Finals Week…just saying it makes me want to run screaming for the hills. Or at least hide under my bed (with a box of Girl Scout cookies) until they are over. Long nights of studying a semester’s worth of material, writing last-minute essays (why do we always wait until the very last possible second to start those 10-page research papers?), and, of course, stressing over your grades to make sure you get the A that you want (or at least pass).

Cue the anxiety.

For the most part, every campus shows the same signs that students have entered into this week-long stretch of hell. From the clothing, to the frantic pacing back and forth, to the agitated sighs reverberating through the library, it’s pretty apparent when we’re in the midst of it. Now it’s just counting down the minutes until the student next to you in the ‘brary has a mental breakdown so they’ll leave and you can use their chair as a foot rest.

Not sure if Finals Week has started on your campus? You’ve got major problems, girlfriend. Seriously, don’t you have a syllabus?? Anyways, here are 10 signs it’s finals time on campus.

According to the Daily Beast, Columbia University, my school, offers the most stressful undergraduate experience in the country.

Admittedly, taking a tour of any campus library during midterms or finals is enough to set your nerves on edge. Under-eye bags are as common on campus as Longchamp bags. Many students (especially first-years) constantly complain about their work overload. However, during my three years here, I have never pulled an all-nighter, missed a deadline, asked for an extension, or taken Adderall, caffeine pills or any type of energy drink (though, admittedly, I was studying abroad during the era of Fourloko).

Is this some sort of miracle? Am I a genius? Do I have photographic memory? No, I wish, and that actually doesn’t exist. But that’s another story. What I am is organized and realistic. And successful.

Here are some of my tips for keeping it all together. Read More »

As much as it pains me to say, finals season is coming. For some, you’ve still got a few weeks before all hell breaks loose. For others, there are only 7 days between you and those dreaded cram-everything-you’ve-learned-in-the-past-three-months-into-a-100-questions tests. Needless to say, it’s a stressful time of year that always sneaks up on us, no matter how many syllabi we have or how much we tell ourselves that we’re going to start studying three weeks in advance.

So, since we’re really getting down to the wire here, I’ve compiled a little survival guide to help all of us get through the most stressful time of a college student’s life. May these 7 things (and the force) be with us all:

Evernote: For those of us that are a little on the scatterbrain side of things, check out Evernote. It will organize all of those pesky notes and due dates that seem to pile up during this time of year, and keep track of important due dates..i.e. that 10-page paper due in a week. The site even offers different ways to upload your info, i.e. picture message, text message, tweet, email, manual, or by their browser add-on. Basically, you have no choice but to be organized and on top of your game.

5-Hour Energy: Put down the Four Loko, and pick up a 10-pack of 5 Hour Energy. No, I’m not condoning abusing energy drinks, but I am saying that this stuff works like a dream for those all-nighters or early mornings when you just need something to keep you going. I know that the commercials may seem pretty lame, but it really works. People who use it on the reg report no crash effect and little to no jittery feeling after. Read More »

The last month before finals. Woof.

For me, this time of year is all about flashcards and all-nighters celebrating with friends I know I won’t be seeing for months over summer vacation. It’s about taking it all in before it’s back to mom and dad’s chores and nagging. But, above all, it’s the time of year we need good music to dance and drink to, to try and help us forget about all the things (bluebook exams and papers) that lie ahead in the weeks to come.

These past couple months were big ones in the music world. Yet again, it was a popular time for huge artists to come out with new albums. Recently we’ve seen and heard new stuff from artists like Adele, Lupe Fiasco, Chris Brown, and Britney Spears. You can consider this playlist a sample of some of the hottest songs and remixes from their newly released albums you likely haven’t heard before. It’s a taste of a little of each with, as always, some older and some less mainstream type stuff thrown in there as well. Read More »

Finals Week has officially crept into our lives like the Grinch who stole Thirsty Thursdays. I know I’ve spent the past three days straight camping out in the library, creating classical music radio stations on my Pandora and eating Wheat Thins and coffee for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve showered at this point, but a recent armpit sniff test proves it’s been too long. All I want is a long day at the spa, lots of dark chocolate, and a(n abnormally long) happy hour.

Although Finals Week may be a brutal task, at least it is reassuring to know everybody has to fight through it. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. The library has become a home away from home for many college students, most of whom I could definitely do without. Read More »

Finals Week has officially crept into our lives like the Grinch who stole Thirsty Thursdays.  I know I’ve spent the past three days straight camping out in the library, creating classical music radio stations on my Pandora and eating Wheat Thins and coffee for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve showered at this point, but a recent armpit sniff test proves it’s been too long. All I want is a long day at the spa, lots of dark chocolate, and a(n abnormally long) happy hour.

Although Finals Week may be a brutal task, at least it is reassuring to know everybody has to fight through it. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. The library has become a home away from home for many college students, most of whom I could definitely do without. Read More »

[Hey everybody! Sarabeth here with a new feature that, quite frankly, I'm stoked about. Each week I'll be bringing you an album that I feel is particularly awesome in the hopes of building iTunes libraries everywhere! It could be something new, old, hugely popular or fairly unknown, so keep checking back for our suggestions to awesome-ify your music collection.]

This semester is FINALLY starting to wrap up. Exciting? Yes, I can’t wait to finish this round of classes. Stressful? Hell yeah, mofo. The end of the semester means that every. single. thing. I’ve been working on is going to be due at the same time. And on top of that, I have to start studying for finals. Barf.

For those of you in the same situation, you need some music to get you through.

So where do I turn to in my moment (or 3 weeks) of need? My trusted pick-me-up album, Carnavas, of course.

About the Band
Silversun Pickups is an indie/alternative band from LA that has been around since 2002. It is made up of lead vocalist and guitarist Brian Aubert, vocalist and bassist Nikki Monninger, drummer Christopher Guanlao and keyboardist Joe Lester. If they sound familiar it’s probably because they’ve been featured in video games like Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, Rock Band 1&2, and Guitar Hero World Tour.

Yeah, these guys are major. Read More »

The following is a guest post by our (nerdy yet totally helpful) friends at Hack College. Check ‘em out for all your techy needs. They’re like the nerdy boyfriend you never had but always needed.

The week after Thanksgiving break can always be pretty overwhelming. If you haven’t started preparing for your final projects, papers, or exams yet, you might be feeling if you’re drowning. And sometimes, even if you have gotten a good head start on your assignments, the fast approaching deadlines can be terrifying.

However, fear not. Even if you feel like the horrificness of your hell week(s) will swallow you alive, don’t panic. There are several steps you can take in order to ensure you get all of your work done on time. Stay calm and read through these tips that will help you survive college hell. Read More »

The following is a guest post by our (nerdy yet totally helpful) friends at Hack College. Check ‘em out for all your techy needs. They’re like the nerdy boyfriend you never had but always needed.

When the hell did November get here? That is what I want to know. Seriously, just yesterday I was telling y’all how to prepare your brains for August and get back into the school mode. And now it’s November. How did that happen and how can I make it stop?

Well, okay, so I can’t stop the furious, oncoming train that is November. I also can’t stop December, with all of its final papers and exams and projects, from hurtling right after it. You might be thinking, “Don’t be silly. December is an entire month away! I have a whole other month before I have to start worrying about things like that. I’m not gonna worry about that ’til after Thanksgiving.”

That is where you are wrong. Let me break this down for you. Including this week, there are two more weeks until Thanksgiving. Exams start a week and a half after Thanksgiving break. Can you study for all of your exams, write multiple 15-page papers, and put together various end-of-the-semester projects in a week in a half?

Answer: no.

The solution to this post-Thanksgiving crunch is to use these two weeks that we are given to start planning ahead for finals season. I know, it may seem excessive. But if you put off preparation for your end -of-the-year work until right before or even after Thanksgiving break, you will have wished you used that two week grace period to do some of that work. Trying to organize the next month of your academic life is daunting to say the least. But with a few tips, you should at least create yourself a nice cushion of accomplished work to allow you to not completely lose your mind in the post-Thanksgiving crunch. Read More »

As of right now, I have been in the library for a duration of eleven hours. Working on one paper. I left for an hour to steal a free hot dog from a baseball game on campus. This is my life. And it’s probably yours if you are stuck in the tornado of finals week, sucking the fun out of our lives.  I know it will be over soon, but how many florescent library lights and Pandora commercials can one girl take!?

Until then, I’m going to try and get through it all. Maybe Google image search Liam Hemsworth, watch a few YouTube videos of people falling…

So after you catch up on the absolutely insane Hill’s episode from this week, and the Gossip Girl episode that made us wonder where Rufus is keeping his waffle maker, check out a week that was:

- Since it’s almost summah time (thank you!) it’s time to bling up your closet with this easy-to-make tank.

- Call me guilty, in the midst of finals week H-E double hockey sticks, I forgot about Mother’s Day. But we have five Mother’s Day gifts that are totally worth the weight in gold your mom’s home cooking.

- House parties versus campus bar. We discovered they are not one in the same. Who knew?

- Tiger Woods speaks at a marriage seminar – Just kidding! But Chris Brown sings the anthem at a boxing match. Who is his PR person? Read More »