2nd Semester

LESSON 1: EXPLORING THE FINANCIAL SIDE OF CHOOSING A CAREER
  1. Visit Career Zone California and click on “Choose Your Lifestyle”.
  2. Select “Stanislaus” from the list of counties, as this area is comparable to the cost of living within the Denver area.  Salaries in both Stanislaus county and Denver are also comparable.
  3. PRINT your results (don’t forget to do this!!!), and submit to Lance.  The best way to do this is to right click and select “Print”.
LESSON 2: COLLEGE LOANS & CREDIT CARD DEBT
  1. Print the assignment HERE - you will complete this form with the information that you gather from the tasks below.
  2. Visit the college debt map HERE for an idea of average college graduate debt.  
    1. Click on the state in which you plan to attend college - you will be presented with a list of colleges and their respective costs.
    2. Record the average debt for your college of choice on the worksheet.
  3. College Loan Repayment Calculator: estimate your monthly payments upon graduation from college (use the average college debt for your school, or state).
    1. Enter your college loan debt (from the college debt map) in the Loan Balance field.
    2. Change the interest rate to 4.75%.
    3. Ignore the other fields, and click "Calculate".
    4. Answer the questions on the worksheet, using the results from the loan repayment calculator.
  4. Cost of Credit Calculator: the average college grad has about $3000 in credit card debt - estimate your monthly payment.
    1. Your interest rate right out of college will likely be in the 15%-25% range.  Put 20% in the "Credit Card APR" field.
    2. You will likely have a payment of at least $70 per month.  Put $70 in "Planned Monthly Payment" field.
    3. Answer the questions on the worksheet, using the results from the credit calculator.
  5. Submit your assignment to Lance!
LESSON 3: COLLEGE BUDGETING
  1. Open the Fillable Budget Worksheet.  You can type your values directly into the worksheet.
  2. Open the College Student Salary Sample Sheet, choose a job based on your interests and qualifications, and complete the worksheet at the bottom of the page.
    1. This will be the monthly income that you plug into the "Salary" section of the budget sheet.  
    2. This wil be your only income for this exercise.
  3. Complete the budget worksheet, print it, and return it to Lance.
    1. Ignore the following categories on the sheet:
      1. Taxes
      2. Personal Loans
      3. Educational Loans (you don't start paying these until after you graduate, or drop out of school)
      4. Home/renter insurance
      5. Medical/dental/eye care
      6. Pets, supplies, food
      7. Records & books
      8. Subscriptions
      9. Savings for interviews/relocation
      10. USMLE (has something to do with medical school)
LESSON 4: RESEARCHING COLLEGES
  1. Download the College Major Research form.
  2. Finding a college and choosing a major.  Let's start with finding a college.
    1. Type in the program you are interested in - use keywords like "criminal", "forestry", "nursing", etc.
    2. If you wish to narrow down your choices to private institutions, or public, or even more specific, use the drop-down box "by Institution...".
    3. If you want to look for colleges out of state, try the Peterson college search.  Warning!  It's not perfect, but it can be a useful tool, nonetheless.
  3. Visit your preferred college (visit THEIR website), and look for the college/course catalog.  You will use the information on their website to complete the College Major Research form that you downloaded from the link above.
LESSON 5: CREATING YOUR CLASS SCHEDULE
  1. Now that you've looked at colleges, and college majors, it's time to explore your class schedule for first semester.
  2. Download the College Course Schedule Worksheet, and follow the directions on the worksheet.  
  3. YOU NEED AT LEAST FOUR COURSES ON YOUR WORKSHEET (the example doesn't count).
  4. Print the worksheet when it is complete, and submit it to Lance!
LESSON 6: YOUR PROFESSIONAL RESUME
  1. Create a clean, professional looking resume, and print a copy for Lance.
  2. Visit the "Need Help Writing Your Resume?" page for templates and resume samples.
LESSON 7: COMMON INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
  1. Answer any five interview questions of your choosing from the following article: How to Answer the 31 Most Common Interview Questions - be sure to make your answers personal, and do not plagiarize from another internet source (I'll be checking!).
  2. Use Microsoft Word or Google Docs, and return a printed copy to Lance in room 234B.