Check Out College Fair For Scoop On Schools

Visit hundreds of college campuses without leaving the Northwest.

The Inland Northwest National College Fair will be at the Spokane Convention Center Nov. 4-5.

College representatives from around the country will be on hand to discuss admission requirements, campus life, major fields of study and financial aid. Public, private, two-year and four-year institutions will be there to meet you.

Workshops and a counseling center will also be available for those seeking one-on-one meetings.

The fair is sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The fair runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, and from 9 a.m. to noon on Nov. 5.

Peterson’s, a leading provider of college guidance information and admissions services, has opened an online service at www.ApplyToCollege.com. The free service gives college-bound students resources to help them organize their application process.

You can apply to schools directly from the site or print out applications to send.

Eastern Washington University will hold an open house on Oct. 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Prospective students can visit with staff, faculty and students.

There also will be an opportunity to win a round-trip open-destination ticket on Southwest Airlines.

For more information, call (800) 740-1914.

Scott Copeland, assistant director of admission for the University of Puget Sound, will be at Spokane Community College on Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to provide information for students interested in attending the school.

If you’re heading off to college, statistics say you should keep a close watch over your personal possessions. In 1995, more than 16,000 acts of burglary at 489 colleges and universities were reported.

If many of the things you bring from home are covered under your parents’ insurance, be sure to check and make sure that they are fully covered away from home.

Everyone knows about the troubles with financing a college education. Don’t underestimate the beauty of compounding interest.

If your parents put away only $32 a month the day you were born and earned a mere 4 percent interest on it, they’d have $10,000 by the time you’re ready for college. To start saving when you’re 16, you need to save $401 a month to have $10,000 by the time you graduate.

Don’t get scammed on your way to college, the Federal Trade Commission warns. There are a lot of scholarship scams out there.

You can avoid most of them by steering clear of businesses or organizations that guarantee a grant or scholarship. No one can guarantee that you will receive one.

And don’t pay anyone who claims to be “holding” a scholarship or grant for you. Free money shouldn’t cost anything.

Instead, check with your school or a library for a list of scholarships.

Communication between parents and kids away at college is becoming much easier and cheaper than phone calls, plane tickets and long car trips.

E-mail is becoming increasingly popular.

Now a new computer program, SeeMail 3.0, allows parents and kids to send multimedia e-mail messages that can include photos, voice, video and text.

Kaplan and Simon & Schuster have introduced “The Yale Daily News Guide to Succeeding in College.” It is written by students for students and offers useful information regarding what to pack, course selection, stress management, personal finances and social life.

Another book to help you get off to the right start at college is “Been There, Should’ve Done That - 505 Tips for Making the Most of College.”

It provides tips on campus culture, building relationships with teachers, asking for help, adjusting to the academic setting, resisting peer pressure and developing your focus.

Also there is “The College Survival Handbook” by Deborah Clary. It is designed to try to make easing into college life more simple and less stressful. Each chapter is tabbed by topic - The Move, The Pad, Education, Food, Time Off, Sex, Extracurricular, Health and Safety, Money, Transit, and Drugs and Alcohol.