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 »

We all know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but let’s face it, half of us do it anyway. Plus, judging by appearance and prior knowledge does sometimes work. (Example: M. Night Shyamalan movies…)

College classes are the perfect example of things that can be accurately judged from a first impression, no matter how fleeting. Let’s take a look at some of the most common experiences you might have on your first day and what they might mean about the class ahead.

What happens: Your prof shows up 10 minutes late, frazzled and smelling heavily of espresso.
What it means: Feel free to come to class in your PJs and contribute to class discussion with garbled comments that aren’t fully formed, since your prof will neither care nor be able to tell the difference.

What happens: A PowerPoint presentation is already up on the screen when you enter, and the prof has a writing implement in his or her breast pocket.
What it means: Watch out, sister! This prof isn’t going to take any shenanigans. S/he is likely to be a hard grader, so start assembling your study group pronto with the cute dudes who sit near you.

What happens: The prof hands out the syllabus, reads it word for word, asks if everyone has the textbook, and dismisses you early.
What it means: Don’t be fooled by the early dismissal. This is a by-the-book prof who isn’t too keen on original ideas and probably doesn’t want to hear yours. Learn to read and regurgitate what’s in the textbook, and fast. Read More »

In the coming days, a whole new batch of freshmen will be arriving on campus.  Their rented mini-vans will clog the parking lots, their wide-eyed gazes and slow feet will make getting to class that much more miserable.  Forget drinking during those first weeks if you’re underage.  Police will be waiting in the bushes for these dummies to come outside holding a telltale red solo cup, and you don’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

When you devote your walk to class thinking of all the ways you hate the new lanyard-toting campus population, remember that you too were once wondering the difference between north and south campus.    And while all freshmen eventually learn the lay of the land, making your life easier, they’re strapped with a couple problems that are harder to shake.  A couple problems named Mom and Dad.

As an upperclassman, your parents have probably learned the ropes by now.  They call when they know you’re going to be sober, and you call when you need your debit card refilled.  The youngins, on the other hand, have yet to teach their folks these difficult lessons.  Forget that they have to deal with Mom checking in at 7:30 on a hungover Sunday morning.  First they’ve got to get the parentals to actually leave. Read More »

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

Campus dining halls are amazing places.  Besides a Las Vegas buffet, where else can you find Chinese food, Mexican food, and a pasta, deli, salad and dessert bar all in one room?  They are amazing, but amazing doesn’t always equal good for you.  Sometimes it can be down right challenging to navigate through the lines and find something that isn’t fried or covered in some sort of sauce.  To make it easy for you, here are the top 5 dining hall food traps to watch out for. Some may surprise you!

Wraps or Burritos:

You’re probably wondering why.  Most tortillas used to make wraps and burritos contain trans fats (trans fatty acids), which are even worse for you than saturated fats!  The scary thing about them is, they make their way into your brain and disrupt communication between your brain cells.  It’s sort of like when you use your cell phone to call your friend’s cell phone and the two of you keep dropping the call – you can’t seem to make a connection!  The only way to tell for sure if a tortilla contains trans fats is by looking at the nutrition facts label on the package for the words “partially hydrogenated oils.”  Obviously you can’t do this in your dining hall, so you may want to ask the food service staff to take a peak for you. Read More »

Mac 'n cheese for now, pizza for (when you're drunk) later.

Living in college pretty much means you will be living a notch above a homeless person.  You drink cheap booze heavily, pass out in random places, smell like last night on your way to class and (pretty much) live in a box.  Luckily, we all know that is what makes college amazing.

But still, college can get pretty difficult at times.  You don’t have a car your freshman year to make constant trips to Trader Joe’s, let alone the moolah to buy nice minty tea tree shampoo and Charmin Baby soft toilet paper like Mama buys at home (sigh).  What are you ever going to do without a stocked pantry and a private hot shower (that doesn’t require flip flops and a shower caddy?!?).

Don’t fret, college loved ones!  The college campus is a gold mine for basic needs and perks.  And I promise you, one thing we have up to a homeless man is easy access to what we need. 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 »

Wow, August has been a steamer.  And it makes me so lazy. I can’t do anything. And I’m not kidding. I could barely make the trek to my freezer this morning to have a struggle-fest opening the wrapper off of my fruit popsicle before I proceeded to the center of my family room, turned on the fan and spread out like a star fish on the ground.

You can only imagine, then, my internal fight to read the September Issue of Glamour. It’s over 400 pages, people. You try lifting that to your face.

Whew. I needed a moment to catch my breath just from typing that. Before I pass out in a pool of sweat and melted ice cream, let’s take a moment to turn on the A/C and reflect on the hot-ass week that was.

* As quickly as Mother Nature dragged in weather that makes me feel like I’m suffocating inside of a leopard print Snuggie, she’s going to drag the blanket from under us and bring on the lovely season of fall. That also means college (!) is beginning! Lucky for us, Ben Bator (creator of my number one guilty pleasure – TFLN) fills us in on the dos and donts of college.

* And if that’s not enough to get you through them college days, we’re here to help you with your new wardrobe options and all your roommate woes.

* Speaking of college, are you ready for the shopping spree(s….you know you always forget something) with your parental units at Bed Bath & Beyond? We are. And your parents may not know what they’re getting into… Read More »

Ben Bator learned how to college at Michigan State University and even went to class enough to earn a degree in Advertising. Since then, he has read millions of examples of what to do (and not to do) in college through his website, Texts From Last Night, which he started in 2009 with his friend Lauren Leto. If ever there was an expert in all things college, it’s Mr. Ben Bator. (Or, as I like to call him, Master Bator. Ha!)

Want to know what to do and what absolutely-under-no-circumstances-no-not-even-when-you’re-drunk not to do? Let’s turn to the Dalai Lama of college debauchery to find out.

Do: Hook up with someone in your dorm

This is the one thing that everyone tells you not to do, but chances are that you will anyway. Let’s face it – it’s convenient. The 2:30am “Whats up” text is more innocent and the victory lap is far less stressful than a cross-campus speedwalk in the morning. Most advise against this for reasons that relate to the awkward proximity in the aftermath of the hookup. Having been through this, it’s really not true. Here’s what really happens: it’s awkward the first two times you see the other person. Then you see them 38 more times that week and it’s either on again or it’s no big deal. But, if you choose to take it to any other kind of level than a simple nod or wave, see #2.

Don’t: Date someone in your dorm.

While hooking up may create a few awkward situations, dating someone in your dorm is likely to make ALL of your relationships suck. Roommates will slowly come to resent you (and that “whore”/”man-whore” you’re dating), new friends will turn into former acquaintances and your relationship with the new boyfriend/girlfriend will turn your Friday nights into a dinner “date” off-campus and deciding between Grey’s Anatomy Season One or Two. Raaaage! But if you’re still sure that this won’t be you & he/she is “totally different” than anyone you’ve been with before, I’d advise that you look into transferring dorms as to avoid the inevitable awkward “we live in the same building” break-up. No one wants that. Read More »