Well, there’s a website that (kind of) makes that possible! ULTRINSIC was created after two friends made a bet while lazing around one Sunday afternoon, not studying for upcoming exams. The terms of the bet were as follows: if the “Mike” got an A on his exam, “Ted” would give him $100 but if “Mike” didn’t get an A then he owed “Ted” $20. More motivation to do well? I think so.

ULTRINSIC is a website totally devoted to students in school (undergraduate or grad level). Their aim is to provide students an exciting incentive to do well in their classes: a cash money reward.

After doing some research on the site, their program works like this: choose to invest in one course, multiple courses or invest for the entire semester, pay a portion of the cost ($5, $10, or $20) and if your GPA is at, or above, what you predicted it would be then consider yourself a winner! If you invested $5, you’ll earn up to $500; $10 and earn up to $1,000; if you invested $20, make room in your wallet for close to $2,000.

What I like most about this incentive-inspired program is that even if you lose, you might still win. Take out insurance on any of your investments and you still get cash back. Invite, encourage and watch your friends win and you make 5% of their earnings every time they win forever.

My vote on ULTRINSIC is that it’s definitely worth looking into and signing up for, even if you only take out an investment for one course. Forget bets on poker night, make fast cash making bets on your education.

What do you think?

If you want to go to graduate school

Great. Now let’s say you do need to take it. Unlike the ACT/SAT, which a lot of people didn’t bother studying for back in the day, the GRE tests you on what Educational Testing Services think graduate students should know before grad school. This means you will actually have to study. Remember probability, slope-intercept form, and all those equations from math you thought you were done with years ago? Remember analogies and memorizing flash cards and five paragraph essays? You better hope so, because the GRE brings it all back with a vengeance.

There’s four sections on this bad boy:

1. Verbal – Vocab. Lots and lots of vocab. Go buy some flash cards right now – they will be your best friends soon.
2. Quantitative – Not calculus, thank gosh. But they’re talking all the way back to math you learned in middle school. This includes arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and quantitative comparison.
3. Analytical Writing – Haven’t taken a writing class since freshman year? You may want to refresh your writing skills because you’ll have to write two essays in one sitting: one argumentative and one issue.
4. Experimental (maybe) – This experimental section might show up on your GRE exam, but it won’t count toward your score. ETS wants to do research on future questions on you, and they unfortunately do not let you know. So basically, you might end up taking two Verbal sections and not knowing which was the random experimental part that didn’t count. I was devastated to hear that I would be wasting my time in this manner, but there’s really nothing we can do about it.

Deciding which study materials to use is entirely up to personal preference. I bought three books to study with because I hate math, I need a great score on verbal, and I didn’t want to shell out the extra cash for a Princeton Review or Kaplan prep course. The reviews on Amazon really helped me understand how effective a book would be or how boring it might be before buying it – some are definitely easier to read than others. If it’s not your learning style, you obviously won’t learn as much. Oh, and make sure you’re buying a NEW book if they promise access to free online practice tests, or else the codes might not work!

In terms of freebies, all Windows users out there can also take advantage of free PowerPrep software from ETS. You should start reading the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or sign up for Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day emails to help expand your vocabulary. You can always do prep classes if you want to spend more money and if you need a more structured study schedule, but with a calendar and some willpower you should be fine!

One of the most important things you should do is familiarize yourself with how the GRE works. It’s a Computer Adaptive Test, which means that the difficulty of the questions change as you answer questions correctly or incorrectly. To get a feel for the test, you should do as many electronic practice tests as you can! For example, you need to be more cautious at the beginning of the test because those early questions have greater weight in terms of your score.

In terms of scheduling, you should know a few important facts:

• Most test prep materials recommend 1-2 months to study a few hours everyday
• Remember that you can’t take the GRE more than once a month
• On average, it takes about 4-6 weeks for scores to get to the grad school of your choice
• Your GRE scores are valid for five years after taking the test

Once you’ve got the test scheduled and you’re prepared, here are some tips for actually taking the GRE:

• Arrive to the testing site early and bring a legit photo ID
• Know which schools you want to send your scores to (the first four schools are free!)
• Bring a snack – four hours is a long time to go without food when your brain is working that hard
• Be careful on the early questions!
• Pay attention to time
• Answer EVERY question – on the GRE, guessing is always better than nothing
• Use your scratch paper wisely

Most importantly, don’t stress – they’re testing how well you can take a GRE, not how smart you are or how successful you will be in a master’s program. Grad schools realize this, and typically take your GRE score into account along with your GPA, resume experience, and personal statement.

Hope this helps you get ready for the GRE! What’s helping you study?

I think we can all agree that the early social networking sites were total and complete fails. Myspace, Friendster, Meebo — all those ugly, tacky sites got us through the early 2000s. But when Facebook was born in 2004, it was truly a revolution for social networking. Real names, professional-looking profiles, this site really had it going on… until Zuckerberg decided to start implementing the crazy changes that the site is now for infamous for making…like the big ones that premiered this week.

So in honor of the fact that we’re back on campus and spending 90% of our time on Facebook tracking down that cute guy from Chem, we decided to take a look back at the way things used to be.

THEN: A “.edu” college email address was required for registration.
NOW: Anyone (and I mean ANYONE) with any email address can sign-up.

Facebook was originally invented for college kids…and college kids only. It was designed to be a place where you could share your photos and thoughts without worrying about your mom or your little sister seeing it. Unfortunately, Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t making enough ad revenue with his limited college-aged page views, so he decided to open it up to everyone. I still can’t decide if that was a good move or not…

THEN: If you wanted to annoy someone, you poked them.
NOW: If you want to annoy someone, you can poke them, super-poke them, send them a virtual drink, hire them to work in your virtual city, or send them a virtual cow. Just send them an invite of any kind.

Build a farm, create your own pet, build a city, DJ at your own nightclub, uncover your family tree. It’s gotten to the point where there’s an app or a game for EVERYTHING. Aside from people posting on your wall or sharing things with you the way Facebook always intended to, you now have to worry about the 500 pending game requests you have from people you don’t even talk to in real life. Talk about ridiculous.

THEN: To talk to someone, all you had to do was post on their wall.
NOW: Why wall post when you can just comment on everything?

It used to be so simple: post on someone’s wall to talk to them and then Facebook would store you entire conversation with the “Wall-to-Wall” button. Does anyone else remember that button?! Now there’s just so many unnecessary communication options. Sure, you could still post on their wall, but why do that when you can just comment/”like” literally everything they’ve done? It makes communication a lot harder to archive, that’s for sure.

THEN:

Nicely organized with all the essentials (networks, relationship status, hometown, mini-feed, and friends) on one page.

NOW: Seriously, what’s with the 5 random pictures? And why is all the basic information jumbled all together in an unorganized paragraph? Not to mention, we don’t need to see all the comments and likes on every single activity a user does. Oh, and did you notice how many more ads there are? Ugly, ugly, ugly.

THEN: You posted your favorite movies, quotes, books, and TV shows on your own profile.
NOW: Everyone has to “like” everything in order for it to appear on their profile.

Okay, so it’s fine if you “like” Lady Gaga or you “like” American Idol, but what really gets me annoyed is those people who “like” ridiculous things such as “taking a hot shower after a long day of work,” “if you’re in love, LIKE THIS <3 <3 <3,” or my personal favorite “I LOVE JESUS. IF YOU DON’T LIKE THIS, YOU DENY JESUS IN YOUR HEART.”

Honestly, I’m addicted to Facebook and I don’t know anyone who isn’t, but I think it’s safe to say that the old site had a lot going for it. But if I know Zuckerberg (which thanks to the Social Network, I feel like I do), he’ll never just be happy and leave the site alone. I’m confident in saying that there are a lot more annoying changes coming up. And next time around, thanks to the open email policy, I’ll have to explain to my Grandma why her newsfeed looks different.

[Editor note: Does ANYONE else remember the pretty truck??]

This week Marysa touches upon a super common (and surprisingly sensitive) issue: what do do with a messy roommate. Nothing is grosser than coming home from a long day of classes to find dirty tissues, used plates and wrinkled clothes on the floor. And when you’re in the position, nothing’s more awkward than telling someone that…uh…they’re kinda nasty. So what’s the best way to get your message across in a friendly, effective manner? Watch below!

Got a roommate question you want tackled? Email it to editor (at) collegecandy (dot) com and use the subject line “Ask a Roommate.”

Today it’s all about what car you drive, what bag you carry, or what your phone is capable of doing, but back in the day, it was all about what you brought to the table– the lunch table, that is. The kids with the generic, plain fabric bags got their lunch money stolen while the kids rocking the Power Rangers box were always scoring extra points when it came to trading deserts.

Check out 15 of 90′s-tastic lunch boxes that will bring you back!

initiating the gallery...

What did you used to rock in the cafeteria?

I’m a big reader, but I know that not everyone feels the same — some people I know would much rather watch a movie than read a book. I get it — movies have awesome special affects, scores and sound effects that make the whole experience more exciting. But now there’s a new App that aims to make reading more like watching a movie!

Booktrack takes your e-reading experience to another level by adding a soundtrack. Booktracks  are e-books that play music and sound effects to go along with the story you’re reading. So, as the website explains, if you’re reading about the character in the book is at a nightclub, you’ll hear club music, or if you’re reading about war, you’ll hear the sound of soldier’s footsteps marching. What’s more, Booktrack tracks your reading speed and changes the music and effects to fit what you’re reading at the time.

Way cool, right?

Booktrack is still brand new, so they only have a few titles, but I’m sure  Booktracks are available for download for iPhone and iPad at the iTunes App store (support for Android, Macs/PCs and other devices are coming soon). Some titles are free to download, while others cost an affordable $1 to $4.

I can’t wait to start building my Booktrack library!

Smoke-free advocates hail these changes as major advancements for student health. But others aren’t convinced, and smoking bans have become a controversial issue on many college campuses.

Everyone has heard about the dangers of secondhand smoke, and this is one of the major reasons for campus smoking bans. Advocates argue that it isn’t fair for students who choose not to smoke to be exposed to harmful cigarette smoke by other members of their community. But recently, the focus of many schools has turned to eliminating students’ smoking habits entirely.

For example, the University of Kentucky put in place a campus-wide smoking ban in 2009. At the time, the state of Kentucky had one of the highest smoking rates in the country, at 25.6%. The ban was protested by some students in a “smoke-out,” but went into effect despite opposition. And the University of Kentucky says that their program works. In 2008, before the ban went into effect, 33 people enrolled in a program on campus to help them quit smoking.

One year after the policy was enforced, that number rose to 146. UK does not penalize students for smoking. Instead, volunteers simply remind smokers of the ban and ask them to put out their cigarettes. The school also sells nicotine gum and patches to make visiting smokers feel more comfortable.

But opponents to the ban point out that smoking is a personal choice, and say that a university has no right to interfere with students’ personal decisions. Another obvious counter argument is the fact that smoke-free campuses may not stop students from smoking – it may just force them to take their habit elsewhere. Some say that educational programs dealing with the dangers of smoking may be more effective than outright smoking bans. But would students really listen?

My own school, Columbia University, banned smoking within 20 feet of all campus buildings last year. The policy was intensely debated, with many of our University Senators arguing for a full ban, and several others arguing against smoking restrictions of any kind. The 20-foot ban is rarely enforced here, and virtually nothing has changed since the resolution was passed. But our neighbors across the street, Barnard College, implemented a total smoking ban last year. From what I can see, their ban has been effective, as I have not seen a single smoker on Barnard’s campus since the policy went into effect. But the question is: did students actually stop smoking, or do they just smoke out on the street now?

What do you think? Is it fair for a college to ban smoking on campus? Does your college have a smoking ban in place? Do you think it works? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Living with people is hard. Living with people in a very small space is even harder. Whether your roommate is your bestest friend in the whole world or she’s some stranger you got matched up with, you’re going to eventually have problems. That’s why we’re launching our brand new Ask a Roommate Youtube series. Every Wednesday night, Marysa will be answering YOUR roommate questions.

Got a question? Email it to editor (at) collegecandy (dot) com and use the subject line “Ask a Roommate”

Now that being said any phone with talk and text would be sufficient, right?

Wrong-o.

Maybe that worked back in the 1900s, but now, in 2011, it just doesn’t cut it. I don’t know about you but I am tired of seeing “Sent from iPhone” or “Mobile Upload from Blackberry”… especially when I’m still using the original enV. No that was not a misspelling. It’s silver and the back is taped. Now some people may be embarrassed by that, but as a college student who has dropped a few phones in the toilet (don’t lie, you’ve all been there before) and left some in the back seat of a cab (i’ve gone through about 4 in six months…) having a nice phone is not a priority. But with an upgrade in two weeks it was time to get back out there and check out the cell phone market.

After visiting a Verizon store I’ve finally come to terms with how limited my options are: smartphone or cheap keyboard phone. Now when faced with a daunting two-year contract (longer than most of my relationships) I just can’t seem to buy another lame phone. Smartphone it is. First decision made. Check.

There are only two serious smart phones: Blackberry or iPhone. But which one?!?! Time for the showdown (point system style).

1. Both have internet, but the iPhone’s is faster. iPhone +1
2. Both take pictures, but the iPhone’s are clearer. iPhone +1
3. Blackberry’s have an exclusive group: BBM. Blackberry +1
4. Blackberry cellphones are cheaper to buy. Blackberry +1
5. I think Blackberry’s are cooler. Blackberry +1
6. iPhones have music and apps. iPhone +1

Total: Blackberry 3

          iPhone          3

It’s a tie! Than again, either way it’s $720 for two years with a data plan and tha’ts not to mention the plan and the phone itself. On second thought, I think I’ll just get that cheap, plastic keyboard phone. Ugh, what should I do??

I’m here to tell you how it’s been going so far (just so you know it’s worth it). Instead of making you wait until all the way to the end of this post, I’m going to preach now. My lovely and selfish decision to do something that makes me happy has been…drum roll…SUCH a relief.  I was so afraid before I jumped the gun on getting my life moving the way I wanted to. But being afraid isn’t going to rob your happiness once it’s over. It’s going to water it. Water it like a bed of flowers.

And you will bloom.

Can you tell I’m happier already?

It’s been two weeks since I’ve turned my life around, quit my job and discovered a new career. My own mother approached me recently with that rosy look on her face that indicated she spotted something about my inner vibes. “Brittany, you are happier. I can tell by your skin. By just looking at you. I’m sorry, but you weren’t looking too good before. You looked…hungover.”

Thanks Mom. But seriously, thanks. If I needed one person to confirm my new-found happiness, my mother would be the right chick. She can tell if I’m feeling unhappy through an email. The woman is telepathic. Regardless of what my mother tells me, I’m happy doing new things. And if I would have known how flighty and gay I feel now, I would have changed things with my life months before. That’s why I’m here to point some internet fingers your way.

If you are ever and I mean ever feeling terribly wrong about something, fix it. I can’t preach it more. Happiness will come your way if you allow it. But you have to allow it. And please, ignore these five scary myths that creep into your mind when you think about changing your little world for the better (i.e. quitting your job and jumping on a cute little life whim):

Myth:  Your family will hate you because you’re a failure.

Truth: Your family will still love you very much. My parent’s biggest fear is my unhappiness. I swear, as much as you deny it–your family will support any venture as long as you’re happy and you’re not a stripper.

Myth: Your friends will judge you for not taking the same path as they are.

Truth: If your friends are judging you for being a ballsy lady cat in finding what makes your heart flutter, they are not your friends. Repeat after me: “They are not your friends.”

Myth: You are ruining your entire future for dropping everything you’ve previously worked for, will never be successful and will never make any money.

Truth: You will open up your future for a fruitful one, you will be extremely successful for doing something you’re truly passionate about and money suddenly won’t matter.

Take a dive lovely ladies. I will stand as the rookie post grad science experiment. Don’t listen to those little screechy, negative voices on your shoulder telling you otherwise. Listen to the truth in your heart. Deep sigh, I’m kind of a gross Hallmark card when I’m happy.