More Than a Test Score

When I was in high school, I made it a point to give blood whenever my school hosted a blood drive. Its something easy that you can do, to make a difference in another person’s life.

Did you know that…  

Every two seconds, someone in the US needs blood?

More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day?

The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O?

A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood?

Donating blood is one of the easiest things you can do to help someone out in a time of need. Please take a look here to see if you are eligible to donate. Also, if they don’t already, please encourage your school to host a blood drive!

* All information is from the American Red Cross.

You’re a Zinch participant, so we already know that you know your way around the Web pretty well. But finding real, useful information about the realities of college – what it takes to pay for it, what life on campus really feels like, and more – isn’t always easy, even for the savviest surfer.

Scholarship America’s online student resources provide a wealth of places to explore; to get a handle on where to start, check out these sites – just a few of the many on the list.

• KnowHow2Go.com: The site put together by the American Council on Education and Lumina Foundation for Education is a pretty great one-stop source for questions about college preparation. They’ve got sections for everyone from middle-school students to seniors, and advice from students on campuses nationwide.

• Students.gov and College.gov: You’ve got questions? The U.S. Department of Education has answers. Find out everything you need to know about government aid and college prep with Students.gov, and head over to College.gov for video, discussions and networking centered on how and why to get to college.

• CollegeGoalSundayUSA.org: Every winter and spring, across the nation, volunteers share a Sunday of their time with students, helping them fill out the all-important Federal Application for Student Aid as well as develop plans for college. This is the national site for the event, and you can check out local Sunday events in each of the 43 states that offer them.

There are plenty more where those came from, and we’d love to know your go-to sources too.

One of the fun aspects of researching colleges is to get to see the variety and creativity of different schools catalogs. When you request more information from a school what you get back in the mail could come in a customized zip lock bag or could be wrapped in astronaut shinning packaging.

Some of the more creative catalogs are those from the schools that specialize in art and computer science. I have taken the liberty to pull some images from these schools catalogs so you can get a feel for what they’re like.

If you find yourself wanting a catalog yourself and want more information from one of these schools, click on the link and Shout Out to the school to get your own catalog with further information about the school.

 Acadmey of Art University

University of Advancing Technology

Neumont University

Expression College of Digital Arts

LA Film School

LA Recording School

College is one of the best times in a student’s life.   It is a time to discover your interests, make new friends, go to football games, and spend long nights studying.  However, the economy is at a low, the cost of tuition keeps rising every year, and students have to pay for textbooks at ridiculously high prices.  The average college student at a four year college spent $1,077 in 2008-09 for textbooks according to the College Board. Textbook expenses have become a great burden for students in today’s world; textbook authors are constantly developing new editions to their books, and this makes it impossible for students to sell their books back at the end of the term.  After buying their textbooks, students often find themselves stuck with the textbooks after realizing they can’t sell it back or that the sell-back amount is too little.

With these textbook problems in mind, Chegg.com came up with a revolutionary way to help student save money on textbooks. Chegg.com has saved students over $80 million dollars to date. Since 2005 students on over 6,400 campuses have been saving over $500 a year by renting their textbooks. Not only does Chegg.com save students on their textbooks, we also help the environment by planting a tree every time you rent, buy, or sell a book. Chegg offers great prices, free return shipping, over 2.4 million titles, and flexible rental periods – all without long lines at the register! You can order books from home or college, have them delivered to your door, and not have to worry about storing or selling them when your class is over.

As a part of their ongoing commitment to help college students, Chegg.com launched the Chegg Scholars Program–a scholarship program that rewards student achievers by alleviating them from the high cost of textbooks by awarding them textbook scholarships.

Chegg.com has partnered with Zinch to bring you these textbook scholarships live from the Zinch site.  To learn more and apply, college freshman can go here, and college upperclassmen can go here.

Upperclassman Scholarship

Freshman Scholarship

We have some of the most talented and creative students out there, on Zinch. I am constantly blown away by the artwork that is submitted for scholarships or is posted on student’s pages in the z-folio. I was born without the “art gene” and am always in awe of people who can create masterpieces.

If you were blessed with the creative gene, you may be looking for a school that will help you grow into the artist you were meant to be. Take a look at the schools below and Shout Out to them, to receive more information about their programs. Also, make sure you keep uploading your artwork to your Zinch page – schools are looking at you too!

Watkins College of Art & Design – Watkins knows that it takes focus, commitment and discipline to become a professional artist. Having talent is just the beginning of the journey. Watkins promises a community of students and faculty devoted to artistic and academic excellence. The creative mind is a powerful tool.

Columbia College Hollywood – At Columbia College Hollywood, you learn from Emmy and Oscar winners, with emphases in Directing, Producing, Screenwriting, Cinematography and Editing/Visual Effects. You learn the whole art and the whole business, and then put your art to work in the business.

Savannah College of Art & Design – SCAD provides the learning environment creative students need to flourish. Full-time SCAD students take three classes per quarter. This tightly focused schedule enables students to acquire the knowledge and master the skills required to advance in their chosen field. All classes are small—with a student/faculty ratio of 16:1.