Whether you see it in the movies, hear it from your peers or participate in it yourself, it is a generally understood fact that college students like to party. Some adopt the habit during their first Halloween away from home and hold tightly onto it well into their twenties, while others pick it up only between midterm exams. Either way, it happens; it’s been happening and it probably will continue to happen, as long as there are weekend evenings and boring classes and closet doors that prop sideways into perfectly proportioned beer pong tables.

So why were a few neighboring families of Northwestern University so shocked to discover students who “parked themselves on a neighbor’s parkway for a little love fest” or are “hollering about “Bl** J*bs”? Sure, this behavior isn’t acceptable in a world where mothers and fathers and their eight year-old daughters are riding their bicycles to church services on Saturday evenings. But when you’re living in the midst of a university, it should be almost be expected that this will happen.

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[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. Sometimes with mean words. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like whether we date men like our dads!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

It’s no secret that getting admission to a college (especially big names like the Ivy League) is kind of a crap shoot. Sure, you need the grades, the activities, the involvement; but we all also know that sometimes you can give your application a little nudge that has nothing to do with academics. Your parents worked two jobs each to help take care of you and your three siblings and it taught you the value of responsibility and family — admissions gold. Or you spent half of your childhood in another country and had to learn the wonder and struggles of adapting your proud cultural heritage to life in the Midwest — brilliant. These kinds of things have been a leg-up in the admissions process for years and now, it turns out, there’s a brand new one that schools are actively seeking out — LGBT.

That’s right, when just a couple of decades ago many people couldn’t RISK coming out in college, now schools are trying to recruit applicants from the LGBT community and while I have no qualms about that, I gotta wonder if it’s fair.

I have a long-standing record on this column of being pro gay rights, and that’s not a streak I plan on breaking, but this is one area where I have some serious mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s great that schools are being active with the gay community and embracing their students’ sexualities as a part of who they are. It’s wonderful that they’re going to an effort to show students that they can be open, active and comfortable in their school and embracing that the challenges faced by many LGBT students are character shaping  and meaningful. Good job, colleges! It’s also not really affirmative action, so it’s not as though schools are trying to fill a certain quota; it’s just that if a good applicant comes along with the added twist of being LGBT, then it might give him or her a little boost.

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November 2nd is quickly coming. Yep, the Midterm Election — when you get to vote for your favorite Senator, Congressman/Congresswoman, or Governor for your state — is almost here! Although there’s a ton of hype about the election in the news, it often flies over the heads of many college students (and, dare I say, females). Unless you have CNN, the NY Times, or The Huffington Post as your browser home page, chances are you’re wildly in the dark concerning the election issues.

Luckily, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to the biggies.

But, none of these issues really matter unless you actually choose to exercise your vote. So, here are 5 reasons to get out (or online to fill out an absentee ballot) and vote!

It’s Your Right
As a liberal democracy, America allows each citizen to have an equal voice in society. Certainly, some are a bit louder than others. But, that voice is represented in the form of a check mark on a ballot: the vote. This right, which can seem insignificant in our contemporary (and cynical) society, is so important that it has caused social wars for those without it. Now, considering every American citizen receives the possibility to exercise this awesome right on their 18^th birthday, everyone is on a level playing field. When you vote, you’re not only relishing the freedom of America, but the freedom of governmental liberalism.

You Want a Job
Tired of hearing adults at so-and-so’s graduation party console you with the now-classic “Well, in this economy, it’s just so tough to get a job”? Applying for exorbitant numbers of jobs, complaining, and moping around your room will not get them to pipe down. But a package that stimulates the economy by creating jobs, which is a point of partisan contention in this election, will shut them up. And, such a plan will help your future. It’s a win-win. However, no one can win if you don’t get out and vote.

You Get a Sticker
And who doesn’t love stickers?

The Issues Matter
These issues can’t just be ignored. They may seem trivial to your life at the moment, but they will greatly affect your life in several years. Most legislation does not take affect immediately. So, your vote now will decide your taxes, health care, (and even) salary, etc., in 5-10 years. It may seem like a hassle to fill out an absentee form, but it’s 100% worth it in the long run.

Apathy is Not Awesome
In Obama’s recent interview with Rolling Stone, he urges citizens to “shake off this lethargy” and vote. Obviously, his personal purpose with this statement is to target Democrats since there is a very high chance that the party will lose their majority vote in Congress after this election. But, Obama’s message should resonate with many students our age — no matter your party. We’re educated, we have a decent amount of free time, and all these decisions will decide our future in America. Yet, many of us will remain on our couch November 2, 2010, watching Dexter OnDemand instead of helping mold our country. Not. Cool. So, get out and vote. Especially in this election, when your vote will be extremely important in determining which party will have control of Congress, and therefore what kinds of legislation will be passed in the next two years.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, I have one message for the CollegeCandy readers. Exercise your right and VOTE! Yes, it’s a total cliché, but it’s one that can help change our country and our futures.

My favorite holiday has always and will always be Halloween (well at least until Super Bowl Sunday is finally acknowledged as a national holiday).

I mean, what is not to love about Halloween? It is a night of pure debauchery devoted to stuffing your face with Twix’s and candy corn without guilt, wearing the sluttiest of slutty costumes without shame, and inevitably hooking up (a man in a mask? yum.) without judgment due to all the socially acceptable scantily clad outfits.

Halloween is basically one long session of foreplay. Only bummer about the best day of October is the walk of the shame the next morning. Maybe you thought the Lady Gaga costume was a good idea for the 31st, but you may not think so while you’re walking home the next morning in a bright blue pantless body suit with smeared eyeliner and glitter all over your face.

So to avoid being the solo slut this Hallow’s Eve, dress up in a group costume with your friends so you can walk home together.

Group costumes are interactive, more creative than the insert Sexy in front of anything costume, (ex: sexy nurse, sexy teacher, sexy plumber, sexy firefighter, sexy scuba diver, sexy nun?), and ideal for a quality Facebook profile pic.

So here are our top ideas for this year: Read More »

The following is a guest post by our (nerdy) friends at Hack College, the #1 tech site for college students. Check ‘em out.

As hopefully all of you know, LinkedIn is a professional networking website that allows those looking for jobs, especially college students, to create profiles and look for business and career opportunities. It’s a really fantastic service, and if you haven’t signed up yet, you definitely should. LinkedIn caters to 80 million users worldwide and is an easy-to-use tool that may help you find a job or career after college.

To add to its professional networking services, LinkedIn recently added a new feature to its site called Career Explorer. The new feature will allow college students to essentially map out their desired career path and visualize how they can attain this path. Students are able to look at career paths that those before them have taken in order to understand what steps they must take to get to their goals.

On LinkedIn’s press page, the chief executive officer of LinkedIn Jeff Weiner said,”LinkedIn is about connecting talent with opportunity at massive scale. Career Explorer is the latest example of how we make that possible by providing one of our fastest growing demographics, students and recent college graduates, unique and valuable insights enabling them to develop the optimal career path. We’re excited to be launching this product in partnership with PwC, one of the largest and most forward thinking recruiters of new graduates.” Read More »

The following post was written by Liz, a CollegeCandy reader and 21-year-old breast cancer survivor.

I was your typical college sophomore. I was active on campus, had a great group of friends, and kept myself busy with schoolwork. I was enjoying my time at The College of New Jersey, and felt truly blessed with an amazing life.

Then in April 2009, everything changed completely. In the midst of studying for final exams and celebrating the end of the school year, I was going back and forth between TCNJ and New York City for doctor visits. I had found a lump in my right breast, and went for tests and exams just as a precaution. Although I was optimistic and really believed I had nothing to worry about, I received the news that nobody wants to hear: I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Read More »

I’ve never been a big fan of theme parties. Just like perfectly matched outfits, to me they seem contrived, cliché, outdated. But college freshmen (and many of my CollegeCandy peers) seem to love the experience of a costume party. I too have to give props to the really creative ideas that people have come up with (although I can’t seem to recall any at the time; that’s how rare they are), but for the most part, the only theme parties that exist and thrive in college are characterized by sexism. I mean, CEOs and corporate hoes? Is there anyone that sees that and thinks, “hey, girls can dress up as CEOs too!”

Even when it’s not implicitly stated (and it usually is, on the Facebook invite: “girls who don’t dress sexy aren’t allowed in”), why do guys get to slap on a button-down and be the cool, prestigious things – CEOs, rock stars, golf pros – while girls just have to dress like “hoes”?

With Halloween looming, this is an incredibly relevant issue. In the immortal words of Cady Heron: “Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” It’s true. Halloween seems to be the one night when the cattiness and judgments that surround one girl’s wardrobe choice seem to fall away, and girls take full advantage of this. For most girls, finding a sexy costume takes priority over creating a clever one; to say that most girls don’t aspire to be praised for their minds on Halloween night is to put it mildly.

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If you’re a recent post-grad, chances are you don’t have anything figured out. Or maybe you have some of it figured out, but when you close your eyes and picture yourself five years down the line, things are somewhat blurry.

This probably gives you heart palpitations. I get it. The future can be scary, especially when you have no idea what it will hold.

But really, so what?

If you’re a recent post-grad, you truly are at an advantage. While it sucks to be so discombobulated during this time, it’s kind of a blessing in disguise. Think about it … you can still attribute your mistakes and mistrials under the files appropriately titled: “Lack of experience” or “Youthful Ignorance.”

OK, so you may feel old (I know I do sometimes, especially when I try to party like my freshman self), but the truth is, you’re not. In today’s society, we constantly hear “30 is the 20!” and that means that 22 is the new 18. And that means you’ve got a little more time to figure things out than you probably think you do. It’s easy to rush into the future trying to plan as much as you can, but really, wouldn’t you rather take a few risks and screw up now before you are in your mid-30s with a mortgage and a couple kids? Read More »

As far as people go, I am rather intolerant.  I am intolerant of people who do not clean the coffee maker after they use it.  I am intolerant of couples that walk too slowly together on the sidewalk and therefore block all of the people behind them.  Mismatched outfits and too much eye makeup make my blood boil. And don’t even get me started on people who don’t know how to parallel park.

However, I’ve always felt that I exemplify a very accepting society when it comes to the bigger issues. Things like racial inequality or sex discrimination. I’m all about equal rights for everyone, regardless of race or gender. In fact, when my professor made me argue for school segregation and against gay marriage last week as a class exercise, I started laughing because I literally had nothing to say.

Why wouldn’t we want everybody to be happy?
Doesn’t everyone feel this way?
Doesn’t the law basically say just live and let live?

Yeah, apparently not. The events of the past couple of weeks have informed me that I am completely wrong about the world and the people living in it. Turns out, my tolerance isn’t the rule, it’s the exception. And minority groups, especially the gay population, have to put up with way more than I realized. Read More »

The Huffington Post created this gem of a slideshow several days ago.  Liz O’Neill claims that the usual reasons your roommates loathe you (you’re a slob, a mooch, etc.) are veils for deeper, subtler issues. Actually, they hate you because you are prettier than them. And, you’re going to make more money than them in a few years!

As I read this, I felt like I was listening to a mother stroke her child’s ego. The different hate-causing categories of behavior Ms. O’Neill gives are bizarre. And, based on my own college experiences, totally ludicrous (I mean, seriously? My roommates don’t like me because I have a diary? Seriously?).

So, here are the REAL 7 reasons your college roommates hate you. And sorry – we’re not going to sugar-coat these bad boys. Read More »