AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ahhhh!!!  Finals!

Everything comes down to this! Your grade, your GPA, your good standing with the parental units (who “aren’t paying for you to party all the time, you know!”). You’ve got tests and papers and presentations and it’s all coming at you so fast and you barely opened the book all semester and there was that 2 week span where you couldn’t stop watching Gilmore Girls on DVD and skipped, like, 12 lectures and now you have to make it all up and pass all the tests and OMFG.

How are you ever going to survive?!

These feelings of stress and near-mental breakdown come every year, with every finals week. The combination of stress, seasonal depression and gallons of caffeine wears down even the most seasoned student until she’s hunched over that 7lb textbook at 4am on a Tuesday crying into her Venti Americano. But once the fear subsides a bit (and she’s wiped that snot from her upper lip), she gets into her groove, remembers her fool-proof study strategies and plows through those notes like drunken frat boy through a wall.

If you’re feeling the finals stress (who isn’t?!) and need a little advice on how to make it through, read on. This week the CollegeCandy writers share their secrets for finals survival. One of these is bound to get you one step closer to that 4.0. And if not, well, at least give us an “A” for effort. 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 »

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 »

Every college library is similar – always too hot or too cold, smells kind of bad but you aren’t sure why, phrases etched into the tables, and a mixed population of students either writing on each others’ Facebook walls or writing 20 page term papers in a single night.

Good times!

I used to be very anti-library (who isn’t), but this semester I have found ways to make it more comfortable, enjoyable and conducive to a productive day/evening/month of work-doing. It’s all about being prepared (for anything) and as long as you have these essentials in that backpack of yours, you can be successful too.

Water bottle: This seems obvious but you’d be surprised. I once pulled an all-nighter without bringing a water bottle and because I was so into the work I was doing, I never felt like going to get water. Stupid mistake! I got tired and sick, and spent my night drooling on my laptop instead of researching on it. The next time I filled that sucker up a few times per hour, got everything done, and felt great the next day. Also, drinking only coffee, tea or Red Bull (or Bawls...) will almost definitely dehydrate you, cause you to crash sooner than without caffeine and probably give you a terrible stomachache (which may explain that weird smell in the libs….).

Personal hygiene products: I’ll admit that I’m a little weird when it comes to hygiene – I carry toothbrushes with me wherever I go – but I highly suggest anyone going to the library for an extended period of time should have at least a toothbrush thrown in their backpack. Some other products that always come in handy for me are hand sanitizer, lotion, tissues, chapstick, and deodorant. Trust me, it’s better for everyone if you smell like a “Satin Pear” (whatever that is) than whatever 10 hours in a dirty library smells like for a 9:35 Italian class! Read More »