When you were applying to colleges back in the fall semester of your senior year, you probably forget to include Canadian schools on that list. (You probably also forgot to include “schools with no Friday classes”…but that’s a blog topic for a later day.) Sure Canada is freezing, but that’s no reason to not go to school there. Think we’re wrong? Just check out our reasoning and tell me that you’re not debating transferring.

1. Cost. Tuition is a fraction of that at an American school so your chances of earning a degree are based on merit, not your piggy bank (or parents’). Unlike the States, almost all Canadian universities are publicly funded making tuition per program fairly standard at each university. The prestige of the institution and how much it costs to attend is almost entirely unrelated. Having attended private school all my life, it was refreshing to start university knowing we’d all had to earn it. There are obviously exceptions, but Canadian universities don’t typically accept students based on daddy’s most recent bank statement.

2. Drinking age is 19. It’s always confused me that at age 18, the US government considers you responsible enough to handle a gun in Iraq, or get hitched without parental consent, but you need another three years of maturation before you can legally drink wine with dinner. With the exception of Alberta and Quebec (where it’s 18!), the Canadian drinking age is a reasonable 19. Not that you need to be trashed to have a good time, but some of my best nights of sophomore year were spent at the campus pub catching the game with friends over a pitcher.

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[Everyone's got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can't do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Michelle gave up stress eating. This month, Charlotte's going to try to stop biting her nails. Can she do it!? Could you?]

Stuff I learned this week:

1. Shit happens. Nails break, and
2. Having nails is weird

First of all, yes, nails break. Sometimes they snag on something, or sometimes I’m chewing them BUT NOT BITING THEM, and I accidentally break an edge. And then I’m in a panic. WHERE IS MY NAIL FILE GODDAMNIT? However, this bit of advice, to always have a nail file on my person, has definitely helped. Now, instead of thinking “oh god, one nail gone,” I can file it up real nice and yeah, it won’t be quite as long, but it won’t be quite as short either. Breaking nails sucks though. One day my nails are all looking quite good, and then I break my “best” nail and they all look crappy again. But I am getting somewhere and I’m so proud. They’ve gotten to a point now where I don’t even want to bite them. Sure, I want to chew. But the idea of biting off that much nail is really weird. While I definitely haven’t completely kicked the habit, I’m definitely getting there, and that is something I never thought I’d be able to do. Read More »

How to wear long and pretty braids

Why the satchel is the most practical bag of them all

Finally!  The affordable version of the wishbone necklace!

Awesome 80s jewelry you can buy on Etsy

How to pull off wearing a vest

Cute summer dresses under $50

What your new summer uniform should be

Your new favorite word: coGLOSSal

Summer’s newest trend: crochet

Are daily deals doomed?

Best haircuts for your hair type

A cold beer, boho-style, Vanessa Hudgens licking “white chocolate” off her fingers, The Strokes blasting from a mile away…You have arrived at one of the many music festivals throughout the year! Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and South by Southwest (to name a few) have just passed us by or are soon to be approaching as the summer heat picks up! Check out this guide to surviving a music festival if you’re game to stand out in a crowd, dig your hands into some yummy foods and drink drink drink! (…And by that I mean stay hydrated, obviously).

Music Fest-Style: Go Boho-Chic or Boho-Grunge
Camilla Belle and Kate Bosworth are masters of Boho-Chic, while Drew Barrymore and Miley Cyrus are pro’s of Boho-Grunge. For either look, depending on how you pair your pieces, you can achieve these styles with Music-Fest staples: Read More »

In high school, my sex ed was what you would call minimal. Since Texas firmly believes in abstinence-only education (which so doesn’t work – my high school had a day care program for crying out loud!), I consider myself very lucky that I had a very open-minded mother who taught me about sex. And now that I’m in college, by far my favorite class this semester is my human sexuality class where my professor is not only incredibly funny, but very insightful. All of this along with some personal experience leads me to the conclusion that, well, sex ed of all kinds suck.

Here’s what they should be teaching high schoolers in order to better prepare them.

1. Sex should be between two people, not two egos
The best piece of advice from my human sexuality professor so far this semester has been, “sex isn’t a show. You shouldn’t be getting performance anxiety because it’s not a performance, so stop making it one.” This is so true. Sex should be about enjoying yourself, not about how you look or how you’re doing or anything else that you’re anxious about. No one looks good during sex, and if you’re doing something your partner doesn’t like, chances are they’ll tell you in a non-offensive way. Sex is supposed to be fun, so relax!

2. It’s a sign of maturity to ask what your partner likes
No two people are exactly the same, so why should their sexual tastes be? It shouldn’t be embarrassing to talk about what you like in bed. No one knows what you like or what you don’t like better than you. We shouldn’t be turning to Cosmo or our friends for sex advice, we should be asking our partners.

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[This post and contest come hot off the Internet presses from our friends at CollegeFashion!]

I have a confession to make: I own way too many pairs of shoes. My favorites are my pointed-toe flats and my summer boots, but even as my wallet gets skinnier, there’s another pair I can’t live without: my Converse sneakers. They’re comfortable, colorful, and perfect for all of our favorite summer activities. These shoes have been around for over 100 years, and they’re still as hot as ever. Read on to find out the history behind these classic kicks.

Dear Mary Kate and Ashley,

I was browsing through your latest line, “The Row,” and couldn’t help but notice your $300 black t-shirts, your $900 LBD, or your absolutely ridiculous $35K leather backpack. I don’t know if anyone told you this, but the only designer in the world who’s allowed to charge more than $10K for a bag is Hermes. And I’m sorry, but your “unique” line of straight-leg leather pants and over-sized dress shirts simply do not hold a candle to any other iconic designers that have the nerve to charge that much.

That being said, I was a huge fan of your first fashion line- you know, the one you had at Walmart? I remember being 9 years old and begging my mom to buy one of your “princess” t-shirts or a pair of sparkly jelly kitten heels. The best part about your old line? The prices were always on a Walmart “rollback” and they were more accessible to average, middle-class tween’s mom’s pocketbooks everywhere. Read More »

Moving on after a breakup

How to keep cool without using the AC

The problem of trying to do friends with benefits

How to deal when you are wearing the same thing as someone else

Get the most out of freshman orientation

Are you a Seacrest or a Dunkelman?

Why <a href="

•Moving on after a breakup

•How to keep cool without using the AC

•The problem of trying to do friends with benefits

•How to deal when you are wearing the same thing as someone else

•Get the most out of freshman orientation

•Are you a Seacrest or a Dunkelman?

•Beat relationship boredom

“>we love Sofia Vergara

Lindsay can’t actually afford counseling

•Beat relationship boredom

So the first three months of your new romance have you got you sleeping over at his place every night, catching every meal together and bailing on girls’ night for a cuddlefest. While I hate to rain on your “young-and-in-love” parade, let me remind you that falling in love and gambling have a lot in common – it can be easy to lose it all but not so easy to get it all back.

Lesson 32: Don’t lose yourself in loving him.

When I listen to girls who’ve just met a great guy, it never seems as though loving that guy is enough for them. It’s as if they are trying to become him as they surround themselves with his friends, start living by his schedule, catering to his beliefs even if they go against everything they’d ever stood for in the past. What they fail to realize is that everything they do, every decision they make is really just his. You can love a man without emulating him.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, as it seems that girls can never hear this advice enough – single or not, live your life. You’d think that after years of our mothers and friends hammering this into our minds, it’d be second nature and yet, so many girls find themselves lost without the one they love. Being heartbroken is one thing, being lost is an entirely other thing. Don’t ever get so wrapped up in loving another person that you lose yourself in the process. There’s only one of you, which makes you pretty damn rare, so hold tight to who you are and what you believe in.

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In a month or so, most of us will be packing up giant plastic bins, selling our souls to the textbook companies and spending another year in a tiny dorm room where busy class schedules, procrastinated final papers, unnecessarily long reading assignments and “he-said-she-said” drama will run our lives. We’ll endure this routine lifestyle for four long years all in hopes that we walk away with a sheet of paper that claims we know a thing or two about business, communications, biology, etc. But do we really? And will anyone ever actually care about said sheet of paper?

Dale Stephens, a 19-year-old self-proclaimed “education expert” who’s been featured on CNN, Tech Crunch and the New York Times (just to name a few), begs to question the significance of a degree in today’s entrepreneurial economy. Along with his colleagues Erich Sparks and David Mattingly, Stephens has developed Uncollege, a program that promises a full college experience that requires no tuition, textbooks, classes or dorm rooms.

So what’s the catch? That little sheet of paper we all dream of: a degree. Read More »