SoFi

So, you’ve been accepted to law school—congrats! You’re well on your way to embarking on a career that could help you fight for others’ rights and further the public good.

These are all laudable motivations, but chances are there’s something stronger weighing on you: How to pay for law school? It’s not necessarily clear how to find (or negotiate) scholarships for law school.

According to The Association of American Law Schools, on average, law school students paid $49,567 in tuition and fees for the 2019-2020 academic year to attend a private, out-of-state school—and, that amount doesn’t even include living expenses and other non-school costs that could pop up during graduate school.

U.S. News & World Report notes that the average annual cost of a public, out-of-state law school is $41,726, or $28,264 for in-state . (Even the lower cost option here comes to $84,792 for a three-year law program.)

Because students aren’t yet racking up those billable attorney hours, it can be helpful to research law school scholarship opportunities before applying. Here’s a broad overview of potential law school scholarships—plus some links to resources for students thinking about going to law school.

Crunching (and Swallowing) the Numbers

On the whole, according to non-profit organization Law School Transparency, law school tuition has been steadily rising over the last 35 years for all American Bar Association-approved law schools.

Per the numbers mentioned above, there might be a fair amount of sticker shock for those who haven’t yet applied for graduate school and are only thinking of someday going the lawyer route. (Here’s SoFi’s guide on how to apply to law school.) Fortunately, there are a range of options for aspiring attorneys seeking to fund law school.

In some cases, there are full-ride tuition scholarships and need-based grants out there. Full-rides of course, are not available at all law schools. If a law school doesn’t explicitly advertise or highlight information regarding full-ride opportunities, interested students can contact the school to ask. To offset the cost of attending law school, some school applicants may opt to apply only to programs that offer full- or partial- rides. One simple way to figure this out is old-fashioned Googling.

Students deciding whether to apply to law school may want to familiarize themselves with the language universities adopt to explain these scholarships. In some cases, specific scholarships are designated for particular students. Here are a few examples of how law schools describe their full-ride law school scholarship offerings— including, the University of Chicago Law School (which has several such opportunities), NYU’s Latinx Rights Scholarship, and Duke Law’s Mordecai Scholars. Magoosh, the higher education test-prep and study counseling company with the silly-sounding name, has published a 2018 list of a handful of others (along with suggestions on how to strengthen one’s resume when applying for such scholarships).

Full-ride law school scholarships can be highly competitive—with some schools offering as few as two to four per enrollment year. One potential tip for the search for scholarships is to target law schools with more tuition help.

U.S. News & World Report has organized and tabulated a list of 10 law schools that offer the most tuition assistance—reporting that “at least 77.8% of students who received grants at these schools got enough to cover more than half of tuition.” Some of the schools listed in U.S. News & World Report , like Pennsylvania State University-Carlisle, go as high as 93.2% of full-time students receiving aid in that amount.

If all of this is starting to sound like alphabet (and number) soup, there are dedicated resources like Fastweb to help prospective students find scholarships for which they may qualify. Fastweb is an online resource to help students find scholarships, financial aid, and even part-time jobs in support of college degrees.

The American Bar Association’s law-student division also has a running list (along with deadlines) of law student awards and scholarships. Additionally, the Law School Admission Council offers a list of diversity scholarships available to students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Here’s another guide on finding and applying for scholarships and one on unclaimed scholarship money.

Another resource that could be useful in factoring living expenses is this student loan calculator for aspiring law school students. Tools like this can, usually, auto-load the tuition and cost-of-living breakdowns for specific law schools. From here, it’s possible then to compare how much degrees from particular schools may end up costing.

Negotiating Wiggle Room

Doing all this research and the math around law school scholarships could put applicants in a more informed position when evaluating which program to attend—and, potentially, help them to identify schools more likely to be interested in their application.

A reality of today’s admissions process for law school is negotiating scholarships. Some schools have a strict policy against negotiating, but others fully expect their initial offer to be countered. That’s why it can help to save acceptance letters and anything in writing from schools that offer admission.

Offer letters could then be shared with competing schools, asking if they’re able to match another university’s aid. It might be uncomfortable asking for more tuition assistance upfront, but a little discomfort now could help applicants shoulder less law school debt later on. If arguing a position makes an applicant uncomfortable, it might be worth pondering whether to become a lawyer.

Doing research on law schools (and figuring out the likely cost-of-living expenses at each institution) could help applicants to determine which scores or grades to aim for in an effort to make law school more affordable for them. Tabulating expenses (and having them on hand) may also demonstrate to universities that the amounts being negotiated are based in well-documented expenses.

Law School Scholarships

There are lots of options for law-school hopefuls to find potential scholarships. The nonprofit organization Law School Admission Council (LSAC) has compiled a list of the many law school scholarships available to applicants .

From the LSAC’s list, the Attorney Ken Nugent Legal Scholarship ($5,000) and the BARBRI Law Preview’s “One Lawyer Can Change the World” Scholarship ($10,000) are worth pinning, due to the sizable chunk of change they offer.

Many law schools themselves offer competitive scholarships to attract stronger candidates. It might be helpful to check if a school also offers in-state residents specific tuition reductions or grants—especially true, if the applicant is considering a public school in their home state.

Similarly, some law firms offer scholarships. Usually applying is a straightforward process: Many, like the Rise To Shine Scholarship , only require a short essay to be considered. On top of this, there’s the rising trend of law firms helping new hires to repay a portion of their student debt once onboarded.

Federal vs. Private Loans for Law School

Students wanting to apply to law school could consider the differences between federal and private student loans. Federal loans come with certain benefits not guaranteed by private ones (such as, forbearance or income-driven repayment).

Private loans—like SoFi’s—can also help applicants to cover the expense of graduate school. So, it might be a good idea to weigh the pros and cons of both federal and private student loan options for law school.

For example, Direct PLUS loans for grads charge 7.08% in disbursement fees for the 2019-2020 academic year. (2020 numbers aren’t out yet.) SoFi Graduate Student Loans, by comparison, have no fees whatsoever—not even late or overdraft fees. Another great resource in understanding federal loans can be found over at studentaid.gov .

It’s important to note that private student loans don’t offer the same benefits and protections afforded to federal student loan borrowers, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). If a law school applicant is interested eventually in becoming a public defender or pursuing non-profit legal work, forgiveness and forbearance perks may play a role in their decision.

In addition to the financial aid resources mentioned above, more information can be found in SoFi’s overview of private student loans for graduate school. Those interested in figuring out how to pay for law school may want to check out SoFi’s competitive-rate private law school and MBA loans.

Law School Loans from SoFi

Going to law school is a big life decision. And, law school’s attendant costs add even more weight to this choice. If students interested in law school find themselves coming up short on funds for the JD after scholarships or federal aid, additional options may be available.

Some might seek out a student loan from a private lender, to name one possibility. SoFi’s private loans for law school offer competitive rates, flexible repayment options, and access to member benefits.

You can check your rates in just three minutes to see if a SoFi Law School Loan might help you pursue that dream of becoming a lawyer.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

SoFi Private Student Loans
Please borrow responsibly. SoFi Private Student Loans are not a substitute for federal loans, grants, and work-study programs. You should exhaust all your federal student aid options before you consider any private loans, including ours. Read our FAQs. SoFi Private Student Loans are subject to program terms and restrictions, and applicants must meet SoFi’s eligibility and underwriting requirements. See SoFi.com/eligibility-criteria for more information. To view payment examples, click here. SoFi reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria at any time. This information is subject to change. SoFi Bank, N.A. and its lending products are not endorsed by or directly affiliated with any college or university unless otherwise disclosed.

SOPS20019

The COVID-19 pandemic and social-distancing strategies used to curb the virus’ spread plunged the US economy into recession in February 2020, marking the end of the longest bull market in American history. The stock market took a tumble, hitting a low in late March. But since then, amid government stimulus designed to minimize the economic impact of the pandemic, stocks have taken back much of the ground they lost.

Will rising stocks, the easing of social distancing restrictions, and the return of millions of people to work spell a quick end to the recession? Possibly. But it’s also possible that we could be in for a double-dip recession. A double-dip recession is one in which the economy enters recession, with a brief recovery before the economy enters recession for a second time. Here’s a look at what that could mean.

Economic Recessions 101

Generally speaking, a recession is a period of economic decline. It can be accompanied by a rise in unemployment, a loss of consumer confidence, drops in income and spending, increased business failures, and, of course, falling stock markets.

There have been 13 recessions since the end of World War II, including the current recession, which began at the end of February and early March as COVID-19 spread across the United States. The economy began to contract as states issued stay-at-home orders, stores and restaurants closed, and travel nearly ceased.

Recession is a natural part of the economic cycle and, historically speaking, the economy has always recovered.

What Shapes Can Recovery Take?

Recovery from recession can take a few different forms, including V-shaped, U-shaped or the double-dip (W-shaped) recovery.

A V-shaped recovery is the best case scenario in which there is a sharp downturn and then the economy rebounds quickly. If you were to graph this type of downturn and recovery it would look like the letter V.

A U-shaped decline and recovery represents a slow economic growth, in which the economy takes months, if not years to return to pre-recession heights. Imagine taking the graph of a V-shaped recession and spreading the bottom out. The Great Recession of 2007–2009, which lasted for 19 months, is a good example of a U-shaped recession.

A double-dip, or W-shaped recession and recovery occurs when the economy enters recession twice in quick succession. An initial recovery occurs relatively quickly, spurred on by government stimulus. However, a second dip occurs that disrupts the recovery process. This second dip could be spurred on by a number of factors, including the end of monetary and fiscal stimulus, ongoing unemployment, a drop in industrial output, falling GDP, or other economic shocks.

When Was the Last Double-Dip Recession?

The last time a double-dip recession occurred in the US was between 1980 and 1982. The scene was set for the first recession of 1980 by monetary policy of the 1970s. Policymakers believed that they could lower unemployment by controlling inflation. This belief led to what was known as “stop-go” monetary policy, which alternated between fighting high unemployment and high inflation.

When the Fed was in “go” time, it would lower interest rates to free up cash for businesses, which could theoretically start to employ more people. When it was in “stop” mode, the Fed would raise interest rates to try and fight inflation. Unfortunately, this strategy didn’t work, and unemployment and inflation rose together during the period.

In 1979, Paul Volcker became the chairman of the Fed and helped squash the cycle of inflation and unemployment by raising the interest rate to 20%. Though this move had some benefits, it also aided in the recession of 1980.

The economy recovered relatively quickly heading into 1981. Though GDP rose, unemployment and inflation remained hig. In response, the Fed tightened the monetary supply and the country plunged back into recession in late 1981. Volcker was determined not to back down from his monetary policy despite increasing criticism from Congress and the Treasury Department, saying “We have set our course to restrain growth in money and credit. We mean to stick with it.”

Eventually, the economy recovered after inflation was brought under control and unemployment fell, ushering in a new era of relative economic stability.

Are We Headed for Another Double Dip?

The movements of the market and the economy can be difficult to predict. No one knows for certain how the recovery will shape up. But some experts say that a double-dip recession is possible again. For example, if states reopen too quickly, relaxing social distancing rules, there could be a resurgence of COVID-19 that leads to another government shutdown.

Congress provided trillions of dollars in aid to help prop up the economy through the CARES Act, which offered direct payments to citizens and loans to small businesses to help keep them afloat.

Yet, experts worry that the government could withdraw its economic aid programs too soon, which would leave the recovery too weak to stand on its own.

Other experts believe that while monetary and fiscal stimulus from the federal government may encourage a short-term, V-shaped recovery, such a recovery would not factor in damage to business balance sheets, sales and profitability, which may take longer to show up and for investors to notice the damage.

It’s unclear what would happen should another dip occur. Would Congress be prepared for a second round of bailouts, for example? Do businesses have enough cash to support them through a second dip, or would more businesses fail? Will consumer confidence fall, making it even more difficult for the economy to bounce back?

Preparing for a Double-Dip Recession

While a double-dip recession can be hard to predict, there are things investors can do to make sure they are prepared.

First, it may be prudent that investors have enough saved in an emergency fund. It is recommended to put away at least three to six months worth of expense. This may help ride out difficult financial periods and make it less likely they’ll need to withdraw money from the market while stocks are down.

Second, investors may want to evaluate how diversified their investment portfolios are. Not all investments will perform the same way during a recession. Some may be up, even as others are down. A diversification strategy allows individuals to spread their money out across asset classes—such as stocks and bonds—and sectors to help reduce the risk that poor performance from any given stock will drag their portfolio down.

Finally, talking to a financial advisor can go a long way in helping create a financial plan to help weather the current and future big recessions. SoFi financial planners are available to members—at no additional cost—to advise them according to their individual financial needs.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

SoFi Invest®
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . The umbrella term “SoFi Invest” refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, LLC and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.

Investment Risk: Diversification can help reduce some investment risk. It cannot guarantee profit, or fully protect in a down market.

SOIN20115

For soon-to-be-grads, the senior year of college is both an end and a new start. Finishing up a university degree can mark the beginning of a career or diving into grad school.

Senior year in college can mean the start of mapping out a more independent adulthood. While each college senior has a unique situation, there’s one constant: life after college involves change.

Here are some tips on navigating the senior year of college—from polishing up that resume to hunting for a job, from understanding student loan obligations to creating a more professional presence on social media channels.

Preparing for Life Beyond College

Post-secondary education in the U.S. has been on the rise for decades. There’s a growing number of seniors preparing to wrap up their college educations and move to the next stage in life—whatever form that takes.

In the year 1900, just 27,420 Bachelor’s degrees were awarded nationwide (back then, the vast majority of graduates—80.9%—were male). Those numbers look a quite different today, with 3.9-million students a year graduating with a college degree.

For US college students, graduation rates for four-year degrees were 60.4%, while completion rates for two-year programs was 31.6%. And, although college is often the last stop before pursuing a full-time job, a lot of college seniors feel ill-prepared for the changes to come after graduation.

According to one annual survey of college students , only four in 10 students say they feel “very” or “extremely” prepared for their future careers. Some college seniors may be searching for tips on how to position themselves for life after graduation.

The above-mentioned study also found that students feel they’re lacking in key areas of preparation for life beyond college. Fewer than half of students say college has imparted critical skills for transitioning to the workforce—including solving complex problems, resume writing, interviewing, and job searching. And while 77% of students felt good about their professionalism and work ethic, there’s a significant gap in how employers see new grads on these key areas.

Global forces haven’t made it easy on new grads, either. As the novel Coronavirus pandemic drives high unemployment rates and shutters businesses, some data shows that college seniors have access to fewer entry-level positions—with openings paying less than in recent years. As such, it’s never been more important for college seniors to plan in advance for life after college. Here are some tips for turning that senior year in college into a lily pad for post-grad life:

Confirm degree requirements

For students embarking on their senior year of college, it can be a good idea to confirm that they’ve met all the prerequisites for graduating.

Whether it’s a forgotten phys-ed requirement, general education credits, or a class required to complete a specific degree, it’s helpful to double-check that all required courses have been completed—while there’s still time to make up for any missed credits or must-complete classes. This can be especially important for students who have transferred schools during college.

According to one study, of the one-third of students who change schools during their post-secondary education, nearly 40% get no credit at all for the courses completed before the move. On average, students who transfer lose 27 credits, the equivalent of a year in school.

Even for those who confirmed their credits at the time they transferred, it’s smart to double-check to avoid any unpleasant (and costly) surprises during senior year in college. While they’re at it, outgoing students may also want to confirm there’s nothing else standing in the way of collecting their degree on graduation day.

Depending on school policy, outstanding library fines and overdue books or other penalties may prevent a student from graduating on time.

Brush up on skills

Each year, the Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the GMAT exam, surveys recruiters to better understand what hiring companies want to see in new graduates. Communication skills, including oral communication, listening skills, written communication, and presentation skills are among those that top the list.

These skills are values across industries—with employers in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, technology, products/services and government/non-profit all ranking oral communication as tops. Skills tied to teamwork also ranked highly.

Even if it’s not possible to gain on-the-job experience during your senior year in college, future grads may want to hone these important skills during their final years in college.

Extra-curricular activities, whether a team sport or debate club, can help to deepen core competencies, provide demonstrable experience to prospective employers—and even help to deepen one’s connections to their fellow students (ahem, networking, ahem).

Start a resume

An up-to-date resume is needed throughout one’s career. Generally, a resume lists things like:

•   Work and educational history
•   Professional skills and capabilities
•   Accomplishments and successes

It can be helpful to understand the resume format that companies expect from job applicants. At some larger companies, resumes are initially filtered by AI software—not a living person in the human resources department. So, it may be a good idea to seek out model resumes online—as seemingly small things, like the choice font, can impact how the resume is (or is not) processed.

For some college seniors, applying for a post-graduation job will be one of the first times they’ve needed a professional resume. But, without formal work experience or a job history related to one’s desired field, it can also be difficult to know what to include.

Even in the absence of formal work experience, college seniors can write a resume that highlights what they offer to a prospective employer. College seniors could take some time to think about jobs and activities they’ve participated in to date. What does this documented experience demonstrate about them as a worker or team member?

Part-time jobs (even roles like a camp counselor or on-campus tutor) can show a proven history of increasing responsibility, leadership and teamwork abilities—all things that recruiters may look out for.

Foreign language skills and extracurricular activities can also demonstrate cultural competency and drive. Listing academic achievements, including a high GPA and/or awards won, may help college seniors to stand out in the crowded job-applicant pool.

Time for a social media cleanse

For many college seniors, social media profiles are a proud record of good times with friends over the last four years. But, social media can also be a career liability.

According to one survey, 70% of hiring managers look at an applicant’s social media when deciding whether to offer employment. And, for those that think fun times in college won’t come back to haunt them: 57% of HR managers who looked at a candidate’s social media profile found that it contained content that caused the applicant not to get the job.

As such, senior year in college can be a good time to “professionalize” one’s social media presence. Seniors don’t need to delete their profiles—in fact, nearly half of recruiters say they’ll ignore an applicant if they can’t find them online—but they could pay closer attention to how they are representing themselves.

Among the types of things recruiters say could disqualify an applicant are some obvious inclusions—for example, photos that display drinking and drug use or discriminatory comments about race, gender, and religion. But, less obvious infractions, such as that now-embarrassing profile handle that was set up years ago and never changed, bad-mouthing employers or teachers, or even posting overly frequently, are all things that can potentially make an employer think twice.

A social media cleanse is also an opportunity for college seniors to stand out. While new grads’ resumes may be thin compared to those who have been in the workforce for years, a dynamic, creative social media profile that highlights one’s interests and hobbies, positive college relationships, and achievements, can help bring a candidate’s application to life.

In addition to crafting a resume, college seniors may also want to set up an up-to-date profile on a social network used by both job seekers, recruiters and employers—sites such as LinkedIn or GlassDoor. This is one more space to display accomplishments and self-presentation skills.

Get finances in order

For some college seniors, transitioning from college to work life can present new financial obligations.

For students with financial aid, senior year is a good time to start thinking about how they will pay off student loans—once they’re due. Because student loans are subject to interest, which compounds over time, the sooner they can be paid off, the less their education will cost in the long run.

To start, students may want to make a list of all of their educational loans along with the interest rate and repayment terms for each. Because some student loans are not subject to interest during school, seniors with extra money from part-time employment or other sources may want to pay down a portion of their principal while still enrolled.

Doing so can reduce the amount that will be subject to interest later on. (It’s worth noting that some student loans do accrue interest while a student is enrolled, so doing your fine-print homework is key here).

Some college seniors may want to research different ways to repay their educational debt. For federal student loan borrowers , there are specific repayment programs that some seniors may be eligible for—including income-driven repayment, public service loan cancellation, and forbearance.

After exhausting all federal repayment options, some students may want to research refinancing a student loan with a private lender. It’s important to note that private lenders do not guarantee the same repayment options as federally backed student loans.

Replacing a federal loan with a private loan can cause the borrower to forfeit federal repayment options.

Positioning Seniors for Success

Senior year in college is a bittersweet time. For many it marks the end of carefree school days, and the start of exciting new adult responsibilities. But, more than just a time of impending transition, senior year means undertaking some next-step preparations.

From learning how to position oneself for employment opportunities to mitigating the long-term burden of a student loan, what a college senior does now can help them to get ready for the life ahead.

The Takeaway

For some seniors in college, the conclusion of classes doesn’t truly mean the end. It’s the start of a time of change—ripe for further honing one’s professional skills and mapping out a plan for the years that lie beyond college.

Student loan debt is one long-term obligation for millions of recent college graduates. Refinancing educational debt to a lower interest rate can reduce monthly repayments ( lengthening the loan term can do this even more). A lower rate can also mean paying less interest over the life of the loan (shortening the loan term will further cut the interest paid).

Refinancing student loans with SoFi can be done all online—with no prepayment, origination or application fees.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Third-Party Brand Mentions: No brands, products, or companies mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO REFINANCE FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE WHITE HOUSE HAS ANNOUNCED UP TO $20,000 OF STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR PELL GRANT RECIPIENTS AND $10,000 FOR QUALIFYING BORROWERS WHOSE STUDENT LOANS ARE FEDERALLY HELD. ADDITIONALLY, THE FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT PAUSE AND INTEREST HOLIDAY HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO DEC. 31, 2022. PLEASE CAREFULLY CONSIDER THESE CHANGES BEFORE REFINANCING FEDERALLY HELD LOANS WITH SOFI, SINCE THE AMOUNT OR PORTION OF YOUR FEDERAL STUDENT DEBT THAT YOU REFINANCE WILL NO LONGER QUALIFY FOR THE FEDERAL LOAN PAYMENT SUSPENSION, INTEREST WAIVER, OR ANY OTHER CURRENT OR FUTURE BENEFITS APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL LOANS. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
SoFi Private Student Loans
Please borrow responsibly. SoFi Private Student Loans are not a substitute for federal loans, grants, and work-study programs. You should exhaust all your federal student aid options before you consider any private loans, including ours. Read our FAQs. SoFi Private Student Loans are subject to program terms and restrictions, and applicants must meet SoFi’s eligibility and underwriting requirements. See SoFi.com/eligibility-criteria for more information. To view payment examples, click here. SoFi reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria at any time. This information is subject to change.

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SOSL20031

Writing a good thesis statement can be extremely difficult, but it usually signals the end of a long road. Most theses are turned in at the end of undergraduate or graduate school.

It’s an accomplishment to celebrate, and for students who are just beginning to write theirs, this article could help make the thesis process a little less stressful.

Undergraduate Thesis

Some undergraduate programs do not require students to do a thesis. Other programs may require an undergraduate thesis to be completed as part of an Honors program, and other schools may offer the thesis as a voluntary option for students.

Doing a thesis gives students the opportunity to delve deeper into a topic they’re interested in and gain research and writing skills that may assist them later in life.

Students who are considering doing a thesis during undergrad should be aware of the time commitment. An undergraduate thesis is usually 40 to 60 pages long and takes about a year to complete. Typically, this is done during a student’s senior year.

Another difference between an undergraduate and graduate thesis is that an undergraduate thesis isn’t expected to reach the same level of originality as a graduate thesis is.

An undergrad thesis is less about presenting new ideas, and more about displaying critical thinking skills and an ability to conduct thorough research, bringing together ideas from many sources.

The requirements for completing an undergraduate thesis may vary depending on the school and program that a student is enrolled in.

Completing a thesis during undergrad can potentially be helpful for students who are interested in going to graduate school.

Successfully completing a thesis can highlight a student’s ability to tackle a large research project and potentially even illustrate how committed the student is to attending graduate school.

Graduate Thesis

The terminology of post-graduate work can be confusing, with both thesis and dissertations being used for different programs. Generally, in the U.S., we refer to a thesis for the project completed at the end of a Master’s program, and a dissertation is the completion of a Ph.D. program.

Not every Master’s program requires a thesis to graduate, some students may not want to focus on research, and instead they may have the opportunity to do some real-world work during their Master’s program.

For students who choose to do a thesis, this will be an intensive research project that focuses on a specific topic. A Master’s thesis typically ranges from 60 to 100 pages in length, and requires the student to research both primary and secondary sources to support their argument.

All this work may seem like a heavy burden for a student to complete on their own, but they’ll usually have an advisor to assist them throughout the entire process.

Each school and individual program may have different thesis requirements, so students who are just getting started may consider reviewing requirements with a program administrator or their thesis advisor.

Tips on Writing a Thesis

Whether the thesis is for undergrad or a Master’s program, there are some general tips that can be followed that might help make this monumental task a bit easier.

1. Understanding the Why

Writing a thesis, whether for undergrad or graduate school, is a big undertaking.

It can help students to cope better with the amount of work when they understand why they’re doing it, what the purpose of the thesis is. This is different from selecting the topic, this is about how the thesis will benefit them in the long-run.

Writing a thesis can help show that the student has developed professional research and writing skills as well as a refined knowledge of their topic of study. These skills will stay with students for life and may be of use in their career.

Should the student choose to pursue a doctoral program, these skills will almost certainly come in handy as they work on their dissertation.

2. Researching How to Write a Thesis

Research both how to research and how to write before getting started on the thesis itself.
Students may want to consider reading up on how to write a thesis even before they start the program, some recommendations suggest exploring this topic about six to 12 months before starting the actual thesis research.

Getting your bearings on the process could help make it feel a little less overwhelming. Students may want to checkin in with their thesis advisor when looking for resources as they may have helpful recommendations for sources or suggest reading that is specific to your field of study.

3. Choosing a Topic Carefully

This step can be stressful for students. A thesis topic has to be specific, but not so much so that students can’t find any research on it to support their argument. If their topic is too broad, it won’t be original enough.

Students can get help from their advisors and look into the most recent research that’s being done on their potential topic to help them narrow down exactly what they’d like to work on.

4. Reading Often

Another tip for writing a successful thesis is to read often. Reading often can help students cultivate ideas and develop more creative thinking. Even if the topics aren’t always within the students core area of research, they can still contribute to helping the student branch out and come up with a creative thesis topic.

5. Creating Citations Over Time

Writing a thesis means using primary and secondary sources to support an argument. Students will need to cite their sources and include a bibliography or works cited with their thesis.

It could save students a headache if they build their citations over time, taking notes and organizing their sources as they go instead of doing this all at the end.

Also make note of the format required for your citations, depending on the field of study students may be required to use American Psychological Associate (APA), Modern Language Associate (MLA) or Chicago, which has two styles; notes and bibliography or author-date.

There are digital services available to students that can help streamlining the citation process. Check in with your advisor to see if they have any insight to share. Some citation managers to consider might be EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero.

6. Building a Relationship with Your Advisor

Students can benefit from building a strong relationship with their thesis advisor. The advisor will generally be overseeing the process, answering questions, and giving feedback and constructive criticism to the student.

It may be more comfortable receiving this feedback if students have developed a positive relationship with their advisor.

7. Writing and Rewriting

Writing a little bit every day can help turn this big project into more manageable pieces. Students should get in the habit of writing every day, and also rewriting and editing their work regularly.

Making improvements constantly will be easier than having to make improvements to the whole thesis at the end.

It may also be helpful to create an outline for the thesis, consider including the topics of interest and organizing them into sections. This could be a helpful tool to help you stay on task with writing and researching.

8. Staying Healthy, Mentally and Physically

Coping with the stress of writing a Master’s or undergraduate thesis can be difficult, but if physical and mental health are neglected for the sake of getting work done, the work will suffer in the long run.

While students can be hyper-focused on their thesis work, it is helpful to also prioritize their physical and mental health by getting adequate sleep, staying active, and eating well.

If the stress becomes unmanageable, students may consider seeing a counselor. Some universities offer health services and counseling on-site.

Refinancing Student Loans

For undergraduates who are completing their thesis, or graduate student’s who are beginning theirs, they may have more in common than just a heavy workload.

Both students may have taken out student loans, and maybe they’ve already begun the process of trying to pay them off.

After college, students often turn their sights to be looking for work—hoping to make enough money to make their loan payments. But aside from trying to snag a well-paying job, students who are eligible may want to consider refinancing their student loans as a strategy to streamline their loan repayment.

Refinancing a student loan means paying it off with another loan, ideally the new loan has a lower interest rate or better repayment terms.

The benefits of refinancing private student loans will depend on a variety of factors, like interest rates and income.

It’s usually not recommended to refinance federal student loans because these come with benefits like income-driven repayments and loan forgiveness, that won’t be available if they’re refinanced by a private lender.

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SoFi Student Loan Refinance
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SOSL20039

The Invesco QQQ ETF, formerly known as the PowerShares ETF, is an exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100 index.

The QQQ is widely considered to be one of the safer ETFs on the market and has received positive performance rankings from analysts. The fund enjoys high liquidity, being the second-most-traded ETF in the United States as of mid-2020.

The QQQ only holds companies that are included in the Nasdaq 100 and have been listed on the Nasdaq exchange for a minimum of two years. As of August 2020, the ETF contained 104 holdings.

The QQQ exists as a unit investment trust. A UIT is an investment company offering a fixed portfolio through a single security that can be bought and sold by investors as individual shares.

An investment company of this type doesn’t actively trade stocks, meaning shares of its investments aren’t bought or sold unless there’s an extraordinary event like a bankruptcy or corporate merger.

So investors can know that when they own shares in a holding offered by this type of investment company, the underlying assets will mostly stay the same. Not all funds are like this; in fact, some ETFs are actively traded and sometimes have portfolio managers altering the underlying assets daily.

In many ways, the QQQ might be an attractive option for inclusion in a long-term investment portfolio for some investors. The ETF provides cost-efficient exposure to many large companies with high levels of innovation. Investors don’t have to be burdened with picking specific stocks or being limited to a technology-only fund (although the QQQ is heavily weighted toward tech, but it also invests in other sectors).

What is the QQQ? To answer that question, first we must look at the Nasdaq 100.

What Is the Nasdaq 100?

The Nasdaq exchange is the second-largest stock exchange in the world, based on market cap.

In addition to hosting the stocks of some of the world’s largest companies, the exchange has had several notable accomplishments over the years. It was the first to offer electronic trading, the first to keep records in cloud storage, and the first to launch a website.

The Nasdaq 100 consists of the 100 largest companies (by market capitalization) listed on the Nasdaq exchange, except for financial companies.

Part of what makes the Nasdaq 100 index unique is that it uses something called a modified capitalization methodology. The goal of this method is to stop the index from becoming too heavily influenced by any of its super large companies.

That way, if a tech giant like Apple, for example, were to see a big selloff one day, the Nasdaq 100 shouldn’t see as steep a decline, assuming the other 99 companies aren’t also going down.

Stocks in the Nasdaq can be more volatile and riskier than average. But the returns can also be above average.

As of July 2020, the Nasdaq 100 index had achieved a 426% return on investment over a 10-year period. (Note: This refers to the cumulative return of all 100 companies in the index over that amount of time. The index itself has no single way for investors to purchase it, which is why things like the QQQ exist.)

Each quarter, Nasdaq looks at the composition of the index and adjusts weightings as needed to try to achieve this goal of a more equitable performance.

According to the Nasdaq website, there are over 490 investment products tied to the Nasdaq 100. The Invesco QQQ ETF is included.

What Is in the QQQ ETF?

The Invesco QQQ ETF is one of the many ways for investors to gain exposure to the Nasdaq 100.

Most of the QQQ involves large international and United States-based companies in sectors like telecommunications, health care, industrial matters, and technology.

Tech giants like Tesla, Intel, Apple, and Google make up a large portion of the ETF, as the Nasdaq tends to include many tech and growth-oriented stocks.

In fact, as of October 2020, stocks in the technology sector made up almost half of the QQQ ETF, at 48.2%. Other notable sectors included communications services at 19.1%, consumer discretionary at 18.9%, health care at 6.7%, and consumer staples at 4.7%.

The QQQ is rebalanced each quarter (every three months), meaning its managers try to balance the investments in a way that will not give too much influence to any one stock. The ETF is also reconstituted annually, meaning its managers consider which securities to buy, sell, or hold throughout the coming year.

Now that we’ve looked at what is in the QQQ ETF, let’s look at some pros and cons of investing in it.

Pros and Cons of the QQQ ETF

The QQQ has its benefits and drawbacks like any other investment choice.

ETFs come with something called an expense ratio, which represents the amount of fees paid to the company that manages the fund. The fees cover the expenses of operating and maintaining the fund.

Expense ratios are expressed as percentages that will be taken from the fund’s assets before paying investors. If a fund has an expense ratio of 0.5% and the fund sees a return of 4.5% on the year, investors will see a return of 4% after expenses.

Expense ratios are important to consider for any ETF because they can have a big influence on returns, especially for long-term investors.

Pros

One of the pros of the QQQ is that it comes with a very low expense ratio, coming in at just 0.2%, or 20 cents for every $100 invested. This low cost of holding the fund only amplifies its returns over time.

Outsized returns are another pro for this ETF. Though past performance doesn’t always indicate future results, the QQQ has provided higher returns than the S&P 500 for much of recent history. Ten of the last 12 years have seen the QQQ outperform the S&P 500.

Cons

One of the negatives of the QQQ is a relative lack of diversification. While the fund may be more diversified than an ETF that invests exclusively in technology, it’s still less diversified than many similar securities.

The Nasdaq 100 has stocks from eight sectors, but as we saw earlier, the tech sector alone makes up more than 60% of the entire index.

Due in part to this lack of diversification and focus on tech and communications, the QQQ can see above-average volatility. This can make it riskier in the short term, although the fund is still seen as a relatively safe investment.

While the QQQ could see wild swings from time to time, those swings will likely be much less severe than holding the individual stocks in the fund.

How to Invest in the QQQ ETF

Let’s review all this briefly.

The Nasdaq is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world.

The Nasdaq 100 is an index that tracks the top 100 largest stocks in the Nasdaq.

The QQQ ETF is a popular fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100.

After understanding some of the basics about what is in the QQQ ETF, let’s assume an investor wants to gain exposure.

What’s the best way to invest in the QQQ?

Investors will have to answer this question for themselves, but here are a few potential ways to go about it.

•  Search for the ticker “QQQ” and buy shares of the ETF directly in a brokerage account. When wanting to invest large sums, consider dollar-cost averaging.
•  Look into leveraged ETFs that track indexes on a 2:1 or 3:1 basis. These are riskier. Leveraged funds might be more for short-term traders. Examples are QLD or TQQQ.

The Takeaway

The Invesco QQQ ETF is a popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100 index. Like any investment choice, the QQQ has pros and cons. One of the easiest ways to invest in an ETF like the QQQ might be to buy shares on an exchange like SoFi’s.

SoFi offers all the tools that both beginning and experienced investors need to accomplish their monetary goals. SoFi Invest® offers educational content as well as access to financial planners. The Active Investing platform lets investors choose from an array of stocks, ETFs or fractional shares. For a limited time, funding an account gives you the opportunity to win up to $1,000 in the stock of your choice. All you have to do is open and fund a SoFi Invest account.

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