If you’re going to be spending four years or more at a college or university, you probably want to go somewhere that looks nice, somewhere you can learn in a pleasant, positive environment. Appealing surroudings can make even the most stressful study situation easily handled, and some of the best colleges and universities seemed to be considering just that fact when they began construction. Great academics, athletics and socialization opportunities are all extremely important when choosing a college or university, but having great surroundings doesn’t hurt. With that in mind, here are some of the most beautiful campuses among United States colleges, as determined by students.

1. Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University features a beautiful 330-acre campus minutes away from downtown Nashville, Tennessee that contains a national arboretum. The Peabody section of the campus is considered a National Landmark. Vanderbilt has beautiful venues and sights all throughout campus as well, including the Blair School of Music’s Ingram Hall, the campus statue of Commodore Vanderbilt, located at the front entrance, and the enormous, well stocked and very attractive Central Library.

2. University of Virginia

The highlight of the University of Virgina campus is “The Corner” on University Avenue. A large portion of students can be found at the corner at any given time, enjoying the cafes and restaurants, or browing the various shops and bookstores.

3. Bryn Mawr College

Famed landscapers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed this beautiful 135 acre campus on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The buildings and dormitories are similarly designed by historic architects to create one of the most beautiful campuses in the country.

4. University of Notre Dame

The enormous University of Notre Dame campus has two lakes and over 100 buildings. Many of the University’s structures are thought of as national landmarks, including the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and the Golden Dome.

5. Colgate University

Colgate University is located in the picturesque village of Hamilton, a location whose history rests with old Native American tribes and is considered sacred by the Oneida to this day.

6 Stanford University

The beautiful, 8,100-acre Stanford campus is found between San Francisco and San Jose, stretching from the Santa Cruz mountains to urban Palo Alto.

7. Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College is well known for its beautiful campus with a variety of cultural and recreational options to delight both guests and students.

8. Clemson University

Clemson University was originallly a Fort Hill plantation home. It is a breathtaking campus, with an abundance of beautiful forest and farmlands surrouding the school.

9 Pensacola Christian College

Pensacola, located on a Florida Harbor and subject to the beautiful Floridian climate and water provides an ideal spot for this small and attractive Christian college.

10 Miami University

Miami University is located in the city of Coral Gables, which enjoys all the beauty of south Florida. From the water to the weather to the architecture, Miami is an extremely pleasant location to take in your studies.

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Working for a professor can be one of the more rewarding on campus work experiences. If you are lucky enough, you may get a job working for your favorite professor. Even if he or she is unfamiliar, working for a professor can give you a behind the scenes look at college education.

In college, there is less of a dividing line between student and teacher than in high school. Students are invited to come by a teacher’s office. In addition, students might spend time with a teacher socially—though this may be frowned on in certain educational settings. Working for a professor is the best way to get to know a professor both personally and professionally.

This is especially important if you are thinking about getting a PhD in order to teach in the future. If you are entering the business sector, working with certain high-profile professors can look very good on your resume. Having a reference from a professor you have worked with—as opposed to just being a student in a class—is enormously helpful when applying for a job right out of college.

The type of work you will be doing depends on the professor’s department. Working for a professor of history will be much different than working for a chemistry professor. In the former, you may be doing clerical work, such as answering phones, organizing files, and the like. If the professor is working on a book, some research may also be necessary.

If you are working for a master’s degree, you may be required to work as an assistant professor. In some cases, you may run a class yourself. This is separate from on campus employment, as an assistant professorship is required as part of the degree itself.

There are also grants available in which graduate students are able to work directly with a certain high-profile professor on research projects. Many science professors, for example, are not just teachers but working scientists. Such a grant will allow students to work in a laboratory setting as well as help the professor with clerical and non-laboratory research work.

Undergraduates can find listings for working in a professor’s office on college job boards. These jobs will list the credentials necessary—either undergrad or graduate—and the hours required. Generally, working for a professor pays the same amount as other jobs on campus and undergraduates are only allowed to work twenty hours a week maximum.

It is usually easiest to get a job with a professor if you have taken his or her class in the past. These jobs are often given to a star pupil—especially if the job requires a lot of hands on research work. If the job is mainly clerical, the job will available to other students as well, though normally only those who are studying within the same department.

Whatever the case, working for a professor can be one of the most educational experiences on campus—; it’’s like combining a course curriculum with real world experience. A student can use the knowledge gained from the experience as he or she applies for a job after graduation.

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Maybe you’re considering getting a degree from an online university. Maybe you’ve just earned one and in preparing to apply for new jobs that will make the most of it, you’re wondering whether or not prospective employers will see your resume and have bad associations with your online degree. In a word, the answer is no.

Employers who require employees to have a college degree care that you have one from somewhere. Traditionally, there are about 20 colleges in the United States (the Ivies and a handful of other prominent schools) that make employers sit up and take notice about where your degree came from. If you did not attend one of these places, you are like most people, who find that the name of their school is less important to their employers than how they performed academically, and what they studied.

In fact, your online degree may set you apart in a positive way from the rest of the pack of applicants. Successfully obtaining your degree online tells prospective employers that you are a person who will get the job done even when no one is looking. Online degrees testify that their recipients are self-motivated individuals who are capable of managing multiple priorities. And whatever job you’re applying for, rest assured that those are two qualities all organizations prize.

Furthermore, online universities are becoming more and more popular. While your online degree can set you apart in the aforementioned ways, you should have no fear that it will stigmatize you. Each day, it becomes more and more likely that the person you sit down to interview with may have attended the same online school that you did!

Another benefit of the online university experience in the eyes of employers is that it is designed in large part for working professionals. The fact that you’ve made it through an online degree program tells your prospective employer that you have had intense exposure to the types of collegial interactions you will face in the working world. Online universities emphasize and develop the ability to work with others, to manage and meet deadlines, and to be responsible for learning on your own. When you consider all of the things a degree from an online university says about you, you should realize that you’re more of a proven commodity, a “safer” hire than recent graduates from brick and mortar universities.

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Having an MBA can open so many new paths to you. The sky is truly the limit when you have your MBA. Suddenly, a whole new world of opportunities is open to you, and you can pick and choose what you want to do and where you want to do it. Maybe that sounds great to you, but you want some cold, hard facts about getting an MBA: What can you do with it? How can you get it for free? Well, I’m going to try to answer a couple of your questions.

What Can You Do With It?

Anything. I mean it, you can do almost anything with your MBA. You may not be able to be a brain surgeon, but you can certainly tackle most upper level jobs and ask for promotions more easily than you can now. With advanced management skills and documentation to prove that you’ve been trained with advanced management skills, you can qualify for most upper level management and specialty jobs in the business world.

An MBA, or any kind of Master’s degree actually, can also open a different door – education. When you have a Master’s, you are qualified to teach most remedial and many general education classes. At some schools, you may even be able to be an adjunct professor in the business department. Even if you’ve never thought about teaching before, the pay is usually decent, and it’s a lot of fun to have a positive impact on a student’s life.

How Can You Get It For Free?

Another common question is “How can I get my MBA for free?” You’ve probably heard the great stories about other professionals getting their Master’s degree for free, and you want to know how to do the same. It all starts with your employer.

Many employers are willing to pay for your education if you promise to work with them for a certain amount of time. They want to reap the benefits of the education they are paying for, but they are usually willing to give you the raise you’ve earned once you get your degree.

Most employers will have an education policy in their handbook, and you can read over it to see if (1) it’s worthwhile and (2) you’re eligible. If your employer doesn’t have an education policy in writing, talk to your immediate supervisor about your interest, why it would be good for the company, and what you are planning. With the right sales pitch, you just might get your education for free.

Living Large

An MBA allows you to expand your options, and with all the competition in business, expanded options is certainly a good thing. If possible, get your education for free so that you will no longer have to worry about student loans. Once you get your degree, you will have thousands of options and you’ll be living large.

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College is all about personal preference. You need to pick the school that’s right for you and nobody else but you. If you have a particular university that’s high on your list, there are certain measures you can take that will improve the likelihood of you getting accepted.

Here are five tips that’ll help you get into the college of your choice.

1. Have good grades and test scores
To make the first cut, you got to have the numbers. Most universities start sifting through applicants based on minimum GPA and test score requirements. These requirements can be found in publications that rank different programs, and you can also find these minimum figures on the admissions page of your prospective college’s website. If your GPA is less than stellar, then you need to compensate with high tests scores. If your standardized test scores are below the minimum requirements, then you’ll have to pick up the slack with excellent grades.

2. Write an award winning personal essay
The personal essay is the most customizable part of your application. It tells the admissions office who you are as a person, how well you can communicate and what you will bring to the table as a potential student. Tout your successes in your essay, and use the essay as a forum to explain any anomalies in your application. Whatever you choose to write on, make sure you have a tightly organized, well-argued composition that avoids clichés and sounds original.

3. Send in quality letters of recommendation
Don’t underestimate the impact of quality letters of recommendation. If you know a teacher who would gladly take a bullet for you, then have them voice their enthusiasm in a written letter. Follow carefully when including your letters of recommendation. Some colleges require letter writers to fall under specific categories (i.e. your letter must be written by someone who has taught you in the past year). Try to collect praise from multiple enthusiastic sources, so that you appear like a well rounded student. Letters of recommendation can also be written by employers, coaches or religious leaders.

4. Don’t slack off in high school
Your high school performance, both in and out of the classroom, are vital to your application’s success. You need to have plenty of extracurricular activities, but you also need to illustrate dedication, leadership, responsibility and achievement. It’s better to excel at a few things than try and overload your schedule with fleeting tasks. Be sure to explain why you chose a specific activity, and what benefits you derived from it.

5. Apply early, and if you don’t get in at first, appeal the decision or plan to transfer
Applying early can increase your chances of getting in. Don’t wait until a day before your deadline; send your application materials in as soon as possible. There are more spots and fewer applicants at the beginning of the admission process. As the deadline draws closer, there are more applicants and few spots to fill. If you don’t get in to the school of your choice, then consider appealing the decision. If that doesn’t work, you can always go to a junior college, complete your general education requirements and the transfer in two years.

If you plan ahead and dedicate yourself to achieving your goals, then there’s nothing to prevent you from getting into the college of your choice. Whether you succeed or fail is entirely up to you.

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