Got some college questions? Unsure of a decision? Got a romantic interest in your T.A.?Just wanna chat it up with some really awesome chics? We’ve got the girls for you. Hit them up in the comments or shoot them an email with the subject “College Q&A”! They’ve got all the answers you need, no matter who you are.

Question
Hi! I love your website, I read it all the time. It’s really helpful. I will be a senior in highschool this upcoming year (2010-2011), but instead of going to high school, I’m taking classes full time at a local university in a joint-enrollment program my state offers. The university gives joint-enrolled students the opportunity to live on campus, but you have to pay for it yourself. With all the economic crap thats been going on lately, my parents can’t afford to pay for a dorm and the deadline has already passed. My question is, is it possible to have a good college experience while living at home? I really want to have a lot of fun, meet lots of new people, and have a lot of new experiences next year. I’m worried that this won’t really be possible if I’m stuck living at home next year. If you could give me any advice at all, I would really really appreciate it! Thanks so much! Read More »

Got some college questions? Unsure of a decision? Don’t know what the eff to do with your life? Just wanna chat it up with some really awesome chics? We’ve got the girls for you. Hit them up in the comments or shoot them an email with the subject “College Q&A”! They’ve got all the answers you need, no matter who you are.

Question:
I was approved to have a single in the dorms next year. Yay! I was really excited about having my own space (and it’s so, so, so hard to get a single on my campus) with my friends down the hall. But then a few of my friends decided to get an apartment together off campus. They asked me if I wanted to live with them and I’m just not sure. On the one hand, I’d have to share a room and wouldn’t really have any privacy. But on the other, if they are all living together I’ll be alone in the dorms.

What would you do? Read More »

Living off campus is amazing.  You have more space, freedom to have a random flip-cup party any day of the week without an R.A. on your case, and an escape from cafeteria food.  However, for all these great perks, there are some things about living off campus that I just can’t help but miss.

Proximity to your friends.

Even if you choose to live with a friend (or friends, depending on the size of your apartment or house you’re renting), you’ll never have the same access to your friends as you did when you lived on campus.  They were either in the next dorm, just down the hall, or sleeping in the bed that was two feet away from yours (or, if they were a really good friend, they were just in your bed).  When you live off campus, you have to make plans to see people, work around conflicting schedules, and any chance of a spontaneous night of debauchery pretty much goes right out the window.  What’s easier than sneaking down the hallway at 2am and waking up your friends with a fifth of Popov and some orange juice? Nothing says “friendship” like a rousing game of Popov Pong. Read More »

I’ve recently realized that the most important thing about going to college is leaving it. No, I don’t mean going home every weekend, since that would defeat the whole gaining-your-independence thing that I’ve been striving for. But I now know that to really be independent, I have to get off campus every once in a while.

My college is pretty secluded, so when I am here, I am in a little college bubble. Sure, I take care of myself and am independent, but I am surrounded by people I know, or people who would be happy to help me at any moment. Life is pretty simple here, if you ignore the fact that we’re constantly stressed from homework and no free time. But still, if I spent four years within the college limits, I would never learn how to really take care of myself.

Getting away from this bubble at first made me nervous, but now brings me relief. Since I am so close to Boston, I can take the bus into the city and just roam around. I can eat real, non-dining-hall food, and walk past faces that I don’t recognize. And I can be on my own.

College is teaching me all about how to learn. I will leave it with a degree and lots of facts in my head. But hopefully this small-town girl will also learn how to take public transportation, walk through a crowded sidewalk, and be comfortable alone in a city. Getting off-campus can be just as educational as staying on it. And by the end of my four years, I want to say that my time her taught me not just how to learn, but how to live.

Don’t get me wrong; there is absolutely nothing wrong with microwaving a frozen entrée/Hot Pocket for dinner in your dorm room. It is quick, easy and far tastier than the offerings downstairs in the cafeteria. And in terms of “cooking” in a dorm room, that is about as close as you are gonna get.

For those of you who have moved onto bigger and better things – mainly, an apartment or house on campus – a can of Spaghetti-O’s also makes quite a handy dinner. But, let’s be honest, there are only so many nights that you can handle the sound of the noodle/sauce combo loosening its grip on the inside of a Chef Boyardee can and plopping (still shaped like said can, mind you) into your microwave-safe bowl.

Not to mention the awful nutritional information.

Being that you are finally grown up enough to live in the college equivalent to a big girl bed (a house/apartment on your own!) it is time to step away from the microwavable meals of your past and move onto something far superior…without much extra work.

Below is a list of some super easy, super tasty and even super healthy alternatives to the microwavable meal. Step away from the Easy Mac, ladies; it is time to fire up the stove for a dinner your mother would be proud of, without cutting into your bar….er….study time. Just mix and match some of these tasty ideas and you have yourself a real dinner. Read More »

Days as a Freshman: 83

Mood: Totally unable to concentrate

The November wind pushed itself under my scarf, biting at the skin on my neck. I pulled my jacket collar up as high as it would go, wishing I had worn a heavier sweater.

Coming from Maine, you’d think I’d be better prepared each time winter touched down, but every year it caught me off guard, snaking through my window and startling me with it’s freezing nights and frozen mornings. Some people were built to appreciate winter. I was not one of those people.

Crashing through piles of leaves, I made my way through the quad, the campus still asleep at 10 AM on a Saturday. Part of me wished I was still asleep. Still warm under my comforter instead of rushing with wet hair toward the Soccer House, a place I had no desire to even look at, let alone spend hours studying in.

Sasha had asked me to come over that night at the coffee house, pleading with me to help him with the chemistry problems he had missed going over with Daniel B. My initial reaction had been to make up an excuse; to come up with anything to keep me away from sitting alone in the Soccer House with Sasha, but standing in front of him, feeling his gaze and the extra pressure of his tall, silent friend, I ended up smiling and saying sure. Sure I’ll help. Sure I’ll do whatever you ask. I’m Grace, the pushover loser. Read More »