In a world where healthcare and unemployment seem to top the list of Americans’ concerns, the rising cost of attending college isn’t far behind. But don\’t let a shaky economy stand in the way of your dreams for your future. Instead, get smart when it comes to planning and don\’t leave any stone unturned when it comes to looking for help. Here’s how:

1. Get an idea of costs involved. The internet has many sites with current tuition charts that will give you a realistic picture of how far your savings will take you. Remember to compare all of the public and private schools that you are interested in. You can also use the web to find financial aid calculators to see if your family might be eligible and estimate how much help you can expect to receive.

2. Cast a wide net when applying. Even if your savings balance isn’t enough to cover a high-end school, don’t let that prevent you from applying if your grades are up to par. Every college has a different amount of scholarship funding and financial aid packages. Send application materials to a variety of schools to see where the best offer might come from.

3. No matter how much money you have put together, look into financial aid. Period. You might be surprised at the help you can qualify for. Get your hands on a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and start the process right away. While every school requires different forms, the FAFSA is widely accepted.

4. Borrow with caution. You’ve surely heard about the shortage of credit available in today\’s troubled market. There are student loans with good rates, as well as private loans for your parents if they quality. Be sure to study all of the terms before accepting, however, because the loans will likely follow you around for years to come.

What’s missing in this equation? A job. Many students work their way through college, or even take a year off before starting to pad their bank accounts. Or, you could consider attending a community college for the first year and saving money by living at home. Between loans, scholarships, financial aid, savings and good old ingenuity you can piece together a financial plan that will get you through college. Get creative and you will indeed get ahead.

Mary Greene counsels students on choosing online colleges and online universities meeting their individual needs.

As in any competitive market, deceitful is climbing and the GMAT guys who organize the GMAT exam don\’t enjoy it. In other words, some students are violating the rules of the GMAT and finding ways to see test questions before their actual exam. This is happening on the internet.

In 2009 alone, 32 scores were revoked by GMAT and 24 test takers were blocked from retaking the GMAT for 5 years.

Some sites gave away live GMAT exams for a fee so now there’s aiming to be increased security quantities and sophisticated web crawling software to fish out these sites before they can distribute sensitive material to the public.

Increased security processes like finger print reading, and digital photographs, along with passport scans will be used.

GMAT also has sophisticated web crawling software to find which sites are distributing GMAT queries.

The fact of the matter is cheating will always exist in one form or another. With GRE encroaching on GMAT territory, GMAT guys need to be on their best behavior to prove to business schools that their exam is better than the GRE. Otherwise, the GMAT exam will be losing market share.

I wonder what happens in the future. Will they have sophisticated CIA level security measures that they use in the TV show 24? Who knows. Security will always be a concern. And with the pace of technology progress these days, more and more security measures will be present–everything from hidden cameras to live security analysis. The future will tell. The incentive to cheat because of the competitive nature in MBA admissions and GMAT test preparation will always be there. It is just a matter of controlling it so it doesn’t get out of hand.

Perhaps even another reason why GMAT is increasing security measures for their GMAT measure is to maintain the integrity of their exam value in the eyes of business schools as the GRE exam encroaches onto their territory. Many top business schools are now accepting either the GMAT or the GRE exam for a variety of reasons ranging form attracting a more diverse student body to just expanding their overall applicant pool. Whatever the case may be, you can expect security measures to go up in the future.

This article was guest-written by GMAT teacher and guru, Zeke Lee. Zeke is the creator of The GMAT Pill Study Method and has aided numerous students ace the GMAT exam in as little time as possible. Although his secret techniques were limited to wealthy students who could pay $200/hour a few years ago, Zeke has now opened the door to his special strategies to the general public. Best Online GMAT Preparation

Photo by Dee’lite

Eduardo Peirano from Online Sapiens Blog tagged me in a meme “7 Things You Don’t Know About Me.” I’ve been avoiding responding for awhile, because, well, maybe I’ve been a bit lazy or a bit shy. But here goes! Thanks for tagging me, Eduardo!

1. I have a son who is 6′4″ and a daughter who is 5′2″. Not sure exactly what happened here! (Yes, they have the same father.)

2. I am a Canadian who is married to an American. Even though we both speak English, we often have different names for the same items. For example, what is a master bath to my husband is an ensuite to me. What is a wire nut to him is a marrette to me. A napkin to him is a serviette to me. The word “asphault” to him is pronounced “AZ-fault”; I pronounce it “ASH-fault.” Mostly, we enjoy confusing each other.

3. I grew up in a small logging town of only 10,000 people in northern British Columbia.

4. My grandparents celebrated their 70th anniversary in March 2009. Yes, you read that right: 70th!

5. I have the nickname “Red Menace” because of my red hair. I also had the nickname of “Wump” as a child. I think I’m still traumatized from that!

6. One of my very favorite things to do is to go fishing. To me, there is nothing more relaxing than a day spent on the water, even if I return home empty-handed.

7. I have the embarrassing habit of tearing up during sentimental movies, reading cheesy greeting cards and worse–even the right commercial can turn on the waterworks. I’m blaming it on my over-emotional Irish ancestors; at least that’s the story I’m sticking to!

Ok–Tag, your it!

In turn, I’m tagging:

Nate Desmond from Debtfree Scholar

Elizabeth Sheppard from The Non-Traditional Student Blog

Mary Davis from Every Day Baby Steps

Joe Rickman from Fresh Freedom

Hope everyone has fun with this.  It’s fun to learn a little about people and their blogs.