Wow. 100% off.

Ok, so you literally can’t save any more than 100% OFF. Who knows, maybe next year we’ll PAY YOU to get our college reviews, but right now, the best we can do is 100% OFF.

If you don’t tell your family and friends about this special offer, then you might as well change your name to Scrooge.

Ho Ho Ho.

-Matt

We all know that times are rough. Every dollar counts. This is why we are tinkering with a concept known as “microscholarships.” We can’t say that we created the term, but we hope that other companies will follow in our path and make more microscholarships available to students.

We’ve created a contest that is giving out $100 microscholarships to ten (10) entrants.

Plus, we’re making it VERY EASY to enter. It’ll probably only take you 30 seconds to submit an entry to win a $100 microscholarship.


In a nutshell, here’s HOW IT WORKS:


1. Follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/realcollegetour).

2. Send us a Tweet telling us why you deserve one of our microscholarships or why you want one of them. It’ll look something like this:


3. The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EDT on January 31, 2010. This means your Tweet must be in by then.

4. You can Tweet as many submissions as you want.

5. Entries will be judged on the “originality” and the “entertainment value” of the Tweet. Make them wise, clever, and/or fun!

6. All  ten (10) Winners will be announced on February 14th, 2010. We’ll contact the winners via Twitter, so don’t be a stranger!

Don’t forget to tell all your friends and family about the scholarship!

For more info, go to the Twitter MicroScholarship Page.

Just added Miami University – Oxford to the website. This guide is seriously awesome. The info in this college guide is juicier than yesterday’s turkey. Seriously.

Don’t believe me? Read some of the “RAW & UNCENSORED EXCERPTS!” Like, wow. RealCollegeTour.com is TRULY the home of uncensored college info…. If you don’t want to get assaulted by some scumbag frat boy, you should read this guide. We actually NAME which frat at Miami University is known to roofie girls…and guys.

As if the recent tuition hikes in the news weren’t bad enough, Pittsburgh will be bending college students over and screwing them adding a 1% college tuition tax to raise $16 million per year for the struggling city. You can read about the whole fiasco in detail from The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Some city officials sound more like a group of 6th graders than public servants:

City Councilman (and apparently the official Asshole of Pittsburgh) Jim Motznik said, “If they (colleges) would have contributed to the City of Pittsburgh like they should have been, there would be no need for this,” he said. “With all the fees and costs college students are paying, this is minimal.” (BTW, 1% of a $30,000 tuition is $300, dick. That’s a lot of Ramen.)

Adding to the brouhaha is the fact “the state Supreme Court has determined attempts to tax institutions of higher education to be illegal.” So, basically, the city will waste taxpayer dollars trying to create a tax that will ultimately be shot down because it’s illegal.

Stay classy, Pittsburgh.

P.S. If you want to tax college students, don’t tax them directly. Just tax the booze.

Hi, we just finished this video over the weekend, and we’re embarking on a massive viral marketing campaign. Our goal is 1 Million views for this AWESOME CAT VIDEO! I mean, it’s got kittens and college tips… What else could a video need in order to become successful?

Remember to share this what all your cat-loving and/or college-loving friends and family.

The “We Are One Rocks La Grange” event was a success. We raised some money for our upcoming programs in the community, and we raised awareness to an important issue. Thank you to everyone who helped make it possible! Also, a special thanks to musical guest “Von Chalant” who stole the show!

We Are One is a registered 501(c)3 charitable non-profit organization dedicated to fighting teen substance abuse

College costs over $100,000 in many cases–and sometimes final college costs hover near the $200,000 mark. So, most people apply for financial aid via FAFSA and/or the CSS Profile. Anyone who has gone through this process will tell you it’s frustrating, and some will tell you it’s not fair. Kiplinger’s had an article about “11 Student-Aid Traps to Avoid.” If you’ve never filled one of these babies out, then this article is a must-read. You shouldn’t LIE, per se, on your financial aid apps, but be aware that your answers will affect the aid decision. And your financial aid decision will affect you for potentially the next 20 years… Just sayin’.

One thing you should know is that you might feel screwed if you’re a member of the middle class. You’ll get over it after the 5 stages of grief have passed. What will frustrate many of you is that you’re considered a dependent of your parents until you’re 24.

Let’s take a look at a hypothetical example of how this can make you resentful for the first few years of your adult life. Let’s say that your parents make $200,000+ per year, own all sorts of real estate, and–for all intents and purposes–are shoveling money. You still apply for financial aid because you’re trying to be a good son, and you don’t get a dime of aid in the process. You still work throughout college, because you feel bad about your rich parents paying $50,000 per year for college. Then after 4 years you decide you no longer want to go to medical school and you completely change majors, because you realize you have a passion for Psychology (Read: saving lives, helping others, etc.). Mom and Dad get pissed off, say they won’t “waste” any money on a Psychology degree, and you’re stuck footing the bill for the last year of school, which is still $50,000, because you’re a dependent according to the Department of Education. Yup yup, I would HATE to be in that person’s shoes. Wait a sec… oh crap. Time to go pawn my watch so I can pay for the first 15 minutes of Psych 345 next quarter.

Answer: Travel back in time.

Sorry, that was cruel. I hope I didn’t get anyone’s hopes up. Yes, we’re in the middle of an economic crisis and unemployment is almost at %10. So, in order to give high school students an incentive to work at McDonald’s or White Castle, colleges are increasing their tuition rates. Yahoo! reports:

“Average tuition at four-year public colleges rose 6.5 percent, or $429, to $7,020 this fall, according to the College Board’s annual “Trends in College Pricing” report, released Tuesday. At private colleges, the average list price for a year of coursework rose 4.4 percent to $26,273.”

A 4.4-6.5 percent increase is not so bad, though, is it? If they raise the tuition now, they won’t raise it again for a while, right? Wrong! How about next year’s proposed 30-F*!@ing percent tuition increase at California schools:

“Worst hit is California, whose giant public university and community college systems educate about one in six American college students. Facing unprecedented state funding cuts, public colleges have boosted fees, raised class sizes, furloughed faculty and turned away students. On top of the current year’s 9-percent fee increase, the University of California system is considering increases of more than 30 percent by next year.”

Stay classy, America.