Tutoring During Finals

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Cherie

Need help during Finals week? Tutoring is still available by appointment! Check out the control tower for your tutor’s contact information and schedule a study session. When you check control tower for the list of tutors, feel free to contact more than one that way you have more scheduling options.

If no one is available then contact a professor. They are always more than willing to help out in finals prep. They are paid to help you learn and they are often better sources of information for those tough questions.

Good luck studying for finals everyone, we are almost done!!! Finish it up strong!!!

Final Two weeks of the Spring Semester!

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Cherie

It is here, the final two weeks of the semester. Long awaited but, equally dreaded. I have two projects due on the 20th and so far they are going well. In my Structures II course myself and another student are working on the analysis of an F 16 C wing. The analysis includes lift distribution, shear, moment, torque, shear flow, stress distribution, panel buckling, ANSYS modeling, and finally a write up including the history of the aircraft. It seems like a lot but after two courses in structures it is actually pretty simply, we have had plenty of practice in each topic over the last year so it is coming along well.

The other project that I am working on with a team of 4 other students is in Experimental Aerodynamics.Basically we suspended a wire in front of the leading edge of a highly cambered wing and tested it at different angles of attack of the wire and of the airfoil. The testing was also completed at different distances of the wire from the leading edge. Overall, the results proved favorable as the maximum lift coefficient and angle at which stall was predicted to occur increased in both test cases.

To get the required data we had to rapid 3D print the airfoil, sand it, and adjust it for comparability with the balance that it was mounted to. We underwent 12 hours of testing to achieve our results and now we are working on the report. The report is in AIAA format and is so far incomplete but, I am hoping I can get it all wrapped up next week so it can be edited.

If you are interested in more information on coursework and the projects that you can be involved in please feel free to ask us! Thanks for reading everyone 🙂

Tips for Moving Off Campus

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Cherie

After freshman year many students get what we like to call the “off campus fever”, essentially they miss the division between being at home and being at school. It is extremely common for students to consider finding a place off campus after freshman year. However, it can present many unforeseen problems as well. For example, sometimes the costs are way higher than expected and most places come unfurnished or perhaps a friend bails out on you at the last second. To prevent these common problems you need to have a solid plan. So here are some questions to ask and tips that will help you when you are trying to find a place to live off campus.

1. Can everyone afford it even in a bad income month? (think about utilities, food, and fuel)

— get a spreadsheet together of everyone’s income and estimate the average costs for each month.

— Identify ways to save money like not getting cable or buying cheaper food items.

2. Is everyone you will be living with 100% committed?

— Confirm they won’t be on an internship next year.

— have the spoken to their parents about moving off campus?

3. Analyze what you will need

— what furniture do you have and what will each person need?

— do you have cooking utensils and if not how much will you need?

— mattresses are expensive and its best to buy one new, this can be a large unforeseen cost if you do not plan for it.

— do you need a car for transportation?

4. If you don’t have a car how are you going to get to campus?

— talk to people in your classes or mutual organizations.

— get to know who lives in the area you are planning on moving to, if you know them they can always give you a ride but, remember it will be at their convenience

5. Once you have your plan set up find a place that satisfies your financial and convenience needs.

6. Talk to the manager and apply several months in advance of the date you want to move!!! Off campus housing fills up fast, you are not the only one looking to move there!!!!

When all that is done sit back and wait, you will eventually get a phone call saying that you have secured a place to live. 🙂 It is not a hard stressful move if you are prepared well in advance.

embryAnd of course on-campus housing is always a good choice as well. You can’t beat the convenience of being on campus! If you have any questions feel free to ask us! Thanks for reading everyone!

Midterm Time Tools

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Cherie

Our second round of midterms begin this Friday!! After that there are only 28 days left before finals!!!! It is now down to that nerve wracking part of the semester when projects, presentations, final home works, and lab reports are due. It is simply amazing how fast yet another semester has gone but, as midterms approach the nerves never really go away.

If your a nervous test taker you know what I’m talking about, the sinking feeling in your stomach, the sweaty palms, and the panicked feeling as you search your brain for tiny details. It does get easier with time and practice but, there is always that initial feeling when you pick up that pencil and start staring down the midterm that will determine how hard you need to study for the final. For some reason midterms in college seem so much harder although they really shouldn’t, I mean you have done them all your life right?

Well, yes but, it can still be very difficult. So for our potential new freshman and current students who have some serious test nerves here are a few tricks that may help you out!

1. Take a deep breath and let it out!

2. Do not drink highly caffeinated drinks the day before your exam and within the hour before you take it. This will kill the jittery feeling in your stomach. Instead drink a lot of water the day before.

3. Get a good night of sleep, if possible have a regular sleep schedule for yourself.

4. Study in the gym, hop on a tread mill and put in those headphones while reading your notes. You burn off excess energy and stress which helps you focus!

5. Make your “cheat sheet” early and review it often.

6. Eat a well rounded dinner the night before and breakfast the day of to fuel your brain.

Finally, just relax, you know your stuff!! You are going to do great 🙂 Try this strategy out and if it works for you then do it again during finals, over time test anxiety goes away but, you have to put in the effort to make it so!

Preview Day is here!

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Cherie

If you happen to be visiting Embry-Riddle in Prescott this weekend for preview day feel free to grab a student you see wandering around campus and say hello!! The majority of students are very friendly (they won’t bite!) and all of them are willing to share their experiences with potential students.

Preview Day is a very exciting day for all of us here to meet our future potential freshman and recruit them into activities or organizations that they might enjoy. Each of our campus organizations are like a smaller family in a large community of students. We all get along well and support the other organizations by going to their events and fundraisers. Many campus organizations also do community service events. So if any of our new freshman are interested in gaining a family away from home and giving back to the community at the same time then please stop by the organization booths that will be set up on preview day 🙂 We would all love to meet you and help you find the perfect fit here at Riddle.

Preview Day is also a good day to check out our academic buildings on campus and meet some of the professors that you will be learning from in the future. Preview Day is all about YOU!!! College is one of the biggest growing/learning experiences you will have in your life so please come prepared with questions for our faculty, staff, and students. We would love to take part in your college decision and hopefully, make Embry Riddle the right place for you 🙂

Spring Break Recap

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Chelsea

Ah, the infamous college spring break. One of the most anticipated breaks of the year. Gather an easy-going group of people, jump in a car, and hit the road.

If you’re a baseball fan, man are you in luck. And even if you aren’t, Phoenix is the hub for spring training and it is pretty awesome. You can go to endless games for a decent price at any of the teams’ stadiums. My friends and I snagged tickets for an Oakland A’s/Anaheim Angels game. Nothing was better than Arizona heat, laying in the lawn, and watching America’s favorite past time.

After Phoenix, we drove back to Prescott for a day or so. But the weather was perfect and I was able to hike Granite Mountain, which is one of the things I will miss the most when I leave this place. Just look at this view.

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I am fortunate enough to have pretty much the most laid back group of friends in existence so we kind of just packed up, and drove to Malibu and camped on the beach at Point Mugu. It was too rad. We were swimming with seals and dolphins just past the wave break. For me, nothing is better than a campfire, roasting marshmallows, card games, the sound of waves, and of course that night sky.

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Next up was Santa Barbara. We hiked through some mountains that had more variety of vegetation than any mountain I have ever seen. At the top, it over looked the city of Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands. The next few days, we were just living the beach bum life off the harbor and ate enough fish to last us a year.

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Finally, we were in Tucson getting even more sun! Don’t ask how it happened, I told you we were spontaneous.

The best part, getting back to Prescott and realizing the school year is almost over! Final stretch. Overall a very fulfilling senior year spring break. Hope yours was equally as great!

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College Decisions!

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Mike

Hello all!

Being a senior about to graduate, I feel I can look back and reflect on my decision to come here. Furthermore, I hope to share this decision with you to help better make yours.

As I have said in the past, I have always wanted to fly as long as I can remember. In 8th Grade, Google was becoming the big thing, and I searched “Number One Flight School in America.” Among the top search hits was Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I had never heard of this school, however they kept putting quotes on their website saying, “Most advanced flying fleet”, and “A quarter of all Airline Pilots studied at Embry Riddle.” It was these types of statements that had me interested in the school in general. Like I have told you before, I am from Syracuse, NY and the Daytona Beach Campus is much closer than the Prescott, AZ campus. However, I decided to check out the Prescott Campus for two reasons. First, I have family in the Phoenix area and wanted to be closer to them. Second, because of flying, I looked for the diversity in high altitude operations that Prescott has to offer.

In 10th grade I flew out to Arizona and toured the school. As soon as I stood on the campus I was convinced this was where I wanted to study. The mountains, the campus, the smaller town feeling, I knew this was a place where I could be successful. The tour guides where more than helpful, and my Admissions Counselor Bryan Doughtery (Now Dean of Enrollment Management) also showed me every option I had at Embry Riddle. With that knowledge in hand, I applied in 11th grade and got an early acceptance.

One last choice I made was to attend Accepted Student Preview Day before coming in the fall. Preview Day is essentially a tour on steroids. All the labs, all the professors, all the facilities are open to only the accepted students to give you more of an idea of what being a student here is all about. You can get your student ID card, and make your schedule even. It was exciting to get into the mind set of attending college. This year’s Accepted Student Preview Day is March 28th, 2015 hope you can attend! For me though, after August of 2011 the rest is history and I am very happy with everything that I have accomplished here.

Finally, I will provide you some suggestions to better put your mind at ease about choosing this school. Firstly, ask yourself is this really what you want to do? If yes, then Embry-Riddle will provide the tools to make that dream a reality. Secondly, are you willing to put forth the effort during the good times and the bad? Honestly, it is not all a picnic getting a college degree at any school, and you need to have the vision to get to where you want to go, no matter what. Finally, I suggest you visit multiple schools. If I could change anything about my college making process, it is that I did not visit any school other than Embry-Riddle. That said, at the end of the day, ERAU is the best at what they do and that was what I wanted.

Overall four years later, I am very happy with my decision to come to this school. I will always recommend it to anyone interested in the programs Embry-Riddle has to offer.

I wish the best for you on your journey of making what is the biggest decision of your lift so far. A blog on my Spring Break in the Caribbean to come soon! Take care!

ERAU AFROTC Advantage

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Cherie

Here at Embry-Riddle in Prescott, AZ our Det 028 Air Force ROTC has the privilege of getting to hear from amazing guest speakers who come to share their life experiences in the Active Duty Air Force. Most recently, several quest speakers shared inspiring stories of their military careers and good advice to current cadets who want to commission as officers in the Air Force. They spent their entire day getting to know cadets and answering questions about life in the Air Force. Last night one of the guests even did a low altitude fly over at Prescott’s Love Field, it was amazing!

Our detachment is very lucky to be well known in the Air Force community due to the ties that the world wide campus has with the military and as we produce slightly fewer pilot candidates from our campus than the Air Force Academy. So why not come and join us here as a cadet?

If you are interested in coming out to tour our beautiful campus and checking out DET 028 please contact us! As a cadet and a student here you too can meet some really amazing people who will inspire and cultivate your career goals!

Spring Break!

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Cherie

This week the Embry Riddle Prescott campus will be on spring break! Yay!! We are all very happy to have a nice break from school to relax and catch up on rest. However, spring break is also a great time to get out and see some new places. For those of us who are low on funds the best places to get out and see are in the local area. Prescott, Az is known for its fantastic hikes and gorgeous lake views so getting out in nature is one fun and literally priceless way to enjoy your spring break. If you do have a little extra cash then you can always take a quick road trip down to Phoenix or head up state to Sedona or Flagstaff. Those areas are all wonderful around this time of year and a quick visit allows you to learn more about the state while having a ton of fun!

If you can afford a longer road trip then Southern California is about 7 hours away, the trip is actually pretty fast and it is really fun to be able to relax on the beach for a little bit. The weather down there is also perfect for tanning this time of year! If your not up for that long of a trip however, Vegas is about 3 hours away and many of our current students live in Vegas so, if you have a close friend who happens to live there, you can crash at their place for a week to reduce costs.

Then of course there is always the classic parent funded spring break get away to Mexico, if you get to go there then you are so lucky!! Have fun, stay safe, and get a sweet tan!!

Whatever you are up to this spring break or for our potential students who, I am sure are already planning their first college spring break adventure, we here at Embry-Riddle hope you have a fun and safe trip!

From ERAU to OSU for Graduate School in Medical Physics

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Chelsea

I am so incredibly ecstatic to announce that you are looking at the newest member of the joint Medical Physics program between Oregon State University and Oregon Health and Science University. Upon graduation in May, I will be moving to Portland, OR to start my graduate school career that ERAU has so greatly prepared me for!

It is not uncommon for students in physics to continue their education after earning their bachelors degree. My professors were a huge help in this process by giving me advice, writing me letters of recommendation, and telling me about their experiences in graduate school.

Embry-Riddle offers a select few Master’s degrees and PhD programs which can be explored here, http://prescott.erau.edu/degrees/index.html. I apologize for the short post, I just wanted to share my excitement!!