I pored over the U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings when I was a senior in high school. How far up could I go, I wondered? What was the most-highly ranked college I could get into?

I mean, I knew I was Harvard-caliber, I just didn’t have the grades– I was above grades! I could have totally gone Ivy-League if I had wanted to, but I chose the route of a small school with a philosophy, a mission (and a respectable ranking).

My freshman year, I ended up at a small liberal arts school that was ranked #30. Not bad, considering it was ranked #25 in terms of selectivity. I figured its teeny endowment brought the main ranking down. I was satisfied, my family was satisfied, my peers were satisfied. I had landed.

But when I got to college, of course, I realized that these rankings meant absolutely nothing. What did I care about my college’s freshman retention or alumni – giving rate? And the insidiously low student to faculty ratio was moot if you were in a crappy class in which none of the other six students talked. I found myself pining for large, anonymous lecture classes. Did I wanted a lower – ranked education?

The old, corny adage rings true over and over again: college is what you make of it. Seriously. All campuses have pretty trees and old buildings. All student bodies have geniuses and idiots. Yale has a dining hall. Podunk University in Mississippi has a dining hall.

And they both have horrible food. It’s all the same. Read More »

Now that you freshman ladies have a few weeks on campus under your belt, you can plainly see the difficulties that arise when attempting to maintain a healthy lifestyle (or weight) in college.

Between the late night pizza runs, pre-football game beer runs and the inability to find anything remotely healthy and appetizing in the cafeteria, avoiding the Freshman 15 is harder than anyone thought.

And, without mom and dad making you those well balanced dinners like the old days, staying healthy doesn’t get all that easier as the college years go on, either. I tried it every year I was in school, but all I knew how cook was Mac and Cheese and leftovers of Chinese take-out.

And soon my fat jeans became my only jeans and my immune system went into shock.

Enter, The Dorm Room Diet, a new book by Daphne Oz; daughter to Oprah’s favorite doc, Mehmet Oz. Daphne, who struggled with weight issues all her life, is a sophomore at Princeton and chock full of great ideas to maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the dorms.

Her ideas are sometimes obvious, sometimes not what you want to hear, but always guaranteed to keep you healthy and happy, even after a rough night on the town.

Daphne’s book is entertaining, witty and outlines a plan that includes healthy eating, exercise and vitamins. The perfect combination to keeping healthy in college. Read More »

The end of August is rapidly approaching. Your room is filled with overflowing boxes, you’re hugging your friends goodbye and you finally feel as if you’re fully prepared to launch into collegiate life, especially after reading Solmaaz’s wisdom on What Not to Do in College.

If you plan on attending a college anywhere besides New York City, Sol’s tips should be read like the Bible.

For those of us who have been granted the opportunity to spend our four years of academic growth (ha!) in the greatest city in the world, things must be done just a little bit differently.

Things you must do in order to survive in one of the toughest cities in the world:

1. Spend your money buying a good, solid wardrobe before you head off to school (because God knows you can’t afford anything at Bergdorf Goodman).

On a regular college campus, you would be able to sport a pair of sweatpants or even (gasp!) pajamas on a typical day. In New York, your 8:30 class will be chock full of girls in full make-up and carefully calculated outfits. Even the majority of male students will appear as if they have stepped away from a runway show for an hour and a half to attend your Level I Spanish class.

Don’t be that schlumpy girl hiding in the last row. Buy the basics and add trendy accessories when you arrive at school. Read More »