What if you’re an average student — with a B or C GPA and only “mid-range” SATs? Are you out of luck when it comes to college applications?

The answer, fortunately, is no. There are a lot of state schools that will accept 75% of all applicants. In fact, the school doesn’t have to spell “prestige” in order to be a very good school for the choosing. You can check out Colleges that Change Lives to rethink your college decisions. You may also want to look at A+ Options for B Students, an article in the US News and World Report.

There’s also another option. While grades will always be required, some schools don’t require SAT or ACT scores to be submitted which should make poor standardized test takers have a much easier time. This list is also offered at FairTest.org.

The point is that you don’t have to be so heavily focused on the top schools — there are thousands of colleges out there, and chances are there are a few good schools that will suit you just fine!

If you’re living with additional roommates, you might find yourself on a different schedule than them. You might be a late night owl or a morning person. Usually, college housing departments try to find you a roommate who fits in with your schedule so that you won’t be doing homework when your roommate is trying to go to sleep, but sometimes that’s not always the case.

If you have a roommate who can’t tolerate the work at night, there are a few options. You can call the hall of your dormitory your new workspace (several of my friends do that) or you can work in the library and come back when the library closes (if it closes!). You might want to set up a quiet workspace that your roommate will compromise on if you must be in your room. You also might want to consider reducing the lights and using flashlights or setting up a “barrier” to avoid waking the roommate.

This is something that college roommates need to discuss before the school year starts, because if you get adjusted to a schedule that doesn’t work out with your roommate, you’ll run into trouble early on.

Today’s job market might suck (or maybe it doesn’t), but one thing is clear: there’s a lot of confusion in the “real world.”

It may then be better in this time of recession to focus on academics. Continue your studies and improve your skillset for the real world.

Why should you bother? If you’re still in school and are debating between a real life job or more school, more school might be a better fit. Here’s why.

You’re not losing out. With the economy in recession, you’re lucky if you get the chance to pursue your academic dreams rather than take the plunge later on after you’ve had a few years of work under your belt (and may then have financial and family obligations to worry about). With job cuts and an extremely volatile corporate society, it’s better to come to your new job interview (when availability increases) with a lot more experience than someone who has not had the opportunity to pursue other educational endeavors.

You get money. There are grants, loans, and even stipends to be had when pursuing higher education. If you go with a Ph.D, you’re often paid for a lot of your program costs. In other words, there’s nothing to lose and much to gain if you’re committed to the program. If a doctorate is something you’ve envisioned, why not?

You can broaden your network. While the mindset may not be completely job centric, many know that college is a means to an end (a solid career). This means that you need to start building up those networks now. Use the career resources available to you. Talk with professors. Many programs with tight-knit alumni will often “help a brother out.” You have more time to really build up these connections while you’re continuing your educational pursuits, so you might as well take advantage of them as they’re critical (and highly undervalued!)

If you’ve been considering graduate school, it’s a good time right now to apply and consider these options. You’ll be happy that you did.

You may have opened one too many thick envelopes (or, unfortunately, thin ones) and have felt some extreme emotional highs and lows this past month. The Moscow Times says that the top schools are reporting all-time acceptance lows, with Harvard at 7.1%, Yale at 8.3%, and Columbia at 8.7%.

In Russia, things are different, the Times reports. You don’t apply to a college. You apply to an academic program. Acceptance can be a lot easier or harder. But it’s not anything at all like American college acceptance and the world won’t end if you don’t get accepted into the program. Life goes on, they say, and in Russia, that’s true.

In America, the mantra seems to be “you are were you went.” In reality, that’s not the case. How many Yale graduates do you know that don’t fit the “Yale” perception — at least not yours? Chances are, you’re thinking along the same lines as me, and you need to know that not getting into your #1 choice isn’t the end of the world.

In ten years, college won’t really matter. In reality, college doesn’t matter even a few years after you graduate. Your hard work and perseverance will pay, but it may have nothing to do with the school you go to.

It’s not the end of the world as you know it if you don’t get in. Aim to succeed in college and beyond and let fate guide you to where you belong. It’ll likely be a lot better than you think — and everything works out for the best.

A lot of students believe that there’s a holy grail of rules that you need to follow to get into your desired school. Surprisingly (for some), that’s not the case. Here are some myths about college acceptance that need to be dispelled.

1. You need a perfect SAT score to get into an Ivy League school.
2. You need a perfect GPA to get into an Ivy League school.
3. Your perfect SAT score will get into an Ivy League school.
4. Your perfect GPA will get you into an Ivy.
5. Your perfect GPA and SAT score will get you into an Ivy League school.
6. If you have what it takes (in 1-5), “second tier” schools will offer you scholarships to join their programs.
7. Public colleges are cheaper than private colleges.
8. Obsessing over grades in high school is worth the hassle because you’re guaranteed admission to your favorite school.
9. Ivy League universities provide education unsurpassed by local, public, or smaller schools.
10. Rankings mean everything to a school and should be considered in your college decision-making.
11. It’s best to attend the most prestigious university you’re accepted to.
12. You should join 30 clubs for quantity instead of focusing on building up a credible reputation in one or two solid extracurricular activities.
13. Students coming from unfortunate financial situations are lucky because they’ll be offered a full ride to the colleges of their choice.
14. Applying to schools without financial need increases your chances of acceptance.
15. All in-state colleges are safety schools.
16. Valedictorians and salutatorians will get into any schools they apply to.
17. Colleges look down on students who take the ACT in comparison to the SAT.
18. You must have accumulated community service hours to be considered for college admissions.
19. Ivy League schools are full of people who are rich.
20. If you’re deferred, that means you’ll have no chance of getting into the school.
21. There is one school out there that fits you perfectly.
22. Having family who are alumni will guarantee your admissions into schools more so than having good scores.
23. If you don’t get into the school of your choosing, your life is over.

What can you add to this list?

I wanted to be a historian. It started when I was just a naïve first year (which, for me, was at the first of three colleges I’d attend before finally finding myself on track to graduation). I loved the feeling of being better informed about the world around me through learning about what got us to where we are. I thought about how neat it would be recite stories of the past like professors and using that to investigate more.

Then I transferred to a school that, believe it or not, didn’t have a history major. So I wouldn’t be majoring in history. Suddenly, I was majoring in urban planning. I grew to love that too and, for awhile, thought about graduate studies in the field. Then, after taking a graduate urban planning course as an undergrad, I thought otherwise. So history and urban planning were out.

Soon thereafter, I shifted to political science. That’s my major to this day. I can’t say I got much out of it, to be fair. Most of what I’ve learned has been in some way repeated on political news pages. And of course it’s very heavy on the front-loading and, unfortunately, most professors at universities seem to be in a Bush-bashing mood, for better or for worse, though it can take away from the learning.

The funny thing is that after I graduate, I can still probably be whatever I want. If I want to take a job with a firm on Wall Street, that door’s still open. If I want to stay home and write music, I could probably do that too. If I wanted to be a doctor, I could still go through a post-bacc program. That’s the funny thing about college – beyond helping to better structure a curriculum, majors don’t mean a whole lot.

There are always going to be courses I’ll regret taking across multiple disciplines, maybe because of a scheduling conflict or a prerequisite I didn’t have, but I’ll always have the nine or ten political science courses with me as a foundation. Truthfully, I’ve forgotten most of what I’ve been taught (which generally happens about a week after the final exam), but I’m sure they helped me to think better when tackling issues in the future. It didn’t subject me to a career as a Washington bureaucrat or a first year law student, but it did awaken me to how much else is out there and how much more colleges offer outside of fields of specialization.

Some believe a college education to be as important as a high school diploma, especially as it relates to earnings. If that’s true, specialization doesn’t come until long after we move on from the undergraduate experience.

The truth is that bad things can happen anywhere. Without bringing statistics into the fray, if you don’t know some very basic things about staying safe on the street, you could run into trouble.

Recently, a Columbia University student was fatally hit by a car just north of the New York City campus fleeing a couple of troublemakers. It’s brought into questions about campus safety and security and living in perceived “bad” neighborhoods, especially (but not always) in urban areas.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with everything your public safety office has to offer. They’re not just there to bust parties. They’re there to keep you safe. Lots of schools offer call boxes throughout campus that, when pressed, immediately alerts public safety and can send someone to your location. Lots have cameras throughout campus that deter would-be criminals. Many schools also offer late-night escort services that allow students to call for rides home if they don’t want to walk back from their wherever they may be.

Of course, there could be the random time you’re stopped by someone, possibly scammed into giving money. For me, it was having someone bump into me then claiming I broke whatever he was holding. It was late at night and I was alone. In classic scam fashion, it was demanded I then turn over money to make up for his loss. I panicked, but handed over $10 and kept walking. It was a sound lesson in my own safety being more valuable than $10.

I know friends that carry mace late at night. I don’t condone that type of defense, but it’s perfectly sensible. Students can easily come off as targets, especially in poorly lit areas, alone, late at night. There’s a perhaps reasonable expectation that they’re mostly defenseless. The trick, of course, is to not fall into a defenseless trap and to best avoid situations where the likelihood of confrontation may occur.

It’s impossible to keep entire universities completely safe, but with a bit of common sense and utilization of resources provided by universities, it’s easy to stay safe.

Something lots of students don’t really think about when they’re off at college is what to do in the event they wind up in a medical emergency. When it happens, and it’s happened to me, is to just do wind up in whichever emergency room the ambulance drives your broken body to. Chances are, as it was in my case, that you’ll find yourself at closest one. Well, not all hospitals are equal.

I wound up at a really horrible hospital that so happens to be footsteps from where an incident took place that left me with a few broken bones that still bother me now, years later. Had I wound up in a hospital that specializes in my injury, I likely would have received a much better treatment.

USNews and World Report, the same people that put together that top college list every year, also rank hospitals. It’s really worth studying this and putting together a list of the best facilities for various needs. It’s also worth having a primary care practitioner at your college, especially if “home” is far away. It can help with insurance companies that require referrals for even the most routine procedures.

Another issue you’ll likely be confronted with, especially as a first year student, is whether to pick up an insurance plan or, if available, retain coverage under your parents (likely a possibility if you’re under 25). The decision to spend a few more hundred dollars up front could save you thousands down the road. At my school and many others (since the company that handles health insurance for mine takes covers many universities), students are presented with a primary and comprehensive plan.

The primary is, simply put, the bare minimum. In the event of something happening, the coverage is there. It’s not the best and it requires more to spend out of pocket, but it’s something. Then there’s the comprehensive coverage that, for the most part, covers everything. Is it a game? Sure. But so is health insurance. And, knowing firsthand, having the best coverage can be a real lifesaver.

You may not have found a job or you got lucky and graduated with a career, but business school is always a possibility in your future. BusinessWeek rates the top 50 business schools for undergrads, and to make things easier, we’ve done it here at GoCollege too.

50. Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ), $10,949/year, 780 students. Accounting and finance is best (marketing and management, not so much)
49. University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL), $34,720/year, 2,089 students. Small classes but not great recruitment.
48. University of Minnesota-Carlson (Minneapolis), $10,498/year, 1,863 students. Limited program offerings and easy classes, but good recruitment within the Twin Cities area.
47. University of San Diego (San Diego, CA), $32,564/year, 1,077 students. Great personable professors, but the jobs are not so great.
46. University of Florida-Warrington (Gainesville, FL), $3,372/year, 2,177 students. Big classes that are mostly taught by TAs are disappointing.
45. Loyola College-Sellinger (Baltimore, MD), $42,730/year, 926 students. Small classes and one-on-one attention gets high marks.
44. University of Georgia-Terry (Athens, GA), $5,622/year, 2,388 students. Academically rigorous courses, and it’s hard to get into top level classes.
43. University of Maryland-Smith (College Park, MD), $7,968/year, 2,877 students. Wall Street hasn’t seen many student representation.
42. Boston University (Boston, MA), $34,930/year, 1,979 students. Good curriculum but tough grading system and not-so-good recruiting disappoint.
41. Case Western Reserve University-Weatherhead (Cleveland, OH), $33,538/year, 405 students. Small classes are great, but there’s a lot of work.
40. Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY), $6,012/year, 870 students. Close-knit administration is a bonus.
39. Michigan State University-Broad (East Lansing, MI), $10,090/year, 2,065 students. Good classes, not as good teachers/administration.
38. Pennsylvania State University-Smeal (University Park, PA), $14,343/year, 5,492 students. Good supply of recruiters, but the cost is high for some.
37. University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI), $7,460/year, 1,312 students. Too many classes are taught by TAs and not professors, but recruitment is high.
36. Baylor University-Hankamer (Waco, TX), $25,340/year, 2,565 students. Strong focus on ethics, but not strong in recruitment.
35. Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, CA), $33,000/year, 1,860 students. Great recruiting within the Silicon Valley area but not much elsewhere.
34. Northeastern University (Boston, MA), $31,899/year, 2,921 students. Co-op opportunities are aplenty.
33. University of Washington (Seattle, WA), $6,385/year, 1,750 students. Small community and close-knit professors, but hard to find jobs on the east coast.
32. Texas Christian University-Neeley (Fort Worth, TX), $24,865/year, 1,727 students. Solid leadership program coupled with tough marks and difficult recruiting makes finding jobs hard.
31. Texas A & M-Mays (College Station, TX), $7,266/year, 3,856 students. Honors classes perform better than other classes, which aren’t as challenging.
30. Bentley College (Waltham, MA), $32,896/year, 3,810 students. Small classes shine, and finance and accounting majors get the best jobs.
29. The College of William & Mary-Mason (Williamsburg, VA), $9,164/year, 453 students. Broad curriculum and intimate environment with great professors.
28. Babson College (Babson Park, MA), $34,112/year, 1,799 students. Students need to run a business for the entrepreneurship program. Work and grading is difficult.
27. Fordham University (New York), $32,720/year, 1,866 students. Strong focus on ethics and integrity but jobs aren’t easy to find.
26. Rensselaer Polytech Institute-Lally (Troy, NY), $35,885/year, 374 students. Big focus on technology and personal professors win points.
25. Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA), $35,610/year, 1,434 students. Faculty is well-liked, but recruiting is more difficult (accounting majors do better than marketing)
24. Miami University-Farmer (Oxford, OH), $11,875/year, 2,025 students. Accounting and finance programs get the jobs, but advising program isn’t recommended.
23. Southern Methodist University-Cox (Dallas, TX), $33,170/year, 917 students. Professors are accessible and recruiting occurs within the Dallas area.
22. Carnegie Mellon University-Tepper (Pittsburgh, PA), $37,544/year, 450 students. Intense work but school is small and quantitative skill focus is a plus.
21. Wake Forest University-Calloway (Winston-Salem, NC), $34,330/year, 415 students. A great workload that helps prepare students but also hurts them in the job hunt.
20. University of Richmond-Robins (Richmond, VA), $38,850/year, 670 students. Classes are small and students have a good relationship with professors.
19. Georgetown University-McDonough (Washington DC), $35,740/year, 1,297 students. Good DC location gives political focus.
18. University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, IL), $12,232/year, 2,649 students. New building under construction with good staff and faculty.
17. University of Southern California-Marshall (Los Angeles, CA), $35,810/year, 3,497 students. Extensive alumni helps students find jobs.
16. Indiana University-Kelley (Bloomington, IN), $7,958/year, 4,069 students. Curriculum combines finance, marketing, strategy, and operations.
15. Washington University-Olin (St. Louis, MO), $35,524/year, 758 students. Good professors and administration, but recruiting falters.
14. Boston College-Carroll (Boston, MA), $35,674/year, 1,970 students. Lessons can be applied to real world and the career-services staff is accommodating.
13. Villanova University (Villanova, PA), $34,900/year, 1,804 students. Accounting program is top-notch, but marketing majors again feel out in the dark.
12. University of North Carolina-Kenan-Flagler (Chapel Hill, NC), $5,340/year, 658 students. Outstanding global focus and emphasis on technology makes the school shine.
11. University of California Berkeley-Haas (Berkeley, CA), $8,384/year, 700 students. Harsh grading with high-caliber faculty.
10. University of Texas-McCombs (Austin, TX), $8,908/year, 3,969 students. Good recruiting and accounting program.
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Sloan (Cambridge, MA), $34,986/year, 246 students. Quantitative skills taught well and undergrads are challenged with MBA courses if desired.
8. New York University-Stern (New York, NY), $36,524/year, 2,335 students. Focuses on finance and is perfectly situated by Wall Street for great job opps.
7. Brigham Young University-Marriott (Provo, UT), $3,840/year, 1,616 students. Emphasis on ethical business leaders of the future.
6. University of Michigan-Ross (Ann Arbor, MI), $12,585/year, 1,069 students. Strict grading upsets students, but curriculum and teamwork win brownie points.
5. Emory University-Goizueta (Atlanta, GA), $34,336/year, 622 students. Hard-working professors and career service advisers.
4. Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), $19,291/year, 708 students. Challenging coursework prepares students well for business work.
3. University of Notre Dame-Mendoza (South Bend, IN), $35,187/year, 1,626 students. Powerful program with “die-hard alums.”
2. University of Virginia-McIntire (Carlottesville, VA), $8,690/year, 652 students. Excellent faculty and good starting salaries.
1. University of Pennsylvania-Wharton (Philadelphia, PA), $35,916/year, 2,519 students. Highly-esteemed students, faculty, and alumni.

Is business school in your future?

Yesterday, I wrote about the difficulty that 2008 graduates are experiencing in their job search.

Today, I report that not everyone agrees with that truth. JobWeb gives students hope. In a recent study, they determined that 2008 is the healthiest job market in three years. A survey, performed by Job Outlook 2008, found that employers plan to hire 16% more graduates than they did in the previous year.

Why now? What about the financial sector? (The answer: don’t go there until things improve.)

The answer: talent. The future leaders of tomorrow are graduating college today. Furthermore, as more and more individuals consider retirement, the gaps are opened and are waiting to be filled by students just like you.

Some statistics may be helpful:

• The Midwest plans to see the biggest growth in hiring this year.
• Computer science is still in heavy demand. Programmers rock!
• If you have a bachelor degree, your starting salary will probably be better than a BA or BS graduate from previous class years.
• Best majors for the task include accounting, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science (what did I say?), business administration, communication, liberal arts, psychology, English, sociology, and political science/government. Some firms are explicitly looking for computer science majors with some business know-how.
• If you’re an international student with academic achievement in the aforementioned areas, you may fare better than your American peers.

It still pays to work hard to find a job. While employers are hiring, an early start is crucial, especially if you’re looking and you’re in the class of ‘09. Or even ‘10. The experience you can gain in the meantime is invaluable and the benefits (401K, medical and dental insurance, life insurance, social activities, tuition reimbursement, bonuses) are awesome.

Start looking for your job if you haven’t already. And if you found the right one, share your success story in the comments.