Saturday, March 21, 2020

20 Top Party Colleges Can You Still Get a Good Education

20 Top Party Colleges Can You Still Get a Good Education SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In popular culture, college life is often portrayed as a nonstop party full of fun, bacchanalian times. While these portrayals are a bit exaggerated, some colleges have garnered reputations as being particularly festive. This raises the following questions:should you go to a party school? And can you get a good education at a party school? In this article, I'll define what a party school is, provideparty school rankings, and explain how you can still get a quality education from a college known for its epic parties. What Is a Party School? A party school has a very active on-campus party scene. In other words, there are frequent and numerous parties, which are usuallywell attended and act as popular social events for students. Universitiesthat are described as party schools generally have high rates of student drinking and drug use as well as a large number of fraternities and sororities. What Are the Top Party Colleges? Our list below is based onThe Princeton Review's listof the top 20 party schools in the US. Their list was created using students' answers to survey questions. According to The Princeton Review, the biggestparty schoolsare those at which students indicated a combination of low daily personal study hours (outside of class), high usages of alcohol and drugs on-campus, and high popularity of fraternities and sororities. Most top party schools are large public universities. Because large schools have more students, they often have a more vibrant social scene and more fraternities and sororities. Below, I'vecreated a table with the top 20 party schools, their undergraduate enrollments, and the average range of standardized test scores of admitted applicants. All private colleges arein bold. marsmettnn tallahaassee/Flickr Rank School Location Undergraduate Enrollment Middle 50% SAT Middle 50% ACT 1 University of Delaware Newark, DE 18,144 50-1330 25-29 2 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 22,504 1010-1200 21-27 3 Tulane University New Orleans, LA 6,773 1350-1490 30-33 4 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 15,252 60-1350 25-30 5 Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 3,6 1250-1420 28-31 6 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 5,075 1270-1430 29-32 7 University of California- Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 22,186 1240-1470 26-32 8 University of Wisconsin- Madison Madison, WI 32,196 1280-1450 27-31 9 Colgate University Hamilton, NY 2,873 1310-1500 31-33 10 University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 14,470 1090-1260 23-27 The University of Alabama- Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa, AL 33,028 1060-1280 23-31 12 University of Vermont Burlington, VT ,339 80-1350 25-30 13 Providence College Providence, RI 4,306 60-1330 26-30 14 Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC 5,102 1260-1440 28-32 15 Union College (NY) Schenectady, NY 2,267 1270-1430 29-32 16 University of Maine Onoro, ME 9,279 1050-1250 22-27 17 University of Illinois- Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 33,955 1280-1480 26-32 18 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 35,246 1240-1410 28-32 19 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 33,093 90-1330 26-30 20 Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA 8,551 980-70 19-24 Can You Get a Good Education at a Party School? You can definitely get a good education at a party school. Some of the top party collegesare also some of the best schoolsin the US. For example,the University of Wisconsin- Madison, the #8 ranked party school, was ranked the #15public school in the US by US News. Meanwhile, UCSB, the #7 ranked party school, is ranked both the #5 public school and the #30 national university by US News. It’s part of the University of California system, which includes some of the top research universities in the world. Finally, the University of Illinois- Urbana-Champaign (the #17 party school) hasthe bestgraduate program in library and information science in the nation. It's also important to note that not all students who attend top partycolleges participate in the party culture.Even at party schools, there are many students who don’t party. Students who don’t party often find a community of like-minded students in their dorms or in various on-campus organizations.Especially at large public universities, there are so many students that you're bound to find plenty of people who aren’t party animals. How Do You Get a Good Education at a Party School? At almost every college, there are parties and temptation that can get in the way of your studies.At party schools, there's even more temptation because there are more parties and more students who like to party. Personally, Idon’t think there’s anything wrong with doing some partying in college, but you have to take care that you're not letting your partying get in the way of your academic success. As long as you do the following, you’ll be able to enjoy the occasional party and get an exceptional education. #1: Manage Your Time Regardless of whether you party or not, time management is essential when you’re in college.For many students, college is the first time they don’t have their parents regularly telling them what to do and when to do it. If you've got a test Friday morning, you need to have the discipline to not stay out late partying on Thursday instead of preparing for your test and getting a good night's sleep.If you've got a big paper due Monday, maybe you shouldn’t spend all weekend partying and start your paper Sunday evening. Even though some students can get away with this behavior, I wouldn’t advise it. To manage your time more effectively, I recommend establishing a routine each semester that will enable your academic success.Many of my Stanford peers would dedicate themselves to studying Monday-Thursday nights, relax and have fun Friday nights and Saturdays, and spend most of the day on Sundays on their academics. The amount of time you need to spend studying and doing classwork willvarydepending on your class schedule and academic strengths, but it's imperative you develop habits that will allow you to be successful. If you're working part-time or participating in athletics or other extracurricular activities, you'll have less available study time, so you'll have to manage your time exceptionally well. At Stanford, I was on the gymnastics team and had an on-campus job. Because my free time was limited, I knew that I had to take advantage of the hours I had available to focus on my academics. I did a decent job of managing my time, so I was ultimately able to have ample time for fun, too. #2: Remember Your Priorities Reminding yourself why you're in college can help prevent you from letting parties take precedence.You probably worked hard in high school and chose to attend college to get a quality education and useful opportunities. What's more, college is a costly investment. If you neglect your studies to party, you’re not getting the most out of your educational opportunities. For 2018-19, the total cost of attendance for one year at Tulane- the #3 party school- is more than $72,000. Hopefully, you wouldn’t want to pay that much money just so you can play beer pong with your friends! #3: Choose Your Classes Wisely When you’re choosing your class schedule, try to pick the classes that interest you and will help you graduate with your desired major. Too many students try to avoid Friday classes or early morning classes so that school won’t interfere with their partying.Because of your other responsibilities and time commitments, you might not be able to take every class that interests you, but, ideally, you won't allow your intended partying schedule to influence the classes you take. Admittedly, I didn’t like early morning classes and preferred not to take them because I’m not a morning person. However, I still ended up taking all the classes I needed and wanted to take. #4: Maintain Balance In college, you’re likely going to have to juggle a number of responsibilities, in addition to the parties you might be attending. Many college students go to class, work, and participate in extracurricular activities. They can’t party so much that it takes away from their other responsibilities, but they’re able to find the time to be able to work hard and play hard. On the other hand, there are many students who spend so much time in the library that they forget to have fun and interact socially with their peers. I definitely encountered some of these students during my time at Stanford.I recommend that you make sure to have fun while you’re in college and enjoy yourself. I’m not advocating breaking any laws, but some of my greatest memories are from my social activities with my friends while I was in college. Parties can help form and strengthen friendships,and they can give you some quality stories you’ll cherish when you’re older and all your friends are too busy to party. dennis crowley/Flickr Conclusion: Should You Go to a Party School? Even though you’re not in college to party, parties can be a large part of the college experience, regardless of the school you attend. While party schools have more parties more often, you can still get a quality education from a party school. One of my friends who went to the University of Illinois excelled during his undergraduate years and ended up getting a PhD in Engineering from UC Berkeley. On the other hand, another friend who went there spent too much time partying and lost his athletic scholarship due to drug use. Similarly, even at a college that's not considered a party school, you can party too hard and suffer academic, legal, or health consequences due to irresponsible partying. In large part, the quality of your education and your future success is dependent on the choices you make while you’re in school. If you make wise choices and prioritize your time, you can get an exceptional education- and have fun doing so! What's Next? As you're trying to decide the right school for you, make sure you understandhow to research colleges effectively. If you want to attend a school that embraces diversity, check out my articles on the most diverse colleges and the most LGBTQ-friendly colleges. 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Thursday, March 5, 2020

Paleo Publishing A Cavemans Guide to Book Marketing

Paleo Publishing A Cavemans Guide to Book Marketing Paleo Publishing: A Caveman's Guide to Book Marketing We're often asked for our do’s and don’ts of indie book marketing. To be honest, it really isn’t all that complicated: the execution requires work and finesse, but the principles are simple. By now, EVERY AUTHOR should know the basic no-nos of marketing a book.  But there's one writer who we can forgive  for his ignorance...At the recent London Book Fair, we were introduced to the notorious Caveman Author. Recently unfrozen from a glacier in Alberta, Canada, he has since learned enough English to reveal that he was once the most popular writer of the Stone Age - the Stephen King of his era, so to speak, if King wrote about haunted beaver pelts instead of clown demons.We sat down for an interview and asked Caveman Author for his top 5 book marketing tips. Remember that his advice is from the Paleolithic era, so  follow it at your own risk.1. â€Å"CAVEMAN AUTHOR NOT WORRY ABOUT MARKETING†Reedsy: Thanks for speaking to us, Caveman Author. I guess we s hould start by talking about your overall book marketing philosophy...Caveman Author: CAVEMAN AUTHOR NOT WORRY MUCH ABOUT BOOK MARKETING. CAVEMAN HAS SAYING: WRITERS WRITE. CAVEMAN NOT  SALES-CAVEMAN. IF CAVEMAN WRITE GOOD BOOK - READERS WILL HEAR ABOUT IT AND WANT BUY IT.Reedsy: Buy your book? Did your society use some kind of currency? Amazon Ads for Authors: Two Case Studies Showing They Do Work Read post Caveman Author: CAVEMAN KNOW WHAT ADVERTISING IS.Reedsy: Really?Caveman Author: CAVEMAN ADVERTISED LAST BOOK. RELEASED BEFORE CLIMATE CATACLYSM KILL ALL CAVEMAN FRIENDS†¦Reedsy: Oh†¦ yeah. Sorry about that†¦Caveman Author: THAT OKAY. NOT YOUR FAULT†¦ FOR CAVEMAN LAST BOOK BEFORE BIG FREEZE, CAVEMAN PAY FOR BIG BILLBOARD CARVED ONTO BIG ROCK NEAR MAIN WATERING HOLE.Reedsy: Wow. Sounds like prime advertising real estate.Caveman Author: WAS NOT CHEAP. WON’T SAY HOW MUCH, BUT WILL TELL YOU: CAVE WAS LESS FULL OF CHICKENS THAT MONTH.Reedsy: Did the billboard work?Caveman Author: ER†¦ BRAND MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS VERY HARD TO TRACK. "Spend your entire budget on advertising" and other book marketing tips from a caveman author Reedsy: Tell me about it. These days, a lot of folks are getting great results from Facebook Advertising. It lets authors find audiences based on things like geography, age, gender, and interests. If you’ve got a mailing list, you can even use it to generate ‘lookalike’ audiences with creepy accuracy. And because you can test advert sets from as little as five dollars a day, there’s little downside to it.Caveman Author: YES... INTERESTING. AM THINKING†¦ MAYBE NEXT TIME, CAVEMAN GET BIGGER BILLBOARD.Reedsy: Thanks for speaking to us, Caveman Author. I think I’ve learned an awful lot. Best of luck getting used to the 21st Century.Caveman Author: BYE BYE!If you have any questions for the Caveman Author about his backlist or pre-historic book marketing practices,  leave it in the comments below. Or, simply follow him on Twitter  for more publishing tips.