College. Sigh. It’s unlike any other time in your life. It has its own set of rules, its own unique circumstances. And it’s not always easy to navigate. Enter…me!

Every week I’ll be tackling your questions about college. From classes to keggers, I’ll do my best to respond and be your Pez dispenser of collegiate wisdom. Got questions? Hit me up in the comments or shoot me an email at melanie@collegecandy.com

I’m broke. Wah! What can I do?
Get. A. Job. Seriously, there’s no excuse for not working while you’re in classes. In fact, it looks great on a resume and will give you some extra cash in your pocket on the weekends. You don’t need a high power internship (although those are pretty nice), but do something to earn money. Babysitting is a great option if you want cold hard cash with none of those silly taxes. If you’re a shopaholic, work at your favorite clothing store to snag the discount. I did the J.Crew thing for a semester and got a fantastic discount and although most of my paycheck went to clothes it still alleviated some of my financial woes. Even if you just pick up five hours a week at a coffee house, it’s better than nothing. Make it rain!

My roomie snores. What should I do?
Buy earplugs. Or leave her a hint by picking some of those breathe-easy nose strips and putting them on her pillow.

I want to throw a rager, any tips for success?
If you’re going the theme party route, do something original. One of my favorite parties that me and my bestie/roomie of the moment threw was a Hollywood themed party. People came dressed as their favorite celebs and had a blast. Believe me, there’s nothing funnier than watching Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Mary Kate Olsen, Kurt Cobain and Heath Ledger all duking it out at the flip cup table. Hide your valuables, buy lots of Solo cups and cheap beer. The rest will be history, captured on Facebook. Read More »

So midterms have come and gone. Whether your calling home boasting to mom and dad about how well you’re doing on their $40,000 a year, or crying your eyes out at the thought of failing out of freshman math, everyone is glad to be out of those couple weeks of hell.

For those of us who haven’t aced all of our tests, we have no calm after the storm. We are just hit by another what-if-I-fail-out-of-school-what-will-everyone-think whirlwind.

Our friends at CollegeNews gave some suggestions on what to do to overcome a midterm crisis, which includes talking to your professor and your advisor and re-evaluating your study habits. But what if that’s not enough? What if striking up a convo with your prof during office hours doesn’t change anything? And what does it mean to re-evaluate your study habits?!

Your GPA is the most important thing you’ll take with you when you leave college (well, that and a box full of free t-shirts), so it’s imperative you pick that up and pick it up fast. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of important things you can (and need to) do now to turn double up that 2.0 and turn it into something worth boasting about.

You know, so your family doesn’t disown you come Christmas. Read More »

"And that, my little freshmen, is why that boy didn't call you back."

College. Sigh. It’s unlike any other time in your life. It has its own set of rules, it’s own unique circumstances. And it’s not always easy to navigate. Enter…me! Every week I’ll be tackling your questions about college. From classes to keggers, I’ll do my best to respond and be your Pez dispenser of collegiate wisdom.

1. How do I avoid that sneaky Freshman 15?
The most obvious answer is don’t drink. Drinking adds those extra calories that you didn’t have in high school, not to mention the drunk munchies. Who hasn’t gone to bed at 4 AM on a Thursday spooning a box of Lucky Charms? Leaving behind sports teams in high school and replacing field hockey practice with marathon drinking is a surefire way to pack on the pounds. Weekday drinking is probably the number one contributor to the Freshie 15, in addition the dining hall, the University equivalent of an all you can eat buffet in Vegas. Think about it. Not ready to give up drinking on Tuesdays or the tater tots at the dining hall? Utilize that gym on campus, join an intramural team and try to stay on a good sleeping schedule.

2. That guy that I hooked up with drunkenly at a party isn’t calling me?! What gives?
Pick and choose your reason(s):
- You were so blacked out you had a penis drawn on your face while you were making out with him. In front of all his friends. First impressions last.
- He has a girlfriend
- It’s a little awksauce calling someone after a sloppy hook up
- He doesn’t remember hooking up with you Read More »

Week after week (after week after week…), CollegeCandy and our pal John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, and saddest things he hears on his college campus. And we know he’s not the only one who hears this stuff. Join the Overheard revolution! Listen in on some weirdos’ conversations and share them in the comments or send ‘em over to us to put in next week’s post.

(Two guys, in an English class.)

Guy 1: Dude, why are you dressed up?

Guy 2: We’re reading “The Crucible.” It’s about a town that gets rid of all its witches. That’s why I have the hat.

(Guy, singing at a party.)

Guy: Ooh, I get Boggle with help from my friends. Mm, gonna Boggle with help from my friends. Do you neee-eeed any Boggle? I want some Boggle to love.

(English professor, thinking out loud.)

Prof: See, I wouldn’t count myself as a human being until, oh, about 15 or 16. And even that was problematic. 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 »

Do you know what today is? No, it’s not just the CollegeCandy.com editor’s half birthday – it’s the International Day of Peace! A day where people around the globe come together to reflect on the world peace we (and all those Miss America contestants) yearn for.

In honor of this beautiful day, I started thinking about my own personal wars I’ve been fighting. I’ve held onto a lot of grudges in the past year and I think today is the perfect day to wave the white flag and let them all go. Because there is nothing more freeing than peace.

I’m ready to call a cease-fire and here are a few of my former enemies I’ll be burying the hatchet with today:

The R.A. that stole my fifth of gin. I know I probably shouldn’t have been walking around with it in public. But it was so tiny and bite-sized and it packed such a big punch that I couldn’t bare to part with it. That is until you snatched it from me. I might have gotten a $50 fine, but at least I escaped alcohol poisoning that night. Peace and thank you. Read More »

Whew! It’s been three weeks since I first set foot on campus, and what a crazy three weeks it’s been! It might still be too early to tell (psh, yeah right), but I’ve come to the conclusion that college is totally awesome, and for a number of reasons.

I can also safely say that I’ve learned quite a bit about college life from my experiences so far – or at least enough to help me survive the remainder of the semester. So take out your laptops and notebooks, because there’s going to be a quiz on this stuff next week:

1. I love freedom!
For the first time…ever, really, I have the power to make my own schedule, write my own rules, and run my life the way I want to. This new-found freedom was a little overwhelming at first, since there was so much to explore on campus and only so many hours in a day, but I’ve found a comfortable rhythm that allows for flexibility when necessary. For example, I usually hit the books after dinner, but if there’s an Apples to Apples game going on in the lounge at the same time, I’m so there.

2. College dining usually sucks, but the soft serve machines rule.
Even if the food isn’t always wonderful, you can always count on the soft serve machine (and sugar cones!) to cheer you up at the end of a disappointing meal. Seriously. I want one for my room.

3. The best discussions are to be had outside the classroom.
I’ve been involved in many deeply intellectual class discussions, but nothing beats spontaneous jam sessions with my hallmates or lounging on the lawn talking about the cultural implications of Disney movies. Staying up until 3 a.m. discussing the intricacies of the universe with my friends is far more rewarding than reading the confessions of St. Augustine. (No offense, Augustine.) 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.

[Every week, CC and John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, saddest things he hears on his college campus. Join the Overheard revolution!Leave your own overheard convos in the comments or send ‘em over!]

(Frustrated girl, at a computer.)

Girl: Who is this person? This ‘giant-nasty-rotting-vagina’ person? Wrote the thing about the giant Husky penis?

(Girl and guy, at the dining hall.)

Guy: This fish is weird. It’s like salmon, but it’s not quite there. I don’t like it.

Girl: Did you eat the skin?

Guy: Uh. Oh. Yup.

(Girl on the phone.)

Girl: I can’t get on that plane! I hate planes! I’m always afraid they’re gonna commit ritual suicide or something!

(Girl reading a paper.)

Girl: I think the world is ending. We all stopped smoking [weed], and suddenly we’re comedians.

(Guy, being snarky.)

Guy: Changing the laws of physics isn’t something you just do. It’s something I just do. Read More »

I know you’re all still swamped with the work you neglected over spring break and don’t even want to think about the fact that exams are just around the corner. That’s why I hate to break it to you, but if you’re planning on sacrificing your summer for an internship this year,  the time to start searching, applying, and interviewing was yesterday. But don’t worry – you can still start now!

Whether you’ve already pledged to yourself that an internship will be beneficial to your eventual career, or this article only just now put the idea into your head, it can be difficult to know where to look. After all, if we are going to spend the summer working for little or no pay, we want the best damn internship out there, don’t we? As a bit of an intern connoisseur (I have five under my belt), I’d like to help steer you in the right direction. Read More »