What Is Reflux Chemistry? The Acid In Foods Can Cause Heartburn

What Is Reflux Chemistry? The Acid In Foods Can Cause HeartburnIt can be really challenging to know what is reflux chemistry. One reason for this is that all of the basic symptoms of heartburn are not described in textbooks. Thus, one has to find a book or a course in order to learn the symptoms and to learn the causes.The two most common causes of heartburn are the excess acids and hydrogen produced in the stomach by the bacteria producing acid. When the stomach is empty, it produces lots of acids that drain into the esophagus and then into the throat. The other common cause of heartburn is when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is not relaxed sufficiently at the end of the first stage of swallowing. If you start to swallow your meals too fast, then it may lead to less spasm, which could trigger heartburn.The primary symptoms of acid reflux are chest pain, burning in the mouth, coughing, difficulty in swallowing, etc. All these symptoms are manifestations of acid reflux and they are also experienced by people who suffer from chronic heartburn. If the person is obese, then he/she is at higher risk of suffering from acid reflux is also associated with many other health problems.The most common cause of acid reflux is the large amount of carbon dioxide that is produced during the burping process. This carbon dioxide combines with gastric acid and is expelled through the lungs when the person exhales the breath. Therefore, if there is more gas in the stomach than there is air, it is called acid indigestion.Acid indigestion can be treated with various medicines, but the patient should understand that although the medicine is helpful, the heartburn never goes away. Usually, the best way to get rid of heartburn is to avoid foods that are high in fat and preservatives.When you are not aware of what is reflux chemistry, you might risk having serious health problems later on. So it is very important to know the things that are causing acid reflux.Some acids in foods such as vinegar, orange juice, cabbage, broccoli, etc., do not only make you feel hungry, but they actually produce acids that bring back up the stomach acids. To prevent this from happening, you have to eat plenty of food that is low in acids and preservatives. Also, you can use some anti-acid medicines.

How to Get Along With Coworkers of Older Generations

How to Get Along With Coworkers of Older Generations Image via freestockphotos.biz However, getting along with older coworkers as a young person doesn’t have to be a struggle. In fact, you’ll probably find that you have more in common with them than you think. 1. Find universal subjects. You may find it difficult to find anything in common with your coworkers of older generations. However, it may just be that you’ve forgotten how exactly to find things in common with someone. Now, when you meet someone young, it’s probably easy to talk about the latest hit on Netflix or the news updates on celebrities, but these topics don’t always resonate with older crowds. Remember, commonality exists all around you. Perhaps a local team is doing really well in their sport or a new company has just moved to town. You could chat about new restaurants that are opening. If you get really desperate, you can always start off with the weather and work towards something else. Of course, talking is just the first step to improving your relationship with anyone which is essential to getting to know your coworkers. 2. Show them something new. They may be older than you, but don’t let that convince you that you don’t have a whole wealth of knowledge that they don’t. If you’re kind about it, they’ll be happy to learn any new thing that you have to show them. If you overhear them talking about a computer problem, you might already know how to create an easy fix for it. Perhaps they’re sick of their standard eating out routine and you could suggest a great new dining spot downtown that they haven’t heard of yet. Being more connected as a young person gives you access to new products all the time. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you may just be able to find something that could work really well for them. 3. Ask them something. You have a wealth of knowledge that they don’t, but bear in mind that they do too. They’ve lived through stories equally interesting to your own. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions about themselves, even really basic questions about where they grew up, where they went to school, their partner, their children, etc. If you show genuine interest in their life, they’re going to feel much happier working with someone who cares about them and hasn’t dismissed them as irrelevant. You may find some surprising similarities even. Maybe you grew up close to each other or went to the same vacation spot. This will create a whole slew of stories and facts to grow closer to one another as coworkers and maybe even as friends. 4. Keep an open mind. If you’re young, especially if you’re fresh out of college, you’re used to being around other young people with similar opinions to your own. Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t care deeply about those opinions, but you will have to recognize that the working world is full of people with opinions completely different than yours. The differences in opinions by no means make one right and the other wrong. You may have to learn to respectfully disagree with someone. A great thing to do is to simply ask questions about an opinion they have. Don’t listen to judge and refute, listen to try and understand the other side. They may have a whole history that has led them to think this way. Learning about others different than you is a great tool to help you respect and work well with anyone, regardless of age and background. stocksnap.io 5. Be patient. All in all, don’t expect to become fast friends overnight. People in older generations likely have a set group of family and friends that they’ve known and cared about for ages. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t be great coworkers. Just because they aren’t dying to hang out all the time, doesn’t mean they don’t like you or appreciate the work you do. Relationships can be slow to grow and develop over time, but don’t fret over becoming best friends with everyone. Take every opinion and personality with an attitude of respect and kindness and you’ll be sure to get along great. As humans, we all crave some sort of connection. As coworkers, having great working connections is necessary to having a happy and successful professional life. With a proper outlook on building great relationships in the workplace, anyone can transcend boundaries of age.

Brazilian Gringo italki Challenge Update 1

Brazilian Gringo italki Challenge Update 1 Josh is taking the language challenge to learn Spanish.  He posted about his experiences on his website Brazilian Gringo a blog that was born out of a need to share a more realistic perspective about Brazil, and our mission here is to share language and cultural insights to make Brazil more accessible for people to live, work and do business. Reposted with permission. Original post here. A few weeks ago I announced that I was participating in the iTalki challenge to improve my Spanish since I am going to be living in Chile for a while. I wanted to give a quick update on what’s been happening since then both in regards to life and language learning. Shortly after making that announcement I got news that my grandfather was ill, so I flew back to the US to see him before he passed away. Fortunately I was able to go back and see him in the hospital one last time before he died. My father passed away a few years ago while I was in Brazil and the worst part about that experience was  not being able to be near my family while they were all grieving. This time I didn’t get to miss any of the fun of crying at  the hospital. I’ve been in the US for about two weeks now, which though unexpected is kind of nice. I’ve been on the record as saying that I don’t like living in the US, but it’s really not that bad since I’m spending 90% of my time with my family.  Though I’ll be glad to be out of here again in a few weeks, I’ll also be genuinely sad to leave this time. Coming back to the US disrupted my plans to learn Chilean Spanish a bit though. I was planning on taking 2-3 hours of classes a week for the 6 weeks of the challenge, and supplement that study time with interactions with Chileans in Santiago. Things were pretty hectic so I have only taken a few hours of classes so far, but now that I’ve  got a routine here things will progress more smoothly. As far as the lessons go, I’m really enjoying my teacher. He is a complete language nerd as well, and speaks something like 7 languages to varying degrees of fluency. He showed me this cool trick where he called his cousin and they spoke a hybrid language of English and Spanish where they would switch languages every few words. Being able to switch between languages like that is a pretty cool skill to have. Speaking both Spanish and Portuguese presents some challenges because of how similar the two languages are.  Being able to go back and forth between the two takes a bit of work, though it is still easier for me to speak Portuguese. I can speak Spanish reasonably well, but I still haven’t  attached my  identity to the Spanish language like I have with Portuguese. I’m not sure on the science behind this, but in my head there are two distinct characters: Brazilian Josh and American Josh. They both have unique ways of thinking and speaking as well as their own mannerisms.  I can switch between the American Josh and Brazilian Josh without much trouble because they are both strong characters in my mind, whereas Latino Josh still hasn’t been developed. This means that sometimes Latino Josh will borrow parts of his identity from Brazilian or American Josh to fill in the blanks. I went to a Forró class this week and got to interact with Brazilians in person for the first time in a few weeks.  Kind of in the same way how if you locked yourself in a room for a few days and didn’t interact with anybody you’d be kind of slow in reacting to things people say, Brazilian Josh wasn’t as spontaneous as he was when he was living in Brazil. My Portuguese came out ok, but my body language definitely has lost some of it’s Brazilianness since leaving Brazil. Overall the experience of learning Spanish on iTalki has been very productive and I’ve learned a lot not just about Chilean Spanish but language learning in general. It’s not easy to find a good language teacher, but when you do the results can be magical. I just wanted to get this quick update out there, but later on I’ll publish some insights as they relate to Spanish and Portuguese. Hasta luego Brazilian Gringo italki Challenge Update 1 Josh is taking the language challenge to learn Spanish.  He posted about his experiences on his website Brazilian Gringo a blog that was born out of a need to share a more realistic perspective about Brazil, and our mission here is to share language and cultural insights to make Brazil more accessible for people to live, work and do business. Reposted with permission. Original post here. A few weeks ago I announced that I was participating in the iTalki challenge to improve my Spanish since I am going to be living in Chile for a while. I wanted to give a quick update on what’s been happening since then both in regards to life and language learning. Shortly after making that announcement I got news that my grandfather was ill, so I flew back to the US to see him before he passed away. Fortunately I was able to go back and see him in the hospital one last time before he died. My father passed away a few years ago while I was in Brazil and the worst part about that experience was  not being able to be near my family while they were all grieving. This time I didn’t get to miss any of the fun of crying at  the hospital. I’ve been in the US for about two weeks now, which though unexpected is kind of nice. I’ve been on the record as saying that I don’t like living in the US, but it’s really not that bad since I’m spending 90% of my time with my family.  Though I’ll be glad to be out of here again in a few weeks, I’ll also be genuinely sad to leave this time. Coming back to the US disrupted my plans to learn Chilean Spanish a bit though. I was planning on taking 2-3 hours of classes a week for the 6 weeks of the challenge, and supplement that study time with interactions with Chileans in Santiago. Things were pretty hectic so I have only taken a few hours of classes so far, but now that I’ve  got a routine here things will progress more smoothly. As far as the lessons go, I’m really enjoying my teacher. He is a complete language nerd as well, and speaks something like 7 languages to varying degrees of fluency. He showed me this cool trick where he called his cousin and they spoke a hybrid language of English and Spanish where they would switch languages every few words. Being able to switch between languages like that is a pretty cool skill to have. Speaking both Spanish and Portuguese presents some challenges because of how similar the two languages are.  Being able to go back and forth between the two takes a bit of work, though it is still easier for me to speak Portuguese. I can speak Spanish reasonably well, but I still haven’t  attached my  identity to the Spanish language like I have with Portuguese. I’m not sure on the science behind this, but in my head there are two distinct characters: Brazilian Josh and American Josh. They both have unique ways of thinking and speaking as well as their own mannerisms.  I can switch between the American Josh and Brazilian Josh without much trouble because they are both strong characters in my mind, whereas Latino Josh still hasn’t been developed. This means that sometimes Latino Josh will borrow parts of his identity from Brazilian or American Josh to fill in the blanks. I went to a Forró class this week and got to interact with Brazilians in person for the first time in a few weeks.  Kind of in the same way how if you locked yourself in a room for a few days and didn’t interact with anybody you’d be kind of slow in reacting to things people say, Brazilian Josh wasn’t as spontaneous as he was when he was living in Brazil. My Portuguese came out ok, but my body language definitely has lost some of it’s Brazilianness since leaving Brazil. Overall the experience of learning Spanish on iTalki has been very productive and I’ve learned a lot not just about Chilean Spanish but language learning in general. It’s not easy to find a good language teacher, but when you do the results can be magical. I just wanted to get this quick update out there, but later on I’ll publish some insights as they relate to Spanish and Portuguese. Hasta luego

Chinese Has Become The Most Tutored Language

Chinese Has Become The Most Tutored Language Chinese has become the most tutored language. The Chinese New Year (recently celebrated on February 19) is an example of this phenomenon. There are many schools which used the Chinese New Year to promote Mandarin courses to its parents and students. This is not a surprise because Mandarin Chinese has risen to the most popular choice among second languages in recent years. Chineses number one position is somewhat of a surprise because Spanish seemed to be destined to stay as the most popular foreign language in the new millennium. For one, the US shares a 3000 miles border with Mexico our Spanish speaking neighbor. For another, in 2013 over 33 million Hispanics lived in the US, making it the largest minority to date. However, the number one position of Spanish has been fading for years. More students are now saying huan ying instead of bienvenida (welcome) in high  schools. Why? Enter the phenomenon of Mandarin the language of the Chinese. Its unprecedented growth came to be because China rose to the world stage in recent decades. The Chinese economy is today  the second largest in the world. China is a country of manufacturing prowess, and is the most important trading partner for  US enterprises. There are more  factors that contribute to the popularity of Mandarin. For one, most babies adopted in the US are from Chinese parents. Another is the ability to speak Chinese has become hot ticket on college applications as well as a starred addition to executive résumés. The outcome of these trends have led to an exponential growth of the number of students in learning Chinese in the US. If youre not already familiar with Mandarin, now its the time to learn a few basic Chinese words: Hello n?h?o I am fine w? h?n h?o Do you speak English? n? huì shu? y?ngwén ma Thank you xiè xie n? women N?rén I love you W? ài n? Yes, learning even these six words can be challenging. How are these phonetic symbols pronounced? (e.g. n?h?o nee how). Or in what order do the Chinese structure their sentences? To answer these questions and many more check out TutorZ Mandarin Chinese tutors. xiè xie n? (Thank you)

Top Tips on Finding Tutoring Services in Pembroke Pines

Top Tips on Finding Tutoring Services in Pembroke PinesIf you are looking for good, affordable tutoring services in Pembroke Pines, you have come to the right place. You may have a problem that needs your attention, but you do not want to spend a fortune on a single hour's tutoring. Here are a few tips on finding the best tutoring company for your child's education in Pembroke Pines.What makes a good tutoring service in Pembroke Pines? Some companies offer top quality tutoring services for kids from kindergarten to grade twelve, while others offer very basic tuition services. The best tutoring services will help you find a tutor that will meet your child's individual needs, as well as making sure your child gets the best possible education.While going through the child's records, it is a good idea to check with the local college or the school district to see what the facilities are like. Often, there are places in the community where child care is available, and these could be a good choice for your child. You may also be able to find tutors in your area through online resources. These online resources often offer tips on finding a great tutor and helping your child to find a place to stay.Ask about the tutoring services in Pembroke Pines. Most tutoring companies in Pembroke Pines have websites with links to other similar services. This way, you can compare the company's services against the other tutoring services in the area.Evaluate your child's grades with a tutor. It may be helpful to schedule a consultation to evaluate your child's grades. A visit to the tutor's office will give you the opportunity to see a preview of the coursework and any homework that your child has completed. If your child does not get a good grade, or if there are things in the curriculum that he or she does not understand, a tutor can help to correct these issues.Practicality is also an important factor in choosing a tutor. After all, if you're sending your child to a child care ser vice, you may not want to pay for tutoring that is only available at a specific time. In this case, it would be better to find a tutor that offers both a day and a weekend service. A good way to determine how much flexibility you will need is to look at the fees involved. Of course, some companies offer both, so it depends on your own circumstances.There are many ways to find a good tutoring service in Pembroke Pines. Make sure that you consider the qualifications of the tutor and the location of the business as well as the availability of a weekend or day care.

Medicinal Plant Chemistry Degree

Medicinal Plant Chemistry DegreeIf you are considering a life altering career in the medical field, then consider pursuing a medicinal plant chemistry degree. This is an extremely valuable opportunity for those who are interested in pursuing careers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, as well as those that have specific interests in the legal field.You can start this program online or in a traditional campus setting. It is not as hard to obtain a degree in this field, since it is easy to transfer credits from other disciplines that will satisfy all of the necessary requirements. There are various online programs available, but most are very accessible to those that are already working.This kind of science has many applications in the scientific life. You can begin by studying herbalology, botany, or plant pathology, depending on what you would like to do with your degree. It can also help you decide which type of course you would like to take with a higher level of qual ity and more flexibility. Many classes are available online and there are also distance learning options that allow you to earn your degree in the comfort of your own home.One major benefit of a medicinal plant chemistry degree is that you can select what type of coursework you would like to take. Many of the courses focus on specific types of medicinal plants and may require additional modules to educate students about these plants in greater depth. This can make it easier for you to focus on different aspects of the plant's biology and physiology.With the studies help you can focus more on the application of the knowledge. You may choose to study a plant's metabolism, mode of growth, and use or medicinal properties. These are all areas that can be quite useful to the scientist in general, because these will help you understand the basic biological process that drives plant development.Due to the common practice of misidentifying plants, many students find themselves with a challen ge later on when trying to apply their knowledge. For this reason, you need to be aware of the differences between plant anatomy and physiology and how they apply to plant care. There are many video lectures and online modules that can help you better understand this aspect of plant biology.If you are planning on taking a medicinal plant chemistry degree, you will find that it is relatively easy to get started. It can provide you with the tools you need to start on your way to a rewarding career in the medical field. It will also give you the chance to earn a well-rounded education and develop valuable experience.

Ask a Financial Aid Expert Mark Kantrowitz

Ask a Financial Aid Expert Mark Kantrowitz When it comes to financial aid, few people will be able to point you in right direction as well as national expert Mark Kantrowitz can. As the publisher of the very resourceful FinAid and Fastweb websites and the author of the bestseller Secrets to Winning a Scholarship, Mark has developed quite a name for himself as the go-to source for all financial aid inquiries. He has been featured in numerous prestigious publications and media outlets such as TheNew York Times, USA Today, CNN, and much more. Read on for the incredibly valuable insights and advice Mark shares on financial aid options and the future of higher education. VT:What are some first steps every student should take in the financial aid search? Mark: Every student should search for scholarships on free scholarship matching web sites like Fastweb.com. They should start searching for scholarships as soon as possible, because every dollar you win is about a dollar less youll have to borrow. When searching a free scholarship site, answer all of the optional questions. Students who answer the optional questions tend to match about twice as many scholarships as students who answer just the required questions, since the optional questions are there to trigger the inclusion of specific scholarships. Students should also file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every year, even if they did not get any aid other than loans, starting January 1 of the senior year in high school. Families often underestimate eligibility for need-based aid and overestimate eligibility for merit-based aid. VT: What are some of the biggest mistakes students make when searching for financial aid? Mark: The biggest mistake students make is to not apply for scholarships and financial aid. You cant win if you dont apply. For example, sometimes families file the FAFSA when their eldest child applies for admission, but dont get anything other than loans. The next year they decide to not bother filing the FAFSA. But that year they would have had two children in college, instead of one, and would have qualified for much more financial aid as a result. Families often wait until the spring of the senior year in high school to start figuring out how to pay for college. By then theyve missed half of the deadlines during the senior year alone. There are also scholarships you can win in younger grades. You can even win scholarships in elementary school (seewww.finaid.org/age13for a list). Its never too late to start searching for scholarships, but the sooner you start, the fewer deadlines youll miss. Another mistake is not applying to every scholarship for which you are eligible. Some students say they dont want to do it because it is too much work or the scholarship amounts are too small or they dont like writing essay questions. But even among the most talented students, winning a scholarship depends as much on luck as skill. It is very difficult for selection committees to choose among the finalists, so who wins is partly a matter of chance. You can increase your chances of winning a scholarship by applying to more scholarships. The students who win a gazillion scholarships are the ones who apply to every scholarship for which they are eligible. Applying for scholarships is not as difficult as it may seem. After your first half dozen or so scholarships it gets easier, since every new application can reuse essays from previous applications. The smaller scholarships are easier to win, the amounts add up, and they add lines to your resume that may help you win bigger awards. When you win a scholarship, its a vote of confidence in you. It means the scholarship provider thought highly enough about you to invest their money in your future. VT: Describe some specific types of financial aid that are often overlooked. Mark: Families often overlook the education tax benefits because these are claimed when you file your federal income tax return, instead of when you need to pay the college bills. The education tax benefits include the American Opportunity Tax Credit (also known as the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit), the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit and the Tuition and Fees Deduction. Families also sometimes make suboptimal choices among the education tax benefits. Generally, the American Opportunity Tax Credit will yield the greatest financial benefit to the family if they are eligible, but the only way to be certain is to calculate the tax liability under each of the three options. These days, students are so focused on the online world that they sometimes overlook the offline world. In addition to searching for scholarships on Fastweb.com, students should also look in scholarship listing books in their local public library or bookstore. The Fastweb site is good for a targeted match, while scholarship-listing books are good for random exploration. These books can be found near the Jobs and Careers section. Before using any book, however, check the copyright date. If the book is more than a year or two old, it is too old to be useful, as about 10% of scholarships change in some material way each year. Also look for scholarships posted on bulletin boards outside your high school guidance counselors office and the financial aid office. These will include small local awards that do not want to be listed in any of the national scholarship databases, such as PTA scholarships and Dollars for Scholars. VT: What are the most important things to communicate to a financial aid officer to increase your chances of receiving aid? Mark: Dont call them financial aidofficers. They may work in a financial aid office, but they are not the financial aid police. They are there to help you pay for college. Calling a financial aid administrator or financial aid counselor an officer will offend them. The FAFSA is a one size fits all financial aid application form. It doesnt have a place for you to mention exceptional situations. Instead, tell the college financial aid administrator about any unusual financial circumstances. Unusual circumstances include anything that changed from last year to this year and anything that distinguishes your family from the typical family. This can include job loss and salary reductions, highly unreimbursed medical and dental care, high childcare and eldercare expenses (e.g., for a special needs child), and private K-12 tuition, among other special circumstances. Ask the college financial aid administrator for a professional judgment review. Some colleges call it a special circumstances review or financial aid appeal. The college may have a form for you to complete, or may ask you to send a letter summarizing the unusual circumstances. Include a copy of any third party documentation of the unusual circumstances. For example, if you were laid off, yo ud enclose a copy of the layoff notice or a letter showing the recent receipt of unemployment benefits. If the financial aid administrator feels that your circumstances merit an adjustment, the amount of the adjustment will be related to the financial impact of the unusual circumstances. Financial aid administrators are more likely to make adjustments when the circumstances were beyond the familys control. There is no appeal beyond the college financial aid administrator, so it pays to be polite. VT: What are some things students can do beforethesenior year of high school to begin funding their college costs? Mark: Students should start searching for scholarships as soon as possible, even in elementary school. There are many scholarships you can win before you are a senior in high school. The scholarship provider will hold the scholarship until you enroll in college. Some scholarships require advance preparation, such as a science fair project, so you cant wait until the last minute to prepare your application. Students should also focus on their academics and interests. Contrary to popular belief, depth is more important than breadth when it comes to winning scholarships. Every scholarship sponsor wants to find the student who best matches their selection criteria. Students can also start saving for college in a section 529 college savings plan. Every dollar you save is about a dollar less youll have to borrow, and every dollar you borrow will cost you about two dollars by the time you repay the debt. Students can also work during the summer to earn money to pay for college. VT: There are many different kinds of scholarships out there. Describe the different types and which ones you would most recommend taking the time to apply for. Mark: I recommend applying to all the scholarships for which you are eligible and only the scholarships for which you are eligible. You may be the nicest person on the planet, but if the scholarship requires a 3.4 GPA and you have a 3.3 GPA, it is a waste of your time to apply for the scholarship. On the other hand, this might give you an incentive to improve your grades. Most scholarships are based on merit, not financial need. They might be based on academic, artistic or athletic talent. Or they might be based on unusual criteria, such as creating a prom costume out of duct tape, speaking Klingon, or singing the national anthem with sincerity. There are scholarships for smart people and scholarships for average people, scholarships for tall and short people, and scholarships for lefties and golf caddies. Chances are, if you have a special skill, theres a scholarship for that. VT: What can parents do to best assist their students in the financial aid process? Mark: Paying for college is a partnership between student and parent. The parents will be paying the bills. The student should focus on getting good grades and applying for scholarships. The student will also be working part-time jobs during the semester and summer to pay for college, as well as borrowing from the federal student loan programs. Parents may be tempted to do all the work, but that would be inappropriate. College is a transition from a sheltered existence to the real world. So parents should make sure the student does the scholarship search and submits the application forms. Parents should also consider discussing their finances with the student so that the student can see the limit to the amount of money the parents will be able to spend on their college education. VT: What are the biggest obstacles that might stand in your way when attempting to receive financial aid and how can you overcome them? Mark: Clean up your online presence. Google your name and review your Facebook page to make sure there isnt anything inappropriate (or illegal). Use a formal email address, likefirstname.lastname@gmail.com, instead of a suggestive name like hotmama69@hotmail.com. About a quarter of scholarship providers are now Googling their finalists to make sure there arent any red flags before they choose the winners. They may also require finalists to friend them on Facebook. They dont want to award a scholarship to a student who will reflect badly on them. If a student fails to maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP), they can lose eligibility for financial aid from the federal government, state government and the college. This means maintaining at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale and passing enough classes to be on track to graduate. Remember, you are going to college to get an education, not to party. Beware of scholarship scams. If you have to pay money to get money, its probably a scam. Scholarships are about giving you money, not getting you to pay money. So never invest more than a postage stamp to get information about scholarships or to apply for scholarships. Nobody can guarantee that youll win a scholarship. Once youve won a scholarship, make sure you keep it. Renewable scholarships have a variety of requirements for you to continue to receive it. This may include writing a report on your activities once or twice a year, sending grade reports to the scholarship provider, and maintaining good grades. Some scholarship providers will require you to participate in community service. Youve done the hard work of winning a scholarship. Make sure you dont lose it. VT: Advice for students seemingly facing a dead-end in terms of receiving scholarships, loans, grants, etc.? Mark: Only about 1 in 8 students win scholarships. Less than 0.3% of students receive a free ride. So, scholarships are part of the plan for paying for college, but not the entire plan. Most students will have to rely on government aid and money from the college. You may have no choice but to accept loans. The unsubsidized Stafford loan and PLUS loan do not depend on financial need, so even wealthy students can qualify. You can also find part-time jobs on or near campus that can help you pay for school. If you are having trouble paying for college, talk to the financial aid administrator at your school. Also call the US Department of Educations Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID(1-800-433-3243) if you have questions about federal student aid and the FAFSA. College Goal Sunday (www.collegegoalsundayusa.org) is a source of help in completing the FAFSA. VT: What's your outlook - 3 or 5 years out - on issues that will affect funding for higher education? Mark: Unfortunately, Congress is focused on cutting the federal budget, so the outlook for increases in government aid is slim to none. That may be better than cuts, but when grants fail to keep pace with increases in college costs, college becomes less affordable. This forces students to graduate with more debt or to shift their enrollment to lower-cost colleges. Low and moderate-income students are increasingly being priced out of a college education. There will likely be increased emphasis on improving financial aid disclosures and financial literacy training so that students and their families can make more informed decisions about college affordability. Loan programs may be overhauled, and some financial aid programs may be streamlined and simplified. VT:How do you see online courses affecting college costs? Mark: There is a lot of hype about online education. But in practical terms, it probably will not affect college costs much. There are fundamental reasons why the average class size today is the same as it was 100 years ago. Learning is interactive. It requires tutorial sessions, the ability to ask questions and diagnostic quizzes. This is labor intensive. Watching a videotaped lecture is not enough. Maybe in 50-100 years online education technology will have matured enough to provide a high quality education at lower cost. But for the next few decades it will not be as effective as brick mortar instruction. The main benefit of online education for the next few years is that it enables students who are sick to keep up with the classwork from their dorm rooms while they recuperate. VT: What are some ways to compare the value of different institutions? E.g., comparing a well-known and highly ranked university with a smaller liberal-arts degree focused college. Mark: When comparing college costs, consider the net price, not the net cost. The net price is a kind of discounted sticker price. It is the total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, transportation to/from school and miscellaneous expenses) minus just the grants and other gift aid that does not need to be repaid. This is the amount of money you will have to pay from savings, income and loans to cover college costs. The net cost is the total cost of attendance minus the full financial aid package. But the financial aid package includes loans, which must be repaid, usually with interest. A loan does not reduce your costs. Instead, it lets you spread out the costs over time. Most colleges will have a similar net cost, about the same as the expected family contribution. The net price, however, will vary significantly from one college to the next. The net price is a better basis for making an informed decision about college affordability. Financial fit isnt the only criterion for choosing a college, but it is an important one. The colleges with the lowest net price will generally be in-state public colleges and the six dozen or so colleges with generous no loans financial aid policies. (Seewww.finaid.org/noloansfor a list of the no loans colleges.) Visit Finaidand Fastwebfor more information.The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.