The end of the semester is the worst for papers, especially in the spring. All you want to do is lay out by the pool with your friends and sip on something fruity, not sit inside on your computer typing out some analysis about something that you didn’t actually read. And even if you did read whatever it is you’re writing about, sometimes you just don’t have the energy to make more of an argument. Sometimes you run out of things to say. So what should you do when you need another half page or so, and you can’t.get.any.more.out? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered!

Here are some easy tricks (and subtle) to make your final paper longer…

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[Lead image via We Heart It/Gallery images via Google]

Caitlin is a senior at the University of Alabama who has an obsession with cupcakes, coffee, and Harry Potter. She always has random fun facts on reserve and aspires to be a professional blogger, social media bug, and/or James Franco’s assistant. Follow her fabulous life @caitlincorsetti. You’re welcome!

The last few weeks of the semester can get a little stressful. And not because you just can’t seem to find the perfect present for everyone on your list (or in my case because you keep getting distracted by Macy’s shoe department and never get around to buying those other presents), but because of finals. Remember those? Probably not.

If you’re a freshman you have absolutely no idea what horrors await you, and if you’re an upperclassmen you’ve more than likely blocked out this horrific experience. But yet, here you are. Professors are bombarding with you deadlines and dates, final papers and exam study guides and more information than you could possibly handle while you’re still recovering from your Thanksgiving-induced food coma.

Ten-page papers?
Cumulative finals?

You can’t even pronounce half the stuff on you history study guide and those calculus questions might as well be written in morse code for all you can deicer. It’s okay. Take a deep breath. You can get through this.

And I can help.

As a senior taking on her (second to) final finals week, I like to think I have this studying thing down. For a while there I kept getting it confused with napping, but I’ve since cleared things up, and I’m willing to share my infinite wisdom with you. So before you do anything else you need to…

1. Get organized.
You can’t pass your finals if you don’t show up on time, and you can’t hand in your paper if you don’t know when it’s due. So open up your planner and take all of your syllabi ( those things they handed out at the beginning of the semester with a list of reading assignments you haven’t done) and start writing out the deadlines.  Outline your papers, and map out which days you will work on each assignment so you know that nothing will be left to the last minute. By the time all of that is done you’ll have scheduled something for every minute of every day until move out. (Are you panicking yet?)  Normally this is the part where my eyes would start to twitch uncontrollably, and I’d call my friend and we’d rant about how absurd our schedules are for the next few weeks and make all sorts of plans to celebrate once finals are over. Then I’d eat some chocolate and go to bed. But hey, to each her own.

Once that is out of your system you’re ready to actually start studying. But in order to do that you need to…

2. Get rid of all of your distractions.
Turn off your cell phone.  Log out of Facebook (or at least set a timer to limit yourself).  Shut off the TV. Find a quiet corner in the library away from friends and enemies and anyone else you might have the slightest inclination to talk to. Then start working, because you will work, purely because you will have absolutely nothing else to do. Solitary confinement isn’t pretty, but it works.

And that’s why you should…

3. Avoid study groups at all costs.
At least, when it’s time for the heavy duty, serious studying. You want to meet with some people from your class a week before the final? That’s fine. Make outlines, discuss essay topics, quiz each other on stuff neither one of you will know yet and make notes to go over that stuff later on. But when you’re in the home stretch, study by yourself. When you’re with other people you will not study. Trust me, I’ve been there. It starts out innocent enough, someone will make a comment about how your professors says “like” after every other word. This will lead to an in depth analysis of his character which will lead to someone bringing up another professor’s annoying habits which will lead to a discussion on which professors’ classes to take next semester and who to avoid, and what exactly did ratemyprofessor.com say again? Five hours later you’ll be discussing what a great teacher Mr. Feeney was, and reminiscing about the ’90s.

Pretty basic stuff, right? Nothing you haven’t heard before? Well, that’s because it works. Stay organized. Be aware of your deadlines. Don’t leave things to the last minute. Stay away from distractions when crunch time comes, and avoid joining in on a study group that will turn into a social call. Take deep breaths, and try not to panic.

To quote Rory Gilmore, study guru herself, “If all else fails you can always marry rich.”

Fall is in full swing. The pumpkin spice lattes are a part of your daily ritual. You’ve broken in your new fall boots. You’ve given up that whole turning over a new leaf idea – you know, the one that involved getting your homework done on time. And hey, just in time for midterms too.

Mid semester exams are inevitable. And annoying. Just when you’ve started to think you could get away with not doing any of the reading for your classes and getting all of your notes online (from the comfort of your futon), midterms rear their ugly heads.

Essays?
Quotation identifications?

You are not prepared for this. Time for some serious studying, right? Not just yet, there are a few things you really need to do first….

10. Clean up. Wow your keyboard is really filthy. And your screen? How could you even see? This needs to be done now. Or you’ll never clean it. No time like the present, right? Where’s that Windex?

9. Did your phone just ring? Your BlackBerry just buzzed. That could be important. An e-mail from a professor? A question from a friend? You’re still waiting to hear back about that internship.  Just check… really quickly.

8. Check your Facebook. That text Sarah sent you said that McHottie hooked up with that girl from your bio class this weekend. But you’re not sure how reliable of a source she is. There have to be pictures if it happened right? Just scroll through the newsfeed. You won’t be able to concentrate until you know.

7. Make yourself a snack. You’re starving. You should probably eat something. Brain food. Like fish. No. But there’s a vending machine right down the hall. There’s bound to be something full of dark chocolate there. That’s good for you, isn’t it? And while we’re on the topic, wine’s a brain food these days too, right?

6. Visit your favorite websites. You just want to check your daily websites. College Candy. College Fashion. Texts From Last Night. The usual. It’s not your fault there’s so many awesome new articles up. It’s better you read them now before you really get into your work. Plus, you’ve been busy. You could use a break, really.

5. Oops! Forgot to check Twitter!

4. Watch your favorite show. Okay. So you can hear your roommate watching TV from the other room. You look at the clock. Yep. There’s a Kardashian marathon on. And, wait, is that the KHLOE AND LAMAR WEDDING?! What’s another hour (or 3)? It’s the wedding…and you’ve been PMSing…you could use a good cry. Let it all out, girlfriend.

3. Take up a new hobby. What’s that? Your boyfriend is watching baseball? Well, you’ve never really been a fan before, but these are the important games aren’t they? And it’s important to take an interest in things he enjoys. Maybe he could explain to you what’ going on as you watch…

2. Change your scenery. You know, with all these distractions, you really need to get out of the house. You’ll really get more done if you’re at the library. Just pack up your things and go…

1. Talk to a friend. Is that Melissa sitting over there by the computer? You haven’t seen her in days. It won’t hurt to say a quick hello. I mean, you don’t wanna be rude. It’s common courtesy, people. Just a little holler and then you’re on your way…

If you can find an empty table, that is.

What are your favorite ways to put off studying for midterms? Are you a professional procrastinator or do you get things done quickly?

….I think my preferred method is pretty obvious.

Got a special place in your heart for top 10 lists? We do and we’ve got some doozies.  Get ‘em all out right here.

This blows.

Ah, Spring Break. A time to relax, to de-stress, and to recharge for classes after midterms have drained us of our livelihood. Some people go on vacation to cut loose, some go home for a little R&R, and some even enroll in a short course to catch up on credits or work on a project with their favorite professor. Whatever your plans, Spring Break is you time.

Or so you thought. Then your professor assigns a paper. And another gives extra problem sets. A third wants you to read an entire book, and a fourth wants you to make an exact replica of Michelangelo’s David at a .22 scale. Suddenly, your days of rejuvenation are long gone, and you’re stuck trying to figure out how to fit that brick of an organic chemistry textbook into your suitcase without going over the weight limit and having to pay more.

Worst of all, your workload ruins everyone else’s break too. You might go to the beach with your friends, but how much fun is it going to be when you bring your textbook as a beach read? And that certainly isn’t going to attract the cute guys playing volleyball nearby- or fit into your adorable clutch when you go to the bar at night.

If you go home, especially if you live far away from school, your family gets it even worse. My friend’s mother flat-out asked her one “break” why she was paying so much money to fly her home so she could sit in the corner with her textbooks. And truthfully, she has a point; no one is enjoying watching you sit and study all week. They’re lucky if they get to catch up with you at all before you fly back to school and go another eight weeks not speaking to them because you’re too busy with school and such to call home before they go to bed at ten. So much for family time.

The problem is that professors seem to think that “Spring Break” means you have all this free time to do extra work for them. I even know of professors who schedule tests for the day after break, or add on extra homework because students “have plenty of time to work on it.”

Okay, so maybe we DO have some time- for once. But is piling on the work during the time we’re supposed to be recharging actually going to accomplish anything (besides reducing your students into a withering puddle of stress less than a week back)? By insisting on requiring more work, professors are actually offsetting the purpose of having a break at all. Just because we have a few minutes to breathe isn’t a reason to add more to our workloads.

College students, for all the stereotypes about partying and lazing around before entering “the real world,” work hard. Really hard. We take full course loads that require not only an average of fifteen hours of classes a week, but also extra time for labs, group projects, reading, papers, practice problems, studying for exams, and much, much more. So take the class time, and assume that outside work pretty much doubles it. Then add on activities (I’m slightly insane and actively involved in about six groups and have passing affiliations with about another ten or so, but most students, even if they’re not to my extreme, do something extracurricular) and the part-time jobs held by many students.

Yup, that’s a lot.

The reason we supposedly party so much is because we need a break, a rest, something to keep us from going utterly insane, or, worse, dropping the ball and losing everything we’ve been working for. The point of having spring break is to give us some sort of rest so we can do everything we need to do; by adding more work (and, let’s face it, we all have some work to do over spring break anyway- thesis, applications, papers or projects for later in the semester, a part-time job back home, family obligations, something), the only possible scenarios are as follows:

1. The student shuts down entirely. S/he hits the breaking point, and simply becomes incapable of doing any further work. Cue the GPA fall and a possible fetal-position-style breakdown.

2. The student spends his/her break working on the extra assignments and comes back completely frazzled, stressed, and sleep-deprived, possibly with the addition of problems with his/her family/friends/significant other, who are annoyed that s/he didn’t spend any time with them. This scenario also has a high likelihood of fetal-position breakdown.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t see either of these as an acceptable option, do you, Professor “Since you’ll have time, read The Communist Manifesto and The Wealth of Nations, then write a ten-page paper comparing the ideas, oh, by the way, your midterm is the Wednesday we get back, but send all questions to your TAs because I’m taking my family to Disney World for the break”?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Hope you stopped by the card store on the way back from class because today we are celebrating proper punctuation, spelling and, of course, the ever important verb-noun agreement. I don’t know about you, but nothing grates on my nerves more than bad grammar. My eyes bug out, my brow furrows and I forget what I was reading as all the words seem to melt into that one misplaced apostrophe.

Maybe I’m a nerd but I just can’t get passed it. For this reason, I think we need to celebrate National Grammar Day the right way.

Being that the local bars don’t seem to be offering any specials for this momentous occasion (what, can’t a girl get a shot for outstanding English?), I thought we could celebrate by learning a few things. Yeah, we’re all in college, but judging from my recent IMs, emails and texts, it looks like our higher education left a few things out.

So open the Tostitos, check out these 5 common grammatical errors, and let the party begin!

I’m starting to think that there is some truth to the rule, “You are what you eat.” I think my muffin top would attest to that statement. In general, I stick to a healthy diet (of cupcakes), but when it comes time to crack the books I know that my typical eating habits will affect my scholastic performance. While I usually opt for a bag of M&Ms at the library, I now know that a giant bag of sugar is not the best thing to get me through the hours of cramming.

In contrast, there are foods out there that have been shown to improve memory retention and attention span. Read: The foods I should be eating. I am one who will do anything to pass an exam, even if it means eating my way to better grades. Because what could be better?

Eat? For better grades? Grad school may be for me after all.

When it comes to the basics, we all know the rules: “Don’t skip breakfast,” “Drink lots of water,” “An apple a day…blah, blah, blah.”But when it comes to college life, we need more than just a healthy diet – we need to feed our brains. So I’ve compiled a list of some snack foods to help our neurons rock and roll.

While there are a plethora of foods out there to give your brain a boost, not all are study-friendly. Salmon and eggs, for example, are great brain foods, but being the “smelly kid” has never been cool, so it’s not realistic to brown bag these snacks to munch on in your study groups. (However, these are fine foods to eat for breakfast or lunch before a big exam…alone in your apartment.)

A personal favorite study snack (which is perfect for winter exams) is hot chocolate. But not any hot chocolate: DARK hot chocolate. It is lower in calories than its milky brother, and has a moderate amount of caffeine to boot. Dark chocolate also has a suspiciously high amount of antioxidants (chocolate? good for you? I know!) and natural neural stimulants that increase blood flow and enhance your mood! This warm bevy will keep you alert and in a good mood, no matter how late you have to be in the ‘brary.

Speaking of drinks, green tea is known for being fabulous for our brain and body. My tastebuds never quite agreed (green tea tastes like dirt) until Arizona Tea came out with Blueberry Diet Green Tea. I’m not a fan of drinking my calories (unless the drink rhymes with “odka”), so I stick to this diet version (10 cals per serving). I bring one of these with me to the computer lab whenever I go and it definitely keeps my brain turned on. If Starbucks is more your style, try mixing 2 tea bags (like Orange & Spice with Green Tea) for a tasty brain beverage.

Perhaps you don’t believe me on the Blueberry Green Tea, but I think we all know that blueberries themselves are hella good. They are in season right now and are great for snacking (and dieting, if that’s your thing). Ounce for ounce, blueberries actually have a greater antioxidant capacity than most any other fruits or vegetables and contain 5 grams of fiber per cup! These are also perfect for eating in the library (some rules were just meant to be broken) – no one can hear you munch on them.

Note: If blueberries are not too accessible, Craisins are a good substitute. Dried berries last a long, long time (becuase, seriously, who has time to go to the freakin’ market?), so load up, refrigerate, and grab em whenever you need a little brain boost.

From my own experience, however, the olympian of brain-boosting foods are nuts. Almonds, in particular, are great for your general health, but cashews and walnuts are where I get my fix. Not only do these jewels contain healthy fats that stabalize your blood-sugar for hours, but nuts have been shown in recent studies to be associated with better memory retention and mood. Both very important things for a super long study sesh.

Truth be told, keeping your glucose levels afloat will have a similar affect on your GPA. Happy snacking!

Sunday night at 3 a.m. again. The lines on the page have long since run together. I have written the same sentence three times. My roommate is blaring the television set that is constantly tuned to E!. I have seen all of the True Hollywood stories. Twice.

“Bailey*, can I have an Adderall?”

“Sure. You know where to find them.”

I rummaged around in the clutter of her desk drawer, and my fingertips having connected with the plastic of a prescription bottle, I tipped a tiny capsule into my palm.

Ah, yes, here was my chemical savior. Focus city, here I come.

This amphetamine derivative was going to help me get through my stack of reading and get that assignment down on paper.

I lay back down on my bed and set my alarm for 4 a.m. With Adderall in my system I would be able to get back up in just an hour and get back to work. And I did.

I sailed through those chapters and set the skeleton of my paper down in print. Doing real writing or reading that I actually needed to understand wasn’t really a good idea when I was on Adderall. Somehow it seemed to suppress my ability for thinking deep thoughts.

Bailey had a prescription, which she didn’t really need, clinically. What she really had was a very understanding family doctor who, with a knowing wink, scribbled away on his tiny pad when she came in with the complaint, “I can’t concentrate.”

Because the pills weren’t being used on a daily basis, there were often some spare ones lying around that got given away or sold to “friends in need”.

I was usually one of those friends.

I had never heard of Adderall, Concerta, or any of the other prescription drugs used in the treatment of ADD before college. When I got to school and found out what the effects were I wanted to know where I could sign up.

Studying was never my forte. I had always managed to ace my tests and whip out my papers based on my class attendance and spectacular ability to bullsh*t. When I got to college, I discovered that however wonderful my skills may be, it is nigh-on impossible to BS a 15-page paper, even if it is philosophy. I was floundering, and here was my quick-fix. Because who wants to do things the hard way?

So Adderall became my study buddy and I owe many successful all-nighters to those tiny capsules. What’s more, with all of this extra energy and focus, I stopped munching on Cheetos and Doritos while studying and I lost a pants size (which I have since gained back).

Now, addictive tendencies run in my family, so I had to be careful. Adderall has the same chemical components as speed (so watch out if you’re going to be getting drug tested), and its dispensing is tightly regulated. Only one month’s supply at a time may be prescribed and a visit to the doctor is required in order to renew the prescription. Meaning: there can be habit-forming side effects and this is something to be monitored.

But, I never once had the least shadow of a negative side effect. No crashes, no moodiness, no nothing. Just complete focus and an increase to my G.P.A. Obviously, I would do it again if it were available to me. I’ve even considered going to the psychiatrist myself and getting a prescription.

It’s not necessary, though; if you know the right people (and I do), you can usually just score on campus.

Okay so it’s finals week, and that = lots and lots of papers, lots of tests, and, of course, the perfect time for a major attack of Writer’s Block! (scary music) We’ve all been there– staring at a blank screen at 3:20am, wishing you were anywhere but here, surfing the web for flights to Romania and cool jobs that don’t require a college diploma. Here are a few more practical solutions:

1. Step Away from the Computer! Do something non-computer related (and non-TV related for best results) for 15-30 minutes– take a short walk, read a magazine, doodle a bit. Then go back to your paper.

2. Trying using paper and pen for awhile: I usually write my topic or thesis at the top of the page to get me started.

3. Switch up your playlist. My writing music ranges from Apocalyptica to Pink and MC Solaar to Röyksopp.

4. Change your font color and text style to something fun: it sounds crazy, I know, but just try it — it helps.

5. Call it a night. Seriously. Even if it means you have to get up at 5am the next morning to finish it, a few hours of sleep will drastically improve your writing ability.

[Got any other ways to battle writer's block?? Let us know!]

This is supposed to be my Spring Break. I wasn’t going anywhere warm and tropical, no, but I came home, and I was excited to spend the time just lazing around. I missed doing boring things, like laying around all day with my pets and watching music videos or Animal Planet. I missed staying up all night, talking with old friends, going to bed at four in the morning and waking up at two in the afternoon.

As you can imagine, a break filled with reading, writing, and research is not something I’m really enjoying.

It’s not horrendous, all things considered. I’ve had some time to just laze around, so that’s good. Still, at this point in the academic year, it’s pretty much impossible to have a whole week where I’m not doing anything. And don’t lie to me; I know that, regardless if you’re doing it or not, you have work to do too.

So, in light of the fact that none of us are going to have a very enjoyable next six or seven weeks (at least, I’m not), here are a few tips that’ll hopefully make things a little easier:

Study space: I know you’ve had this preached to you over and over again, but you’re not gonna get anything done if you don’t have a good study space. More often than not, my room is a horrible place for me to attempt to do anything. My school library has a whole floor of study carrels, little isolated cubicles with outlets and lights for you to work at. Those work pretty well for me. It all depends on what works best for you, though; my girlfriend usually has to have a movie or at least the television on, while another friend of mine needs the murmur of conversation to focus. Find out what works best for you and stick the hell to it!

Ask for help: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Getting a second eye on things like papers can really help pick out errors from really simplistic spelling errors to huge jumps in your train of thought. If you have roommate or someone on your floor who can spare a few minutes, ask them for their help. Most schools have writing centers where you can bring your stuff down for a little revision help. There are even forums with moderators more than willing to lend a helping hand.

Know where to look: Research can be tricky, nasty, and just plain irritating. How do you deal with it? There are a couple of key places that will help you more that you’d know. One, the library. Come on, now, you guys, were you not been listening through all of K-12? Libraries, especially ones in colleges and universities, are packed full of all kind of great stuff. Search through the directory, or just ask for help to find your topic of choice. Two, the internet. I personally have undying faith in the internet, and know that I can find pretty much anything I need on it. Search engines are your best friends, and there are tons of them out there for you to use. There are also lots of online databases that most schools subscribe to. My favorite is JSTOR; check to see whether or not your school happens to choose JSTOR here. Most schools have a listing of their databases on their websites, as well, so do a little hunting. Three, your professors. Never thought of that one, did you? The fact is, professors are usually super happy to help a student with research. If they’re teaching Shakespeare, chances are pretty high they have a book that’ll help you with your research paper on Hamlet. Seriously, try it.

Relax!: Take it from someone who has breakdowns at the very thought of having a term paper due the next day she hasn’t started with: getting upset will not fix anything. In fact, it’ll only make things worse. If you’re super tense and super stressed, just stop. Don’t say you don’t have the time to, because you know fully well the ten to fifteen minutes you could be spending cooling down you’d otherwise spend freaking out. Take a brief walk, listen to a few songs, have a handful of comfort food; even a quick 20-minute nap can help reduce stress (ignore the fact that it’s from men’s journal; sometimes, guys do know what they’re talking about).

School can be rough. There’s no doubt about that. But there are a ton of little and big tips and tricks that make things easier and, believe it or not, bearable. I bet you guys can think of some, too…

I was an English major during undergrad, and people often have the misconception that English majors enjoy writing papers. I enjoyed writing papers about as much as I enjoyed the stench of a pungent dorm lounge the day after a particularly disgusting kegger.

I did manage to ace out on most of those papers, though, and thus I am offering this sage list of do NOTs to others in the world of paper peril:

* Do NOT stay up all night writing a paper.

I know, I know, sometimes it just has to be done. But believe it or not, your brain will have time to energize and recharge and think of better ideas if you write your paper over a period long enough to allow for Sex in the City-watching, meal-munching, and beauty sleep.

* Do NOT write your paper via AIM or your cell’s text-message screen.

Yes, you should absolutely take breaks to spend time with your friends and get away from your paper. But texting away while you are actually writing will only lead your prof to knock a few points off your paper because it contains “OMG HAWT++!” somewhere in the middle.

* Do NOT forget the evidence.

Here it is: the art of bullshit. Profs (aside from those looking for regurgitation of their own oh-so-important words) are looking for intriguing topics that have “proof” to back them up. The great part is that you can twist the evidence however your own twisted mind desires.

And just one last note before you hunker down to write that paper (perhaps the most important note of all): no matter what happens, do NOT forget to keep handy a never-ending, high-quality supply of dark chocolate.