Is the spring semester half over already? Sadly, it’s true. And while some of our peers will be looking forward to spending the summer at one pool party after another, many of us are currently scouring job listings for summer internships.

Internships are a great way to add experience to your resume, make industry connections, and discover what kind of career path you really want to follow. While school’s in session, it can be hard to fit an internship into your schedule; in the summer, however, you can devote more hours to the gig.

Unfortunately, just because you sign up to work a 40-hour work week from May to August, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get paid like a fulltime employee.

Many internships pay nothing. In fact, they often offer college credit as a means of skirting the salary, but in that case, you’ll find yourself coughing up summer tuition money just to work at the company that hired you. While there are plenty of paid internships out there, they usually offer a stipend rather than a modest hourly wage. So, if you’re going to be working your ass off, how do you decide whether the internship is worth it?

Paid internships certainly have a bit more sparkle at first glance. However, there’s a reason they call it an internship and not a job. Unless it’s a major company, you could probably make more money serving omelettes at Denny’s… but waitressing the third shift isn’t going to bulk up your resume. So, while you may be lucky enough to get paid this summer, you will have to figure out if you can live with a meager paycheck.

Paid internships may or may not be more challenging than an unpaid gig. After all, if you’re expected to work a full-time schedule, you’ll really become part of the office, and get to know your coworkers. You’ll be involved with bigger projects, because the bosses will know you can work on them throughout the week, rather than worry about you only tending to assignments on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday basis. Plus, if they’re bothering to pay the interns, they must think highly of the students they choose for the task, right?

Note that I said “may or may not” above. Many non-profit companies (or smaller businesses with less budget) employ a smaller staff than a Fortune 500 biz. In that case, you may be given a broad spectrum of responsibilities and may have the opportunity to develop a close relationship with your superiors. Any internship will probably require you to do a fair share of answering phones, photocopying, and filing, but you might also get to work for several different “departments” at an unpaid internship- especially if the department consists of one associate.

If you are moving away to do an internship, you should try to plot out how much your living expenses will be in an unfamiliar city. It can be more difficult to find a second job outside your home town, and, if you’re being paid at all, the internship might require more commitment. In reality, landing a paid internshp might not be as profitable, especially if you don’t have time to find another source of income.

Most employers usually appreciate their interns for working for free, and may be more lenient with the rules of the job. Many unpaid internships ask for less hours per week and try to be flexible with scheduling. This means that you can keep a few shifts at your regular summer job in order to pay for your gas to the internship!

Plus, unpaid internships come with some sort of business-related incentive, such as free parking permits or subway cards. You know, so you don’t lose money coming to work. Depending on the company, they may offer free meals if there’s a cafeteria in the building. If that’s the case, then hey- it won’t cost you anything besides time to go to work and the experience might help you get a higher paying job in the future.

There are pros and cons to either side here. If you are going to look into an internship, you should truly ask yourself what you want out of the experience and be prepared to ask questions before taking the job. If you’re not getting paid, it’s easy to get frustrated with menial tasks such as photocopying, filing, and going on Starbucks runs for the bigshots. Then again, an unpaid internship might be intimate enough for you to truly pick your boss’s brain during downtime and get a mentor out of the experience.

No matter what, my advice to future interns of the world is to take the next few months to try to save up and secure sufficient resources to provide for yourself over the summer – this way, you can choose the position that is truly best for yourself and your career goals, rather than only focusing on the monetary aspects of the job.

Personally, I’ve done my fair share of underpaid labor, whether in the form of an unpaid internship, paid internship, or a generally sh*tty part-time job that didn’t pay well enough. While the sh*tty part-time jobs did nothing but supply my weekend drinking funds, all of the internships let me walk away with something more valuable than money. I’ve been paid in experience, connections, all the coffee I can drink, and every random perk from catered meetings to free t-shirts to tickets to killer events. So while the payment issue is something that you should consider when taking one, the bottom line is that you won’t be an intern forever, so, for now, money shouldn’t be the first priority.

Here’s part two: The Pros and Cons of Welcome Back Sex!

Pro: Happiness to have them back

It’s a wonderful feeling to see them again. And touch them. And kiss them… It’s easy to get swept away in that happiness, and it feels amazing once you get to lead them into the bedroom…or the couch…or the kitchen table….or – well, you get my point.

Con: That happiness wears off

Just as soon as that happiness hits you, it wears off. Once the “festivities” are over, you get right back into the routine of things. It’s as if they were never gone at all. I’ll let you decide if that’s a good or bad thing.

Pro: It’s wild

You’ve both been deprived and letting your imaginations run wile, so there’s some lost time to make up for. It was some of the most passionate, hottest sex I’ve ever had. It’s amazing to just let loose.

Con: It can get TOO wild

I can’t lie; there were some injuries. While getting into the heat of the moment has it’s benefits, take it easy. Getting too rough leads to pain. And in some cases, embarrassing bruises/red marks that you don’t want to explain later.

Pro: It All Feels New Again

It’s been so long that it feels different, new and exciting again.

Con: It Is Over in A Flash

I didn’t experience this, but some people may get so excited to be together again that things just happen so…fast. You know what I mean?

In the end I am going to have to say that Welcome Back Sex is my favorite; it’s just as great as the Goodbye variety, but you don’t have to be without your partner after.

Last weekend the biggest man whore on campus asked me to go home with him. My first reaction was, “Hell yeah! HE KNOWS WHO I AM…and he wants to do me!!!” Which was immediately followed by, “Ew, do I have to get tested for STDs cuz he just talked to me!?”

I said no that night (and by “said no” I mean “spent the rest of the night on the bathroom floor vomiting up Jimmy Johns and Jameson”), but I have been thinking about it ever since. I mean, we are Facebook friends now, so the opportunity is obvi still there.

I have always been a big fan of pro/con lists, so I am going to make one here. So, here it is: The Pros and Cons of Hooking Up With a Major Man Whore. I hope this helps if you are ever presented with such a conundrum.

Pro: He is obviously totally wanted by every girl ever

Con: He has put his penis into a whole lot of ladies

Pro: He, in theory, knows what he’s doing – he’s gotten enough practice

Con: He’s never really had a consistent partner so he may be repeating his mistakes over and over and over again.

Pro: He finds me sexy

Con: He has found 98% of the campus sexy at one point

Pro: Potentially awesome sex

Con: Potentially itchy rash… down there

Pro: If he’s bad, I can be the one to tell the world

Con: If I’m bad, he’s totally gonna have a billion people to compare it to…and tell

Pro: I can tell everyone that I conquered Mount Man Whore.

Con: After I tell everyone, they will judge me for being yet another notch on his tattered belt.

It looks like the cons far outweigh the pros. But maybe I missed something? Like the fact that I’ve been experiencing at 3 month dry spell and am thisclose to humping a desk!?

His Place

Pro: You don’t have to worry about the pile of dirty laundry on your bedroom floor.

Con: You have no idea if he has to worry about the pile of dirty laundry on his bedroom floor.

Your Place

Pro: You can easily access your toothbrush and contact lens solution.

Con: He can easily access all of the secrets of your medicine cabinet.

His Place

Pro: You don’t have to worry about waking up/sexiling your roommate.

Con: You have to worry about his roommates.

Your Place

Pro: You won’t have to take a walk of shame in the morning.

Con: You risk your entire floor seeing him leave your room.

His Place

Pro: You can sidestep the awkward morning-after moment by creeping out of the room.

Con: If he doesn’t live within walking distance, you’re going to have to rouse him for a potentially awkward drive home.

Your Place

Pro: You can sleep better in your own bed.

Con: You have to wait for him to wake up, and then politely kick him out the next morning.

His Place

Pro: He has to entertain you with the facade of the pre-hook-up movie and a few icebreaking drinks.

Con: He might NOT entertain you with the facade of the pre-hook-up movie and a few icebreaking drinks.

Your Place

Pro: You know the layout, so you won’t bump into the wall on the way to the bathroom, or accidentally stumble into his roommate’s room.

Con: Now he knows where you live.

Depending on the guy you’re with, either scenario is win or lose. If your place is closer and neither of you are under the driving limit, it’s definitely worth hitting up your own place, no matter how many pairs of dirty underwear you have strewn throughout your room. If you share a bunkbed with another girl, it’s obvious that you should be scouting out a different place to hook up. And if you’re not comfortable letting him know where you live, or being brought to an unfamiliar place, perhaps it’s in your best interest to exchange numbers and continue your tryst soberly, and in daylight.

I know all about the stress of transferring and adjusting to a new school. When I began my undergraduate career, I wasn’t content with attending the state university that 83% of my classmates were enrolling in. Oh, no – I had to get away. So I enrolled in a small private school in London, England.

My freshman year was a blast– I was in a major city, surrounded by hot men with hotter accents, and I didn’t even need a fake ID. But eventually, reality sank in, and I opted to transfer back to the same state school that I’d once adamantly rejected in order to prevent graduating with student loans up the wazoo.

My first semester at the state university was miserable. I’d missed out on all of the freshman year bonding, got stuck with a lame random roommate, and when I did go out, it was because one of my high school friends was kind enough to let me tag along with her group. It was so bad that I took a semester off to figure out if I wanted to go through the transfer process again. I ended up going back to the state school, and – thankfully – things got better. In fact, college kicked some major ass.

So, having been on the Maybe-I-Should-Transfer fence and a member of the Transfer Students Association, I thought I’d share some pro’s and cons with anyone who isn’t quite sure that they are attending the right school.

Pro’s of Transferring:

You’ve already gotten a taste of college, so you might be able to make a better choice for yourself. Maybe you thought a big campus meant 10,000 new friends, but after failing a Stats lab where the TA didn’t even know you’re name, you’re opting for a smaller institution.

You might save money. I think more often than not, transfer students end up at a school that is more in their price range, rather than deciding to switch universities and take out a massive student loan. Maybe you started at a private, out-of-state school, but realize you can get just as good an education as an in-state student for a fraction of the cost.

You might end up closer to your friends and family. I’ve seen homesickness play a part in the big T many a time. I was definitely homesick when I first arrived in London, and there was no way to take a weekend trip home from across the pond. If you thought you were ready to spread your wings, only to realize you miss your hometown, there’s nothing wrong with applying to a closer school, whether it’s a mile from your parents’ house, or a reasonable drive.

You can start fresh. If your first semester was a disaster, You can make up for it. Sure, if you’re on academic probation, you probably won’t be invited into Harvard’s incoming class, but you can transfer to a community college and bring up your GPA while you look for a four-year school that will better suit you and your academic needs. Besides, a lot of transfer essays detail the reasons you did poorly, so your chances of admittance to a new school haven’t necessarily been shot. Once you’ve gotten a change of scenery, you can kick your old bad study habits (or whatever other bad habits you got into your first semester on your own) and focus on restarting your academic career.

Cons of Transferring:

You might lose credits…or more. I think only one of my 10 courses from England replaced the gen eds I needed at the state school. I took a junior/senior-level Shakespeare class a few blocks from the freakin’ Globe Theatre, and had to retake Shakespeare I. I was not happy. I also couldn’t transfer directly into my major, so I had to choose a new plan of study. While this worked out in the end, at the time, I was more than slightly pissed.

You’re the new kid. My high school friends had already made their own new college friends, so I was stuck living with a random roommate. Not only did our personalities clash, but the floor was full of her thirteen best friends, so even if I had wanted to hang out with her, she always had plans. Even after I (finally) made friends, I couldn’t participate in the “remember freshman year when…” stories.

You might get a culture shock. I went from living in a city where I could go clubbing every night or buy my own six pack and stay in to a small college town where packy runs had to be planned days in advance. The first time I borrowed a fake ID to go to the campus bar, I was stunned that this was a popular hangout.

Whether or not transferring is the right decision depends on the person. If you are miserable every day and cry yourself to sleep, it might be worth it to lose a few credits and start over. However, if you just broke up with your first college boyfriend and can’t bear to see him in lecture every Monday,Wednesday, and Friday for the rest of the semester, you can probably find it in yourself to stick it out. Though transferring schools is fairly common these days, in some ways it’s a bigger decision than choosing a “first” university.

After a four hour drive from New York to Maryland, I was ready to finally get back on campus.

My mom pulled up alongside my dorm building, and I climbed my way up the three flights of stairs, dumped my bag in front of my room, and then walked two doors down to give my girlfriend a welcome back kiss. It wasn’t until after a minute or so of “I missed you!”s that I actually went back downstairs to start unloading my trunk.

I promise you I’m not a guy infiltrating CollegeCandy for a sociological study on women. I’m a girl just like the rest of us…save for the whole bisexual thing, that is. Believe it or not, there are plenty of members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual) community on campuses across the country. Hell, there’s even a directory that has a list of colleges that have gay and lesbian organizations – and these are only the ones with paid staff. But even with places like these, meeting the right significant other is just as hard, if not harder.

I was lucky enough to meet my girl on the first day of classes, and we’ll be seven months strong tomorrow. At some point last year, we made the decision to live in the same dorm building, but NOT in the same dorm room. A semester later, and I feel like I’m well versed enough to make a little list of pros and cons about living with your girlfriend – or boyfriend, depending on the way your dorm separates its Johns and Janes.

Pros:

1) It’s a million times easier to find your girl when she’s only a few doors down.

2) You won’t need to rack up your minutes or texts contacting each other when you can just yell down the hall.

3) It’s nice to know that when you’re having an especially rough day, there’s always a shoulder to cry on – and an ear to scream at.

4) You don’t have to brave the elements to go see your ladyfriend.

5) Showers. Nuff said.

Cons:

1) The walls don’t have ears, but the people beyond them do.

2) When there’s a fight, it’s hard to get as far away as you’d probably like to be.

3) If you have a roommate, you don’t want to make them feel like a third wheel.

4) Nasty things will be said (by her and by others), and you have to learn how to cope with them.

5) You know, those shower stalls aren’t really big enough to fit two people, anyway.

You can weigh the pros and cons yourself. It all depends on the comfort level of your relationship; I know two girls who have been going out for well over a year and live in the same room with no problems. My girl and I would be at each other’s throats if we were in the same room. I’m way too messy for her. Still, the set-up we have work just fine for us.

The shower thing even works itself out.