Hi there.  If you have noticed some changes to the site lately there is a good reason for that.  We’ve been hard at work here at CNS the past few months trying to improve upon our service as well as find new applications to offer our users.  If you are new to the site please enjoy the latest changes.  For our existing customers, here’s what we’ve done:

Implemented a new Search:  The old search worked but it did not “rock”.  So we added search topics such as Professor, Class, and Documents.  This way you can narrow down your results so you can find what you are looking for faster.   

New Subscription Plans:  We’ve improved upon our subscription plans so that you get more for your money.  If you sign up for a long term plan you will see we have increased the monthly credits as well as upped the amount of money you make when you sell your documents.  We’ve also allowed those that pay to view a higher % of the documents in the viewer.  Standard is 50% if you pay for 3 months you get 75% and if you pay for a year go ahead and view 100%!

Improved Professor Page:  View documents uploaded for your class more easily than ever with the new user interface.

Updated search results:  As we changed the search we felt it necessary to change the search results.  Results are clearer, easier understood, and load faster than before.

Champion Program:  Start earning cash today by becoming a CNS Affiliate or Champion.  The Champion program is tailor fit for students who love the idea of CNS and want to spread the word to the world!  Here we give you your own promo code and every time someone signs up with it you earn $.50.  Then if they pay for service you get 25-50% of their total start up cost! 

Affiliate Program:  This program is for student organizations, frats, and sororities.  Here we will sponsor your club, give you free promotional materials, and offer your members internships with our budding start up.  Also earn free memberships and cash by applying for your own promo code that you can spread across the college.

What’s next? 

We have an exciting new class scheduling application that is coming out soon.  This website will allow you to set up your class schedule for next semester in less than 5 minutes.  It incorporates the RateMyProfessors ratings automatically for you so you do not have to look all your professors up one at a time.  It also allows you to pick times you want to go to school and will show you all the classes offered during those times.  Stay tuned as we will be launching it in time for the Fall 2010 registration at SJSU!!

Hi there.  If you have noticed some changes to the site lately there is a good reason for that.  We’ve been hard at work here at CNS the past few months trying to improve upon our service as well as find new applications to offer our users.  If you are new to the site please enjoy the latest changes.  For our existing customers, here’s what we’ve done:

Implemented a new Search:  The old search worked but it did not “rock”.  So we added search topics such as Professor, Class, and Documents.  This way you can narrow down your results so you can find what you are looking for faster.   

New Subscription Plans:  We’ve improved upon our subscription plans so that you get more for your money.  If you sign up for a long term plan you will see we have increased the monthly credits as well as upped the amount of money you make when you sell your documents.  We’ve also allowed those that pay to view a higher % of the documents in the viewer.  Standard is 50% if you pay for 3 months you get 75% and if you pay for a year go ahead and view 100%!

Improved Professor Page:  View documents uploaded for your class more easily than ever with the new user interface.

Updated search results:  As we changed the search we felt it necessary to change the search results.  Results are clearer, easier understood, and load faster than before.

Champion Program:  Start earning cash today by becoming a CNS Affiliate or Champion.  The Champion program is tailor fit for students who love the idea of CNS and want to spread the word to the world!  Here we give you your own promo code and every time someone signs up with it you earn $.50.  Then if they pay for service you get 25-50% of their total start up cost! 

Affiliate Program:  This program is for student organizations, frats, and sororities.  Here we will sponsor your club, give you free promotional materials, and offer your members internships with our budding start up.  Also earn free memberships and cash by applying for your own promo code that you can spread across the college.

What’s next? 

We have an exciting new class scheduling application that is coming out soon.  This website will allow you to set up your class schedule for next semester in less than 5 minutes.  It incorporates the RateMyProfessors ratings automatically for you so you do not have to look all your professors up one at a time.  It also allows you to pick times you want to go to school and will show you all the classes offered during those times.  Stay tuned as we will be launching it in time for the Fall 2010 registration at SJSU!!

How to make it Through College

10 Vital Steps to Passing Your Classes

As I run a website specifically designed to help students increase their test scores and pass classes, I thought it pertinent to post this blog on how to best get through college without dropping out, failing classes, or taking 7 years to graduate.

So, here is a list to start you out on your journey to succeed in college and at the university level.  It is not the bible, but it is a good start for those of you who are incoming freshman or who are struggling with passing classes.

1)      Show up to class – I know this is hard for some, but I guarantee if you are in class everyday you will succeed (If you are in class playing games or surfing the web on your laptop I cannot guarantee success ; ) Many professors give participation points for showing up which often account for 10% of your grade, an easy way to go from a B to an A or a D to a C.  Also professors make announcements in class about extra credit, tell you when a topic will be on a test, and give reviews before the exams all which if you miss will certainly lower your grade. 

2)      Find a group of friends to study with – I never used to do this personally, but towards the end of my college career I started to and it made a world of difference.  Split up the studying and share study-guides, or ask a friend if they know the answer instead of looking it up yourself.  Also, answering other people’s questions really helps you to remember important topics and concepts as they are more likely to be stored to your memory when you are forced to regurgitate them over and over.

3)      READ – today so few of us actually read the books.  Why?  Because we don’t have time to read?  Actually yes, but the problem is not that “we don’t have time” it is that we don’t make time.  So make the time to read as much of the book as possible, and stay on top of it, once you are 4 chapters behind it is hard to catch up. (Advice – read the summary at the end of the chapter before starting the chapter; read the first sentence or two of each paragraph and then decide whether this paragraph is worth reading or, something you already know; even split the chapter up with a friend and teach each other!)

4)      Talk to your professors! – I can’t tell you how many grades I got that I did not deserve, just because I made friends with the professor.  They are there to help you, not to fail you.  If they see you trying then they will find a way to pass you.  And besides most of them are pretty cool and all of them are exceptionally knowledgeable.  Don’t forget to ask for their recommendations on things you are dealing with in your professional life either.  If you are looking for an internship or some directional advice they can help.

5)      Talk to advisors – one common reason students do not graduate on time is that they are not taking the right classes.  Make it a point to go to the university advisors once a semester to confirm you are on track to graduate. I know a ton of people that spent an extra year in college because they did not know they had to take a prerequisite, or that the class they needed to take was only taught during the fall semester. It is not only expensive not to go to the advisors, but also robs us of time, one of the most precious things we have in life.

6)      Limit your FACEBOOK time!! – ever caught yourself surfing Facebook – chatting, looking at an endless supply or pictures, or reading other people updates?  Yup! Me too! It’s addicting and it’s getting us in trouble.  Research proves that students who use Facebook consistently get lower scores on exams.  Why?  Because we never find time to study; because we start writing our paper then get distracted and caught on Facebook for an hour.  So stray away! limit your time to 30 minutes per day, enough time to update, check what people are doing and respond to any messages you have. 

7)      Become a good test taker – college is all about how well you test so get good at it.  Study hard for your tests, make study guides, make friends who make study guides, go to our website www.collegenoteshare.com and try to find a study guide, whatever you do, STUDY!

8)      Do your homework – some professors will give a lot of points out in homework assignments and doing them can drastically improve or hurt your grade.  I’ve failed tests and still passed classes just because I did all the homework. 

9)      Start writing – a lot of us struggle with writing papers.  So how do you improve?  Just start writing, it doesn’t matter if it is good just put something down.  A good way to go about this is to get down a few main thoughts you want to touch on then go back to the first one and start expanding on it, when you get stuck go to the next one and start expanding on it, and so on.  Before you know it you will have 3 pages of pretty good content.  And always remember that it will never be perfect the first time, Mozart did not write great symphonies without erasing a note, and neither will you. 

10)   Stay positive –the most important factor to your success is positivity.  If you stay positive and believe you can do it, you will.  School can be a drag, I know, I wanted to quit school too many times to count.  It isn’t easy, but most things that are worth doing aren’t.  You will never regret studying hard or staying up all night to finish a paper, but you will always regret not having a college degree.

So go find friends to study with, make flash cards, read the chapters, go to class, talk to your professors and work hard.  All these things will help you to pass your tests which will allow you to pass your classes and graduate college.  Oh yea, and check out www.CollegeNoteShare.com and see if there is something we have that can help you pass your classes.  If not post your stuff and make money off the schoolwork you spend so much time on. 

Comment below to share with us how you study and succeed in class, we could all use a little help and insight. 

Never forget that life is a journey; you can achieve great things no matter who you are, just depends which path you choose to take.   

-Ryan Guerrettaz

Thought you guys might enjoy reading some of the more popular questions Google asks in its interviews.  They are basically little IQ tests that check to see what your problem solving skills are like.  Try to figure them out for yourself and don't worry if you don't get them right.  A well thought out and logical answer scores you a lot of points as well...

10 Popular Google Interview Questions...

-Ryan Guerrettaz

There are some very new and exciting ways for us to take notes today.  We are no longer constrained to a pencil and paper but can store things on our phone, take notes on an iPad, even write them on paper and then view those notes on our computer when we get home as if we had written directly on the computer screen. 

So we thought we would share with you some of our favorite new technologies and web applications that are helping revolutionize the way we study, share, and work.  Here is a quick list of some really exciting technologies available to us today.

1. Pulse Pen from LiveScribe – this new product has yet to catch fire but is surely a glimpse into the future.  With the Pulse pen you can take notes on paper and view them on your computer later as if you had written them on the computer.  That’s not all; you can record audio with the pen too. Plug the pen into your computer when you get home and with this unique technology you see all the notes you took in a digital document.  No more transcribing your notes from paper to your computer! 
2. iPad – Apple’s new iPad is sure to revolutionize the eBook industry and how we view our newspapers, magazines, and even textbooks.  But it can also be used to make taking notes a cinch.  Open up your touch screen keyboard and start taking notes without a real keyboard.  Bam! You’re looking cooler than Miles Davis.  Not to mention all your notes are in an easily readable format.  Try using the iPad with one of the below applications to share with friends. 
3. DropBox.com – DropBox won the 2009 Mac Editor’s Choice Award.  DropBox is cloud computing (storing and editing of documents), allowing for accessibility from any computer at any time.  Even share folders with others so that any changes you make to a group project or document can be viewed real-time by those you share it with, totally eliminating the need to email back and forth.  The best part of DropBox is that you do not need an internet connection to access your files like Google Docs or Evernote. We use it! And it’s free!
4. Google Docs – Take and save your notes online with Google Docs.  Spreadsheets, presentation, and documents can all be created in Google Docs.  Google Docs allows you to share what you create with friends and gives you access anywhere from your Google account.  
5. Evernote – Similar to Google docs, Evernote allows you to create folders and documents, giving you the option to share with friends.  Evernote also has an iPhone app that allows you to take and access notes without being in a browser.

All these applications and products are exciting and at the front end of innovation in today’s quickly changing technological environment.  We at CollegeNoteShare are working diligently on introducing our own note-taking application that will allow you to take notes and instantly upload them to your class, gaining you credits and downloads that lead to cash in your pocket.  Stay tuned as we will launch our new app soon.

-Ryan Guerrettaz

The question posed is why aren’t more people using eBooks on college campuses?  They are cheaper than hard copy books and they lighten the load you have to carry around with you. They are also more environmentally friendly as they are not shipped and do not need to be manufactured. So why haven’t the masses adopted this new technology?

Here are 3 main reasons eBooks have yet to launch.

1.   Affordability – when you buy a textbook you can resell it to the bookstore or on a website like Half.com.  But when you buy a digital textbook you cannot resell it, meaning the price of the book must be less than the money you spend after reselling your book.  Example:  I buy my book for $150 and resell it for $80 meaning I only paid $70 to use the book for one semester.  The problem arises when the eBook costs $85.  Now you’ve paid more and you don’t have the luxury of resale.

2.   Accessibility – eBooks can be accessed online at anytime, but there are catches.  Some sites will only allow  you to view the book so many times, for instance you can view 150% of the book, so if you keep coming back over and over eventually you will no longer be able to view what you paid for.  Another problem is always needing an internet connection.  With a hard copy of the book you have access anywhere, anytime.  

3.   Printability – so you paid $85 to buy this eBook and now you want to print it out so that you can view the pages in class, highlight, and take notes, but the book cannot be printed!  Why?  Again textbook companies understand that if they allow printing of their books then people could easily share them with classmates.  But let’s say that the textbook is printable and you just paid $85 for it.  If you print out the pages at an average cost of 5 cents per page a 400 page book would cost you an extra $20, add that to the total cost of the initial cost and again this whole eBook thing is a bad deal.

So what is the solution?  With eReaders like the Kindle and iPad gaining popularity we will see a trend of more and more college students going digital instead of buying their books.  Google will help lead the pack with their free digital books and companies like Apple and Amazon will be the marketplaces we go to find our textbooks at a gradually lowering price.  Once the books are affordable and the technology is adopted eBooks will become the standard.  In fact I predict within 10 years we will see a larger amount of eBooks being sold than hard copy books and vice versa with newspapers and magazines.  Think about CDs and the music industry, iTunes disrupted that industry with their MP3 downloads and the iPod.  I believe the iPad is the eBook version of the iPod, but we will have to wait and see.  

-Ryan Guerrettaz

This will make students a lot happier this tax season...

"The American Opportunity Credit is not available on the 2008 returns taxpayers are filing during 2009. The new credit modifies the existing Hope Credit for tax years 2009 and 2010, making the Hope Credit available to a broader range of taxpayers, including many with higher incomes and those who owe no tax. It also adds required course materials to the list of qualifying expenses and allows the credit to be claimed for four post-secondary education years instead of two. Many of those eligible will qualify for the maximum annual credit of $2,500 per student."

(via University Parent) - Read more...