The following post is written by Aaron Johnson from University of North Texas, one of our many friends at Uloop, a student powered marketplace. Read more great posts in their blog.

With college classes well underway, many, myself included, look to the ever-daunting decision of picking a major. Do I want business? Engineering? Journalism? Art? A foreign language? What does this do for me, anyway? What if I hate it?

Academic advisors kept asking me what I liked to do, and my reply continued to be: everything. While there were a few obvious things (most involving too much math) I knew I didn’t want to do, there were very few things I couldn’t see myself doing on the long list of majors they displayed for us.

As I continued to go to these advising sessions, I slowly began to narrow my choices down to a few. I don’t want to do something just because I’d make money; I want to do something I enjoy, or at least tolerate. I want to learn about it before I choose something. Thus, I continued to take exploratory classes.

As you look for what you’d like to choose in a major, don’t settle for something simply because you could see yourself doing it, or you think you’d make bank doing it. All too often you see people returning to college because their first go-round left them getting lots of money, but miserable, as they couldn’t stand the career path they had chosen. Read More »

Contrary to what Animal House and Old School portray, college students lead a very busy and hectic life. And it’s not always easy to manage. Balancing lectures, all-nighters, student groups, on-campus jobs and a social life requires more than just a planner and a fake ID.

Luckily, there are new products popping up faster than next semester’s classes are filling up to make the college student’s life a whole lot easier: Read More »

Finally, the end of summer is almost here and I couldn’t be happier. Humidity is no longer taunting the frizzy mess on my head and suddenly all my taste buds can think about is one of those pumpkin spiced lattes from Starbucks (accompanied by a Pumkin Loaf). I’m dreaming of long walks around campus (while stepping on the crunchiest of leaves) and wearing an American Apparel hoodie to the library everywhere I go.

College in the fall is really a beautiful thing. All of those boys wear those cute knit beanies and I can finally whip out my buttery chestnut tall boots and vintage scarf.  There is a valid excuse to drink Baileys and hot chocolate instead of doing homework on a Saturday afternoon, and you can fall asleep to the distant hum of college football.

Whew, is it getting hot in here or what? Before you get too excited (and I get so nostalgic for my college days that I curl up in the fetal position for a week), let’s look at a glorious week that was.

* Dorm living should seriously come with a long list of rules.  Shiz can get technical and difficult to endure! Here is a list of 4 unofficial dorm living rules we at CollegeCandy have collected. And it’s up to you to come up with the 5th rule (and win a hefty prize!).

* It seems like every day I’m on Facebook, someone has one of those incredibly in depth status updates about their love life, their bowel movements and other various things I just really never want to hear about ever again. Can we hold on the facebook overshare, people??

* I thought Math was my worst subject. Until it came to Chemistry. . .and dating. Read More »

In elementary school all that was required of us to get decent grades was coloring inside the lines. Middle school and high school introduced to the word “studying” and, soon after, a genuine dislike for the word. But college is where the work is no joke. The classes are hard. The workload is heavy. And the social scene is exploding. So how does a college girl stay on top of it all?

Grab your notebook and furry pencils (or whatever it takes to get you ready to hit the books), because I’ve got a list of things you can do to get on another list: the Dean’s List.

10. Invest in a planner: Good grades begin with organization (and writing down your assignments). Find a planner that works for you, whether it is the one provided by your school or that handy little calendar in your iPhone. Once you have it, write everything in it. Meetings, to-do lists, homework assignments, phone numbers. It is so much easier to manage all your information when it is centralized in one place.

9. Get to class: Self-explanatory. Abide by your class schedule and don’t skip. Though you may laugh in the face o that 8:30a.m. Theology class on Friday morning, remember that professors can and will deduct for absences. It would be a shame to miss that letter grade because you could not roll out of bed to get to your desk in the morning.

8. Get a change in scenery: The library is not for everyone. Some people cannot cram themselves into a desk on the third floor and work until 2 a.m. Others openly admit that the library is a better social scene than a bar on Friday night. Find a study space that works for you, and you ALONE. My personal study space is a Starbucks near my school. I pack up all my books, grab a skim latte and park myself at a table in the corner for hours at a time. Read More »

So you’re going to college. You got your GPA up and your admissions essay down, you got in, and now you’re out! Happy times are here. Your final days are characterized by blasting Lil’ Wayne with the sunroof open and going to lunch with the people with whom you’ve spent the last four, eight, or even 12 years of your life in school. You’re pretty sad it’s over, but you know that your life isn’t about to end; in reality, it’s only the beginning.

But before you unpack those Yaffa blocks and stock up on the highlighters, allow me to dispel a few of the myths your older, wiser and drunker friends have told you about your freshman year. Is freshman year awesome? Hell to the yes. But there are some things you just gotta prepare for.

“You’re going to become best friends with your floor.”
Maybe. Or maybe not. Yes, while the people on your floor are going to be the first people you meet and become friendly with, don’t feel pressured to become best friends with them. The only thing you may have in common with these people is that you live on the same floor in the same dorm at the same school. They’re great for trips to the dining hall, party wandering in the first week of school, and swapping hangover stories on Sunday mornings, but don’t feel bad if that’s it. You might find yourself laughing a month or two into school saying, “OMG, I can’t believe I used to go to breakfast with her” if your neighbor becomes “that girl” at parties on campus. Your real friends in college will be eclectic, and while many people find them on their floor, many do not. Friendships are rooted in a sharing of values, not a sharing of a hall. You’re lucky if you find both in the same place.

“Your classes aren’t that hard.”
Kind of a lie. Senior year you don’t do any work at all, and it’s really hard to turn your brain back on and retrain yourself to read and understand 60+ pages of reading a night. This lie depends on the school you go to and the classes you take, but the way I experienced it and the way most of my friends experienced it is that your classes are kind of hard. Especially when you’re trying to decide on a Tuesday night between $1 pitchers of beer and making notecards. You need to do a lot of the learning on your own and if you’re not careful, it’s very easy to fall behind. You might have floated through high school, but college is an entirely different ball game. You’re going to have to retrain your study muscles for those college classes! Read More »

Going in knowing everything about the other person- their music tastes, eating habits, hobbies, and favorite causes- sometimes sounds like a good idea.  You think you’ll have so much in common with someone.  Someone you’re about to have a serious relationship with, one that could potentially last a lifetime.  But what happens if you decide you don’t like them?  What’s left to learn at that point?  What if you get bored?  What if they secretly love the Jonas Brothers?

No, I’m not talking about how Facebook is actively ruining the dating world.  I’m referring to all the potholes you’ll encounter by selecting your own college roommate.

Trending on campuses all over the country are websites that allow you to cherry pick the “perfect” roommate.  Gone are the days where the punky goth ends up living with the preppy, bubbly cheerleader.  No longer will the study bug bunk with the party animal.  The revolution is upon us, and now you can select your own freshman fate.

Think answering a questionnaire and having your personality matched with another’s sounds great?  Well, to me it sounds as accurate as an “Are You Robert Pattinson’s Soul Mate?” quiz pulled from the pages of Teen Beat.  Here are all the things you’re going to be doing for yourself simply by going rando:

Diversifying your day-to-day.
Yeah, I said it.  If you live with your friends, or even someone who’s got similar tastes, you miss out on the whole “getting to know you” experience.  Finding out that your roomie likes to wake up at 5 a.m. for a little Incan meditation and chanting, or sharing your fear of avocados with a girl who loves making guacamole on her desk- these are the situations that help you learn two very important life lessons: not everyone is you and not everyone gets along all the time. Read More »

It’s that time of year again.  Yep, the time when suddenly it’s the end of August and you are stuck on your bed staring at all of shiz you need to pack into boxes for another successful (and sometimes difficult) year in college.  You get slightly excited for another year to pummel you in the face with good times and countless hours in the lib.  Can you feel it? Your insides tighten, your liver shrivels and shivers and your eyes twinkle. It’s a beautiful thing. Are those goosebumps?

Yes, it’s time to be ready for the school year. It’s time to start packing and gaining ultimate pre-college essentials to give you a chance for an easy ride through the first semester.  Alright CollegeCandy chickas, nurse those excited pangs of pain desire in your liver – we (with a little help from our college blogging friends) are going to get you ready for school!

* Before you even pack up the car, make sure that you don’t forget those necessary items that everyone always forgets to pack.

* Ok, I’m going to be the one to put it out there – I wasn’t much of a ‘laundry-pro’ going into college. I’m not kidding, can I say on here that I Googled ‘how to separate colors’ before doing my very first load? Yeah, embarrassing. Allow me to protect your Google history: here are some things you can think about in regards to doin’ the dirty laundry pile.

* Before I went off to college, shoved in between a thick pile of clothes and a dresser in my dad’s truck, I would have paid a fortune to have a 100+ list full of things to know in regards to college. Here’s the dream realized, free of charge.

* Come finals week, this list will be pasted to your forehead. Read More »

I LOVE you, Hulu!

What I am about to type might shock and disturb some of the readers. However, for the sake of our internet browsers’ sanity, I am just going to say it: There are more websites out there besides Facebook and Google.

Did everyone survive that truth? Though I adore a good Facebook stalking sesh and Googling my name from time to time, I believe that the following sites don’t get enough cred. So let’s bookmark these babies and get our computer mouses (mice?) acquainted with them sometime soon. Perhaps on the next study break, after the email has been checked several times or maybe when we finally realize that the cute guy in Bio has his profile set to private. Bummer.

1. Notecentric.com: No more unwanted panic attacks from losing Wednesday’s notes from Chemistry. Notecentric is a web based note taking application that allows you to type, store and organize all your notes onto one site. All the notes you type are saved and stored together so stray lectures on loose leaf will no longer be an issue.

2. Chegg.com: I think we can all admit that the last place we want to head to at the beginning of the semester is the bookstore. Although we can hardly resist a new hoodie, it’s the close to $700 that we spend on books each semester that puts the dent in our bank accounts and our spirits. Chegg is a textbook rental site where college students can sell their books to the site and also rent books. You simply order the books, have them shipped to you, and return them at the end of the semester. A sweet bonus: Chegg plants a tree every time someone rents books; financially AND environmentally friendly! Read More »

This post provided by college nutritionist, author, and all around excellent source of healthful info, Melanie Jatsek.

It’s the start of the new school year.  For some of you this will be your first time away from home and you may be feeling a little nervous about meeting your new roommate and dorm life in general.  For others it’s like coming home again, only this time you are moving into your own apartment.

Let’s face it, there are many things in college you can’t control, but what you eat isn’t one of them!  Because certain foods improve your focus and brain health (while others destroy it), your food choices will have an impact on your grades.  What about the so called “Freshman Fifteen”?  You don’t have to fall victim to it or poor eating habits if you play it smart from day one.  In fact, your eating habits can actually improve in college (yes, I did just say that)!

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard if you keep it simple.  All you really have to do is remember the 5 basics and build your meals and snacks around them:  fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meats/meat substitutes.  Whether you are a first year college student and only have a tiny dorm room refrigerator (and an even tinier cupboard to store your food) or you are a returning student living in an apartment with a kitchen, here are the 13 foods you must stock up on to stay on track: Read More »

There are a few certainties in college.

You will study.
You will dress up in costume at least once.
You will eat more Easy Mac than you have ever eaten before. And sometimes you will eat it on a cookie slathered in cream cheese.
You will have a roommate at some point.

Yes, roommates and college go together like SoCo and Lime. They’re good goin’ down, but sometimes things can get ugly very quickly.

You may come from a home with tons of siblings, or you might have enjoyed bunking with a girlfriend on a week-long camping trip, but nothing is quite like living with another person in the tiny hole we call a dorm room. While having a roommate has its challenges (hello, you’re sharing a tiny room, you’re bound to disagree at some point…most likely over the TV) it can also be fun. That is, if you do it right. Here are 10 little nuggets of wisdom to ensure your roommate experience is a great one. Read More »