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Elaine Schwartz has spent her career sharing the interesting side of economics. At the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, she has been honored through an Endowed Chair in Economics and the History Department chairmanship. At the same time, she developed curricula and wrote several books including Understanding Our Economy (originally published by Addison Wesley as Economics Our American Economy) and Econ 101 ½ (Avon Books/Harper Collins). Elaine has also written in the Encyclopedia of New Jersey (Rutgers University Press) and was a featured teacher in the Annenberg/CPB video project "The Economics Classroom." Beyond the classroom, she has presented Econ 101 ½ talks and led workshops for the Foundation for Teaching Economics, the National Council on Economic Education and for the Concord Coalition.

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Elaine Schwartz has spent her career sharing the interesting side of economics. At the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, she has been honored through an Endowed Chair in Economics and the History Department chairmanship.

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What are you going to do after you graduate? Yes, we know, it's the worst question.

Even the less-specific questions - What are your strengths? What are your passions? - can be daunting.

But finding a job after college, or finding a new job - or changing a career - doesn't have to be scary. It can actually be exciting.

These tips will help you reflect on your story: what you like, what you've done so far, and what you need to do to go out and get a job - and maybe even a career.
Start early.
Most campuses have a career service office staffed with advisors to help you. But so many students wait until their junior or senior year to wander in. Don't wait!

What you decide to do professionally can be completely different from what you studied in college, so thinking about your career early in college can allow you to meander a bit, to ask yourself, "What do I like? What brings me joy?"

"If you're just starting to examine those questions 60 days before graduation, that's a pretty rapid timeline to cover a lot of ground," says Mark Peltz, head of the career center at Grinnell College, in Iowa.

Perhaps you're now thinking: "Oh, SNAP! I'm too late" - don't worry. It's better now than never. You're reading this story, aren't you? You're already on your way.
Study yourself, using your own life as data.
You don't have to guess when it comes to what you enjoy: Observe yourself and gather insights.

Don't just sit on the couch and think about yourself, go watch yourself actually do stuff, says Dave Evans, a professor at Stanford University and the author of the book Designing Your Life. He recommends making a "good-time journal," a daily record of all your activities, annotated with notes on how engaging each was and whether it gave you energy or drained you. This becomes the data that informs what you like to do - and the insights you gleen go far beyond the subjects you've liked in school

You can do this log more than once: when you have a heavy course load, between semesters or during a summer job, or if you're stuck in a job that's not satisfying. Figuring out what you want to do is an ever-evolving process.
Do your homework and research, research, research.
Now that you know more about you, turn your focus outward to discover and learn about jobs out in the world.

Don't stop at reading about them - go try out your interests, through job-shadowing, a lecture on campus, a small project, a hands-on class. Instead of crafting a to-do list, Peltz encourages Grinnell students to develop a "try-stuff" list to test their ideas, gather more info, and clarify what they want to do
Tell your own story.
Even a part-time job in retail, a volunteer post or a club membership can translate into real skills, like problem-solving, leading a team, working with customers.

"You have more experience than you think, but it's about reframing that in the right language," says Stacey Harris of Year Up, a program that helps get community college students ready for internships and careers.

Another important way to tell your story: the elevator pitch - a mini-story that tells who you are and what you want to do (in the time it takes to ride from one floor to another). Your pitch should include your name, your history and your goals. Practice telling this story - maybe to a friend or family member - until it becomes natural.

"A couple of my students have actually hopped into an elevator with me just to practice their elevator pitch as if I was a stranger," Harris says.

It can be a little weird to talk about yourself. Perhaps you're thinking, "Who am I? I don't have a story!" But everyone has a story - and more importantly, most humans love hearing stories.
Look to the future and hit send.
Take your research to the next level: Find people in the world doing interesting things and do as many informational interviews with them as you can. These are informal conversations in which you ask people about their jobs and how they arrived at them.

These interviews might seem scary, but keep in mind that people love to talk about themselves and what they're doing, and they also love to help.

Remember: "You're not asking them for money. You're not asking them for a job. You're asking for the story," explains Evans. "If you're genuinely interested, if you can bring genuine curiosity, go for it."

Some things to keep in mind when reaching out: Be specific. You don't want to blanket-email a bunch of people just because you can. Think about what you're trying to get from each person you talk to: Is it the path to where they are now? Is it information about a posted job?

Once you get one interview, Evans says, go out and talk to more people. One easy way to do this is to make your last question, "Who else should I talk to?"

After you've taken up other folks' time, it's best to send a thank-you note. Handwritten is lovely, but not necessary; an email will work, too.
Study up on business etiquette.
There are lots of different workplaces with lots of different rules. Since you won't know those nuances until you spend time in the office, it's best to proceed with caution. Make sure your social media channels are public-ready, and polish up your email skills. Here are some of Harris's tips:

Make sure you have a professional email address - say goodbye to "Bubblegum123."

Craft an email subject line carefully: Write a short summary of what's in the email.

Begin the message with a greeting.

End with a signature and include a way to reach you.

Beware of spelling errors, and capitalize properly.

Have a neighbor or a niece who's thinking about a career? Consider sharing this episode.

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Before you earn your diploma, you need to focus on a different piece of paper: a resume. Here's how to think about what you want to do, and then go out and get a job - maybe even a career.

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subscribe to How To Succeed At College podcast

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You've signed up for classes, you've learned your way around campus - and now, you've got to make sure you survive all the way to graduation.

Laptop or paper notes? Highlighter or flashcards? And does music help while studying? Here's how to take better notes and study so that you remember what you've learned - without getting crushed by college stress. Plus: what to do if you do feel crushed.
1. Learn how to take notes.
There's no single magic way to take notes, but the act of writing down our interpretation of what we've learned helps organize and consolidate information in our brains.

What should you write down? Use clues from your professors to figure out what information is important and what is not.

Listen to their words: "This is going to be on the exam" or "This is important," for instance.

Watch them as they teach - they might get animated, repeat themselves, write things on the board.

Pay attention when they offer categories and numbered lists. "Be on the lookout for the ways that professors will organize information," says Natalie Murr, a psychologist at North Carolina State University. "You know, 'Here are the categories of x. There's three categories: No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.' "

Also, laptop or paper? It doesn't matter, Murr says. What's more important is that you take down key information, not everything your professor says verbatim.
2. Get a planner and actually use it.
You'll have a lot going on in college, and managing your time is a critical skill to master. Use your planner to control your schedule. Write everything down: your classes, your work shifts, assignments and meetings.Let your schedule help you find small windows of time to knock out smaller tasks and keep track of bigger deadlines.
3. When studying, don't just put information into your brain. Draw it back out.
We know from research that the most common study strategies are rereading textbooks, rereading notes, and highlighting. We also know that those methods don't really work, because they only focus on the input, not the retrieval, says Pooja Agarwal, a cognitive scientist at Berklee School of Music.

Think of learning as a two-way street. When you re-read and highlight, you're only focused on getting information in, not doing any retrieving.

"Research demonstrates that when we engage in that process of overtly retrieving, we actually organize concepts and create a better structure for what we're understanding," Agarwal says. "So through that process of retrieval, we help make sense of what we're trying to learn."

Here's what Agarwal recommends to strengthen your retrieval skills.
4. Failure is not the end.

The "Two-Things Rule": As soon as you finish a lecture or a reading, write down two things you remember.

Explain the information to a friend or classmate to test your understanding.

Use flashcards - but say the answer out loud (in other words, retrieve it) before you turn it over to check yourself. Shuffle the flashcards and do it again.

Set a timer to study for a certain time, take a break, then to get back to work. "It's almost like an intentional forgetting or a purposeful forgetting," Agarwal explains. "By taking that break, you're letting things simmer a little bit."

Another tip - and you might not like this one: Don't listen to music while you read. Research has shown that silence almost doubles reading comprehension, compared to listening to music with lyrics, Agarwal says.

An F on a test - or even for an entire class - doesn't mean you won't graduate.
5. Take care of yourself - and get some sleep.
"Anyone can do badly in a class," says Odette De Leon, an adviser at Valencia College in Orlando. "We're not born knowing college material. That's why we go to college. That's why we're college students. We're trying to learn these things."

Sure, it's difficult to hear negative things about yourself - and bad grades are no exception. But being hard on yourself can just make it worse.

Students who are sleep-deprived show many of the same symptoms as students diagnosed with attention disorders, says Natalie Murr, a psychologist at North Carolina State University.
6. Let go of the stigma around mental health problems.
Emotional problems can also throw off a student's focus and interfere with academics.

"If you're really sleepy or if you're really struggling emotionally, there's not a lot of motivation to get up and go to class or do your work or put the effort in that needs to be done," Murr says. "They can really kind of take up space in the brain that would otherwise be open for learning."

Mental health issues are pervasive on college campuses. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
7. Know when to reach out for help.
"One out of two Americans over their lifetime will have a diagnosable mental health disorder," says B. Hibbs, psychologist and author of The Stressed Years of Their Lives. "They're highly treatable. It's not something to be scared about."

And parents, if your kid calls from college in distress, don't judge, says Hibbs. Listen and be supportive so they'll continue to confide in you, and take their anguish seriously.

Stress is so common in college, it can be hard to recognize when it becomes clinically treatable anxiety or depression, says Anthony Rostain, a doctor and professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Hibbs' co-author.
Got a neighbor or a niece in college? Consider sharing this story with them. Resources:
Here are warning signs to watch for:

Trouble sleeping.

Trouble waking up.

Trouble eating.

Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness.

Drinking to the point of blacking out.

Having lots of random sexual partners.

Not being able to stop playing video games.

If you're experiencing thoughts of suicide, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text START to 741-741 to get in touch with someone who can help.

The Jed Foundation specializes in supporting mental health in teens and young adults as they transition into adulthood.

ULifeline.org, by the Jed Foundation, offers a database of campus mental health resources at more than 1,600 colleges.

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How To Do Well (And Be Happy!) In College

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subscribe to How To Succeed At College podcast subscribe to How To Succeed At College podcast You've signed up for classes, you've learned your way around campus - and now, you've got to make sure you survive all the way to graduation. Laptop or paper notes? Highlighter or flashcards?

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subscribe to How To Succeed At College podcast

subscribe to How To Succeed At College podcast

The first year of college is crucial for setting students up for success, laying a strong foundation for the rest of college and beyond. Research shows that if you finish your first year and sign up for the second, you're far more likely to get that degree.

So how do you get through the first year? Here's what the experts recommend.
Go to college on purpose.
Going to college takes time and money. Simply going because everyone told you to - without a clear end game - puts you more at risk of having just some college and no degree.

"Don't just go to college because your school counselor or your parents told you to go," says Yolanda Watson Spiva, who runs the non-profit organization Complete College America. "You actually go to college because you have an agenda."
Pick your classes wisely and map out your path.
Some of this is really basic. For example, if you know you need 120 credits to graduate - do the math. How many credits will you need each semester if you want to finish in four years? The answer: 15 credits. If you're not taking a full course load - that may mean extra classes over the summer - or a longer timeline.

The best way to make sure you get this right is to meet with an adviser - which leads us to the next takeaway:
Make a connection with a faculty or staff member.
It can be an adviser, a librarian, a financial aid officer, even an admissions counselor. Anyone connected with the college who you can lean on to learn the ropes of the institution.

Research has shown that having one strong connection with an adult - staff or faculty - can make you feel engaged and supported throughout college. They can also result in strategic career advice and networking opportunities.
Go to your professors' office hours.
We've heard from students all over the country, and so many agree: Office hours are terrifying.

Rick Lopez, dean of new students at Amherst College, was once a terrified freshman, too.

"Everyone from almost every background has that fear that they got in here by accident, and that if you go in and talk to your professor, that's more and more possibility for them to discover that you're actually an idiot who got in by accident," he says. "That's scary."

When Lopez was struggling in a class freshman year, he went to the professor's office. He told her, "This is my experience, and I have never learned any of this stuff." His vulnerability was rewarded: The two of them became close, and the professor eventually became his mentor.

So what do you talk about when you go? You can bring an assignment you're struggling with, ask what's on an upcoming exam. You might be able to get an extension on a paper.

You can also talk about stuff that's unrelated to your class.
Find a group of friends who support you.
College is full of opportunities to meet people. Start with your classes - work on assignments together or form a study group. Join clubs and organizations - let the organizational framework of those meetings ease the awkwardness of scheduling a first friend date.

Don't beat yourself up, though, if it doesn't happen right away.

You could think, 'I'm never going to have a friend. Everyone said that college is where you're supposed to meet your best friend. I can't meet my best friend and I'm struggling in chemistry!' " Lopez says. "Keep reaching out. Keep taking that risk if someone else says hi reciprocate."
Be your own advocate - remember, you are the customer!
Even if you're paying with loans or a scholarship, you are paying to be a college student, so make the school work for you.

"College is not meant to be done on your own," says Odette De Leon, an adviser at Valencia College, a community college in Orlando. "We're supposed to do this together. The institution is there to serve the student."
Got a neighbor or a niece in college? Consider sharing this story with them.

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Congratulations, You're In College! Now What?

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subscribe to How To Succeed At College podcast subscribe to How To Succeed At College podcast The first year of college is crucial for setting students up for success, laying a strong foundation for the rest of college and beyond.

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Established in 2013, Earn to Learn is the largest and most successful matched-savings scholarship program in the country. It combines student savings with scholarships, financial education, and college success coaching to help low-to moderate-income and under-represented students obtain a college education and graduate workforce-ready with little to no student loan debt.

Income-qualifying students and their families deposit $500 into a savings account each year, then receive an 8:1 match through combined university support and other public and philanthropic funding. This creates $4,500 per academic year in total available funds per academic year for tuition, books, fees and other approved educational related expenses.

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Established in 2013, Earn to Learn is the largest and most successful matched-savings scholarship program in the country. It combines student savings with scholarships, financial education, and college success coaching to help low-to moderate-income and under-represented students obtain a college education and graduate workforce-ready with little to no student loan debt.

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Here are the broad outlines of the big scholarship opportunities.

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Good news for the cheery: A Boston study published this month suggests people who tend to be optimistic are likelier than others to live to be 85 years old or more.

That finding was independent of other factors thought to influence life's length - such as "socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors," the researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health say. Their work appears in a recent issue of the science journal PNAS.

Explore Life Kit

"We wanted to consider, in the current issue, benefits of psychological resources like optimism as possible new targets for promoting healthy aging," says Lewina Lee, who headed the study. She's a clinical research psychologist at Boston University. "The more we know about ways to promote healthy aging the better."

Researchers already knew from previous work that optimistic individuals tend to have a reduced risk of depression, heart disease and other chronic diseases. But might optimism also be linked to exceptional longevity? Lee looked at medical records from two long term research studies - one involving female nurses and the other involving men, mostly veterans.

The study included 69,744 women and 1,429 men. Both groups completed survey measures to assess their level of optimism, as well as their overall health and health habits such as diet, smoking and alcohol use. In the survey, study participants were asked if they agreed with statements such as "in uncertain times I usually expect the best" or "I usually expect to succeed in things that I do."

Health outcomes from women in the study were tracked for 10 years, while the men's health was followed for 30 years. Researchers found that the most optimistic men and women demonstrated, on average, an 11-15% longer lifespan, and had far greater odds of reaching 85 years old, compared to the least optimistic group.

Now, researchers say they can't tell from this study how optimism might affect longevity. Optimistic people might be more motivated to try to maintain good health - such as maintaining a decentdiet, engaging in regular exercise and not smoking.

They may also be better at regulating stress, Lee says.The burden of unrelievedstress is well known to have negative effects on health, including an increase in heart disease, liver disease and gastrointestinal problems.

Clinical health psychologist Natalie Dattilo, with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, says even if it doesn't come naturally, optimism can be taught. In her practice she works mostly with adults who struggle with depression and anxiety - "a lot of folks who worry," she says. Many are pessimistic and "tend to see things through a half empty glass and typically expect negative outcomes."

In treatment, Dattilo works to expand their world view, so their set of assumptions about the world and themselves are more uplifting and empowering.

"We examine their thinking under a psychological microscope," Dattilo says, discussing why they anticipate a particular negative outcome. "If we can look at that together, we can begin to uncover systems of beliefs and assumptions people are making about themselves in their lives and we can begin to change those."

Dattilo challenges patients to pay attention when a negative outlook kicks in, and consciously shift it. "Just try it on, try on a different thought, attitude or mindset and play that out and just see what happens," she advises.

Also, she emphasizes, optimism isn't simply the absence of depression or sadness or stress.

"People who think in optimistic ways are still prone to stress," she says. "They are functioning in our society, meeting demands, prone to burn out. And it's not like negative events won't happen."

But the way they cope with problems makes a difference, she says. Difficulties don't tend to cause them distress for extended periods of time.

"Resilience is our ability to bounce back, to recover," she says. "And what this study shows is that optimism actually plays a very big role in our ability to bounce - even if we experience setbacks."

So, are gloomy curmudgeons doomed to short, brutish lives, even if they are content to be pessimistic? Some people find eternal optimists insufferable.

Lewina Lee says she treats pessimistic patients "all the time." While some seem satisfied with their outlook, others are more open to lightening up, once they know how, in order to achieve goals that are important to them.

"I would try to challenge their negativity and shake it loose," she says, and get rid of some of the patients' more rigidly held beliefs for their own benefit.

Pessimists who try this will likely end up happier, she suggests. And they might even extend their lives.

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Optimists For The Win: Finding The Bright Side Might Help You Live Longer

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Good news for the cheery: A Boston study published this month suggests people who tend to be optimistic are likelier than others to live to be 85 years old or more. That finding was independent of other factors thought to influence life's length - such as "socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors," the researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Harvard T.H.

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Good advice in most situations.

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How it works

After you click the submit button, it's easy to feel like your application has entered a black hole. So what really happens between when you apply and when you receive your decision?

Once your application is complete, it will first be read by a senior admissions officer who will consider your application in a holistic manner, within its proper context. Strong applications will then be evaluated by additional admissions officers, who will summarize it for the Admissions Committee.

These summaries, along with your entire application, will then go to the selection committee, where multiple groups of different admissions staff and faculty members will weigh in. At least a dozen people will significantly discuss and debate an application before it is placed in the admit pile.

Student-centered

This is all very intentional. The committee process ensures that every decision is correct in the context of the overall applicant pool, and that no one individual's biases, preferences, or familiarity with a given case has any chance of swaying a decision unfairly.

Our process is a student-centered process, not a school- or region-centered process. This means that we do not read your application along with other students from your school or region to compare you against each other; each applicant stands on their own. We have no quotas by school, state, or region. You are not at any disadvantage if other excellent students from your school or area are also applying. We also do not consider legacy/alumni relations in our process.

At MIT, we try to be as transparent as possible about our admissions process. If you have any questions, just ask.

You should really read these

There have been over 7,080 blog entries posted to MITAdmissions.org since the site began in 2004. That's easily several books worth of tips and tricks, hints and hacks, mea culpas and hakuna matatas.

They're all worth reading-but there are a few you really need to read. These are the blog entries that cut deep into our admissions process. Not only what we're looking for, but what we want from you, and how much we care about the work that we do. These blogs will help you "get" what the MIT admissions process is all about.

They include, in no particular order:

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At MIT Admissions, we recruit and enroll a talented and diverse class of undergraduates who will learn to use science, technology, and other areas of scholarship to serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

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BigFuture | Find the Best College for You

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Need help making the right college choice? Search & compare colleges, get detailed info on admissions policies and apply for scholarships at CollegeGreenlight.com.

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RaiseMe | Earn college scholarships as early as 9th grade

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A new way to earn money for college. With RaiseMe, anyone can earn money for college starting in 9th grade based on their achievements in school and life.

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Use Payscale’s College ROI Report to determine which colleges offer the best value. Learn which schools offer the highest return on investment for tuition.

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A new study, based on millions of anonymous tax records, shows that some colleges are even more economically segregated than previously understood, while others are associated with income mobility.

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Find the college that's the best fit for you! The U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard has the most reliable data on college costs,graduation, and post-college earnings.

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For a number of years the youth employment program known as Courts Are Us has marked the official start of the summer season in Tucson.

The program was started after Judge Norman Fenton retired from the bench in 1992. Social unrest in southern California and elsewhere led to racially inspired riots and the images in news reports by the media. Judge Fenton concluded that it was imperative to find a way to educate young people in our community about the courts and the legal system.

Early on, a partnership was established with Tucson Youth Development to provide jobs to 30 teens. In recent years, student participants in the program has shifted to Pima County Community Services, Employment and Training. In addition to jobs at superior court, Courts Are Us participants have worked at the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, the Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts, Tucson City Court, the Pima County Attorney's Office, the Pima County Legal Defender's Office and the Pima County Adult Probation Department.

The program usually starts the first week of June and ends seven weeks later in July. The students are paid minimum wage for 30 hours of work and classroom learning. Each student is assigned a supervisor who monitors their work, as well as provides training and instruction in the basic skills necessary for the students to perform the tasks to which they have been assigned. There are some supervisors who have participated in the program for each of its nine years of existence while others have been involved for only a year or two.

Two hours of each week are devoted to learning opportunities regarding various aspects of the court. This includes an overview of the court, a tour of the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, Pretrial Services, adult probation, juvenile court, court reporters and mental health examinations of defendants. The final training session is a mock trial where the students volunteer to play the various roles from the judge, the attorneys and others. The students playing the judge and the attorneys are required to schedule meetings with a member of the bench.

The Courts Are Us students also have opportunities to learn about the courts and the legal system through interaction with lawyers in the community who serve as mentors.

For more information contact the community relations office at 724-4264.

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Arizona Superior Court in Pima County - Courts Are Us

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For a number of years the youth employment program known as Courts Are Us has marked the official start of the summer season in Tucson. The program was started after Judge Norman Fenton retired from the bench in 1992. Social unrest in southern California and elsewhere led to racially inspired riots and the images in news reports by the media.