Once you’ve gotten back into college as an adult, it’s great to take a moment and celebrate your achievement. But you know the work has just begun. As you’re preparing to attend classes while also balancing work and personal obligations, Alpha Kappa Psi hopes this checklist will help you get on track and stay there until graduation.

• Consider Personal Obligations: While school is an exciting new element in your life, it’s important to start your adult college enrollment by fully assessing your other commitments and responsibilities. Some of these, like your job and your family, are necessary priorities in your life. Volunteerism, sports leagues, hobbies, and leisure time are also important, though a full schedule might mean they become less common. Go beyond simply thinking about these obligations and start a schedule for how you can keep them all in balance.

• Review Transcripts and Prior Learning Assessments: If you’ve attended college in the past, communicate with your new institution’s registrar about getting a review of your transcripts. Whether you’re pursuing a full degree or a certification, credit for your past courses can save you time and money. The same is true of prior learning assessments. These are tests offered by many institutions that allow you to obtain credit for classes based on your real-world experiences and knowledge. Completing these tasks before you create your class schedule will ensure you are spending your time and tuition on the right subjects of new learning.

• Brush Up on Student Skills: Skills like research, writing papers, and studying are not like riding a bike. If you haven’t used these skills in a long time, you might have lost them. Take time before you start classes to dive back into these habits. Study or research a subject you are interested in, or take a free online course to practice. As silly as it might sound, you could even try writing a paper just for the practice.

• Create a Workspace: With your busy schedule, the psychological benefits of establishing a school-specific workspace could be extremely useful in helping you get it all done. If there is a desk or part of your home that you know is only used for schoolwork, going there will help you get into the mindset faster and more efficiently. Elements like plants, a bulletin board or whiteboard, and school supplies can help this space feel unique within your daily schedule.

• Gather Technology and Source Textbooks: Part of your back-to-school checklist must include checking you have the technology and software you need to succeed. College today isn’t possible without some kind of computer or tablet, including word-processing software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Depending on your program, area of study, and if you are doing school online, you also might need a specific Internet speed or bandwidth. Textbooks are another area of concern and expense for many students. Remember that in addition to buying books new through the campus bookstore, there are often textbook rental services, used book services, and even free sources for textbooks that can help you achieve your academics on a budget.

• Assess Your Apps: Lastly, going back to school means you might need to sacrifice some social media scrolling in the name of productivity. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest can be big time-eaters, especially when we want to procrastinate. Rather than deleting these apps, start to monitor your use and see if you can control the number of times you open the app. There are also other products that can help you with this, like built-in screen time monitors on your devices. In the end, you could try to substitute with a new app that empowers productivity instead.

Adult college students make up anywhere from 35-40 percent of the nation’s current college student population. While adult students have unique needs for flexibility, and many distractions competing for attention, the practical benefits of earning a college degree or certification are also very powerful. Whether you have gone back to school to earn more money or change careers completely, we hope you will continue to visit the Alpha Kappa Psi blog for resources, inspiration, and support along the way.

2020 was a tough year for all of us, including the thousands of college graduates across the world who made a swift and stressful transition to virtual learning. Despite many challenges, institutions across the country have been able to provide online or hybrid graduate programs. If you are looking to enroll in a graduate-level program that will lead to a sustainable and successful career, here are some of the top in-demand programs through the next decade.

Land a Profitable Career with a Master’s in Accounting

A master’s degree in accounting can lead to profitable positions in the ever-changing business world. Financial Analysts, Statisticians, and Certified Public Accountants will always be in demand. From a compensation perspective, accountants can make upwards of $124,000 a year. Many students pursue a master’s degree in accounting to obtain the required credits for licensure examinations, such as the certified public accountant (CPA) exam.

TOP 3 SCHOOLS FOR MASTER’S IN ACCOUNTING

• The McCombs School of Business, University of Texas – Austin
• The College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Improve Workplaces with a Master’s in Human Resources

By earning a master’s degree in HR, you’ll open the door to many opportunities to gain experience in ethical practices, organizational leadership, and communications. From benefits enrollment to hiring and labor contracts, human resources is a vital part of our economy. A degree in HR might also present the opportunity to earn an MBA with a concentration in human resources. As a result, students are well-prepared for advanced workplace roles such as HR Manager, HR Specialist and Compensation & Benefits Manager positions.

TOP 3 SCHOOLS FOR MASTER’S IN HR

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Texas A & M University, College Station
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

Encourage Healthy Lifestyles by Studying Dietetics and Nutrition

When we think of eating healthy, we just grab the healthiest (and sometimes, the most expensive) items on the shelves. But our nutrition goes a little deeper than the surface. In fact, dietetics and nutrition goes so far as to combine principles of public health and general nutrition to help determine how communities worldwide can take advantage of healthier lifestyles.

With a master’s degree in dietetics and nutrition, you will have expertise in providing a wide range of nutritional insight, including but not limited to nutritional assessments and counseling. Additionally, you may pursue a career as a dietician or nutritionist.

TOP 3 SCHOOLS FOR DIETETICS & NUTRITION

• North Carolina State University
• Tufts University
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research Disease Prevention with a Master’s in Public Health

Public health covers a wide-range of disciplines and is included in almost everything that we do. Especially during a pandemic like this one, public health has anchored its roots smack dab in the middle of our economy. A master’s in public health prepares students for a variety of roles, including Epidemiologist, Public Health Administrator, and Clinical Research Coordinator.

Currently, the trajectory for job placement in epidemiology is set to increase by 5 percent from 2019-2029.

TOP 3 SCHOOLS FOR MPH PROGRAMS

• Johns Hopkins University
• Harvard University
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Create Seamless and Fortified Systems with a Master’s in Software Engineering

With a projected 316,000 increase in software engineering positions, a master’s in software engineering teaches the elements of designing and utilizing programming applications. Master’s degree candidates also will learn how to successfully manage projects, databases, and network infrastructure.

Common positions in this field include Software Developer, CIS Manager, and Computer Network Architects.

TOP 3 SCHOOLS FOR MASTERS IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Harvard University

Find the Master’s Program that is Right for You!

We know that finding the right master’s program is sometimes difficult, but that’s why we are here to help. AKPsi recognizes Knowledge as a vital core value, and we are devoted to helping you tap into the pathways that best suit your educational aspirations. If you require additional insight, do not hesitate to contact us.

We’re two months into the new year and some of us might have already crafted the ‘perfect’ plan of success…but guess what? It’s very likely that months will pass, life experiences will get the best of us, and we’ll forget the long-term goals that we’ve set for ourselves. Studies have shown that approximately 8 percent of individuals who set New Year’s goals actually achieve them.

That means that approximately 92 percent of us set goals and never reach them. Perhaps we never reach them because we’ve bitten off more than we can chew.

When we create and set long-term goals, it is important to remember that we must also include short-term action steps that represent small victories toward our ultimate goals. If you’re the type of person who is easily overwhelmed with long-term planning, here’s how you can break down your long-term goals into manageable, short-terms wins.