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

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.

The rest of the class starts packing up and – seeing a giant D in your near future – you decide to take charge.

“Ok, we’re going to break up the work. We’ll each take a portion of the paper and we’ll put it together at the end. Then we’ll use class time next week to write up our presentation. Good?”

The group agrees – most likely because they don’t want to spend another second in this classroom. You get everyone’s email address, divvy up the sections of the essay and go on your way. Read More »

"Are you saying you disagree with my theory as outlined on page 182 of my book?"

So class isn’t always our first priority at school. Okay, maybe it never is. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t enjoy some of them. Once you get past that pain-in-the-ass core requirement list, you can actually take classes that interest you.

But whether the class is right up your alley, or you can’t wait for it to be over, there are always those professors who are going to make that 3 hours a week a living hell.

Rate My Professor may help weed out which specific professors suck a fatty, but there are so many that slip through the cracks. And they’re everywhere. On every campus. In every major. And with the stress of midterms coming up, we need to vent. These professor characters are really starting to get on our nerves! 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 how we love our BFF, but we just don’t know if we love him like THAT. Or how we love trashy TV, but we’re pretty sure it’s ruining our lives. Damn you, gray area; you make decision-making that much more complicated!]

Ahhh, summer. The sweet, glorious days of summer. Days spent lounging by the pool, building sandcastles at the beach, or lying in bed all day watching old episodes of The OC on Soap Net. School’s finally out, and since the last long vacation you had was winter break (Spring Break doesn’t count – you came back more worn out than when you left), you’re ready for some of mom’s home cooking and not getting up from your bed. Ever.

But – whaaa? – some students choose to stay in school for the summer? I am dumbfounded. Befuddled. Mystified. Who are these creatures? I guess there are some advantages to spending your summer in the classroom, such as getting ahead in your credits, but I just can’t imagine sacrificing SUMMER is worth it.

So summer school? I’m torn. Read More »

The royal GPA f*ck up.

We’ve all done it. Whether it was “I’m too hungover to go to class” semester, or the easy freshman mistake of loving the lack of attendance policy way too much, at one time our GPA has clicked down point-by-point faster than the funds in our checking account after drunkenly opening a tab at the bar.

I may be only a freshman, but I’ve pretty much already declared my major in GPA Sabotage, with a concentration on Accidental Stupidity. Having been such an idiot my first semester of college, I speak from partial experience on the five unfailing ways to destroy your GPA like a Category 5 earthquake.

1. Racking up a big streak of absences for your class. It’s pretty obvi, almost to the point where it seems ridiculous to bring up, but it’s the most effective method for watching your GPA drop like an axe. Keeping up the good fight in your classes is all about resisting the incredibly tempting ability to skip class. Even if there is no attendance policy, chances are extremely good that you don’t want to miss what’s going on. Plus, catching up after a missed class is a massive headache for anyone with a decent course load.

2. Not participating in class. This is kind of a gray area, but for the most part it can be really destructive to your grade in a class if you just waste your time there. Classes are only worth the money they cost if you’re retaining the information presented, and the professor is there to make sure you do just that. Communicating with your professor and participating in class is definitely the way to get the most out of it, and it can make even a 9 AM lecture more enjoyable. Plus, if you make a big mistake in your class, your professor will likely be extremely helpful in getting you back on track knowing that you are invested in the course.

3. Sleeping through class sessions. This is a biggie. It can be actually painful to try and stay awake in class, especially when it’s one of the soulless 8 AM courses. It risks being mind-numbingly dull to stay awake, but if you sleep through class, you’re wasting your time even being there at all. I have definitely used classtime to catch up on some Zs and learned pretty quickly that it’s one mistake you absolutely don’t want to to make.

4. Blowing off studying for exams, or just the exams in general. The best saying I’ve heard about exams is the Murphy’s Law of College Exams: they are always based on the one class session you didn’t attend, and the chapter in the textbook you didn’t read. There is nothing like a screwed college exam to sink you about two letter grades, if not more. Studying is all-important, as is keeping track of your exam schedule so you don’t accidentally miss one. These two things can mean the difference between doing well in a class and scraping to pass.

5. Cheating/ Plagiarizing. It may be incredibly tempting, but as is largely well-known, either of those offenses are automatic one-way streets to being blacklisted from every college, and having your future resume incredibly tainted. Not only will your test or paper be an automatic zero if you’re caught, but your entire college career will be seriously affected by a brief lack of judgment. No test grade is worth the colossal slap on the hand resulting from cheating, and a paper that’s written with someone else’s words isn’t worth the ink you print it with. If you’re tempted to make either of these serious mistakes, resist them. Academic Dishonesty is one phrase you never, ever want associated with your transcripts.

We all live busy lives; we go to school or work (or sometimes both), we try to keep our lives in order and, on top of everything else, we try to maintain a social life.

It can all be a bit overwhelming at times, especially when you’re running here, there and everywhere, and in the process of it all, still trying to look cute.  On a weekly basis, I will be posting a guide for an outfit that looks super cute and casual during the day, but you can easily rock out at night with a few accessory additions and/or a change of shoes.  And maybe, just maybe, it’ll help ease the stress of life a little bit because, hey, when we look good, we feel good, right? Read More »

We love our mothers unconditionally. No matter how angry we get at them or how embarrassed our mothers make us, we continue to be on their side. They can yell at us, criticize us or even spend over $15,000 on plastic surgery in attempt to look like our identical twin and we will still love ‘em anyway. Wait, that last one has never happened to you?

Okay, maybe your mother hasn’t gone to the extreme like Jane Cunliffe’s mom, Janet, who believes that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Sure, your mother hasn’t spent thousands of dollars to change her nose, lips, breasts, hair and clothes, only to be mistaken as your younger sister. That was a bad example, but I’m sure she’s done something embarrassing that you’ve forgiven her for.

Nothing comes to mind? Well, I have ten “I-could-kill-you-I’m-so-embarrassed” moments below. Let me refresh your memory for you. If I forgot anything, please leave it in the comments, I like to know I’m not alone.

Moms are embarrassing when they…

1. Drive you to school in their pajamas.

2. Dress like you.  Juicy sweatsuits and belly shirts aren’t PTA appropriate!

3. Pull a Dina Lohan and gets all stage-mom on you.

4. Flirt with your friend’s fathers. Or your friends…

5. Lecture or yell at your friends.

6. Still lick their thumbs to wipe something off your face. For the last time, its a freckle and I’m 22 years old!

7. Try to set you up with anything with a penis.

8. Make awkward sexual jokes.

9. Wear Mom jeans. Enough said.

10. Use words like “underpants” in public.

I’m horrible at transitions and I don’t really do change. But apparently in a few months I won’t have a choice. I’ve completed eight semesters, finished all my required classes, and grown out of my fake ID.

It’s not that I don’t know where time went; it went towards the long class lectures, te bar-hopping, the “Tennis Pros and Golf Hoes” parties, the blizzard sledding (and subsequent frostbite), the jello-shot making, the endless Sex and the City viewings, the random hook-ups, the awkward morning-afters, and the all-day brunch recaps. And while I’ll leave college with amazing memories and textbooks the bookstore refused to take back, I’ll also leave with no idea of what I’m going to do with my life (and how I’m going to afford it.)

So, even though I have an entire semester left, I can’t stop myself from stressing myself into oblivion as I sit in my room with growing anxiety. I WebMD-ed myself to figured out what my problem was and all I came up with was a diagnosis that gave me a month to live. (Sidenote: I have to stop using WebMD.) My mom claims this is normal, my friends are experiencing the same thing, and yet I can’t help asking around for Xanax. Read More »

Everybody makes friends in college. Sometimes it’s through a group, sometimes it’s by a chance encounter, sometimes it’s just because you were too hungover for class last Monday and you need the notes to catch up. When you’re scanning the lecture hall for help, there is one person you need to be aware of.

That would be the completely anal, extremely irritating, absolutely crazy Overachiever.

This one is easy to recognize. Watch for it on the first day of class. They’re right there, in the front row (no matter what kind of class it is). They might wear glasses. Though they’ll be dressed neatly (no pjs for them!), it probably won’t be stylish; look for business attire, like suit jackets and pencil skirts. Unlike the rest of the class fighting to stay awake, they will sit up straight.

Their desk will have an open, blank notebook on it, ready to go. There may also be a tape recorder, a neat row of pencils, pens, and highlighters, and a planner opened to the current date. They’re totally prepared….for a shortage of school supplies. If their desk doesn’t have these implements, there’s a laptop already open to some note taking program with a title and date at the top. The textbook will be on their desk, even if the rest of the class doesn’t even know what it looks like yet.

Once class begins they will highlight important dates on the class syllabus. They will write everything down. They will ask questions about everything pertaining to the class. Five page research paper? They will ask if it’s okay to go over. Need four sources? They want to know if eight is too many. This is the kid who did the extra credit in high school for “the learning thrill,” not because he needed it. Read More »

Now that the New Year’s Day hangovers are a thing of the past, it’s time to trade in the warm sofa for cold, hard desks as the spring semester approaches. If you are wondering how you will possibly make it through this semester after barely making it through the fall semester you are in luck, because a new semester brings new beginnings.

I have made quite a few mistakes over the course of my college career, which have taught me quite a few things. Learn from my mistakes and this semester will be easy breasy. (I bet you expected me to say CoverGirl, right?)

Tip 1: Procrastination will kill your grades:

Trust me, writing a 10 page paper at 3am the day it’s due is never the best way to get your assignment done. Yes, you like to work under pressure, and, yes, at least you actually did the paper, but doing it in a hurry means you rarely have time to spell-check, let alone stay awake long enough to turn it in.

Tip 2: Try To Take Shorter Classes.

You may think it’s worth it to take that 3 hour class on Wednesdays so you get that full 4 day weekend, but sometimes longer classes are worse for your GPA. Let’s be honest: when was the last time you could pay attention to anything for longer than an hour? Whenever possible, try taking a 50 minute class three times a week (or whatever shorter options you have at your school), instead of a longer class that meets only once. You will be able to focus more in a 50 min class, not to mention be more on top of things when you have to prove yourself to your prof 3 days a week instead of one.

Tip 3: Don’t skip class.

Seriously. Unless you are dying from some rare and contagious disease, go to class. Some profs only take a couple points off your final grade for absences, but when you think about it, 2.5 points added to an 88% score could mean the difference between an A and a B. Oh, and the whole point of college is going to class and learning, so it might be a good idea. Professors often make it worth your while by, I don’t know, teaching you things and making it all easier to understand. Read More »

There is much to be said for Emily Post. She wrote the book (literally) on manners and standardized etiquette customs for the general public. I adore her books full of old fashioned advice, and while some of it is still relevant, much of it is dated. I constantly wonder what kind of place our society would be if Emily were still around to impose properness upon us all.

Unfortunately, she is not–as evidenced by many of my college classmates.

We’ve all seen those people in class: the ones who act like they’re too important to be there, don’t care what the professor has to say, rudely answer their phones and are generally a disturbance to those of us trying to learn. If you are an incoming freshman you probably haven’t witnessed such obvious rudeness, and you most certainly do not want to become one of said rude people. So, read on, my pretties, and enter the world of higher education with grace, manners and –ahem–class (haha…)

Don’t Be Cell-fish.

Gone are the days when your cell phone was contraband (absurd, I know). Instead of focusing on your under-desk texting (ala your dinosaur of an AP Chem teacher), your professor will most likely be concentrating on imparting you with knowledge during your class sessions. So this means you can feel free to text, Blackberry message, IM away with your cell held at –gasp–eye level, right?! Wrong! Your professor has assumed (rightfully, I hope) that you are a respectful and mature person who is attending (and paying for) their class to learn something useful from him or her. Do not prove them wrong by blatantly expressing that you have better things to do. Read More »