Is it just us or do holidays other than Christmas just not get enough attention? But at CollegeCandy, we shed a light on some of our other favorite things about the holidays: like food. You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy these delish Hanukkah treats.

Speaking of the holidays, there’s one more coming our way and coming our way quick: New Years Eve. Soon we’ll be embarking on a new year, but first, there are a few things we’d like to leave behind.

I spent the better part of this week slathering Vaseline on my perpetually dry, flaking forehead. I probably should have just checked out this post, which divulges some awesome beauty secrets that withstand the cold weather.

One celeb who doesn’t need fashion or beauty tips is Emma Watson. Trying to cop her look without selling your organs? Check out our guide to copying the look on a college girl budget.

If you plan on having some fun over Winter Break, you’ll need some help navigating the world of watchful parents and frilly pink bedding. Our girls got you covered with a guide to getting it on in your childhood bedroom.

Finals week absolutely sucks, but we can teach you how to make it as bearable as possible. Don’t expect miracles – it’s still not going to be a party, but with these tips, you’ll definitely make it out alive.

Just because the weather outside is blah, your wardrobe doesn’t have to be! Check out our guide to revamping your winter wear, starting with one essential piece: skinny jeans.

Is it actually possible to be friends with benefits with a guy? Is it possible to be friends without benefits? Does the guy who you’ve made your friend with benefits want more? These are the questions that puzzle the CollegeCandy girl. Tuffy Luv has the answers.

Obviously we all want to attend the best school possible, but does it really matter where you went to school in long run? Sound off on this issue – we know where we stand, but we want to hear your take.

I thought I was the only one who cringed at the term sexually active, but it turns out I’m not alone. One of our writes breaks down the term. Check this out and always know exactly how to answer the gyno when she questions you.

But does all that matter? Does it make a difference?
As our friends at Lemondrop recently asked: does it matter where we went to college?

At first thought, I’m not sure where I stand on this issue. On the one hand, people who attend great schools (i.e. the ones U.S. News World and Report rank highly, or those esteemed Ivy Leagues) are obviously qualified, and the amount of work prestigious schools put into giving their students the best possible education is remarkable. On the other hand, there are so many people at “average” schools who have extraordinary promise in their fields and work just as hard, if not harder, than those who attend an Ivy League institution. Maybe they couldn’t attend a more prestigious school because of financial reasons, or because they didn’t truly learn their potential until college started, or because their test taking skills weren’t the best, leaving them with less than stellar SAT scores.

Yet all of that considered, Ivy Leaguers with those cushy names atop their diplomas certainly have an easier time navigating the “real world.” Hiring managers and grad school admissions counselors are naturally awed by their  education and where they received it, and Harvard grads have a much easier time landing coveted positions than their state school counterparts.

But is this the right way to go about things? Who is ultimately a better candidate – the brilliant student who aced his SATs and went on to attend a top school where he simply coasted, or the girl who struggled to make it into a state school, where she worked hard and learned a lot, earned a good GPA, participated in as many activities as possible, and held a few internships?

Getting accepted at a great school is certainly an accomplishment and should be treated as such, but it definitely isn’t everything.  Ultimately, students should choose the school that they feel will best prepare them for the future, a school that has a solid program in his or her area of interest, a great faculty, and the kind of environment that will encourage hard work, because in the long run, what a student chooses to do after being accepted at his or her school is even more important.   These days, it’s all about defining your most valuable skill and pursuing this.  If you’re great at what you do and feel committed to a certain career path, you have a much greater chance of keeping a job than someone who simply attended a great school but lacks passion and/or talent.

I’m not saying that all Ivy League grads are only good on paper, but I am saying that they are not necessarily more qualified than someone who attended a “lesser” school.  College isn’t like high school – you take what you want to out of your college experience.  I believe that we should focus more on the people who take full advantage of the resources they’ve been offered, the people with raw talent and plenty of drive – even if these people couldn’t make it into the Holy Trinity.

What are your views on this issue?  Does the school you’re at make a difference? Should it? Tell us below.

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Is it just me or does this sound like an absolutely terrible idea in the making?

One freshman Princeton student commented that, “The show is a wonderful idea, because I’ve found that a lot of outsiders think [Princeton students] are something we’re not.”

Now what is it these outsiders think you are? Intelligent? Studious? Fortunate?—And what would you like them to believe after watching the show? That Princeton students can underage binge drink just as hard as the public university next door? Or that they can have just as much emotionally-detached, unprotected sex?

I think their notorious scholarly, possibly “nerdy,” reputations are better than what is possible and likely to come in the future if this “insider look” at Princeton undergrad life actually makes it onto the tube. Obviously Princeton isn’t a major party school (that I’ve heard of) but it’s still college. I don’t think these students want all their hard work to be ruined by the portrayal of select students maintaining their 4.0 GPAs through excessive use of Adderall.

On the other hand, if students’ relationship with drugs, alcohol and sex isn’t displayed on the show well then there may be little reason to watch… Somehow, watching Ivy League students being Ivy League students seems about as interesting as sitting through a 2-hour Physics lecture. Which, surprisingly, isn’t that interesting at all.

What do you think? Could this be a positive way for Princeton students to break out of their “square” reputations… or just a recipe for disaster?

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It’s not something they’re proud of, but Cornell University has long been known for their high rate of student suicide. They experienced a bit of reprieve from the tragic trend between 2005 and 2008, but this school year hasn’t been quite as positive.

Since the beginning of the year, Cornell has reported six suicides, with three in the last month.  It’s gotten so dire that, as a temporary measure, they have even placed fencing on campus bridges.  The University is aware that the issue is much larger than physical blockades, and that a long-term solution needs to be implemented.  For the time being, security guards will be posted along the bridges as well.

Reading this tragic news disturbs me greatly and raises an array of questions on several tangents. 

The most obvious question that has always circulated, is why Cornell?  What about this particular school leads to such a trend? There are some theories relating to the “demands” of the school, and the physical isolation, but it is hard to believe that these reasons are explanatory enough.  Considering that there are certainly other demanding schools, and other schools that are in isolated locations, there must be something else.  So, what else is it?

It is also interesting to look at how it affects potential students.  Does it stop students from applying? Or do they ignore it and apply anyway because of the prestige of the school? If so, why or why not?  Furthermore, how do parents feel about their children applying to a school that is known for high suicide rates?

More specifically, I have to wonder how effective the fences will be.  Not that I am an expert by any means, but logic would lead me to believe that if a student was serious about taking their own life, they could probably find another means to do so.  Will the fences prevent suicide, or will students take alternate routes if they are honestly committed to doing so?  As tragic as it is, this could be a possibility.

These questions of suicide and elevated suicide rates may never be answered, but at least trying to find an answer may lead to some conclusions and preventative measures.

Ivy leaguers aren’t gettin’ any….

Justin Timberlake has a diva moment at NYFW.

Duke lacrosse accuser assaults boyfriend.

Did J.K. Rowling plagiarize Harry Potter?!

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Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at

This week begins the World Series, the premier sporting championship in the nation (at least in my opinion–why have one night of the Superbowl when you can have at least four nights of nail-biting, crowd-rousing suspense?). While the world obsesses over the current New York-Philadelphia rivalry, let’s take a look at another – between Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.  The only two Ivy League schools with truly urban campuses, Columbia and UPenn are champion institutions themselves. But who will come out on top? Best of five wins…

1. Mascot Matchup

Columbia- Don some baby-blue and white to cheer on the Lions, so named for the university’s heritage as King’s College (referring to the King of England, whose coat of arms portrays a lion).
UPenn- The Penn Quakers pay homage to the Society of Friends (aka the Quakers), the religious affiliation of the settlers of Pennsylvania. The largest Quaker-fest occurs each spring at Penn Relays, a prestigious and historic track-and-field event attracting students from high schools and colleges across the country.

Three credits to: UPenn. How could you not love a team named the Quakers? Who doesn’t love oatmeal?

2. Late-Night Munchies

Columbia- After an evening of criss-crossing Morningside Heights, stop by Koronet’s Pizza where a classic New York slice will set you back $3.50. If you think that’s expensive, consider that the slice takes up the entire length of your forearm.
UPenn- If you’re in Philly, you gotta have a cheesesteak. The all-American concoction of sliced steak and cheddar cheese on a hoagie (that’s right) is the most mouth-watering attraction in the city, and UPenn students get their fix at Pat’s King of Steaks, open 24/7.  Get a standard for $7.50.

Three Credits to:  Columbia, where you get more bang (and crust, and sauce, and cheese) for your buck!

3. Terrific Traditions

Columbia- Each spring, Columbians clamor to attend the Varsity Show, a fundraiser for the athletics team that takes the form of a student-written, produced, and performed production that satirizes every part of life at Columbia and current events.
UPenn- The Quakers sure are Friend-ly: each year on Hey Day, the outgoing senior class will “haze” the junior class, covering them with food as they pass through the quad, where representatives from each class then give speeches and the junior class is officially introduced as seniors.

Three credits to:  Columbia, for the ingenuity.

4. Ass-kicking Alumni

Columbia- Barack Obama, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allen Ginsberg, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon
UPenn-Ben Franklin, Donald Trump, Chaim Potok, Dick Wolf (creator of Law & Order), William Carlos Williams, Tory Burch

Three credits to:  UPenn (Ben Franklin shaped democracy as we know it, and Trump is his own freakin’ brand of capitalism).

5. Acceptance Rate Agony (for the class of 2012)

Columbia- 10%
UPenn- 16.9%

Three credits to: Columbia

And the diploma goes to: Columbia! In this series, the title goes to New York and the Lions. For Philadelphia afficionados, better luck on the field this week!

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If you’ve read any news blogs or even watched a televised newscast in the last week and a half, chances are that you’ve heard the tragic story of Annie Le, the Yale grad student who disappeared ten days ago. Her body was found hidden inside a wall at the building where she worked last Sunday—which was to have been her wedding day. Now a lab technician named Raymond Clark has been charged with Annie’s murder.

This whole saga has been unbelievably upsetting and awful, and our hearts go out to Annie’s family and her fiancé. It’s also spurred a lot of interesting discussion about safety on college campuses—and why the media is curiously fascinated by crimes that occur on Ivy League campuses.

Slate editor Jack Shafer observes that the New York Times has written five stories about Annie’s case so far, while the Boston Globe has run at least six. A quick search shows that CNN.com has a whopping 14 stories about the murder. The media frenzy has been so… well, frenzied that an NBC producer was trampled when journalists and camera-people rushed to speak to a New Haven police spokesman on Tuesday.

This isn’t surprising—as Shafer also notes, “The press has long thrived on Harvard and Yale murder.” Any crime or scandal that happens at one of those two schools is basically guaranteed to be exhaustively analyzed by major media outlets—think of the 1998 murder of Yale senior Suzanne Jovin or even the 2006 plagiarism accusations lobbed at Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan.

But the same rule doesn’t apply to state schools and small colleges, where criminal incidents have to be pretty major to get national coverage. Why? Well, simply put, elite newspapers and magazines care about what’s happening at elite universities. And less erudite periodicals (read: trashy tabloids) love to sink their teeth into stories that prove bad things can happen even at America’s snootiest, most prestigious schools.

There are tons of problems with this model—it promotes the idea that students at schools with lower acceptance rates somehow matter more than everyone else, and it heaps unwarranted scrutiny on people who definitely have bigger things to worry about.

Even so, maybe the continual coverage of Annie’s death will lead to some good if it spurs female college students to start making a greater effort to stay safe. Yes, Annie was probably killed by someone who knew her inside of a supposedly secure building, but what happened to her can still serve as a reminder that all of us regularly engage in risky behavior: going out and getting too drunk, taking public transportation or walking home late at night, even forgetting to lock the door or leaving the window open if your room is on a low floor. Ironically enough, in February, Annie wrote a piece entitled “Crime and Safety in New Haven” for a Yale magazine. We’d all do well to try following her advice.