January 16th 2008
The new year brings tax season and not all students have to file a return, but some do. If you’re not sure whether you’re included in those who do, you can visit the IRS site to find out. Tax season brings unhappy thoughts into most minds, but when you’re a student, it can be a good thing. Most students aren’t required to pay taxes so anything that was withheld will be refunded to you. Unless you claim exempt on your W2 form at work, taxes are withheld from your paycheck. Some people even fill it out so the IRS takes out more than they should so they can get a bigger refund (this is what I do - I treat it as a savings account because I find it’s hard for me to do it on my own).
Filing isn’t tricky either. Services like TurboTax make things so much easier. If you’ve paid interest on any student loans, you can claim up to $2,500 as a deduction. While this doesn’t help students who don’t have to pay any taxes (like myself), it is helpful for those who do and for those who are out of college.
Preparing your return
- TurboTax, which is made by powerful software company, Intuit, is the leading tax preparation software. The basic edition is $20, but there’s also a free online edition for 1040EZ filers (most common, unless you’re utilizing deductions, you’ll most likely fall under this category).
- IRS eFile - The IRS allows you to prepare and file your tax return electronically.
- H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, etc. - These tax preparation companies are another alternative to filing for yourself, but if you’re a student, your return isn’t going to be complicated and these places aren’t cheap. Not a good idea for most people.
Filing
- Mail - you mail it off, it’s free, but it can take up to six weeks for your refund
- TurboTax efile with direct deposit - $14.95, can get your refund in 9 days
- IRS FreeFile - if you qualify for FreeFile (made $54,000 or less in 2007), you can file your return electronically with the IRS for free. You can set up direct deposit and get your return in 10 days.
Websites to help you out
One should double check printing of his credit card application before finally submitting it because it may lead to inaccurate credit report. This in turn will unintentionally influence the mortgage leads. Not only will this disrupt your debt management plan, but have a negative impact on your online banking as well.
Posted in Money with 2 comments
January 12th 2008
Reading is an important and often endless task in college, yet most students detest it. Why? Because they’re not productive. If reading a twenty page chapter takes you forty-five minutes, then no wonder you don’t want to do it. For most classes, there’s no way around reading, so why not make sure you’re getting the most out of it?
1. Don’t tackle too much at once.
If you’re assigned a five chapter chunk for homework, work on one chapter at a time. This doesn’t make the challenge seem endless. Also, don’t procrastinate, I know it’s hard, but if you start early and have time for breaks (a few minutes to an hour to a day), then it’s much easier.
2. Read once for main points
Skim through the reading, get all the main points, headers, bold words, everything that sticks out.
3. Take good notes.
Write down the big picture, either in an outline, a mind map, anything.
4. Read once more for details.
Once you have your notes on the important ideas, go back through and see if there’s any details you missed. Think dates, names and places, stuff that your professor might ask, but isn’t necessarily what you’d call “important” in the grand scheme of things. This is more for history, political science, and psychology classes. When you’re getting into physics or the like, this isn’t as important.
5. Study your notes.
Now that you’ve got your great notes, don’t look at the book again. If you’ve gotten the important info out of if, you don’t need it anymore. Knowing that you only have to go through your book once or twice helps.
Posted in Productivity with 9 comments
January 6th 2008
I want to thank the folks at Performancing for nominating me for Best Education Blog in this year’s Performancing Awards 2007 Reader’s Choice Poll.
Click here to vote!
Posted in That College Kid with 4 comments
December 29th 2007
1. Save up before you spend your money on that new XBox 360…don’t put it on a credit card.
2. Join a credit union or find a bank that offers free student checking accounts
3. Prepare your FAFSA and apply for financial aid with your school
4. Apply for scholarships
5. Don’t buy textbooks unless absolutely necessary, and if you do, be smart about it
6. Learn how to eat on a college student’s budget
7. Make a budget and track your spending
8. Don’t get a credit card unless you can use it responsibly (if you do, don’t apply for more than two because multiple inquiries can hurt your score)
9. Join Netflix instead of renting movies, better yet, watch them online for free (or much cheaper). Even better, rent them at your local library. (Thanks TipDiva)
10. Utilize your school’s gym, computer lab, health clinic and other resources. You already pay for them.
For refinance home mortgage, it is important that you bank thinks your credit card application worthy of it. With the increasing frequency of debt consolidation loans, it is hard to trust one with a creditcard. Also, the bank takes any kind of investment in good regard.
Posted in Money with 7 comments
December 24th 2007
Since semesters are over one last thing you can do is rate your professors. To help out other students who are going to take your class, let them know about the instructor. (This is also helpful if you still haven’t registered for the spring.)
RateMyProfessors.com and PickAProf.com are two websites that have a huge amount of reviews. While PickAProf isn’t free, it’s much easier to navigate and is only $5. It also has much better features, like grade histories. I’ve left reviews of each of my professors at both websites, with details of their grading/test policies and anything else a future student would like to know in advance.
Evaluations are usually done the last class day before the final and they’re a great way to get the teacher to hear your thoughts about the class. I enjoyed filling out professor evaluations because they actually read them and take most seriously. My mom teaches at a large university in Texas and she gave me some advice to make sure the prof takes me seriously:
- Explain yourself. Don’t be vague and just say “You suck!”
- If things need to be improved, list them and be specific. This is your chance to let them know that the absence policy is too strict.
- They will listen to criticism, if it makes sense and seems appropriate. They’re not going to change a policy without a good reason (having no tests, for example).
- If you aren’t going to say anything constructive or helpful, just don’t fill out the eval. They’d rather get no feedback than someone who isn’t taking it seriously. By being silly, you take away from the weight of student opinions.
- Try to have decent handwriting so they can actually read what you write.
Posted in Misc with 4 comments
December 19th 2007
I discovered a little known treasure today. FeedYes can make an RSS feed out of any website so you can use this for professors who insist you check their website on a regular basis.
FeedYes is a free service that requires registration. Setting up a feed is very easy, you just input the url address and a feed is created that you can add to any reader. Not all websites will work with this, there has to be so many links, but usually if a professor requires students to check his or her website often, there will a good enough amount of content. I was able to successfully create a feed for my mom’s website (who’s a marketing professor) so now I’ll get know when she updates her site.
Posted in Misc with 5 comments
December 17th 2007
Myspace and Facebook both have settings to help guard your privacy. For myspace, you can and should set your profile to private, especially if you post any personal information, like your full name, address and phone number. Employers and schools can and do monitor what students post on social networks. Most of this seems like common sense to me, but apparently, it doesn’t to most college students. Guard your privacy. You’ll be surprised to find out what information is out there about you. Keep these basic tips in mind on all social networks, not just Myspace and Facebook.
General tips
- Don’t post personal information (phone number, address, school, job, etc.) on anything public
- Don’t post pictures, bulletins, notes, etc. that show you doing something that is illegal or would otherwise get you kicked out of school/fraternity/clubs
- Don’t become “friends” with someone you don’t know
- Don’t post bulletins threatening someone - police are able to monitor these
Facebook
Facebook has the ability to set a limited profile. Under privacy settings, you can set what your limited profile shows, and you have control over everything from your photos to your friends. Set up a limited profile and add all the people you barely know or only know online to this list. That way they will still be your friend, but don’t have access to very important information about you.
Block the Facebook beacon - Facebook’s new advertising program follows you around the web and makes note of your purchases. You can turn off the mini feed notifications under privacy settings, but the beacon still collects info about your online activity. Learn how to turn this off (Firefox required).
Myspace
The best way to protect privacy with Myspace is to not post personal information and set your profile to private. Don’t add random people as friends. The privacy of Myspace isn’t as flexible as Facebook, but not as many college students use this service as much anymore.
Posted in Misc with 2 comments
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