Get Your BeachBucket - And All The Other Free Stuff

If you have spent any time at all on your campus you have, no doubt, observed the numerous displays, booths, card tables and friendly individuals offering you 'deals', usually including free gifts.

The presence of these company's' representatives, who present offers to students, is common at this time, the beginning of a new school year.  Companies, large and small, value college students as customers.  These company's presence on campus, usually part of an overall marketing campaign is to introduce you to their products or services. Their hope is if you try their product or service you will become a customer for a long long time.

The variety of offers can be dizzying. Automobile dealers, fashion retailers, phone plan providers and retail outlets all attempt to entice students with a variety of gifts, premiums and discounts. Often these gifts come with an offer.  The offer is usually an extension of  a discount, that is the product or service costs less than usual.  Along with this, as we have said, you may be given a gift, sometimes a small trinket like a key chain but sometimes a very useful object like a flash drive.

One popular gift with companies who sell grooming products; shampoo, body wash, deodorants, and such is a plastic bucket, a typical toy a child might get for the beach. But this bucket is different. It contains samples of the products which the provider hopes you will begin buying.

If you have been shy about accepting gifts like these from these businesses Planet College suggests you think again. You really are under no obligation to continue using the products when they run out. The gifts are free. And if you live in a residence hall the plastic buckets are handy for carrying your bathroom articles, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush and scrubbing sponge back and forth to the showers.

That is the Planet College tip today. Free stuff? Go ahead. Help your self.

New Term, New Choices

Planet College knows that for an International Student this time of year is among the most important times of your life in the USA.

New friends, new courses, new living arrangements and many personal details like banking, dining and parking, if you have a car, make this time among the busiest of the school year.

Among the many important choices to be made are the courses which make up your schedule for this term.  Whether your college schedules on the quarter or semester system the classes you take are at the core of your educational experiences.

If you have already made your choices, through pre-registration, available on many campuses, then you know where you will be and when you will be there. If you have not completed your class schedule it is time now to focus on that task.

If you find scheduling courses difficult you may need help. There is such help available on your campus usually through the offices of your major's department.  For example, if your major is Computer Science, it is likely that the office for this department has some advisers available to assist you in completing your schedule. Additionally, there is on your campus an Advising Office.  Most campuses maintain such an office and it's purpose is to assist students like yourself with completing their schedule.

If language is an issue, again, most campuses which admit International Students have language assistance available.

If these helps are not readily available do not be reluctant to ask for help.  If you are housed on campus your RA, the residential adviser in your building, may be a resource who will assist you. Also, the admissions office, which is probably located in the administration building on your campus, very likely has assitance for you.

Planet College consistently urges International Students, if you think you need help, ask.