Help one CC reader make her dream come true.

And so Ali Lohan’s downward spiral begins….

Which flat iron is best?

I have a major love/hate relationship with this shirt.

Facebook HQ is not happy with “The Social Network.”

Looking for your dream job? Belvedere can help.

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like social media blackout!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

One of the big buzz topics surrounding colleges in the last couple of years has been an administrative push to get everyone to graduate “on time” – as in, the four year model. Florida’s university system thinks they might have found the answer – as a number of other colleges have – in “block tuition”. Block tuition is basically just a flat rate system where every student pays a set price for a year or semester, regardless of how many credit hours they take. I can see some serious advantages to this program – that might be completely outweighed by the disadvantages.

On the one hand, anybody taking a heavy course load essentially gets a couple of free classes since most block tuition systems are set up around 15 credit hours. Anyone who’s already taking 18 credits, then, is getting a break on her education. Also, somebody who might want to graduate earlier could possibly get a lot of their credits packed into a year without having to pay extra – awesome! The system obviously works because it’s become a norm for private universities along with some big names like the University of Texas at Austin and UCLA. Read More »

Betty White is such a tease!

Does Dina Lohan really want another Lilo?

Dear Spanish Couple (life from abroad)

Don’t be a beauty facist

Why being single rocks!

We can’t get enough Bethenny

Katy Perry is too sexy for Sesame Street

Jay-Z is HOW rich!?!

Blockbuster goes bankrupt

Whether you’re fresh on campus or are a seasoned beer pong pro, everyone can remember the day they said goodbye to their high school friends.  It began a whole new type of LDR.  The long distance friendship (or LDF) is most common among people who have known one another for years, and are then forcefully separated by miles and ten different college towns.

Everyone wants to remain the same Popsicle-sharing, boy-loving, outfit-coordinating band of buds, so you promise to keep in touch.  Skype, AIM, gchat, Facebook…somehow you make it happen.  As you’re settling into your new dorm and meeting new people, sometimes it feels good to catch up with a familiar face.  While at first it’s all innocent I miss you’s and I’m coming to visit you’s, eventually friends start to brag.  Their cafeteria is delicious, they slept with their hot RA, they’ve made new BFFs galore.  The list usually goes on for another twenty pages, but I’ll let you just go back through your text inbox to read of the others.

Before you get down on yourself for wearily picking through mystery meat, pushing aside gray peas, and sitting with what you’re sure is the foreign exchange table, I’d like to decode your friends’ overzealous statements.  Don’t worry; they’re having a hard time adjusting, too.

Read More »

Every morning when I get off the subway to go to school, I have to walk right past Forever 21. And it’s torture.  School been in session for three weeks now, and there has been this super hot navy lace dress (I think it’s a dress, but you never know with that store…) every time I walk by.  Seeing as I don’t REALLY need another dress (remember how I bought 3 in the spring?) I’ve been trying really hard not to go in and buy it in all its gorgeous, lacy glory.  So far I’ve been successful, thanks to the fact that my classes start before the store opens (which might be the only redeeming thing about 9am class).

The good news for me and every other girl out there with a closet full of frocks: dresses aren’t the only way to incorporate lace this season. This dainty, feminine fabric is on everything right now (both in and out of the bedroom), even showing up in some new and unexpected ways. Our girls over at CollegeFashion have even put it on their Back to School shopping list; do you even need another reason to stock up?

Oh you do? Well here are 15.

(And if you do happen to find and purchase that little navy lace dress, let me know so I can live vicariously through your closet.)

[Click on the pics to shop!] Read More »

Apparently there are worse things about prison than toothbrush shanks and dropping the soap. More specifically: the Kardashians. The high-profile, high-drama family has caused “emotional distress” for one inmate after being forced to watch both Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami. The real kicker is this: he’s suing.

All silliness aside, it’s an understandable accusation. Anyone who’s watched a Kardashian marathon knows what it can do to the soul.

Kill it.

And that got me thinking – first about why this family has not one but two shows in the first place, and then about the idea of using really bad TV as a form of punishment. Because with all that dribble we’ve got going on these days, there is no better way to make a wrong-doer suffer.

19 Kids and Counting: It’s like the Brady Bunch on steroids without the fun parts (hard to imagine). 19, 20, 97 Kids and Counting… it’s enough to make anybody celibate for 25 to life.

Shaq VS: Having to watch the self proclaimed Shaqtastic, Shaqtacular Jolly Culturally Irrelevant Giant attempt to beat sports pros – and lose – would be torture. It’s just flat out ridiculous. He couldn’t even beat Justin Bieber (I wish I was joking).

Deal or No Deal: You think you’re not interested. Then all of a sudden you are sweating under the arms and screaming at the contestant “no deal! No deal!” while Howie Mandal smirks off in the corner. All to have it end with a briefcase full of 1 cent. It’s enough to make anyone go crazy. Read More »

[Meet Margaret, a freshman at Yale. We've been checking in with her every week to see what she's doing, who she's meeting, and what new college surprises she's tackling (or freaking out about) as she embarks on the journey we call college. Or as I like to call it, the best thing since dark chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter cups.]

At my old high school, we were never served veggie burgers, nor did we have to choose between vegan and non-vegan options in the cafeteria. I’m from Cincinnati, a city that boasts about its chili (which is really just a runny sauce on top of noodles…). Needless to say, the infinitesimal number of students who identified with vegetarianism at my school only did so for religious reasons. And some of them cheated.

Keeping that in mind, entering the dining hall at my college was like entering the land of some kind of lotus-eating, vegetarian haven, or, in my case, a carnivore’s personal version of hell. It’s not that they don’t serve meat; they do. But they also serve various other reinterpretations of meat: tofu ravioli, lentil hamburgers, vegan minestrone soup.

Upon seeing these, I became bitter and questioned why tofu ravioli was necessary when ravioli is obviously meant to be stuffed with beef and cheese (at least according to my man, Chef Boyardee). Didn’t all the vegetarians here realize what they were missing out on? Chicken tenders and steak? Bacon and sausage links? What was the point of all this? It’s not like one vegetarian will directly save the life of a cow or singlehandedly better animal welfare. Vegetarianism is pointless. Read More »

[Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? A really rad singer? A wicked new book? A new clothing line that is pretty and comfy and cheap?Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com or tweet me and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Make your kindergarten teacher proud and share!]

We all know that accessories can make an outfit. And we all know that bracelets, particularly stacked bracelets, are always cute, always cool and can go with any outfit. We also know that oftentimes one bracelet can cost upwards of $100, making that cool, cute look – um – not possible. How on earth are you going to stack 5 bracelets on your wrist without becoming the college girl who lived in her bracelets? (And is that even possible? As cute as they are, where would you plug in your flat iron??)

But we all don’t know about Tyler Mackenzie Designs. Until now.

Lauren Rosen, founder and designer of Tyler Mackenzie Designs was sick of seeing accessories with such high price-tags. And instead of complaining about it, girl got to work! And now we can all send her thank-you notes and Cookies By Design bouquets because her adorable stackable bracelets sell for $20 a pop (but look as though they cost much more). Read More »

Last week while ellipticizing at my university’s gym, The Rachel Maddow Show played on one of the large TVs facing the cardio section. (Yeah, that’s what happens when you go to school in D.C.) The hot topic of the day: Christine O’Donnell.

In the recent 2010 Republican primary, O’Donnell beat 9-time U.S. Rep and former governor Mike Castle for the spot as the Republican bid in the upcoming election for Senate. O’Donnell’s win shocked many Americans, most of them uttering a resounding “WTF?” Despite her bizarre past and surfacing videos warning all about the spiritual dangers of masturbation, O’Donnell still managed to garner enough support in the state of Delaware to become a definite force, and a legitimate threat to Democrats, in the upcoming election.

Her recent success may be due to some sort of inexplicable star-power she seems to possess, much like that of Sarah Palin (who is a big supporter of O’Donnell). Or, more plausibly, it may be due to the Tea Party movement’s overwhelming backing of this Delaware Republican.

Beyond O’Donnell, the Tea Party has gained copious amounts of press in recent years. They’ve been everywhere from the news to the Capitol. Notwithstanding their newfound fame, though, a lot of people are still confused about their origin, their members, and their platform.

Why is it important to know the answers to these questions? Because the movement is quickly becoming a huge factor in American politics and, being that we will soon be out in the real world living under the laws and policies being made now, it is imperative to understand who it is that will be making said laws and policies.

So I’m gonna break it all down for ya. Below: CollegeCandy’s very own (and hopefully not too boring) Guide To The Tea Party Movement, America’s newest controversial political group.

Read More »

I admit it: I’m a slave to trends. As much as I’d rather be a trendsetter (like Nicole Richie, not Lady Gaga), I’m regretfully a complete lemming. It’s not that I’m not a risk taker, more so that I’ve been completely brainwashed by the fashion industry (like when professors insist you need to read the text to pass) to like what’s available. And what do they have me head over heels for this fall?

Military style.

Honestly, I never would have liked this style if it wasn’t in every. single. fashion magazine this season. But, alas, it is (perhaps this is the fashion world’s way of tipping their hats to the troops?), so I’ve been on the hunt for a military piece that I feel I can pull off without looking as if I’m waging guerrilla warfare (although I might be if I catch someone wearing it at the same time as me). After all, if I’ve learned one thing about fashion, it’s that I need to wear the trend, NOT let the trend wear me.

And what will I be wearing this season? This awesome piece from American Eagle. I call it a piece because it’s neither sweater nor jacket; it’s more like their lovechild, or as AE calls it, the “Cropped Military Cardigan.”

I love this offspring of jacket and sweater because it’s different than the other military styles that you will never touch again come the last day of fall. It’s inexpensive (at $39.50!) and it’s not deep enough army green to look like pea soup. It’s no military shirtdress, or some trend from last fall dyed green in a desperate attempt to make it cool again. Read More »