Calling all teen writers! Seventeen has announced a call for entries for their 2009 Fiction Contest. You could win:

• $2,500 cash prize from Scholastic

• a chance to be published in Seventeen

• lunch with Meg Cabot

• a high-performance laptop powered by Intel

To enter, click on the link below and include an original fiction short story of no more than 500 words. Or mail your entry to: Seventeen, 2009 Fiction Contest, 300 W. 57th St., 17th Floor, New York, NY 10019. Mail entry must be postmarked by December 31, 2008, and received by January 7, 2009. Submissions must be typed, double-spaced, on one side of each sheet of paper, and must not have been previously published in any form, with the exception of school publications. All entries must include your full name, age, home and e-mail addresses (if available), telephone number, date of birth, and signature in the top right-hand corner of each page of every story you enter.

Enter here, and good luck!

Now you have another reason to download Justin Timberlake’s new single “Follow My Lead,” featuring Esmee Denters.  The song, recorded during the Justin Timberlake and Friends Special Evening Benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children, is now available exclusively at MySpace Music at www.myspace.com/justintimberlake for three months. Proceeds from the download will benefit this one-of-a-kind international health care system dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs.

Props to JT for giving back!

The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers invites students in grades 7 - 12 to participate in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2009, the nation’s longest-running, largest, most prestigious recognition program for creative teenagers in the visual and literary arts.

To participate in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, students must be:

• currently enrolled in grades 7 – 12 for the 2008/2009 school year;

• enrolled in a public, private, parochial or home school in the United States, Canada, or an American school abroad.

Students may submit in the following categories:

Visual Arts: Animation, Art Portfolio, Ceramics & Glass, Computer Art, Design, Drawing, Graphic Story, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography, Photography Portfolio, Printmaking, Sculpture, Video & Film

Writing: Dramatic Script, General Writing Portfolio, Humor, Journalism, Nonfiction Portfolio, Novel Writing, Personal Essay/Memoir, Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Short Story, Short Short Story

More than $3.25 million in scholarships are available to graduating seniors who earn national medals through the Alliance Scholarship Provider Network (PDF). Twelve Portfolio Gold Medalists will earn $10,000 scholarships from the Alliance. Select regions also offer cash awards, grants and other incentives.

Click here for local deadlines (PDF). Formatting and delivery instructions are available in the local guidelines, which can be obtained during registration.

For more information, visit the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.

Gone are the days of simply relying on glossy college marketing materials to research a school.  Now it’s easier than ever to get the real scoop that can help you decide where to attend thanks to some awesome college sites that let users weigh in with their opinions and shout-outs for their schools.  They answer questions like…How happy are students on a college campus? Are professors really teaching classes and are they good teachers? What are the local campus hotspots? What are the dorms really like?

If you’re looking for some honest feedback on your favorite schools, then check out some of my favorite college review sites:

Yollege–This college review site launched earlier this year and was named one of the Best of the Web 2008 newcomers by BusinessWeek.  From the website, “Yollege is an exciting new student driven college review site that empowers college students across the nation to finally have a voice. Share your passionate thoughts and opinions on every aspect of your campus. From nightlife to dorm life, campus hotspots to local flavor, college life will never be the same.”

Unigo–I blogged about this site in September after I read an article about Unigo in The New York Times Magazine-College Issue, and I’m still a huge fan.  Not only can you read reviews, see photos, and watch videos from current college students representing hundreds of schools across the country, but there is tons of information about applying to college written by Unigo’s editorial staff.  Overall, it’s a great starting point to launch your college search.

Seventeen’s College & Career–Of course, I have to give a shout-out to Seventeen’s College & Career hub which features Q&A from yours truly, but there are a lot of other awesome features like an internship finder, volunteer opportunity finder, and the Freshman 15 which features videos and blogs from current college students, as well as information about researching and applying to college (including tips from my book Seventeen’s Guide to Getting Into College!).

College Help From College Confidential–College Confidential has been around for awhile, and it features hundreds of free articles on college admissions, college search, financial aid, and college book reviews, plus a leading college discussion forum (my favorite!). They also specialize in Ivy League college counseling.

Do you have a favorite college review site?  As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Q: “Do all colleges make you take both the ACT and the SAT?”

A: Most colleges require either the ACT or the SAT, but it’s a good idea to take both in order to see which of your results are better. Once the results are in you can choose which schools you want to receive your scores. More selective colleges, like the University of California system, also require the SAT Subject Tests in addition to either the ACT or SAT, so make sure you give yourself enough time to sign up and study for all the tests required by the schools where you’ll be applying.

And if all this talk of standardized testing has you a little stressed out, there are many colleges that don’t require standardized testing, and instead offer alternative admission requirements like additional essays or a minimum grade point average. A list of those colleges and their requirements is available at The National Center for Fair & Open Testing.

For more of my answers to your college questions, visit my college and career Q&A on Seventeen.com!

Don’t forget to tune in to my webcast presentation on CollegeWeekLive this afternoon from 5pm-6pm (PST).  I’ll be talking about how to stand out in your college applications and then open it up for Q&A’s.  Registration is free, and anyone who tunes in to my talk will be eligible to win one of 5 signed copies of my book Seventeen’s Guide to Getting Into College.  Hope to see you then!

At the end of August I had the amazing opportunity to spend some time with my family on the sunny beaches of Florida’s east coast. Knowing that I would be going off to college in two years we decided, instead of flying back to New York City, to pack up all of our luggage on top of our big, tan minivan, and drive home—stopping at seven different colleges along the way. My mom told me we had 4 days, and 5 nights to get back to New York City, and the rest was up to me. I was in charge of plotting, planning, mapping, and scheduling tours and hotels and everything. Although it was time consuming, with the help of Mapquest.com, I was able to map our way through seven schools of my choosing: Davidson, Wake Forest, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, William and Mary, UVA and Georgetown.

I was initially really excited to visit certain schools (Duke, UVA), and others were just kind of on the way (Davidson, Georgetown). However, all of them sparked some interest. Before hitting each college, we read the 3-page summary in the Fiske Guide to College (I highly recommend it for a brief overview of TONS of colleges). So arriving at each campus, I already had some preconceived notions.
I thought I would love the medium-to-large size campuses, with a great sense of community and school spirit.  I was expecting to love UNC Chapel Hill and was really excited about seeing Duke.

But after our 5-day East-Coast College Tour, I ended up falling in love with totally different colleges than I imagined. What I thought about a school on paper wasn’t necessarily consistent with the feelings I got once I was on campus. I realized that I could fit in a smaller school (like Davidson, with only 1,700 students) or a much larger school (UVA has approximately 22,000 students).

Getting a basic grip on the whole college thing was a great experience. I have no idea where I want to go, but I do know that a school can look and sound great on paper, but you might have a totally different opinion if you visit. Being able to actually walk around the campus (especially if you can sign-up for a tour) really gave me a feel for the different schools, and I would highly recommend seizing the opportunity if it arises.

Hannah and Family Gearing Up For A College Road Trip

Q: “I never seem to have time to visit schools. Is it really important to visit the schools before you apply?”

A: I think it’s a really good idea to visit colleges before you apply because brochures and websites can all start to look and sound the same. Nothing will give you the sense of what it will actually be like to live on a college campus like visiting and seeing for yourself the dorms and classrooms and athletic facilities and, of course, the students. I know it gets a little crazy once senior year hits to find the time to visit college campuses, and it can also be pricey if the schools you are applying to happen to be more than a car ride away. But keep in mind that you’re making a decision about the next four years of your life, and don’t you want to do all the research you can to make sure you’re making the right one?

There’s no excuse not to visit the schools in your local area. In fact, a lot of college applications even ask if you have visited campus, so make sure you can answer that question in the affirmative! Obviously, if you live across the country that won’t be as much of a possibility, but if you live in New York City and you’re applying to Columbia University, go check it out! If campus visits aren’t going to happen before you apply, at the very least you should find some time between applying and getting your acceptance letters to visit the schools where you’d like to attend. It can save you a lot of heartache come freshman year if you rule out now the things that you don’t like about certain campuses, things that you wouldn’t know unless you actually visit.

Now, if time and money are making it impossible for you to visit any college campuses, then you might want to check out the online college fairs at CollegeWeekLive. On Nov 12 and 13th, CollegeWeekLive will host its fall online college fair, connecting thousands of students with more than 200 colleges and universities. It’s an opportunity to chat online with admissions officers, current students, and college counselors, and it won’t cost you a penny! You can register for CollegeWeekLive’s virtual college fair at collegeweeklive.com, and you can even catch yours truly giving a presentation on how to stand out in your college applications. While visiting an online college fair can’t take the place of an actual campus visit, it can be a very useful tool that along with all your other research will help you make an informed decision about which colleges or universities you’d like to attend.

And check out more of my answers to your questions at Seventeen’s College & Career Q&A!

Being a senior, I am on the seemingly never ending task of selecting the right college to attend in the fall. With all these great universities to choose from, I have found myself wondering about the reasons for which I am selecting a college.

Obviously being seventeen years old, friends and boyfriends have influence over the choices you make whether you realize it or not. I am currently sitting in a Berkeley dorm room wondering if I want to go to Berkeley because my best friend goes here, or if I want to go to Berkeley because I genuinely love the school.

To be completely honest, I have always been more of a city girl. I love to shop, eat at restaurants and surround myself with the sounds of a bustling city. When I picture myself at college, I have always pictured myself at a school like USC or USF. All of the sudden I find myself thinking that it would be best for me to be up in the free-loving town of Berkeley.

What causes this sudden shift? What causes this abrupt change in the thought process that I have had for so many years? I think that those two questions are better suited for a therapist or college counselor but as a young woman, I find them rather interesting. I like to think of myself as a mature, level headed young adult. And all of the sudden, all these plans that I have for myself have been over-ruled by a brief thought of spontaneity.

I guess the ultimate question that I am getting at is whether or not to run with this new found excitement. Do I abandon what I always thought would be the right path for myself and attend a smaller, private university? Or do I see myself fitting into Berkeley, California?

Taking the time to sort out all these thoughts is just one minor process involved with college. Compared to applications, essays, transcripts and interviews, ironically, this seems to be the hardest. There is always the fear that once you make a choice, it will be the wrong one. How do you move past that fear to bigger and greater things?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but through my blogging, I hope to find it!

Alex is a Youth Editor for Guide & Seek and a senior at Santa Margarita High School in Orange County, California. Her ultimate goal is to attend law school to become a sports and entertainment attorney, however, before that can happen she hopes to attend UC Berkeley or the University of Southern California in the fall.

Next week I’ve been invited to speak at CollegeWeekLive, the world’s largest 2-day virtual college fair.  I’ll be giving a presentation on “Telling Your Story in the College Application,” giving tips on how to stand out in the admission process based on my experience working behind the scenes at Columbia University.  But the coolest part is that the bulk of the time I’ll be answering live questions from viewers all over the globe, and you can join in on the fun by registering on the CWL website.  Registration is totally free, and over the course of the 2-day event you’ll have the opportunity to speak with admission reps from over 200 colleges, sit in on sessions with college and financial aid experts, and hear from current students at universities across the country.

And, did I mention I’m giving away signed copies of my book Seventeen’s Guide to Getting Into College?!  We’ll be doing a random drawing of all the registered users who attend my session on Thursday, November 13th at 5pm (PST)/ 8pm (EST), and 5 lucky winners will receive an autographed book.  So check it out, and be sure to stop by my session and submit a question during the live web broadcast.