Its 6:00 A.M. and your day is about to begin. You ignore the fact that its negative four degrees outside as you flip through your closet trying to pick out the perfect dress to go with your new chunky heels that you bought at the Barney’s sample sale. Of course you’re not going to tell the jealous girl staring at them in class that they were a sample sale find, you’ll let her think you went on a 5th avenue shopping spree this weekend. Your make-up is perfect, your hair newly curled, you grab your cashmere Marc Jacobs pea-coat and you are out the door. Just in time for your 9:00 class.

If you are a student at The Fashion Institute of Technology, this sounds like a regular Monday to you. To anyone else, this sounds more like a scene from a movie. You probably don’t think that girls like this ACTUALLY exist. They do. Crazy right? For a 9:00 Monday class, you probably wake up at 8:30, grab a hoodie, some Uggs, your Northface, and are set.  The thought of wearing sweatpants to class is horrifying to the FIT student body.  It’s a completely different world, the fashion school world.

Contrary to popular belief, the life of a fashion school student is not one continuous episode of Project Runway.  However, a typical school day is nothing like a day at the average university.  Classrooms are not just for learning.  The competition students face everyday is cut throat.  FIT students are arguably some of the most driven in the nation when it comes to working towards career goals.  They are friendly with each other, of course, but at the end of the day, it’s dog eat dog, and each extremely well-dressed canine is left to fend for himself.  Professors at FIT do not qualify to teach unless they have been working in the industry for 20 years. Most are still active and successful in their fields and choose to teach as a side job.  Opportunity is lurking around every corner and students are ready to tackle it when it comes their way.  Duly noted, they wouldn’t dream to tackle it in sweatpants. Read More »

Sometimes, the school you picked isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe the culture just doesn’t mesh with you, or maybe you realize after a few months that you want to be studying something completely different.

The thought of transferring crosses your mind. And then the thoughts of all you’d have to do -  paperwork, credit juggling, and the process of making new friends all over again – flood your brain. My expert advice (I’m a self-proclaimed expert, of course)  is to give your school a fighting chance before you go through the grueling process of transferring. But if you’re really unhappy, a change can be well worth it.

There are many different options when it comes to your education, some of which you might never knew existed. Here are a few different routes you can take on your path to academic success and happiness:

• Four-Year College
It might be a public university or it might be a private school, but places are handing out bachelor’s degrees like candy these days (well, if you do the work, anyway). This is probably the type of school most of you are in and the type to which most of you would consider transferring. There are zillions of them, so do your research and really know what you want—don’t just transfer because your boyfriend goes there.

• Career College
If you know exactly what you want to do and you’re on the fast track to doing it, consider a career college. Some of them can be just as pricey as liberal-arts colleges, but they may not keep you there for the full four years, and when you’re done, you’re basically set to get a job or apprenticeship in your field. A quick way to check out your options is to visit a site like CollegeSurfing.com, which lets you search for schools by career interest. Read More »

When I got to college I thought I knew with 100% certainty that I wanted to be an English teacher. I spent my first two years fulfilling all of the requirements for the School of Ed and then spent the next two years preparing for my life in a high school classroom.

Only, upon graduation, I realized that I’d rather die than work with those ungrateful little bastards ever again teaching wasn’t for me.

And that’s when the sh*t hit the fan. You see, my parents’ generation was one where you get a job and do it until you retire at 65. It may not be ideal and you may not love it deep down in your core, but it’s a good job and you do it. You don’t take a year off and think about what you want to do; you don’t try out different fields and see which one makes you happy. You get a job, get off the family payroll and become an adult. Read More »