Summer Class Do's and Don'ts

Summer courses are a great way to try and get ahead in your college career. Get that pesky public speaking requirement out of the way. Good for you! Before you start, make sure you take a look at these do’s and don’t’s of taking summer classes from Straighter Line.


This summer, invest in yourself by taking online college classes to earn college credit. By taking your summer college courses online, you can learn anywhere, anytime – and at your own pace.

Here are the essential do’s and don’ts of taking summer college courses:

DO -
Consider the flexibility and convenience that online summer courses offer a busy college student. Even if your summer plans include a job, you can still keep a full work schedule when you take classes online.

Online college courses give you the freedom to study any time of the day or night. By taking online courses this summer, you can start whenever you want and complete your required college courses at your own pace – allowing you to fit your summer academic goals within the confines of your work, family or social calendar.

"With the online revolution in education, there’s no reason to pay name brand prices for generic courses when store brands will suffice."


DON'T -
Assume that you are too busy to make academic progress during the summer. You’ll find that online college courses allow you to hunker down and move through material when you have time, and back off when you don’t.

Tip: Keep this process going, and over the course of a few weeks or months, you may be surprised by how many college courses you have successfully completed and how many college credits you have managed to earn at ultra affordable prices.

DO -
Complete required general education courses or prerequisites for your major by taking online classes this summer. With the online revolution in education, there’s no reason to pay name brand prices for generic courses when store brands will suffice.

DON'T -
Take online college classes without verifying first if the school to which you’d like to transfer will accept those college courses for full academic credit. While many colleges and universities do accept ACE Credit recommended courses for transfer, not all of them do.

Tip: It’s your job to verify that your school will accept ACE Credit recommended courses for transfer – and get it in writing to avoid any hassles later on. High quality online college course providers will have Student Advisors who can help guide you through this process.

"You can conveniently take college courses for credit online that are equal to or above the required standards at on-campus colleges and universities."

DO -
Take advantage of the low cost structure of online college course providers. These days, you can start taking college courses online for as little as $99 per month through StraighterLine and earn fully transferrable college credit.

Remember to check if your college accepts ACE transfer credits. Since over 2,000 colleges and universities do, there’s a good chance yours does as well. (And of course, if you’re taking courses at StraighterLine, those courses are guaranteed to transfer to partner colleges.)

Tip: The more ultra affordable courses you take online through low cost college course providers, the more you save on your degree.

DON'T -
Confuse the quality of learning outcomes with price.

You can take college courses for credit online that are equal to or above the required standards at on-campus colleges and universities – and save thousands towards your degree - even more when you factor in the average annual cost of tuition, room, and board is $14,300 at a public institution and $37,800 at private ones, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Tip: Many accredited colleges and universities, in fact, have transfer agreements with online college course providers, community colleges, and international schools that are based exclusively on learning outcomes. These degree programs are part of the competency-based education movement.

DO -
Take online college courses you were prevented from taking at your current college due to over-subscription issues or because life got in the way. Due to budget cuts, many colleges and universities are being forced to “ration” some of their most popular and/or required courses.

DON'T -
Delay your graduation just because you don’t have access to a required course or had to withdraw. Consider this: online summer college classes don’t fill up and don’t have quotas.

Tip: With online college courses, you can quickly and affordably take the courses you need this summer, transfer the credits back to your college or university, get back on track to earn your diploma on time – and avoid a mountain of student debt.

Do you have experience with earning college credit over the summer? What are your favorite tips for taking online courses?

Georgia's Summer Safe Driving Initiative

The Summer Safe Driving Initiative will begin Monday and will include every state along the east coast in an attempt to remind drivers to buckle up and drive safely on the roads. A law enforcement officer working towards this goal stated that fatalities on Georgia roads are up 33% from last year. For more information on how you can stay safe and prevent an accident go to Northwest Georgia News.


Georgia State Patrol is partnering with the Tennessee and Alabama highway patrols as part of an East Coast summer safe driving initiative.

Law enforcement officers from those three agencies and the Georgia Office of Highway Safety met Monday, May 18, at the Georgia Welcome Center in Ringgold to discuss this safety program.

The Summer Safe Driving Initiative kicks off Memorial Day (Monday, May 25) week and will see every state along the east coast working together to remind motorists to buckle up and to watch for impaired and distracted drivers and others who do not follow the rules of the road.

Lt. Don Stultz, of GSP Post 41, said law enforcement will have a heavy presence along Interstate 75 in a concentrated patrol effort to watch for those types of drivers as a means of reducing highway fatalities.

Stultz said fatalities along the Georgia roadways this year are already up 33 percent from 2014.

According to a Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety press release:

The “Border to Border” initiative will launch in conjunction with the traditional May campaign of “Click-it or Ticket,” which focuses on seatbelt safety for the Memorial Day holiday.

The GOHS will be joining this effort by hosting media events in the Atlanta, Chattanooga, Savannah and Valdosta media markets.

“The National Highway Traffic safety Administration reports there were 9,580 unbelted crash deaths nationwide in 2013. In Georgia, those numbers are decreasing, but the state still experienced approximately 341 such deaths in 2013. In addition, unbelted crash deaths are more likely to happen at night with 59 percent happening between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m.,” the release said.

“Seatbelts save thousands of lives every year, but far too many motorists are still not buckling up, especially at night when the risk of getting in a crash is even greater,” Georgia GOHS director Harris Blackwood said. “We want to make this the safest summer possible. Buckling up is not optional. It’s the difference between life and death in a crash.”

Getting the Most Out of Summer Break

Summer break is upon us! That means it’s time to kick back and relax and forget everything you learned this semester. Right? Wrong! Get the most out of your summer vacay by getting involved! Put your best foot forward for your future. These tips from Hack College will help you get the most out of your summer vacation.


If there’s one thing you’re going to miss most of all once you graduate from college, it’s probably going to be your summers off. Even though plenty of us take classes or work, there’s nothing like having a nice three-month break from monotony every year, so you might as well take advantage of it while you have the chance.

There are plenty of different ways to spend your summer vacation, depending on what kind of summer person you are, so here are a few of the ways to make your summer valuable and more memorable!

Making Connections

We don’t really want to think about making connections and planning our future when we’ve got a three-month break from reality; but we should. We can take this opportunity to really shine in our jobs or just in relation to our various connections.

Professionals love eager undergraduates — mostly because college students provide bored professionals with an awesome ego boost. Finding somebody to give you an internship or to be your mentor can be the difference between McDonald’s and Merrill Lynch when you start searching for that first job. Take a little time to connect with your friends’ parents at BBQs, or with your professors at end-of-semester and summer events, and you might have a job before you graduate.

Related: LinkedIn for College Students: The Importance of a Professional Online Presence
Extracurricular Activities

There are no excuses for not working out during the summer. You don’t have 12-page papers and all-nighters. You have beautiful morning weather and plenty of time to nap. Now is the perfect time to join that Flag Football League, or the Half Marathon Training Group.

You can get a buddy to do it with you and then make plenty of friends along the way. It’s a great way to burn off some of those extra beers from the previous semester and a fun way to stay active!
Traveling the World

You see those people who had the extra cash to spend a semester in Europe or Spring Break in Mexico, but you know what? It’s possible for you too! Now is the time when you really want to get a few solid weeks of epic traveling in. It willteach you so much about yourself along the way.

If you want to take a week at Lake Havasu instead, go right ahead, but if you can swing the plane ticket, you should get as far away from your home country as possible and really experience life in another country. Grab friends for a two-week vacation in Southeast Asia, or join some sort of exchange or study abroad program in Europe. With student discounts and exchange programs, you’ll never get the opportunity to travel so cheaply again!

Volunteering

This can go hand-in-hand with the traveling, or you can do it in your own community on Saturday mornings, but volunteering is an excellent addition to your summer holiday. It might be an early weekend day here and there, or you might have to do some unpleasant work, but it will reward both your mind and your resume. We all spend time donating canned food during the holidays, but what about summer?

There are plenty of children and adults who need help all year, so grab Costco-sized cans of soup, fruit, or vegetables, and see if your local pantry could use some help this Saturday afternoon.
Catching Up

If you go to school far from your hometown, this might be a good time to decide which location you prefer. Some of us never return after leaving for college, while others spend every spare break with their high school friends.

Your summers are a good time to figure out where you might want to make connections and find a job after college. It’s also a good time to catch up with your oldest friends and introduce them to your newest ones!

Post Finals Week Packing Tips

Finals week means it will soon be time to head home for a lot of people. If you’re getting ready to pack your bags to go home, your biggest problem is probably figuring out how to fit everything into a few bags. Using these tips from Lifehack will help you utilize space and plan appropriately. Visit their website for more tips.


If you have any plans to travel over the next few months, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be packing a suitcase or other travel case to take with you, unless you’re going to a naturist retreat or somesuch. Should your holiday plans include actually being clothed, then you can follow some of these steps to ensure that you pack everything you need.

Before you actually put anything into your suitcase, check what the weather’s going to be like at your destination of choice for the time of year that you’re heading over there, as this will give you a general idea about the clothes you should be packing. If you’re going to a tropical destination, naturally you’ll want to be prepared to dress for hot, sunny days and balmy nights, but you might also want to pack some warmer clothes for unexpected cooler, overcast days, or even rainy ones. Remember that wearing layers is optimal for any climate, as you can add more if you get cold, or take a layer or two off if you’re overheated.
Make a List

Try to plan ahead and sort out what you’ll be wearing for each day that you’re gone, and remember that the clothes you travel in count as one of the outfits. Choosing pieces that can mix and match is a smart idea, and be sure to add an extra pair or two of underwear/socks just in case.

Once you’ve sorted out exactly what you’re going to wear, write it all down on a sheet of paper (or type it up and print it out). As you pack each item, cross it off your list—this ensures that you won’t arrive at your hotel to discover that you’d forgotten to pack something vital.

*As a side note: always, always have an extra set of clothes in your carry-on luggage. Always. You never know when/if your luggage will be misplaced, and you don’t want to be stuck in your traveling clothes until the rest of it shows up. Keep your personal medication (along with a prescription letter from your doctor, if need be) in your carry-on as well, along with your toothbrush, passport/wallet, etc.

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Bottoms First

Shoes and heavy/bulky items such as hairdryers and extra handbags should be placed at the bottom of your luggage. If it’s a piece you’ll be carrying, the heaviest bits should be right next to the hinge that attaches the lid, while if it’s a luggage piece on wheels, the bulky bits should be right at the bottom, above the wheels.

Your shoes, boots, and packed purses are ideal spots to carry smaller items within: tuck jewellery, socks, gloves, belts, extra glasses, etc. into these to maximize space. Once the heavy bits have been places where you like them, use the spaced in between them for small items like socks, underwear, rolled-up bathing suits, etc.