College. Sigh. It’s unlike any other time in your life. It has its own set of rules, its own unique circumstances. And it’s not always easy to navigate. Enter…me!

Every week I’ll be tackling your questions about college. From classes to keggers, I’ll do my best to respond and be your Pez dispenser of collegiate wisdom. Got questions? Hit me up in the comments or shoot me an email at melanie@collegecandy.com

I’m broke. Wah! What can I do?
Get. A. Job. Seriously, there’s no excuse for not working while you’re in classes. In fact, it looks great on a resume and will give you some extra cash in your pocket on the weekends. You don’t need a high power internship (although those are pretty nice), but do something to earn money. Babysitting is a great option if you want cold hard cash with none of those silly taxes. If you’re a shopaholic, work at your favorite clothing store to snag the discount. I did the J.Crew thing for a semester and got a fantastic discount and although most of my paycheck went to clothes it still alleviated some of my financial woes. Even if you just pick up five hours a week at a coffee house, it’s better than nothing. Make it rain!

My roomie snores. What should I do?
Buy earplugs. Or leave her a hint by picking some of those breathe-easy nose strips and putting them on her pillow.

I want to throw a rager, any tips for success?
If you’re going the theme party route, do something original. One of my favorite parties that me and my bestie/roomie of the moment threw was a Hollywood themed party. People came dressed as their favorite celebs and had a blast. Believe me, there’s nothing funnier than watching Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Mary Kate Olsen, Kurt Cobain and Heath Ledger all duking it out at the flip cup table. Hide your valuables, buy lots of Solo cups and cheap beer. The rest will be history, captured on Facebook. Read More »

Best class ever?

We’re all well aware of the fact that we are the technology generation. We spend our entire day with our eyes glued to computer screens, sending more texts and BBMs a minute then our hearts beat, and accompanying our lives with a personal soundtrack courtesy of our iPods. After Twitter made it possible to tell the world what you’re doing every 2 seconds (and I found out how often some of my guy friends poop), I thought nothing could shock me.

That was until I heard that the University of Houston now has an entire class dedicated to the Wii. No joke.

The course is listed in the catalog as “online aerobics activities” and the description? A class for PE credit where students work out 20-30 minutes twice a week by playing the Wii Fit video game.

Why the heck can’t my college offer this course? I’d enroll in a nanosecond. Play video games the whole semester and knock going to the gym off my daily schedule twice a week? I’m sorry but that sounds like perhaps the most amazing thing ever. Read More »

As college students, we are constantly inundated with new knowledge. It can be useful, thought-provoking, or crammed into our head on a Starbucks-fueled binge several hours before an exam. However, very rarely do we question the validity of all this new knowledge (unless you take philosophy classes, then you’ll question away).

That’s where College Candy comes in. We’re not going to debate whether or not the Theory of Relativity actually exists (a disappointment, I know, but I’m a communications major and stopped taking science classes after Baby Bio fresh year). However, we are here to thoroughly investigate the most widespread college knowledge (no, not rhyming)—the myth.

One of the most well known and deeply feared college myths are three little words: breaking the seal. As defined by the most elite source of definitions, Urban Dictionary, breaking the seal is “The point at which you first piss after you have been drinking your favorite alcoholic beverage and at this point you will be pissing every ten minutes.”

We’ve all been there. Enjoying a lively round (or 6) of flip cup when all of a sudden, your bladder reminds you that it has a maximum capacity. You try to discreetly excuse yourself to visit the ladies room, but your concerned besties remind you—very loudly—that you can’t break the seal!

So this seal we all desperately protect, does it actually exist? Or is it possible that it’s simply an alcohol-fueled figment of our imagination? I’ve enlisted a panel of urological experts (read: my boyfriend in med school and Google) to figure out if this phenomenon is real. Read More »

The only thing harder than saying goodbye to your roommate for the summer is packing up your dorm… and mopping all of the dried beer of the floor.  And scrubbing your desk where pizza sauce has been encrusted for months. And figuring out how to pack it all into your two-door.  Yeah, moving out sucks.  But moving IN with your parents again… well, let’s face it.  It rocks.

Here are my top ten faves about crashing with Mom and Dad for three months.  What are yours?

1.  You can live with your parents without looking like a deadbeat loser.

You have an excuse: You’re still in college and the dorms closed.  If you were 35 and working at the Venus Club and living with the ‘rents… you might belong on Jerry Springer.  But there’s nothing shameful about going back to your teenage years and living under their roof for one more summer.

2.  You’re a legal adult now.

Maybe your parents tried to force some strict rules on you in high school, and you vowed to move out asap.  But now, you’re an adult.  So even if they try to enforce a curfew, you at least have the “I’m a grown up” argument, which can be bolstered with “I just made Dean’s List,” or “In college, you aren’t keeping tabs on me and I made it home alive, didn’t I?” Plus, a lot of parents won’t even pick that fight, because they realize that you are an adult, you are a responsible collegiate, and they don’t want to know what happens on spring break. Read More »

I remember my college graduation like it was yesterday. After a group of my friends threw an open bar graduation party for family and friends the night before, I woke up graduation morning hungover, naked and confused about  my whereabouts. I rolled over to find myself lying next to the first college friend I made at orientation.

“Fitting,” I thought to myself. Then I grabbed my clothes (all but one shoe…which I told myself I could live without) and ran out the door. If I didn’t get home soon, I would be late for graduation.

I hailed a cab on the corner of the street and hopped in. On the short ride back to my house, I passed families all dressed up for the great moment that was their son/daughter/grandchild/cousin/brother/sister’s graduation. I looked down at the clothes I wore the night before and the unidentified scars that can only come from a night of heavy drinking on someone else’s tab.

“Fitting,” I thought to myself again. Read More »

So, you studying for that last final?
Trying to push your way to the end?
Wondering what the hell you are supposed to do about this giant blue book exam now that you have successfully skipped every class the entire semester?

You might be totally screwed, but you also may have a chance to pull a Mine That Bird (that’s a Kentucky Derby reference) and come up from behind! And you can win a $100 Amazon gift card just for trying!

“But fantabulous CollegeCandy editors, how would I ever be able to do that!?”

I’m glad you asked, dear reader. Let me introduce you to Shmoop. Read More »

In honor of Earth Day, I just want to remind everyone again how important it is to start making changes in your life to live greener.  I’m not saying you all have to go out right now and start a compost heap, convert your cars to biodiesel, or throw out your whole wardrobe and only buy clothing made from organic materials.

Just do something.

I know some of you are probably wondering what kind of impact you can make–you’re just a college student, after all.  While you may not think that just one person makes a difference, think about it on a larger scale.

For starters, think about all the paper you go through in just one semester: you have a syllabus for every class (which is sometimes multiple pages), countless handouts from professors, and all the papers and assignments you have to print out and hand in.  I know students at my school whose professors make them print out PowerPoint Presentations from the web and bring them into class, which sometimes are more than 20 or 30 pages per chapter!  Read More »

College brings a whole lot of new experiences, new lessons and new people. But it seems that no matter what school you go to there are same characters on every campus. The frat house groupie, the sensitive all American, the cool girl, the Unhinged Coed, and the Americanized International.

Allow me to refine this status: Americanization is not to be confused with Westernization, nor is it a put-down.

International Students take up a demographic in most US colleges and universities. They are usually easily spotted on campus. No, not because that of clothing choices or accents, but because they maintain a certain wide eyed fascination and solemn intelligence. International students seem refined and sophisticated. Hard working and goal oriented. They worked hard to get to this prestigious American university and they keep that in mind as they work even harder to graduate.

Most International Students stick together, seeking the comfort of the familiar. They tend to sit back in class and take notes as the more abrasive and comfortable students take over answering the questions, debating the topics and joking with classmates. As soon as class ends, they head to the library or the comforts of their dorm room to get started on the reading assigned. They never join the rest of campus at the weekend parties.

But then something starts to change. As the semester rolls on and these students find themselves more at ease in their new environment, they begin to engage in common American customs. They become The Americanized International. Read More »

[Life isn’t black and white. As much as we wish we simply loved or hated things, there is often that whole annoying gray area in the middle. Like, we hate how Walmart treats its employees…but we love the low prices! Or, we love how that boy makes us laugh….but we hate that he has no motivation in life. Damn you, gray area; you make decision-making that much more complicated!

There are so many difficult choices in life (do we love or hate high heels??), so we thought we’d sort through ‘em right here. Every week we will discuss another issue we are torn up about. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!]

Whether you call it the caf, the d-hall or the sh*t hole, you definitely have one. The dining hall is a place to meet with friends, grab a bite to eat or flirt with the sandwich guy. As college students, we spend endless amounts of time there, whether by choice or because our schools force us to pay for meal plans. And, just like every other serious relationship in our lives, this one has a lot of highs and a lot of lows. Read More »

College brings a whole lot of new experiences, new lessons and new people. But it seems that no matter what school you go to, there are same characters on every campus:

The Unofficial

Have you noticed that guy who trails three feet away from the girl who has a steady boyfriend? Or that girl who silently stalks the team player? Yup, they are The Unofficial.

The Unofficial is the guy or girl who is not the main entrée of the relationship. He or she is the appetizer before the main entrée… or maybe just the wilted salad. They are the one that someone turns to in order to curb their hunger before the main relationship meal.

The unofficial is whispered about by his/her friends and acquaintances. He/she is not appreciated for intelligence or personality; they are more often likened to slabs of meat waiting to be used.

The Unofficial is usually a promiscuous guy or girl who seeks attention from the opposite sex. There are no limits to their seduction tactics. The target is always someone in a relationship and the ultimate goal is to steal the title. Unfortunately, all they get is a little physical attention and a whole lotta false hope. Read More »