University Essay Experts » time

A Jobless Recovery?

john — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:54:32 +0000

Not quite but it really feels like it to many, many people. The global recession and the national recession in the US officially came to an end in June of 2009 but no-one would really seem to know it. While the stock market has recovered somewhat the average investor is largely staying away from the markets because they same stacked against the individual investor. Hence, the influence of phenomena such as the Flash Crash in which large, institutional investors can cause dramatics shifts in the markets with 1 or 2 large trades. Additionally, other research now reveals that some 85% of college graduates are actually moving back home—so called boomerang kids. Everyone knows about the 9.6 to 9.7% official unemployment rate which means that the real unemployment rate is substantially higher. And finally, housing, which typically leads economies out of recessions, is nowhere near reaching bottom as the ongoing foreclosure crisis keeps dragging the economy down. An estimate 10 to 12% of all homes are in some state of distress and recent data indicates that foreclosure auctions just hit a record high of 930,437 which is a 4% increase over the previous quarter. So what’s the point of all of this gloom and doom? The point is that now is a great time to start a business. Sure, obtaining a business loan is difficult and the Three FFF Bank (friends, family & fools) might be closed but it’s a great time to take a risk and put some savings into a small business and successful small businesses begin with a business plan. If you have a little more funding available you can have a custom written business plan completed for several hundred dollars which is always advised. However, if you are truly strapped for cash there are numerous pre-written business plans or business plan templates that can be had for $20 or $30 which cover the most common businesses such as coffee shops, drycleaners, ice cream parlors, restaurants and bars to taverns, among others. Remember out of great strife comes great opportunity so don’t let the economy get you down.

MBA Topics: Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and Small Businesses

john — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:06:05 +0000

Initial Public Offerings or IPOs are the often viewed as the ultimate indication that a small business has become successful. IPOs can be an important method for small businesses to make the transition to a large, growth oriented firm. This is because by going public and accepting outside investors, small businesses gain access to enormous sums of capital that is then re-invested into the firm. This capital can then be directed at exploring new markets, developing new products or services or at improving core infrastructure and developing human and intellectual capital. Recently, IPOs have begun to recover as a financing medium for small and large businesses alike after several years of difficult IPO markets. So, if the intent of a small business owner is to gain access to enough capital to fund growth and expansion then now is a good time to examine the public option. However, as any MBA student recognizes in undertaking IPO research and funding, going public also entails public scrutiny as well as a higher level of reporting and SEC oversight.

E-Textbooks & the Ipad

john — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:08:12 +0000

Students the world over have come to recognize that they have long been ripped off by the textbook publishing establishment to which the higher education system panders. Thus, the cost of college textbooks has increased geometrically compared to regular inflation and colleges and universities are partly to blame. Higher education institutions regularly require the “most recent” editions of textbooks that the publishing houses have simply reworked by changing the page count, adding some useless fluff, and perhaps re-organizing the chapters. Thus, every year or every couple of years students must continually purchase their textbooks new and some texts can cost over $200 or $300 each! It’s a rip-off—you known it, I know it, the colleges and universities know it and the publishing houses certainly know it. Add on to this the insult of constantly increasing college tuition and we all begin to understand that the higher education system in most developed markets is not about higher education but is about fleecing as many students as possible of their money. One new development that can ease the cost-burden of pursuing higher education is the current electronic textbook initiative that is expanding with the introduction of the iPad and other electronic readers. Electronic textbooks are quite promising not only because they are less expensive that regularly printed college textbooks but because they allow the integration and instant viewing of a multitude of different media such as hyperlinks to websites and other online data sources, video and sound files, and collaborative networks for students. Even more promising is that there are organizations and firms that are beginning to develop open source textbooks and electronic textbooks that are distributed online for free or for reasonable associated printing costs. Open source textbooks may not be fully developed at the moment but it is only a matter of time before they begin to challenge the publishing establishment and colleges and universities should begin to examine these alternatives for their students. Perhaps one of the most promising of all of these developing alternatives to the traditional textbook is business textbooks and other specialties being offered and developed by flatworld KNOWLEDGE. So, investigate these traditional textbook alternatives and complain to your colleges and universities about the high costs of textbooks and of higher education in general.

Studying & Learning Styles

john — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:30:47 +0000

The importance of good study habits is well known. A recent article in the NYT just noted that many preconceptions about study habits are changing with the continued development of technology and how people are interacting with their environment. At a basic level, the article points out that one should change their study locations from time to time in order to break up the monotony of studying. Previously, many experts also liked to point out that people have different “learning styles” and that these learning styles predict and influence the way a particular individual learns. Newer research is now revealing this concept to be completely off the mark. That is, learning styles such as “visual learners” or being “left brained” or “right brained” are now being shown to be fairly inaccurate. Of course everyone does prefer learning in certain ways but this is just a preferential thing rather than something hard-wired into a person’s neurological system. Everyone has the capacity to learn visually or to learn textually or similar. In fact, this same research now shows us that people should actually practice learning through all methods as a means to stimulate their learning process overall and to reinforce their learning. This shift in how researchers are now viewing the learning process is probably due to the prevalence of technology such as iPods, iPads and iPhones as well as the Internet and the web in which everyone is now exposed to more visually oriented material. Essentially, these technologies are changing not only learning styles but also studying styles as well.

iPad Apps for Students

john — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:14:58 +0000

The amount of and variety of technology available today is incredible. Certainly the iPod, iPhone, and now the iPad have changed the way college students and university students communicate and work in order to be successful in school. Of course everyone is aware of Apple’s applications or “apps” as they have come to be referred to but not everyone is aware that there are a few apps that are great tools for college and university students. We have identified the 10 best apps for college and university students available from the iTunes store below:

1) Numbers—this app costs $9.99 and it is a spreadsheet program useful because its data is compatible with Numbers for the Mac, Microsoft’s Excel and even converts into PDF format for Adobe’s products

2) Pages—this app costs $9.99 and it is a word processing program that contains templates, tools, and a host of touch commands. Pages is simple to utilize for students and is compatible with Pages for the Mac, Microsoft Word as well as PDF reliant programs

3) Things for iPad—this app is expensive at $19.99 and it is a great time management program that allows improved scheduling with a nice user interface and is designed for the iPad’s larger screen

4) Articles for iPad—this app is $0.99 which makes it a nice and easy addition to a college student’s set of software tools. This app has a nice interface and provides direct access to Wikipedia which may not be accepted by college professors as a credible source but which is largely viewed by all others as a constantly accessible easy and reliable quick reference database

5) Dictionary.com—this is a free and includes access to the site’s database of more than 1,000,000 unique words and also includes access to the site’s thesaurus functionality as well

6) IM+–this app is $9.99 and is an effective way to gather all your IM channels into a single app. This app integrates Twitter, Skype Chat, Google Talk, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN/Live, AIM/iChat, ICQ as well as several others

7) Scrabble for iPad—this app is $9.99 and provides a nice, useful game to break up the monotony of your classes or unforeseen downtime and, even better, it also integrates with Facebook to enable game sharing as well as wireless interactivity with other iPad or iPod users

Instapaper Pro—this app is $4.99 is essentially collects articles and web pages that you like while you have wifi access for later viewing and reading when wifi may not be available

9) Netflix—this app is free but requires that you already have an online Netflix account. This app allows you to view all your Netflix movies from the iPad or iPhone/iPod and we all know that Netflix now has a host of movies available for immediate viewing with a simple membership plan

10) The Elements: A Visual Exploration—this app is $13.99 and if you are a science major or interested in science then it is a must have. This app provides background information and graphics on each element listed in the periodic table of the elements

These top ten iPad apps for students in school can make your life a lot easier and if you need help with school like writing a term paper then place us on your favorites in your web browser. Sorry, we don’t have an app for that but for custom writing services you won’t find a service any better or responsive than ours and we can free up your time for the other important aspects of your college or university life.

Using PayPal for Payment Security

john — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:41:20 +0000

Numerous custom writing companies engage in credit card fraud and clients are constantly worried about whether they will actually get their projects after making payment. Companies in both India and China abound that do nothing but create churn by culling the internet for clients, charging a fee and then failing to deliver a project. Clients have little recourse when this happens but still must find a way to produce an essay, term paper, research project, thesis or dissertation on time. We utilize PayPal for all or most of our transactions because it protects us and the client. For example, if you order a paper and do not receive it you can apply to PayPal to have the money refunded. If we cannot show that we emailed you your paper then you get your refund. But if we show PayPal that we emailed you your project then there is no refund. Everyone wins because you are protected and we can offer you a great deal of peace of mind knowing that you will receive a quality essay, thesis or dissertation on time.

University of Phoenix Rip-Off

john — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:35:31 +0000

One Student’s Account:

“In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education provided a preliminary report to the university that cited untimely return of unearned Title IV funds for more than 10 percent of sampled students. The report also expressed a concern that some students enroll and begin attending classes before completely understanding the implications of enrollment, including their eligibility for student financial aid. As a result, in January 2010, its parent company, Apollo Group Inc., was required to post a letter of credit for $125 million by January 30 of the same year” –BusinessWeek

Subject: University of Phoenix Business Practices

I enrolled in the University of Phoenix in November of 2009 in its Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership program. At the time, the intake counselor (let’s call him salesman) advised me that the program entailed residencies that were held at various points around the United States. Additionally, he stated that if I could not make one then I could schedule an alternate residency. I explained to him that this was important as I travel internationally quite often and, of course, this would be a logistical problem. Again, this was BEFORE I agreed to register in the program. I completed several courses in the program and my residency was coming up for March of 2010 and informed the salesman that I would need to reschedule my residency as I would be overseas at that time.

Suddenly, rescheduling the residency was a problem. Several parties told me that I could not do it. Finally, when I threatened to quit the program they said I could do it. This was after being brow-beaten by my academic and financial aid counselors on a conference call wanting to know why I could not cancel my travel plans and attend the original residency. At any rate, they finally said I could reschedule but that I would need to WITHDRAW from school and start up again with my regular schedule after the residency.

Let me re-emphasize that rather than simply letting me take another course on the curriculum which, I might add, not every course is a pre-requisite for the next, contrary to what these sales people say, they told me that I would need to withdraw. Any other graduate school worth the appellation would have just let me take another graduate level course however the University of Phoenix forced me to withdraw. The school was stating that I would need to withdraw (fall out of compliance with financial requirements regarding full-time attendance) because the school would not allow me to take another doctoral course instead.

Rather than go through this ordeal every time I might need to reschedule a residency I chose to withdraw. Thus, since the University of Phoenix was forced to return some of the financial aid monies that it received from the government it is now stating that I owe tuition for a course which was supposed to have been paid for and for which this entire ordeal started because the salesman told me that I could reschedule residencies “no problem.” Of course, he disputes this now as one would expect but I can tell you that this institution is driven purely by the amount of churn it can generate through billing the federal government for federal financial aid funds. The actual treatment and outcome of the students is purely secondary which is why the graduation rates are so pathetic.

While I am certain the University of Phoenix might be able to rationalize its billing me for $2,301 in tuition in spite of it being the reason I withdrew, I am just as certain that there are inconsistencies in its accounting of my financial aid application, dispensation, and adjudication through this process. Please look into this particular case and add my official complaint of this University’s practices to the long list I am sure that you have already compiled.

My chief complaints are the following:

The school required me to withdraw to change my residency date

The school “auto-withdrew” me from a course-whatever that is but I question the methodology because the school uses something it calls the “Course Exit Tracking Checklists” to determine attendance or withdrawal apparently which I neither signed, approved, or was made aware of in advance

The salesman than enrolled me in the program ensured me that I could change my residency dates yet never mentioned that I would need to withdraw in order to do so

These and other issues are why the University of Phoenix Sucks.

Managing Online Courses

john — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:08:44 +0000

Recently, a number of our clients have requested that we manage their online courses for them. These students are employed full-time and typically have a family to support or bills to pay or both making the time and focus required to manage an online course difficult to manage. Because of the growing need for these types of services, we designed an online course management service which transfers the pressure and stress from taking an online class from the student to the writer. For a pre-determined fee we assign a writer who is familiar with the course topic and has a degree in the subject area and that writer then logs into your online course platform such as Blackboard or similar and does the daily or weekly postings or substantive comments that are required by most online classes to show course participation. Additionally, the writer managing the course takes care of any other online tasks that are required such as online exams, group meetings, and related activities so that you can continue to work productively and spend time with your family. While the cost for written work is still charged at the assigned per page rate we do offer a 10% discount to all clients that sign up for the managed course service. For more information email, call or IM and let’s get you out the classroom and into your career.

Military Tuition & GI Bill

john — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:51:57 +0000

The military in the United States has seen a huge influx of service members over the past 6 and 7 years and these service members are qualifying for educational assistance with the GI bill and other programs to pay for their higher education after they leave the military. Additionally, the military also pays for school while service members are in the military and this provides an enormous opportunity for military personnel to complete their tours of duty with college degrees or advance training or both. Military personnel and people leaving the military have the opportunity to attend college and university in a way more than at any previous time in the past and there are a host of online tutoring and research companies such as ours and others that can make this transition easier.

Online Universities

john — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:48:31 +0000

Online universities like the University of Phoenix or Argosy University are a great option for nontraditional students who are older or who have families to take care of. These universities have bachelors, masters and PhD programs that can be completed completely online. Furthermore, the online learning platforms are extremely user-friendly and easy to use making the learning process all the more fulfilling. And you don’t need to quit your job, sacrifice time and income just to complete a degree with online universities. But getting a degree is critical in this economy and in the global market just to stay competitive.