Abandon Nest

Facebook is one of the biggest players in the social marketing scene right now, and with good reason. If you’re a college student you’ll find it almost essential.

If you’re not familiar with Facebook, here’s the basic gist. Facebook is a directory of college (and high school now) students that was founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. According to TechCrunch, 80% of American college students have a facebook account. Of that group, 80% check their facebook profile daily. Facebook allows you to input your name, school, classes, and interests, along with other activities like the storing of pictures.

Is Facebook a true networking tool? Some would say no, but I loudly exclaim yes. Through the judicious use of groups and friends, you can form clusters of people who believe the same way you do and would be able to help you advance yourself in some way. Of course, this is not really in the spirit of Facebook, but it is not disallowed by their Terms of Service. Also, Facebook can be used as a great marketing tool for a product or service that you offer to students. Some companies, like Pepsi and Apple, already have sponsored groups on Facebook that allows them to market to the college student demographic.

Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been contemplating a change of my major for college. Right now, I’m a mechanical engineer, and have been for the last two years. Its been fun and its been tough, but evidently sophomore year is the hardest and I’m through that now.

Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize that my heart just isn’t in mechanical engineering. Disappointing that I went through all the tough classes before realizing this. However, I think I have found my calling, and that calling is computer science.

But you didn’t come here to read about my personal life, so let me tell you why you don’t want to switch majors in the middle of college. Here’s what you would have to do:

• Track down your academic transcript
• Find the requirements for your new major
• Figure out if you could possibly have enough credits to graduate in four year
• Fill out, in detail, a schedule for the remaining time in school<!–more–>
• Make sure none of your scholarships change
• Get approval from your old advisor and the department head of the major you want to switch to
• Change classes (if you’re already registered)

All I can say is the process is definitely an exercise in frustration. However, it is definitely doable. I’ve realized that I can still graduate in 3.666 years even with my switch (from mechanical engineering to computer science no less). I’m happy with my decision and wouldn’t trade my other experiences. If you have to switch majors, suck it up and go through the process outlined above. It’ll be worth it in the long run because you’ll be doing something you love.

Do you have student loans? Most people going to college these days often have no choice but to go into debt to finance their education. This is an unfortunate situation, indeed, and many young Americans are about to start feeling the pressure this coming fall. What can we do about this situation?

The New York Times had an excellent article available yesterday that highlights the pressures and consequences of the current system. It’s long, but definitely worth a read through.

I feel the most intriguing part comes on page 6. The concept of an “Income-Contingent Repayment Plan” is an interesting one. Here’s what the Times had to say:

Friedman suggested that it would be more efficient to tax students a percentage of their future earnings rather than to have them take out fixed-rate loans for their education. His idea has taken many different iterations since then, but income-contingent repayment, as it’s now called, has never really gained a foothold in the
United States beyond a limited option available in the federal direct-lending program.

Why hasn’t this type of program taken off in the United States? My personal opinion is that Americans will call foul and deem the program unfair for some reason. It would be irrational, but I feel it would happen. What do you think of this type of program, and do you think it could ever be implemented in the United States?