Gwen Elise

About Gwen Elise

Gwen is an avid traveler who feels most at home in Kentucky and Argentina. Her closet is full of dark dresses, and her walls are papered in colorful maps. She likes to make puns, read, write, and translate to and from Spanish, and she misses Vassar College, her alma mater, which helped her get better at all of those things.

Scholarships for LGBT+ Students — The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBT+) community and its allies have made significant strides toward equality in the past few years. The legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015 and LGBT+ adoption in 2016 were huge. But discriminatory laws aren’t the only challenge faced by people […]

Scholarships for LGBT+ Students

This entry was posted in Money and Financial Aid on June 17, 2019 by Gwen Elise

Scholarships for American Indians and Alaska Natives — With the cost of tuition skyrocketing, scholarships can provide some much needed relief for talented college-bound students and their families. To maximize your chances of winning one (or more), think about the traits that make you unique. If you are a member of a recognized tribe, or a descendant of […]

Scholarships for American Indians and Alaska Natives

This entry was posted in Money and Financial Aid on June 3, 2019 by Gwen Elise

Scholarships for Undocumented Students — Many young undocumented students want to know if they can go to college. The future is uncertain, but for now, students without authorized immigration documents can pursue higher education in the United States, whether they have DACA or not. That being said, these students often face many more legal and financial obstacles than their […]

Scholarships Opportunities for Undocumented Students

This entry was posted in Money and Financial Aid on May 27, 2019 by Gwen Elise

Dealing with Bedbugs in College — When I was a college sophomore, an acquaintance of mine from the adjacent dorm building noticed nasty bites all over his body. He assumed that whatever he was going through was an isolated incident—spider bites, maybe—but what he didn’t know was that other residents in the building were also being […]

Dealing with Bedbugs in College

This entry was posted in Housing on August 30, 2017 by Gwen Elise

Preparing for College in High School — Preparing for college in high school is a must, and your guidance counselors will back me up. After all, there’s a lot more that goes into your college application than the application form itself. Take any of the following, for example: Transcripts, which need to show four years of decent […]

Why It’s Important to Prepare for College in High School

This entry was posted in Finishing High School on August 24, 2017 by Gwen Elise

Tips for Acing Your Skype Interview — When I was a college senior, I was desperate to make plans for my future. I was interested in opportunities in Ecuador, Kentucky, New York, and Argentina, but on my student budget and with my class schedule, I couldn’t feasibly travel around the world to interview for every position. That’s […]

Tips for Acing Your Skype Interview

This entry was posted in Career on August 6, 2017 by Gwen Elise

Packing for a Warm Climate — After braving a couple of brutal winters in my college town of Poughkeepsie, New York, I wanted a respite from the snow and below-freezing temperatures. Study abroad was my chance to move to a “warm” climate, and I chose Buenos Aires, Argentina, as my destination as soon as I learned […]

Packing for a Warm Climate: What to Wear and Where to Shop

This entry was posted in Lifestyle on July 29, 2017 by Gwen Elise

No-Fee Student Checking Accounts — If you’re looking for the perfect student checking account that won’t charge you a monthly fee, the good news is that you have options. The bad news is that you have a lot of options—maybe too many. Almost all of the biggest banks and some regional banks and credit unions have affordable […]

No-Fee Student Checking Accounts

This entry was posted in Money and Financial Aid on July 25, 2017 by Gwen Elise

Talking to My Parents about a Bad Grade — For high school and college students alike, getting a bad grade can cause disappointment, fear, anger, embarrassment, and grief. Those emotions are difficult enough to manage, but students who have to break the news to their families undergo additional anxiety. Talking to your parents about a bad grade is never […]

How to Talk to Your Parents about a Bad Grade

This entry was posted in Study Skills on July 13, 2017 by Gwen Elise

Students enjoy a summer music festival. — Ah, the dog days of summer! No school. Blue skies. Long days. All signs point to one thing: summer music festival season is upon us at last. Many college students spend parts of summer break at music festivals all over the United States, and the photos they post to Instagram—the […]

Preparing for a Summer Music Festival

This entry was posted in Recreation on June 28, 2017 by Gwen Elise

A student holds up a sign that says "Help!" He's wondering "is it okay to drop an extracurricular activity?" — Students often spread themselves thin, sometimes too thin. In addition to taking on heavy course loads—hey, just one AP course or 300-level is a lot of work!—many students work part-time jobs, play sports, maintain active memberships in clubs, volunteer, and study for standardized tests. No wonder finding time to get […]

Why It’s Okay to Drop an Extracurricular Activity

This entry was posted in Extracurricular on June 19, 2017 by Gwen Elise

Talking to Your Family about Paying for College — Planning for college entails planning for the costs of college, and doing so is often a family affair. You might rely, or want to rely, on your parents to pay for some of your education, to teach you how to make wise financial decisions, or to help you with the […]

Talking to Your Family about Paying for College

This entry was posted in Money and Financial Aid on June 1, 2017 by Gwen Elise