If there’s one thing we all know (but often try to deny), it’s that college is basically it’s own little universe. It’s that beer-drinking, bar-hopping, Cliff Notes-reading, coffee-chugging “safe haven” between the comfort of your parents’ home and that place everybody calls “the real world.” And unfortunately, we all know that “real world” is much less exciting than MTV moguls would like us to believe.

As a senior, I’ve finally realized one very important thing: College is awesome. And there’s quite a lot of sh*t you can get away with here that just isn’t gonna fly once you graduate. For example:

1. Mid-day naps. Unless you decide to hightail your pretty bum down to Mexico or start your own company or something, mid-day siestas are generally not in the typical workin’ girl schedule. Oh, how I love the five hour breaks in between my classes.

2. Threesomes. Unless you want to end up like Charlotte in SATC, watching your dude getting’ frisky and feelin’ up some rando-girl while you stand awkwardly on the sidelines, I think threesomes are definitely better explored pre-graduation. I think almost everybody has at least one wild hookup story (that may or may not involve multiple partners) by the time they leave college. And that’s where those kind of explorations should probably stay. In college.

3. All nighters and Adderall binges. I’m pretty sure it’s not “adultlike” to stay up all night, downing cups of coffee and caffeine pills (or whatever your all-nighter drug of choice may be) to finish whatever crazy task your boss asks of you. Purple bruise-like bags under your eyes will never be sexy. Especially for an early morning meeting.

4. Pizza diets. Depending on where you live, life’s little luxuries, like one dollar slices on Monday nights, might not be at your disposal the way they are now. Nor should they be. You will be an adult and should be eating real food. Like steak or something.

5. The Uggs and North Face uniform. Or any variation, such as: Victoria’s Secret PINK collection from head-to-toe, matching college sweatshirts and sweatpants, etc. Real jobs require real clothes.

6. Tuesday bar hopping. I’ve already accepted that life is probably going to suck hardcore without one dollar cherry bombs on Tuesday night. I try to tell myself that I might be able to pull off being a member of the “Tuesday Crew” every once in awhile for the first few years after graduation. Or at least until I start to resemble my mother who gets a four day hangover after sipping half a glass of wine…spritzer.

7. Sleeping on random couches. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve done it. Quite a few times. …Without realizing it until the next morning. In the “real world,” I’m pretty sure people take stock of who is in their house when three a.m. rolls around. Maybe.

8. Meal plans. As much as college cafeteria food sucks, I think I’m really gonna miss late night mozzarella cheese stick feasts courtesy of Mom and Pops. In the “real world,” you can’t just go into some fancy sushi restaurant with your co-workers and hand the waiter your college ID and wave him off.

9. Making out with your best girl friends at bars and parties. In the “real world,” it’s no longer socially acceptable to grab your girlfriend’s face at the bar (..or you know, your company’s holiday party) and scream, “Let’s make out!” at the top of your lungs before proceeding to play tongue-tackle in front of a crowd. Unless you’re a total Debbie…as in, desperate. Or dumb.

10. Peeing in public places. In college, it’s normally (but not always!) kosher to pop a squat in the backyard at a party when the b-room runs of out T.P. In the “real world,” you’ll get arrested and labeled a sex offender before you can even empty your bladder.

11. Posting party photos on Facebook. This basically goes without saying. Once you graduate (hell, maybe we should all start this now?), don’t even THINK about posting that pic of you on the toilet throwing the peace sign. And, just to make sure you have all your bases covered, you’ll probably want to invest in an external hard drive so you can save all your old faves from undergrad and delete all incriminating photos off the internets forever.

Anything else you can think of that just can’t happen in the real world but is totally fine in college?

[This post is a favorite of CollegeCandy fan, Allyson...and it's one of our faves too!]

Get it out of your system now, ladies.

If there’s one thing we all know (but often try to deny), it’s that college is basically it’s own little universe. It’s that beer-drinking, bar-hopping, Cliff Notes-reading, coffee-chugging “safe haven” between the comfort of your parents’ home and that place everybody calls “the real world.” And unfortunately, we all know that “real world” is much less exciting than MTV moguls would like us to believe.

As a senior, I’ve finally realized one very important thing: College is awesome. And there’s quite a lot of sh*t you can get away with here that just isn’t gonna fly once you graduate. For example:

1. Mid-day naps. Unless you decide to hightail your pretty bum down to Mexico or start your own company or something, mid-day siestas are generally not in the typical workin’ girl schedule. Oh, how I love the five hour breaks in between my classes.

2. Threesomes. Unless you want to end up like Charlotte in SATC, watching your dude getting’ frisky and feelin’ up some rando-girl while you stand awkwardly on the sidelines, I think threesomes are definitely better explored pre-graduation. I think almost everybody has at least one wild hookup story (that may or may not involve multiple partners) by the time they leave college. And that’s where those kind of explorations should probably stay. In college.

3. All nighters and Adderall binges. I’m pretty sure it’s not “adultlike” to stay up all night, downing cups of coffee and caffeine pills (or whatever your all-nighter drug of choice may be) to finish whatever crazy task your boss asks of you. Purple bruise-like bags under your eyes will never be sexy. Especially for an early morning meeting.

4. Pizza diets. Depending on where you live, life’s little luxuries, like one dollar slices on Monday nights, might not be at your disposal the way they are now. Nor should they be. You will be an adult and should be eating real food. Like steak or something.

5. The Uggs and North Face uniform. Or any variation, such as: Victoria’s Secret PINK collection from head-to-toe, matching college sweatshirts and sweatpants, etc. Real jobs require real clothes.

6. Tuesday bar hopping. I’ve already accepted that life is probably going to suck hardcore without one dollar cherry bombs on Tuesday night. I try to tell myself that I might be able to pull off being a member of the “Tuesday Crew” every once in awhile for the first few years after graduation. Or at least until I start to resemble my mother who gets a four day hangover after sipping half a glass of wine…spritzer.

7. Sleeping on random couches. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve done it. Quite a few times. …Without realizing it until the next morning. In the “real world,” I’m pretty sure people take stock of who is in their house when three a.m. rolls around. Maybe.

8. Meal plans. As much as college cafeteria food sucks, I think I’m really gonna miss late night mozzarella cheese stick feasts courtesy of Mom and Pops. In the “real world,” you can’t just go into some fancy sushi restaurant with your co-workers and hand the waiter your college ID and wave him off.

9. Making out with your best girl friends at bars and parties. In the “real world,” it’s no longer socially acceptable to grab your girlfriend’s face at the bar (..or you know, your company’s holiday party) and scream, “Let’s make out!” at the top of your lungs before proceeding to play tongue-tackle in front of a crowd. Unless you’re a total Debbie…as in, desperate. Or dumb.

10. Peeing in public places. In college, it’s normally (but not always!) kosher to pop a squat in the backyard at a party when the b-room runs of out T.P. In the “real world,” you’ll get arrested and labeled a sex offender before you can even empty your bladder.

11. Posting party photos on Facebook. This basically goes without saying. Once you graduate (hell, maybe we should all start this now?), don’t even THINK about posting that pic of you on the toilet throwing the peace sign. And, just to make sure you have all your bases covered, you’ll probably want to invest in an external hard drive so you can save all your old faves from undergrad and delete all incriminating photos off the internets forever.

Anything else you can think of that just can’t happen in the real world but is totally fine in college?

[This story was originally posted by Erica - Kent State University.]

Likey? Don’t worry, there are plenty more faves where this came from.

In a college world where (shocker!) people drink and hook-up on a regular basis, it’s always a lovely gift in disguise to have a wingwoman by your side who supports you, sets you up for success, and is your personal cheerleader.

In high school, your wingwoman would accompany you to the bathroom during lunch, share the other half of cheesy bread with you, and wait by your locker when your boyfriend left early for the skate park.

In Hollywood, a wing woman is there to support her celebrity counterparts after a whirlwind of relationship blunders and public break ups.  (Look at Team Cox-Aniston for example.  I can see their wingwoman relationship sprouting from the rich dirt of Hollywood and making headlines already.  Thanks to the fresh divorce of Cox and Arquette. Friends fans rejoice!)

In college, your wingwoman plays a much more integral role. She’s an important element to your development as a young woman so you can get all of that partying and sexing out of your system.

Here’s how a perfect wingwoman is built in college world:

1. She will talk to ANYBODY.
This is essential. You want a woman who isn’t afraid to spark up a fun, outgoing conversation with any average Joe.  You don’t want a wet blanket who stands in the corner and bites her straws in half and pouts about how loud the music is. How are you supposed to get anywhere stirring the ice cubes in your drink and trying to cheer up a wah-wah friend?

2. She is so drunk and inappropriate you always look better.
When you have a wingwoman who pounds more rail drinks than you, you can always count on her to make you look more put together and in control to passersby. Especially when she starts screaming about how much she loves the new Pink song and grinding against the wall when it blares from the DJ’s perch.  You can just laugh lightly and wink at your boy toy, then hit up the dance floor and make him want it. He will be grateful he nabbed the “sober one.”

3. She knows when to walk away.
When you’re sweet talking your potential sweetheart, your wingwoman will know when to exit the scene and look for something else to sniff around.  Nothing will ruin a moment more than a wingwoman who will bust into your convo with slurred quotes from The Office and googly eyes.

4. She’s willing to take one for the team.
If it’s time for her to politely bow out of the evening at 2AM and take a taxi home to re-runs of Modern Family and burnt nachos, then so be it.  She should be ready and willing to end her night, even if yours is just beginning.

5. She hooks up with your hook up’s roommate…so you always stick together.
If the opportunity arises, your wingwoman should dabble in your future hook-up’s roommate. Therefore, you guys can save another taxi charge when you wake up in the morning to bail out of your situation together.  Nothing is better than fried eggs and coffee with your wingwoman while discussing how you guys were so attached at the hip it was almost kinky.

6. She makes sure you’re safe but doesn’t prevent you from getting yours.
A great wingwoman will always make sure you are making the right decision.  And should a not-so-desirable situation arise (only after she knows you will regret it), she will invite you for your fourth meal at Taco Bell so you have an excuse not to go back Homely John’s dorm room.  With a fab wingwoman, you will never find yourself stuck in a sticky situation with someone you would have never wanted when you could see straight.

7. She grinds with you on the dance floor when you’re craving attention.
As superficial as it sounds, everybody enjoys a nice enough wingwoman to accompany your totally rad lawn mower dance move on the dance floor.  She will be by your side in an instant if you crave the eyes of the cutie by the bar, so you can pop, lock, and, drop it in unison. 

8. She will look hot, but not hotter than you.
What would a great wing woman be if everyone was looking at her cleavage instead of yours?

No one wants a Situation situation. What do you look for in a wingwoman?

Common wisdom should tell you that movies and clubs are great places to take a first date. But sometimes where you are and what you’re doing plays a key role in whether things go well or not. However if you want to start a potential relationship off on the right foot, don’t take your date to any of the following places. Thanks to our friends at the Online Dating University for the recommendations.

[click image below to see full sized infographic]

The next week, the same thing happened all over again.

I think you can all understand – making time for both work and play in the summer is hard.  In the winter, when it’s cold and gross out and there’s not as much as to do, it’s a little bit easier to get cozy in bed at a decent hour when you know you have to be up bright and early on a Wednesday. (Or, if you do enjoy a Tiki Tuesday, you can always sleep right through lecture the next morning….) But in the summer… not so much. There aren’t just bars to go to with your friends, there are barbecues and beach bonfires and house parties and fun things going on almost every single night. And it makes it even harder when a few of your best friends have nothing to worry about but part-time jobs. So this whole summer, since I have a little problem turning down doing something fun, I have been trying to figure out the perfect mix of working and going out. Unfortunately for me, I don’t only have my internship to worry about (although it is the most important) – I also have my part-time waitressing job which PAYS for my internship.

When I first started my internship, my social life kind of died for a little bit. During the winter and spring, I made work a priority – not only did I have to wake up at 6:30 am and travel into New York City three times a week to intern, but I also had to waitress every other night until pretty late, and make time to cover events in the city. I stopped going out and getting wasted all the time because I was either too tired from work, or I knew I had to be up early. And let me tell you – it was no fun. At all.

So when the warm weather started rolling in in May, I knew I had to make a change. I decided that I could no longer sacrifice my entire social life for my professional life, because frankly, I enjoy having a good time too much to do that. I was going to have a fun summer, dammit, and I went for it with full gusto. That night I went out for half-off bottles of wine and the next thing I knew I was waking up almost an hour late with purple lips, then spent the day slumped in front of my computer wondering if I could make it to the bathroom in time if I had to throw up.

It was hell.

Since then I’ve tweaked my social life and discovered a way to have fun and still be able to function at work the next day. All I have to do is learn to control myself. It’s not easy – like when I’m out with all of myfriends and everyone is doing shots and singing karaoke while I sip on a glass of beer – but it’s possible and mandatory if I want to function to the best of my abilities the next day. Even though it sucks to miss out on the drunken fun, at least I’m still there with my friends, witnessing the stupid things they are doing.

So for the rest of the summer, to ensure I get the most of my work and my play, I will be following these five rules:

1) No staying out past 2 am.
2) Stay away from tequila and vodka shots.
3) Don’t give into half-price bottles of wine, no matter how tempting they are.
4) Late night texts to that guy are probably not the best idea…
5) There is always an exception. Because sometimes, no matter how long the day will be, the hangover is totally worth it.

"She hung up without saying 'I love you.' Waaaah"

Remember those nights when you spent 5+ hours talking on the phone with your girlfriends about what your man friend was trying to tell you when he texted you, “Good Night” with a winky face? Well ladies, you’re not alone. A recent study has shown that men actually over-analyze and get more emotional about relationships than women do!

Yup, when we’re not looking or listening (usually because The Bachelorette is on…), our beaus are secretly going to their dude friends and discussing the ups and downs in their love lives.

I guess we’ve been wrong all along about the idea that men never talk about their feelings with their broskeez and how they don’t care about their relationships with their significant others. In actuality, it might be all they talk about when they’re alone! All those times they told us they were goin’ to “chill with the dudes,” our boyfriends were probably spooning, crying and spilling the beans about their feelings over a cup of tea and a biscotti.

We’ve been so wrong for so long. I imagine this is how things are really going down during bro time.

What They Told Us: “Grabbing some drinks at the bar to watch the game.”
What’s Really Going On: “She didn’t say I love you back, dude.” <Chugs beer.>

What They Told Us: “Gonna grab some pizza and watch the game at Steve’s.”
What’s Really Going On: “WTF does ‘Fine. Get pizza with your boys” mean? Should I go to her place? Should I call her? What if she’s mad at me?”

What They Told Us: “Going to play some basketball.”
What’s Really Going On: “Going to play some basketball to work out the frustration from those cryptic, one-word answers you’re always giving me.”

What They Told Us: “I’m going to see Avatar with Seth again”
What’s Really Going On: He’s really catching a movie with Seth….and Dylan and Thomas and Blake. They all gathered to help your man in his emergency crisis of what to get you for your 1 year anniversary. “It’s gotta be special.”

What They Told Us: “It’s Monday Night Football!”
What’s Really Going On: Okay, sure. Monday Night Football. But they’re also overanalyzing how you’re going to grab coffee with that old male friend of yours back from high school.

God, boys are such babies. If only they were more emotionally stable like us ladies. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go spend the next 3 hours reminding my friend that she deserves way better than that jerk who dumped her.

This week, the last bar in State College (that’s the town where the main campus of Penn State is – the name confused me for a while too) to hold out on the 21^st birthday tradition of doing way too many shots decided to amend it’s stance and stop serving shots to new 21 year-olds. All of the bars in State College now abide by this policy – you can still get beer or mixed drinks, just no shots – where 21^st-ers will have to wait an extra 36 hours after their birthday before they can purchase tiny little glasses of liquor. The question is, is this fair?

Ok, now the whole impetus behind the ban is that Penn State (known as the biggest party school in the country) has had some trouble with it’s students binge drinking, and since 21^st birthdays are usually a big drinking night (yeah, baby!) they hope that preventing these (supposedly) new drinkers from getting shots, they might cut down on some of the dangers of overdrinking on the big night.

Now, it’s hard for me to argue against that. I’m all for safety when drinking and for acting (at least kinda, sorta, vaguely) responsible with alcohol – plus, you’re birthday will totally be more fun if you can remember it, trust me! And the bars aren’t denying students the right to buy alcohol either, they’re just forcing them to get it in less concentrated doses, which I think is totally smart. It’s completely within the bars rights to serve or deny service to whomever they choose (as long as they’re legal, of course).

And yet, there’s still something about this that sticks in my craw (you like that sweet, old-school phrasing, don’t you? Yeah, you do). Once you’re legal, shouldn’t you have the right to by the alcoholic beverage of your choice? As long as you can pay for it, should they be allowed to deny you whatever kind of 21^st birthday you want to have? You’ve worked 21 years to get there, and if you want to do shots until you’re making out with the floorboards that’s legally your right. And what if an older friend bought the shots? Does your whole group have to be shotless because you’re newly legal? What if you bought the bottle?

There’s also that whole 36-hour thing which just seems silly to me; for one thing, if your b-day is in the middle of the week, you might wait until Friday night to go party anyway and then, apparently, you can do as many shots as you want. WTF? Not to mention that little fact that there are probably some Penn State students (or students visiting a pal for their b-day) who could manage to do one or two shots without being completely overcome by the urge to suck down a whole bottle of tequila – but you can’t have one shot, even if that’s all you want… at least not until the day after tomorrow.

So, am I getting too up in arms about all of this? Is it really that big of a deal to give up one kind of alcohol on your 21^st? Is this a good way of protecting people from themselves? Or is this just a way for the bars to avoid a little liability and flack from the school? Duke. It. Out.

There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, Zappos…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like DailyLit, Voyij and ShopStyle). And more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

It’s only halfway through the semester, Spring Break can’t come soon enough and the stress of midterms is really starting to get you down.  What could make you feel better on a particularly stressful day than getting your drink on before dinnertime? Yes, I’m talking about everyone’s favorite time of day: happy hour.

I love happy hour; one reason obviously being the no cover charges and cheap drinks (something broke college students have to take as much advantage of as possible), and also because it’s an excuse to get some beer in my system before I sit down to that frozen dinner (like any of us really needed one).  But while I love my favorite go-to bars, sometimes they can get pretty old, and I’m always looking for new places to go.  And thanks to the nifty website MappyHour.com, I’ve found lots of new bars to try out.

MappyHour combines two of my favorite things: Google Maps & happy hour (in case it wasn’t obvious from the title, MappyHour= map + happy hour).  Type in a zip code or click anywhere on the map to center it and show the 50 closest happy hours in that radius (indicated by cute little beer glasses).  Click on an icon to get more information, such as links to reviews and ratings, happy hour times and specials.  The site is driven a lot by user-submitted content, so if the specials for a particular bar aren’t listed, you can contribute to making the site better by adding the info yourself!

You can also find new bars based on MappyHour’s similar-tastes meter.  If you create your own profile and rate different bars, when you do a search, the bars are listed with red (negative) or green (positive) meters next to them.  These indicate that you may or may not like a particular bar based on other people’s ratings.  So if you and Jane Doe both rate a particular bar highly, you’ll get positive taste-meter ratings for other bars she has also rated highly.  It works the opposite way too, and you can choose to avoid bars similar to ones you’ve rated negatively.

Brilliant? Brilliant!

With over 45,000 worldwide locations in MappyHour’s database and new ones being added all the time, you’re sure to find a few great places to try!

Week after week (after week after week…), CollegeCandy and our pal John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, and saddest things he hears on his college campus. And we know he’s not the only one who hears this stuff. Join the Overheard revolution! Listen in on some weirdos’ conversations and share them in the comments or send ‘em over. You know there’s a lot of funny things to be heard on your campus, so take off those (faux) Burberry ear muffs and tune in.

(Guy, walking out of a package store with three 30-packs of beer.)

Guy: Yeah, I’ve been trying really hard on this whole “New Year’s Resolution” thing. Think I’m doing okay so far.

(Girl, talking to a guy at a bar.)

Girl: Are you related to that guy on stage?

Guy: Who?

Girl: You look a lot like him.

Guy: No, I don’t.

Woman: Okay, you’re right. I’m just trying to hit on you.

(Girl, complaining in the student union lounge.)

Girl: I used to like Gaga, you know, back when I thought she was a hermaphrodite. Like, I’d watch her, and I’d be like “yeah, this is good, I like this,” but I was always on my toes. Because you never know when something might just – pop out! It was exciting.

(Two girls, talking in a nearby restaurant booth.)

Girl: It was like … I touched him, you know, in … how d’you say. His penis.

(Professor, working with a winter session math class.)

Student: I don’t get this problem. So we can get the gas halfway across the desert, but then we still have to get back. Seems impossible.

Prof: *chuckling* Ask your dad when you’re older.

(Girl and a guy, talking outside an apartment.)

Girl: Just … listen, if you hear anything that sounds like a door opening and people stealing all my stuff, try and stop them, okay?

(Guy in a Dunkin’ Donuts line, talking to a girl.)

Guy: New thing I did last night. I tried typing, you know, random nouns into Ebay. Like “stuff” and “product.” And see what happens. It was fun.

Girl: This is why you still live with your mom.

(Girl, guy, talking over coffee.)

Guy: She made me a mix CD before I left.

Girl: Uh-oh. That’s it. She wants you.

Guy: You think so?

Girl: That mix CD is like her womb enveloping your musical taste. She wants to take you and birth you as her own.

(Two girls, in a movie theater hallway.)

Girl 1: Avatar? No, it was Fatatar.

Girl 2: The best part was when they blew up Home Pizza.

Week after week (after week after week…), CollegeCandy and our pal John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, and saddest things he hears on his college campus. And we know he’s not the only one who hears this stuff. Join the Overheard revolution! Listen in on some weirdos’ conversations and share them in the comments or send ‘em over to us to put in next week’s post.

(Guy, two girls, at dining hall breakfast.)

Guy: You girls don’t need your buns toasted, do you?

Girl 1: Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.

Girl 2: Heh heh. No.

Guy: I was talking about the hot dog buns.

(Girl, on the phone, on a campus thoroughfare.)

Girl: I wish you didn’t have a penis!

(Beat)

Girl: Well, then I wish you would stop jerking off in the shower!

(Girl, talking to other girl, outside classrooms.)

Girl: He’s my boyfriend. So cute!

Girl 2: He’s my boyfriend too. I just wanna eat him up, spit him back out and eat him up again.

(Girl, complaining to other girls about something.)

Girl: Are you kidding me? That bitch! I’m sick of her. That bitch, be like, ‘bitch! Your head’s gone!’

(Guy, girl, shopping in an electronics store.)

Guy: If there were a game I’d have sex with, it’d probably be this one.

Girl: That’s gross.

(Beat)

Girl: I guess I would too, though.

(Guy, before class.)

Guy: You know, I just love it. Ribbons of blood! It’s a beautiful thing.

(Two guys, at party.)

Guy 1: Who wants do a shot with me!

Guy 2: Of what?

Guy 1: Wait, let me read the bottle. It’s … my urine!

(Two guys, talking at a concert.)

Guy 1: I don’t really like Rihanna. I’ve always like Chris Brown better. I guess that’s pretty insensitive to say, though, huh.

Guy 2: I don’t think so. I think it’s only insensitive if he’s sitting in the car behind you.

(Girl, guy, walking around a Barnes and Noble.)

Guy: I don’t get what’s so special about Josh Groban.

Girl: *chuckle*

Guy: I mean, what?

Girl: Ask your parents. They can tell you when you’re older.

(Two guys, shopping for groceries.)

Guy 1: How’s your meat.

Guy 2: Pretty spongey.

(Two girls, talking at a party.)

Girl 1: He was kind of a third wheel, right?

Girl 2: Fifth wheel. Seventh wheel. That wheel that goes flying out of the car wreck on fire after everyone dies.

(Three guys, at the bar.)

Guy 1: You going to the show with us tonight?

Guy 2: Not sure. Dunno.

Guy 1: What, you wanna stay here? And let this loser get you sick?

Guy 3: Oh, he told you about that?

Guy 1: What?

Guy 3: I’m sick. I’m dying.