or her selection topics.

The lead paragraph or introduction presents the most important facts. This is where you answer the questions who, what, where, when, why, and sometimes how. If you can answer these questions, given the information you researched and collected, you will have all that you need to write your lead paragraph. The information you collect is from conducting thorough research, interviewing eyewitnesses, and fact-checking processes.

Sometimes, it helps to use an outline or matrix to help the writer coordinate information. You may want to create a framework that lists who, what, where, when, why, and how, and beside each, insert bullet information. That way, you have an easy to read draft outlines to write your story. The outline should also include a supporting facts line. Again, you can bullet the details for the purpose of the outline. Lastly, it should include a section that includes quotes and fact-checking information.

When writing the article, keep your audience in mind. The story should be one that relates to the readership, or it should be a topic that may appeal to a different demographics as well as the target audience, thereby increasing readership. Readers instantly connect to authoritative sources, so whenever possible, include quotes from eyewitnesses or even experts that can offer indirect information to support your article.

The headline is probably the most important creative writing your article will entail. The headline is very important because it is the main feature that attracts the reader's attention and lures him or her into reading the article. Consequently, it must be dazzling! The headline states the article's main idea, using only a few words. Some writers come up with the headline first and proceed to write from there. Others wait until the article is finished and then derive a headline from what is written.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Quality and Affordability Concerns in Contemporary Education

Education is one of the most important institutions ever created by man. It determines the wealth and prosperity of any society. Even in the medieval time, there was apprenticeship and that was a form of education. But the modern style of education goes beyond followership to helping students become creators of knowledge. In other words, it transforms students from becoming 'recipients' of education to 'users' of education as they partake in the process.

Nothing changes a society or a nation than education. I always say that education is simply the liberation of the mind. It opens the mind to new possibilities and frees it from dogmas and destructive norms. It will remain a popular institution because it is the only institution that holds the key to the future.

Notwithstanding, many students are concerned on the quality and affordability of their education in the contemporary time. According to many government statistics, many schools have or intend to increase tuitions to offset budget cuts by federal, state or local governments. This is most prominent in the state of California where there are deep budget cuts across the university system.

But it does not end in budget cuts. In most US states and nations, students have to pay more as the schools are increasing tuition, even though they are reducing some services. Under this scenario, these students are concerned that they are not getting the best under historical benchmarks. In general, the students graduate with more debts and are forced to do so despite having fewer available courses to choose from as most schools are cutting staff.

From the debt-ridden states to private institutions in the United States, university education has become increasingly expensive. Unfortunately, that higher tuition does not positively correlate with higher earning power after graduation. So, most US students spend more to get diplomas that reward lesser because of the 'devaluation' through globalization. This is one area demand and supply comes into play. With more jobs outsourced, the students have to compete with fewer under this difficult job market. The higher supply than demand depresses wage which does not work for the students.

For schools in most developing economies, tuition is also rising and unemployment is also high since the rate of job creation lags the graduation rates. But for most of them, there is no problem of debt since education is mostly pay-as-you-go and there is minimal option of government or bank loan. Yet, they are concerned over quality and affordability since the generation that studied about fifty years ago received better education at lower cost, if any, than what they get today, especially in primary education.

Even at tertiary level, when these nations had one or two universities, they funded them very well. Now, those schools have to compete for funds with more than fifty other schools. In Nigeria, for example, the number of government owned tertiary institutions has gone from say ten to more than two hundred within half a century. This pushes tuition since government is not providing much help to all the schools. The whole system forces the schools to admit more students because of budget issues thereby creating chaos where most students complain of large class sizes. Quality is low, yet it is not affordable.

Best Nursing Schools - How to Find the Top Schools to Start Or Continue Your Nursing Education

The standard for ranking nursing schools is U.S. News and World Report, which asks deans, administrators, and faculty members to evaluate other schools based on the quality of academic programs and how well students are prepared for a career in nursing. Professionals who hire new graduates also are surveyed to help create the list of the best nursing schools.

There are two more common levels of nurses: ADN (Associate Degree Nurses 2 years of study), and BSN (Bachelor of Science Nurses 4 years of study. Accelerated programs are available for both degrees, especially if you have college credits or a degree in another field. Those with bachelor's degrees can expect to make more money the national average for a BSN is $52,000 and advance to supervisory or management positions more quickly than those with an ADN.

In its most recent rankings for the top nursing schools, U.S. News and World Report put the University of Washington in Seattle at the top of the list, followed by the University of California-San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Nursing.

Close behind were the Oregon Health and Science University, the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Maryland-Baltimore, the University of Pittsburgh, and Yale University. A total of 395 college nursing programs were examined in the ranking process.

The University of Washington School of Nursing has ranked Number 1 since 1984, when the first national survey on the best nursing schools was conducted (U.S. News and World Report began its rankings in 1993). What sets it apart from the other schools is a good guide to use when choosing what nursing school you wish to attend.

The University of Washington has partnerships with local hospitals that provide on-the-job training, which is perhaps the most important part of learning to become a nurse. Pick a school that is close to at least one good hospital and has an active training program. Other important factors to consider are research opportunities, nursing board passing rates, and class.