"Ok, so I'll do all the work and you'll take all the credit. Sound good?"

It’s the start of a new school year and to honor that, we at CollegeCandy are bringing back the fan-favorite series, “We’ve All Been There.”  (We tried to get another national holiday/long weekend for you guys but it’s way harder than we thought so this will have to do.) Every week, Lauren – University of Michigan will comment on the common experiences all college women share – like the first day of classes or trying to figure out if that boy is crushin’ too. Read, relate, cringe and enjoy.

Your midterm is assigned and not only is it a group project, but you can’t even choose who you’ll work with. Your T.A. reads off your group of four then gives you the last half of the class to discuss your ideas. You pull your desks together in a mini-circle and start the introductions.

It only takes you five minutes to realize that this group is not going to work.  Between the kid who’s only showed up to class twice and the girl who speaks maybe three words of English, it’s going to be a disaster.

With only two weeks to complete both a four-page paper and a 5-minute presentation, you need to get to work quickly. The group spends ten minutes coming up with a topic and the next twenty trying to find a time to meet that works for all of you. Unsuccessfully. One kid holds an on-campus job at the library, one girl is heading out of town for the weekend and you all have 3 other midterms that you need to somehow complete. Read More »

Recently, there have been several stories questioning the worth of a college education. Are we paying too much for a future that consists of scanning the classifieds for low-skilled work in flannel jammies while spooning Ben and Jerry’s into our higher-educated bodies?

The conversation is both controversial and thought provoking. As a current student, however, I’m choosing to oppose this idea and stick to the status quo: 4 years jam-packed with cram sessions, information overload, and a splash of debauchery. I don’t care what the statistics claim. With the help of your professors, a few BOVs, and the best part about college – NO PARENTS! – you’ll learn countless life skills that money (or a scholarship) really can buy. Read More »

In elementary school all that was required of us to get decent grades was coloring inside the lines. Middle school and high school introduced to the word “studying” and, soon after, a genuine dislike for the word. But college is where the work is no joke. The classes are hard. The workload is heavy. And the social scene is exploding. So how does a college girl stay on top of it all?

Grab your notebook and furry pencils (or whatever it takes to get you ready to hit the books), because I’ve got a list of things you can do to get on another list: the Dean’s List.

10. Invest in a planner: Good grades begin with organization (and writing down your assignments). Find a planner that works for you, whether it is the one provided by your school or that handy little calendar in your iPhone. Once you have it, write everything in it. Meetings, to-do lists, homework assignments, phone numbers. It is so much easier to manage all your information when it is centralized in one place.

9. Get to class: Self-explanatory. Abide by your class schedule and don’t skip. Though you may laugh in the face o that 8:30a.m. Theology class on Friday morning, remember that professors can and will deduct for absences. It would be a shame to miss that letter grade because you could not roll out of bed to get to your desk in the morning.

8. Get a change in scenery: The library is not for everyone. Some people cannot cram themselves into a desk on the third floor and work until 2 a.m. Others openly admit that the library is a better social scene than a bar on Friday night. Find a study space that works for you, and you ALONE. My personal study space is a Starbucks near my school. I pack up all my books, grab a skim latte and park myself at a table in the corner for hours at a time. Read More »

We all know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but let’s face it, half of us do it anyway. Plus, judging by appearance and prior knowledge does sometimes work. (Example: M. Night Shyamalan movies…)

College classes are the perfect example of things that can be accurately judged from a first impression, no matter how fleeting. Let’s take a look at some of the most common experiences you might have on your first day and what they might mean about the class ahead.

What happens: Your prof shows up 10 minutes late, frazzled and smelling heavily of espresso.
What it means: Feel free to come to class in your PJs and contribute to class discussion with garbled comments that aren’t fully formed, since your prof will neither care nor be able to tell the difference.

What happens: A PowerPoint presentation is already up on the screen when you enter, and the prof has a writing implement in his or her breast pocket.
What it means: Watch out, sister! This prof isn’t going to take any shenanigans. S/he is likely to be a hard grader, so start assembling your study group pronto with the cute dudes who sit near you.

What happens: The prof hands out the syllabus, reads it word for word, asks if everyone has the textbook, and dismisses you early.
What it means: Don’t be fooled by the early dismissal. This is a by-the-book prof who isn’t too keen on original ideas and probably doesn’t want to hear yours. Learn to read and regurgitate what’s in the textbook, and fast. Read More »

Just a typical Tuesday in class.

While every college girl shares many of the same college experiences (selling books, sexiled, one shot too many), she also carves her own path and has her own unique adventure. Have you ever wondered what it’s like for other girls? What it’s like to be an engineer? To get married?! To play an NCAA sport? Well wonder no more. Our one-of-a-kind CollegeCandy writers (and readers!) are sharing their unique experiences and opening our eyes to different college worlds.

It’s late on a Friday and I’m enjoying a night out with my friends at the local Steak ‘n Shake. I’m just about to dig in to a nice, juicy burger when a sudden realization hits me. I have a paper due in exactly one hour, and if I miss the deadline I will fail my web design class. I rush home and spend the next hour furiously banging out the rest of my paper about famous designers. With ten minutes to go, I hit the submit button. Crisis averted—for now.

This is a typical day in my life as an online college student.

I started as an online student with just one class. With a history of barely passing my on-campus classes, I needed a change. I knew it would still take a lot of work, but taking a class in my pajamas sounded like too good an idea to pass up. The result? I squeaked by with an “A” and scored higher online than in any of my real classes. The next semester I took two more. After that, I was hooked. Last semester I started my life as a full-time online college student working toward a degree in web design.

Don’t let me mislead you into thinking online classes are easy. Sometimes they’re down right infuriating. You can only talk to your classmates and professors by email, and working on a group project is like trying to herd cats. You’ll put in just as much time and hard work into your assignments as you would in any other class, and you’ll still find yourself chugging energy drinks in the library and cramming for finals. Read More »

"Dear Prof: I'm totes writing you in my undies."

Texting and chatting online has surely affected the way we communicate. If a friend doesn’t respond to a text within 10 minutes of me sending it, I immediately assume he/she has gone Amish. What did people do when there were no cellphones or AOL chat? Communicating must have been exhausting. You mean you had to wait at home to receive a phone call from your boyfriend in hopes your father wouldn’t answer?

Beyond waiting for the phone call, texting and chatting online has surely affected what we say. The term OMG wasn’t created from sending letters through the Pony Express; it was most likely created in the depths of an AOL chat room BSBLuvr who found it exceedingly difficult to express her love for ‘Shape of My Heart’ over and over again. Since then, abbreviating words (AKA ‘chatspeak’) has made communication easier for all of us. But apparently some people can’t seem to understand when this language is approp (in a drunk text to a friend) and it’s inapprop (in an email to a professor).

Yeah, it may seem totes obvi to you, but it seems that many students are taking their AIM lingo to class and their professors aren’t LOLing. In fact, they’re getting pretty pissed. And who wouldn’t when students are starting their emails off with, “Yo, teach”? (For realz.)

OMG. WTF? Didn’t college learn you better than that? Read More »

St. Patrick’s Day is a college student’s dream come true.  Well, I feel like any excuse to drink green beer and wear a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” pin is a dream come true.  I’m not Irish at all, and can respect St. Patrick’s Day and all it has to offer.  Especially since last year, I managed to sport a neon green wig in public all day long and closed the night out ordering hash browns at Perkins at 3AM.

The only issue I’m having is that St.Patty’s day lands on a Wednesday this year.  You know what that means: time to figure out how to party and go to class.  Ultimately, you can’t let a little thing called “your education/future” ruin your St. Patty’s Day experience, so I’m here to help you get it all. Because if I can do the Irish Jig with a leprechaun on top of a bar (true story) anything is possible, people. Read More »

Picture it: We pan over a full classroom, a man with a slightly too-tight plaid shirt and vile comb over is lecturing with the same tone and volume of a dull beeeeeeeep.  If we watch the students, we see several completely passed out while others furiously scribble notes, attempting to keep up with information that may or may not be on any exams this teacher gives. The old guy up front is so dull he makes Ferris Bueller’s teacher look like Lady Gaga, but what can you do?  The class is required and this guy is the only one who teaches it, whether the students like him or not.

But what if you, the student, got a say in that? It’s happening at Stanford, where students get to give their teachers a grade for a change. The university is using student evaluations to determine things like professor salaries and tenure. Read More »

With the start of a new quarter comes the excitement of new classes and a new schedule. And new TAs. While my friends are frantically researching classes that both fill their requirements and leave Friday open, I’m zoning out at my desk dreaming (and praying) about a tall, handsome, smart, romantic, witty discussion leader.

One that I’ve never, ever had the pleasure of having.
I have, however, encountered a creepy TA that just would not go away, which seems to be more the norm than the exception. Here is my story:

I was a cute and innocent little freshman when this all went down. The grad student, let’s call him Jeff, was TA-ing for one of my history classes winter quarter. I’m a history major and have a natural love of history and hearing my own voice, so I was basically the ONLY person that ever said anything in section. But I always felt creeped out when Jeff looked at me. Especially those few times I wasn’t saying anything at all. I could see in his face that he wasn’t looking at me as the brilliant history mind that I (thought I) was; it was obvious he was thinking things a little – ew – naughtier. Being young and naive, I brushed it off and pulled an A in the class. Probably much easier than I should have.

The very next quarter – lucky me! – he was my section leader again. Awesome. The quarter went by pretty much the same as the one before it. And again, I pulled a very easy A. Read More »

Brrrr.

Your alarm goes off and before you even get out of bed, the winter chill hits you. It’s gonna be a cold day, which is great since you have 4 classes and a meeting. You pull back the covers and jump out of bed. Holy hell it’s cold. You curse your state. You curse your old house and it’s terrible heater. You curse your stupid choice to pick a school not in the Caribbean. You run to the bathroom and wash your face with too-hot water. Yeah, it may dry out your skin, but right now it feels good.

You run back to your room to get dressed, jumping around a little in front of your closet to warm up. Then you start pulling out the layers. Jeans aren’t warm enough on their own, so you slip on a pair of leggings and pull the jeans on over them. Then you put on a tank, a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt.

Somehow, you still feel cold.

You rifle through your sock drawer looking for the warmest pair of socks you’ve got. It isn’t until you sit down to put them on – and all that hard work from bending in those 12 layers leaves you sweaty – that you begin to warm up.

You pack your bag, pile on your boots, jacket, scarf, hat and gloves. Then you brace yourself for the cold winter winds.

Despite the fact that you walk to class with your face down, the wind whips you. Hard. About halfway through your trek the tips of your fingers start to go numb. Then your ears start to burn. Your eyes water. And no matter how many times to sniffle, whatever is in your nose just keeps migrating south towards your upper lip. You wipe it off, a string of snot now adorning your mitten. Read More »