It’s no secret that the current economic crisis had had a pretty severe impact on private universities. Not only have they lost some serious funding, but they’ve lost some serious student recruits who can no longer afford the high price of a private college education. Those universities, then, have been forced to get really crafty in their attempts to entice those incoming students to come their way.

And nothing says “Come to my school!” like a little song and dance.

Well, at least that’s what Yale thinks. They recently put together this gem to try and attract potential students, and other universities are scouring campus high and low for the theater kids and following suit (including mine).

Yes, my friends, that is a musical. A college recruitment musical. With singing and dancing and acting…and more singing. To get kids to choose Yale. Read More »

You know that really annoying friend of yours who feels the incessant need to point out that they were the first to know about a now really popular band every. single. time. it comes on the radio?

As annoying as they are, there is something exciting about the knowing of a new band, new clothing brand, great sale, awesome book or recipe, and sharing it with the ones you love. And by ones you love, I mean the ones you go back and forth with right here on the CollegeCandy message boards.

So here’s the deal: every week, we will feature things that YOU think other CollegeCandy readers just have to know about. Anything at all. Nothing is off limits.

Guffly.com
We all are trying to be green: wear more green, eat more green, recycle more green, earn more green. But sometimes it’s hard because we don’t know where to look for the best products. And let’s face it – some of those eco-friendly fashions have been hit with the ugly stick one too many times. Not to mention the sometimes way-out-there price tags – I mean I could buy some Jimmy Choo’s for the price of some of these reusable forks, frocks and eco-friendly gym bags! But thankfully, Guffly has come to our rescue. Guffly is a one-product-per-day online store (perfect for those of us who get overwhelmed by too many fabu products at once!). They feature eco-friendly products and fair trade lifestyle goods like home, pet, clothing, office and personal accessories. They have made it their jobs (literally!) to find only the most stylish eco-friendly and fair trade products out there.  Now you can actually do something good for the environment, feel good about yourself AND still look cute. Sign me up.  Read More »

Frat party. Bar. Frat Party. Bar. By midterms, the same-old routines are starting to get played out. Sick of chugging watered down beers, shoulder-to-shoulder in a too-loud, too-packed college bar? Have you gotten so good at beer pong it doesn’t even feel like a game anymore? Here are some sure-fire ways to put the sizzle back into your Saturday. Just don’t forget your cameras!

1. Check out a Concert

No, I’m not suggesting you sit on Ticketmaster for hours to pay hundreds of dollars to see Fall Out Boy. Check out a band you’ve never heard of. Scour the web for open mic nights and underground punk shows. You might end up catching the next big thing to hit MTV. If there’s a venue nearby that’s known for being a breeding ground for legendary rockers, join their mailing list. Otherwise, check out sites like Underground Hip Hop Dot Com or Open Mikes to find some decent music at a cheap price. Stuck on campus without a car? See if your school sponsors its own concert series, open mic’s or talent shows, and hit ‘em up, son.

2. Pee Your Pants (Not Literally)

Underground concerts too loud for you? Hit up a comedy club or try to catch an improv troupe in your area. Comedy shows run fairly cheap, and you can bust a gut without waking up with your ears ringing in the morning. Sites like The Improv list venues in several different cities, or you can Google “improv” and the name of your town to see if there’s anything nearby. Did you know that tons of Saturday Night Live regulars got their start at improv clubs like LA’s infamous Groundlings? Or that comic messiahs like Adam Sandler used to tour college campuses before making it big?

3. Take Center Stage

My personal life motto? You haven’t lived until you’ve Karaoke’d. Find a local dive bar that hosts karaoke, and hit it up. You don’t have to worry about being embarrassed in front of townies who are doing renditions of the Dixie Chicks and Metallica, and if you can force yourself onstage without boozing it up, you really won’t have to pay anything for a kick-ass good time. Karaoke in the states is at an all-time high, so there’s bound to be someplace nearby that will let you croon “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Read More »

Clooney is like a fine wine

Politicians judged by their baby-holding abilities

J.Lo gets taken over by Scientologists?

WTF?!

Disturbing, disturbing babies in food costumes

I mean, who doesn’t want a white trash birthday?

Halle Berry preggers?

Break these fashion rules

Posh uses poop to maintain clear complextion

More reasons for guys to watch football

Go Go Power Rangers…not so much

That’s what SHE said!

Palin is NOT invited to Madonna’s party

Someone actually married Howard Stern

What if Beyonce was a boy?

God, those Scientologists are after everyone!

Looks like TV Musicals aren’t just for the tweens (and really embarassed twenty-somethings) anymore: the geniuses behind the High School Musical awesomeness have said TTFN (that’s, Ta Ta For Now, for those of you not in the know) to middle school and moved on up to MTV.

Get ready because next Monday, August 11th, MTV will be premeiring their latest hit, The American Mall.

I just watched the trailer and I. Can’t. Wait. Yes, I said it. And once you watch this badboy (below), you will agree.

I mean, honestly, how can anyone NOT be excited for this:

Singing

Dancing

Drama set to singing and dancing

Crazy Taylor from The O.C.

The fact that it is on MTV and, therefore, not nearly as embarassing as watching HSM (6 times….)

A free movie!

Seriously, invite the girls (and me!) over, make some popcorn (and Sangria) and turn this on.

Watch the trailer after the jump! Read More »

So you’ve finished your first year of college! You’re relieved, excited, and filled with pride (hopefully) at your academic accomplishment. You say goodbye to your friends at school, and make the journey home.

For me, that journey home was pretty long: 1330.45 miles, if we’re being exact. And after two weeks at home, and that initial joyful reunion with my friends from high school, I am suffering from a major case of reverse homesickness.

During my first semester of school, all I wanted to do was go back to Florida, transfer to a school where academics are often neglected for tanning and water sports, despite the fact that I had come to Boston to get away from such a scenario. Nonetheless, I was ready to throw in the towel and head back home.

Second semester, however, I really began to find my footing at school, and I had a wonderful time. I did well in all my classes, fell into a groove that enabled me to balance my academic goals with some semblance of a social life, and participated in our school’s spring musical. My last night in Boston was the night of our cast party, which was not short on the debauchery or tearful goodbyes.

Suffice it to say, when I arrived home, I was feeling a little morose. I wasn’t going to see anyone from Boston until September! And now, as a couple weeks have passed and it’s getting stiflingly hot here, I miss Boston and my school friends like nobody’s business. I’ve even come to miss the simplicity of my tiny freshman double, the greasy food at our dining hall, even the drunken frat boys screaming outside my window at 3 in the morning on a Thursday night…I could go on, but I’ll spare you.

So, partly for my sanity, and partly for yours, I’m come up with a few ways to avoid, or at least diminish, that reverse homesickness. Read More »

MTV (who apparently has nothing better to do) is reporting that a movie musical called “Barackula” will debut online in the next few weeks. Billed by its director, Mike Lawson, as a “short political horror rock musical about young Barack Obama having to stave off a secret society of vampires at Harvard when he was inducted into presidency at the Harvard Law Review in 1990,” the film…hell, I’m not even going to finish that sentence.

Surprisingly enough, the cast and crew actually appear to have some talent. Lawson reportedly worked with Clint Eastwood on “Letters from Iwo Jima,” and one cast member has acted on “The West Wing.”

All this begs the question of… why? The movie’s site makes it clear that the cast and crew support Obama, but maybe they could’ve donated a few thousand to his campaign instead of making a movie that depicts him as a singing killer of vampires. Read More »

• Katherine Heigl’s sunglasses… Hayden Panettiere’s Maxene boots… Get the look for less.

• If you could only choose 5 cable channels… which ones would they be?

• The Shin’s Martin Crandall roughs up America’s ‘Almost’ Next Top Model.

• Anne Frank’s Diary… The Musical???

• Milo Ventimiglia is a baby.