[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like the gyno-gender debate!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

It’s textbook time again - the moment when you look down your syllabus and groan at the hundreds of dollars that could have gone to things like food (or that fantasy fall wardrobe) that you will instead be laying down for an eight-pound anatomy book. Sigh. Well, don’t get your panties in a bunch just yet; suddenly, there may be other options. Between some schools giving out Kindles for free <incoherent jealous muttering> and a few textbook companies making their wares available for download on smart phones, this year we could do away with the piles of heavy, bound books…

But do we want to? Read More »

This guy is sleazier than we thought.

Is Macauley Culkin Michael Jackson’s baby daddy?

Do your makeup like a pro.

John Krasinski is engaged. Weep.

Save money on those textbooks!

The best jokes about boys.

I’m not gonna lie – I love buying textbooks.  Yes, they are expensive and, yes, they are heavy and annoying to carry around.  But after enrolling for your classes and getting your book lists, there’s something about buying brand new books full of things you don’t know (I may or may not pretend to be Hermione Granger when I go textbook shopping…) that is just sort of…exciting.

Usually, this magical feeling fades after about two weeks of lectures, homework, and quizzes.  Then they are just regular books, collecting dust on my dorm room floor.  That is, until the semester ends and it’s time to try and get some of your cash back (because, let’s face it, you’re broke after spending your weekends at the bar instead of actually reading those books).

There are tons of places to sell back your books.  You could go to the campus bookstore (and get ripped off), the slightly off-campus bookstore (and get ripped off), sell them in your dorm, or use the hundreds of sites on the internet that offer great prices and relatively little hassle (too good to be true?).  I usually use the internet, unless I’m really in need of cash NOW.  To this point, I haven’t had an issue with selling my books back online, but I have always been a bit wary.

What if the website is lying and I never get my check?  What it something happens with the mail and my books disappear?

Turns out, maybe my fears weren’t so baseless.  One of our readers was recently scammed by a website that buys and sells textbooks from students.  Textbookwheel.com offers great prices for books and free shipping, obviously a very enticing offer.  Only, what you get in return is a check that’s about 1/10 of what you were originally offered and a note saying most of your books were lost in the mail (weird how that can happen when you send them in one big box…).  In fact, you’d be lucky to get a check at all.

Places like amazon.com and ebay.com have been proven effective and safe (for the most part) for years.  With new textbook sites popping up every day, it’s hard not to be tempted by their prices, but maybe it’s better to stick with what you know.  Sometimes all those great offers (like the one our reader fell for) are too good to be true. Don’t fall for them.

If you are selling your books, excercise caution – after all, you spent a lot of time and money buying these books, you don’t want to just give them away.  If you did, you could have dumped ‘em at the campus bookstore…or held onto them for a much-needed coffee table.

I love books. I just unpacked my massive book collection and filled like ten shelves with those suckers. Everything from horror to fantasy to sci-fi to children’s to textbooks – I refused to sell anything back because it was pretty much a rip off. Seriously, $15 for a book I spent $100 on? And never opened? I’d rather lug those bad boys home and use them to prop up a broken table than let those bookstores scam future students with them!

Take that, bookstores!

So, despite my general love of books in the book form (there is nothing more satisfying than the sound of a book being cracked for the first time), I have begun to let my eyes wonder over to the E-Reader realm. It’s a bit cheaper when you add up the cost of all those books you’re buying, it’s good for the trees of the world, and since there has been talk of loading text books onto them, they are definitely something to look into.

And if not, I could still carry my ENTIRE library around with me without the aid of a large, burly moving man.

Yes, some are totally out of anyone’s price range and some are really crappy, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one out there for you. There are two really good options for e-readers out there today and I know that one of them will work for you. Trust me. Read More »

Who needs good grades when you can impress your friends and family by quoting movies instead? Not me, that’s for sure. Throwing those textbooks out the window does present a sticky situation, though… so many movies, so little time. Luckily, I’m here to break it down for you by presenting the best 5 movies to watch instead of studying.

5. When Harry Met Sally.

Seriously, who doesn’t love this movie? I bet it was a super-smash hit when it first came out, but it’s now a super-smash source of entertainment that’s run on cable all the time. As we all know, free movies are better than costly movies, so record this one and pop it in anytime you feel kinda sorta like NOT doing that physics assignment.

4. 10 Things I Hate About You.

A Heath Ledger tribute is always justified, and this movie is a great excuse to do one right. It’s also a good party movie because almost everyone likes it, and even some guys can be coerced into watching it. Read More »

The building looked like any other corporate office building in America. As I pulled into the parking lot, my eyes scanned the area and I prayed I was at the right place. The innocuous sign on the door said “Prometric Learning Center, Suite 100,” as though it were any other suite in any building in corporate America. I parked my car, took a deep breath to prepare myself, and walked inside. A sign informed me that everything on the premises was video monitored and that by stepping inside I was giving my consent to appear on the footage.

Stepping inside, I couldn’t tell whether I was in a doctor’s waiting room or the locker area of a gym. To the right were chairs arranged in a tight circle, magazines scattered about the area; on the opposing wall there stood a row of rusted lockers.

A sign directed me to the front desk where a young man asked for my ID, and upon being certain that I was who I claimed to be, offered me a clipboard. I signed the honor code, promising that I would not use any forbidden study materials or divulge the contents of any question on the test. The specific rules for the GRE and testing in the center were stated on a piece of paper behind the one I’d signed, reminding me that nothing was allowed into the testing room with me, that study materials could not be used at any time after the test began, and that during my 10 minute break (if I wished to take said break) I could not leave the facility. Read More »

“I would rather set my hair on fire than read this book again.”

“Saying this is the best book I’ve ever read doesn’t do it justice.”

Got an opinion? Like to read books? Then head over to Goodreads, the best site out there that you may not know about.

Goodreads is the ultimate winner: a user-motivated review site that’s also a social network. If you love to read (or have to for class, as the case may be), rate the books you go through and post reviews.

If you want to protect everyone out there from the heinous piece of trash your English prof is calling “literature,” call it out on Goodreads and tell other people to stay the hell away from it. If you think everyone on Earth should read your favorite book, find it on the site and write a review that will move even the soundest skeptic to sob with longing.

You can search the site for specific books, see what others thought of them, and get book recommendations from friends. If you’re a writer, you can also post excerpts from your writing and read snippets of others’ work. Read More »

With the money I spent on textbooks in college, I could now own a plethora of designer purses. Not that I need any more bags, but I didn’t really need any more books either. The textbook dilemma is never one easily solved.

For the most part, you don’t know which books you’ll be using first before the first day of class and the requisite first day of class syllabus. I remember my freshman year I spent over $500 easily on books for my first semester.

That much money pains me now, much more than it did then. Back then I had the good ole M&D to rely on.

Now? Now I just have ramen. And rent due tomorrow.

So, you can’t buy your books before classes begin because there is the possibility you will never use them or just use them for one f*cking assignment. It’s so annoying.

Textbooks are essential to college and also one of the biggest college pains in my ass.

Here, I have outlined my no fail way to succeed at your first real college assignment: Buying Your Textbooks.

Textbook Tip #1

Don’t buy your books before the first day of class. There is just no need! I mean, really, you’re going to be drinking copious amounts of beer during your first few days anyways and having too much fun to even think about classes starting. Class, however, is an inevitable evil. Read More »