This week’s Friday Giveaway Roundup consists of one item:

Parents of High School Juniors and Sophomores - Win a full ApplyWise College Admission Counseling Program!

This package is a $299 value and is perfect for college bound students that want to have an edge over the competition. This is a chance to get this fantastic program absolutely FREE!

There is no obligation to buy anything - but you must hurry - the deadline to enter is midnight on March 28, 2008. Visit this post: Win an ApplyWise College Admission Counseling Program! to enter.

All you need to do is leave a simple comment like - “I would love to win!”. That’s it!

Good Luck to all!

ApplyWise is a company that offers a service that is gaining popularity - college admission counseling.

If you are a parent with a child in high school then you are feeling the stress of the college applications process. The entire family tends to suffer as their budding collegian rides the admissions roller coaster. Applying to college is not what it used to be. The competition is tough and helping your child stand out from the crowd is a challenge. I have seen my friends go through it, and although my oldest son is still in middle school I see college on the horizon. Never one to turn down a little help, I was intrigued to learn about ApplyWise, a company that provides college admission guidance.

ApplyWise has two major components, a series of 12 online program sessions in the full program (or six sessions if you opt for the abbreviated program) and the “Dashboard”. The 12 program sessions are online and last for 30 to 45 minutes apiece. They are not live one on one sessions but rather seem more like mini-courses that walk your child through each step of the college application process. The following is a list of what each session in the ApplyWise program covers:

Session 1 - Your Initial Plan
Session 2 - Build Your “Brag Sheet” Resume
Session 3 - Create Your College List
Session 4 - Narrow Down Your LIst
Session 5 - How to Visit Your Colleges
Session 6 - Write Your Activity Essay
Session 7 - Decide When to Apply
Session 8 - Get the best Letters of Recommendation
Session 9 - Write your Personal Statements
Session 10 - Put Together Your Whole Application
Session 11 - Prepare for Interviews
Session 12 - What to do if you are deferred, waitlisted or rejected.

Through the use of interactive exercises, games, and examples your child will narrow in on their goals, assemble their college list, learn interview skills, create a brag sheet, learn which people will provide the best letters of recommendation and more.

Keeping track of all this information is also difficult. The second component of the ApplyWise college admission counseling program helps your child with the organizing. Referred to as the “Dashboard”, the ApplyWise program includes access to this powerful online tool.

The dashboard is a place where your child will keep track of important dates such as testing dates and application deadlines as well as self imposed due dates for intermediate steps. The dashboard also maintains information on the colleges that your child is applying to. This includes general info like college profiles and statistics to personalized info like contact name and notes. On their dashboard, the student will keep track of their progress through the program sessions, they will also be able to create and print essential application documents like their brag sheet. Included here are video Q&A, interactive graphs and expert tips. In addition, students can sign up for email or text message reminders.

But ApplyWise is not only for high school juniors and seniors but also for their parents. This is the part of the program that I really like. At a time when children are asserting their independence in life, it is hard for parents to keep tabs on their kids activities without nagging or becoming overbearing. Tempers often flare resulting in heated arguments. But the college application process is so critical to a child’s future and so complex that parent involvement is a must. The ApplyWise program includes a Parents Dashboard, too! Parents are given their own login to a Parent’s homepage that is linked to their child’s dashboard. Here parents can monitor their child’s progress through the program sessions (1), weekly calendar (2), test dates (3), application documents (4), tasks (5), colleges (6), and more online tools (7).

So now I know you are asking - How much does all of this good stuff cost? Not as much as you may think. The ApplyWise 12 program session is an affordable $299 at the time of this writing. Compared to programs that cost thousands of dollars ApplyWise offers a lot of value. For the $299 you get the program itself and access to your dashboard from the time you sign up through June of your senior year. That is almost 2 years. Another great feature of ApplyWise college admission counseling program is the ability to schedule one on one telephone coaching sessions for an additional cost. If you have more personalized questions or need a little additional guidance you can schedule just one telephone coaching session with a qualified counselor or as many sessions as you need. But the beauty is that you don’t need to commit to a series of sessions, you can purchase one at a time.

To find out more about the ApplyWise college application resource, visit the ApplyWise website. You will learn more about the program and about the founder - Dr. Katherine Cohen who has an impressive background in college admissions coaching and several ivy league degrees of her own. She is also the founder of IvyWise, another admissions counseling company that has an impressive track record for helping it’s students earn admission to the college of their choice.

And just for the record, this post does contain affiliate links. Also, if I have piqued your interest - check back here at Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com in the next few days for an awesome giveaway! I will be holding a contest where one lucky person will win a full 12 session program of the ApplyWise College Admission Counseling program. Stay tuned for more details.

Last spring I wrote about my thoughts on cell phones for kids from a parents perspective. At the time I was thinking about purchasing a cell phone for my son.

Over the summer, I did indeed join a family cell phone plan and get a cell phone for him. Now, 6 months later, I can look back and see if my perspective on cell phones for kids is the same.

The bottom line is favorable. I like knowing that my son has a cell phone and is reachable at all times. He is now in middle school and always carries the cell phone with him. He is responsible enough to take care of and keep the cell phone charged. He is also careful to turn the phone off during school hours according to school policy.

The entire cell phones for kids experience is not without it’s lessons though.

Data Plans and Cell Phones for Kids

Many cell phone carriers have web access, downloadable ringtones, music, videos, games, etc. Almost all of these extras carry a charge. Even if you subscribe to a data plan, the time you spend on the site and size of the transfer may be included but the actual download (for example, purchasing the ringtone) is not.

This potential for tons of hidden fees made me extremely nervous. Even if the kids know that they should not download anything it is not only tempting, but very easy to do accidentally. Suddenly that great family plan will be costing you thousands of dollars per month. What I found out is that you can call most carriers and they can block access to these services from your or your kids cell phones. Even if you think everything is blocked always ask the very general question “Is there any other service on this phone that can result in additional charges?” - “I want every service that can result in additional charges to be blocked because the phone is being used by a child.”

Texting and Cell Phones for Kids

I opted for the unlimited texting plan. I found that my son is big on texting - he texts me, our extended family, and his friends. He actually texts more than he talks. We would probably be ok with a plan that allows a ton of text messages but the unlimited plan did not cost that much more.

How Many Minutes on Plans for Cell Phones for Kids?

If you have a family plan - this may actually depend more on how much you use the phone. As I said before, my son texts more than he talks, so he uses very few minutes. I was able to downgrade our plan because I found that we were not using all of our allowed minutes - and if you have rollover minutes then you are even better off.

In the end cell phones for kids can be a good choice but you, as a parent, need to actively monitor your cell phone bill in order to get the most out of it. As your child grows, his cell phone usage will also change so what works today may not be the same tomorrow.

UPDATE: I guess the powers that be had their say. It appears that the Hanna Montana camp pulled their weight and had the video removed from YouTube. So much for freedom of expression. Really, I found this Mylie Cyrus video to be educational, sort of a glimpse into the inner workings of showbiz. There is nothing wrong in that. “See kids, this is how celebrities make a show run smoothly.” - that kind of thing. There was nothing scandalous or earth shattering in this Hanna Montana video. That they pulled the video is the most ridiculous thing to come out of this episode.

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So, this is how Hanna Montana aka Miley Cyrus and other celebrities accomplish quick costume changes right before our very eyes. And this time it was caught on tape - Hanna Montana is whisked away for a costume change while her double finishes the number for the crowd. If you are a parent of a tween Hanna Montana fan, then this video may interest you and elevate your “cool” parent status as well:

Thanks to MJ Morning Show for this Miley Cyrus scoop.