I put an asterix (*) in front of my nontrad sites and blogs so you know which is which.
Included here are nontraditional student blogs about going back to school, websites with great links for nontrads, free access to scholarship applications, and a lot more. I hope you like them too.
They are broken down into categories, Social websites, Scholarship websites, Nontrad and Continuing Education sites, Nontrad blogs, Study Skills Sites and Articles, Encouraging and inspirational websites, blogs, and pages, Career Sites and blogs, National and International groups, Computer tutorials, and Online Learning and Other Resources for Nontrads.
Social sites and forums - get connected!
*Nontrads on Facebook – my site, currently 269 members.
The Nontraditional College Support Group – started by Toni Washington Bradley.
A support group and sounding board too.
*Nontrads on Yahoo – 252 members. Discuss your issues, get information:
The ANTSHE Facebook group – connected with the ANTSHE website. 275 members. Discussions, links, more.
The Deb Peterson Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/AboutContinuingEducation. From the site: “Continuing Education at About.com, part of The New York Times Company, explores the myriad ways we return to school when we're past age 25 -- to finish a degree, earn a GED, get certified, or pursue lifelong learning. Should you go back to school?”
The Deb Peterson Twitter page:
http://twitter.com/Continuing_Ed. From the Twitter page: “
About.com Guide to Continuing Education. Read a book! Formerly Deb Gruebele.”*The Nontrad Twibe on Twitter – here is a place to post Twitter postings plus join a group too. See what other nontraditional students and schools are saying about nontraditional issues.
http://www.twibes.com/group/nontradstudentsAnd, if you are not already connected with them, try
Facebook,
Twitter,
Digg, and
Stumbleupon for some fun new sites and friends, or interesting articles and news.
Scholarship websites
Nontrad and Continuing Education websites
The About.com Adult Ed Pages by Deb Peterson
Loads of information and links.
Sophie Maddox’s adult college information site
*The Nontraditional Student website – help and support for all nontrads.
Nontrad blogs – meet new nontrads!
The Nontraditional Student blog – I started this when I was going back to school.
Student Mum – a mother going back to school in the U.K.
http://studyingparent.blogspot.com/ From the site: “Mature, or non-traditional Post-Graduate student studying Victorian Literature at the same time as trying to run a home with one teenaged daughter, pre-teen twin daughters, two elderly cats and a husband who appreciates the limited attention he gets from me after doing all that!”
Sweet Sue – a nontraditional student from Oregon. Her site description: “I am the mother of three adult children and the grandmother of five little ones... see more at the site.
http://pregnantkatiesmom.blogspot.com/
Study Skills sites and articles
How to Study – recommended by RedFokker on his website
Study Hacks – “strategies for building a remarkable life” - for readers of all ages.
Study Guides and Strategies by Joe Landsberger – this is the ultimate study guide site. Everything from learning styles and research to test prep. You will love this page.
http://www.studygs.net/.
The USearch Blog – advice on picking colleges and applying.
The Deb Peterson About.com Continuing Education pages – everything from articles, polls, advice, other links and sites by Deb Peterson, Continuing Education Guide.
From the site: Brandywine - Missouri, United States. Heirloom gardener, chocoholic, bookworm. Full-time employee, full-time student. History major with a Spanish minor. I love words, I love history, and I love heirloom tomatoes, not necessarily in that order. I enjoy blogging and meeting new people through blogs (and in real life, as well).
Encouraging and inspirational websites, blogs, and pages
Wabi Sabi – The Beauty of Imperfection
My mom’s motto! This is chapter one of a book by Robin Rice, whose Facebook page I have listed here too.
Robin Rice’s Be Who You Are Facebook page
Robin features postings by many interesting people, and inspirational sayings and websites. This site is very interactive, with many chances to chime in on conversations.
The Dalai Lama’s Facebook page – learn about compassion and forgiveness, and lots more here.
Career sites and blogs
Career Alley – (from the site) “Career advice, job search advice and job search site reviews.” Lots of great articles are here too.
National and International groups
ANTSHE – (from the website) The Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education
The National Society for Nontraditional Premedical and Medical Students – read about the 2010 conference here, which was in Chicago.
http://www.oldpremeds.org/Computer Tutorials
Here is one I just found via Facebook. It’s the Free Computer Tutorial Site:
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/. Included here are free lesson on MS Excel and Word.
Here is another one linked via Facebook:
http://computing.onlinecourse.com/ - the GoGoEd Basic Computing class online. This is also free. It covers web design, web pages, and other basic concepts like computer security.
Online Learning and Other Resources for Nontrads
*The Betsyanne site Internet Guide page for Seniors has some great links on it, like other links for learning, plus free classes and safety site links to protect your computer. This site page will be totally redone in a few days, since when I checked it, some sites were no longer active.
The Son of Citation Machine – an excellent website for doing citations for papers. Check it out. Citations here include MLA, APA, Turabian, and Chicago styles.
http://citationmachine.net/Back to School Moms – this nontrad site is mostly a collection of articles, but articles relating to the nontraditional students. It’s definitely worth a look.
http://back2schoolmoms.com/College Prep 101 website – this website has some great links on saving money at college, interviews, ACT and SAT prep, and more scholarship how-to info.
http://www.collegeprep101.com/The Pick a Prof and ProfEval sites. These sites help you pick a professor by rating them and their classes. If you have not picked a college class yet, these sites are very helpful.
http://www.myedu.com/ and
http://www.profeval.com/home/chooseschool.asp - I have used the latter site more often. The school I went to, WKU, is listed there, plus lots more schools across the country.
Be looking for more sites here later. Hopefully these will get you started. And list your own for me to go and see. Thanks!
*And here is
Issue #9 of the NT News. I write a bit about what it was like for me as a nontraditional student. Sometimes it's necessary to stop worrying and concentrate on "The Big Picture."
Later, gators!
Nontraditionally Yours,
