[who had the position] before me handed off some paperwork to me and told me what a great program [Monster College Advantage] was and that there was no cost for it. And working on a very small budget, it was perfect for what we needed. It fit in really well with our orientation program.”

According to Ms. Outlaw, TSTC-Waco’s New Student Orientation, to which the parents of new students also are invited, is offered in seven sessions, starting at the end of June. Monster College Advantage is one of the first presentations the students and parents attend.

Ms. Outlaw thinks the Monster College Advantage presentation is beneficial to her school’s New Student Orientation because it sends the message that a successful college experience is key to getting a great job after graduation.

“I really think it reinforces that the reason you go to college is to get a job,” she says. “I think a lot of students, especially right out of high school, think ‘Oh, I’m going to college because I’m supposed to or it’s a next step or to meet people’—whatever [the reason] might be. But the real reason is to get an education and to get a job. [Monster College Advantage] helps reinforce that—the reason you’re here is to get hired by somebody, and here are the steps to help you get there.”

Ms. Outlaw says that part of the reason that Monster College Advantage is offered early in the orientation sessions is so that parents and students can hear the presentation together and benefit from being able to discuss it together.

“I get great feedback from parents, who say, ‘I’ve said that stuff for so long!’” Ms. Outlaw shares. “It’s great to hear [this information] from somebody [from Monster], who helps students find jobs; for [the students] to get another perspective on why it’s important for them to do the things they need to do, like sitting in certain areas of the classroom and being involved. Not only for students, but for parents, too, really, so they know what their students are hearing and can get them ready to go to college and be more of a serious student.”

Not only do parents have great things to say about Monster College Advantage; TSTC-Waco students do as well.

“I actually have some student ambassadors who, before they became ambassadors, had seen the program,” Outlaw relates. “And a year later, they said, ’Oh, I’m so glad I came! I learned so much! I’m so glad I knew to talk to my instructors and to get involved in clubs. I didn’t really know all there was to offer when I first came [to campus], but it helped me kind of hear from someone else, who didn’t work for TSTC, what else there is.’”

Outlaw says that TSTC-Waco leadership and faculty also have had positive reactions to the program as part of New Student Orientation. She says that, for them, “it’s a win-win: it’s a free program, plus it’s great information.”

Another campus that has made Monster’s Making It Count Programs a part of their orientation activities is SUNY-Alfred State College. The College has provided Making It Count’s program for first-year college students every August since 2005, as a part of their Welcome Week Program.

According to Nikkie Murphy, Student Activities Assistant, for Alfred State College, the Monster College Advantage presentation is delivered “in a series of rotations where a third of the incoming freshmen attend at a time. [The Monster College Advantage presentation] is a time where [students] receive pertinent information about how to be successful as college students.”

Ms. Murphy says the Monster College Advantage program enhances the success of Alfred State College’s first-year programming by providing information on “goal-setting and long-term planning, as well as time management.”

Whether students are attending a large public school, a smaller private school, a community college, or technical college, the keys to success are the same. The University of Maine, a public university, was one of the first schools to host the Making It Count program for their first-year students and has been doing so since 2001. “Monster.com [has] constantly been finding great statistical data about college academics in relation to career choice and continues to improve on the delivery of the information,” said Silverio Barrera, Assistant to the Coordinator of New Student Programs.

Adriane Bradshaw, Associate Dean of Students at Ohio Northern University, agrees: “The Monster College Advantage program is one of the highlights of our fall orientation. The information is very useful, and the presenters are quite engaging.” Ohio Northern has brought a Making It Count presentation to their campus as part of their new student orientation since 2003.

Monster’s Making It Count Programs have been providing programs like Monster College Advantage to high school and college students, and their families, since 1998. The programs have reached more than 23 million youth, parents, and educators in more than 5,800 high schools and 1,200 colleges.

The Monster College Advantage program is available June through October, at no cost to the colleges and universities that host it, thanks to the assistance of corporate sponsors such as Bank of America, Dell, Army ROTC, and American Petroleum Institute. For more information about Monster’s Making It Count, and its program for first-year college students, Monster College Advantage, please visit www.makingitcount.com or call 1-877-668-1188.