College Happenings

Whether you like it or not, students use college rankings to make decisions about where to go. How a college or university is perceived matters to students because they know that their future employers will care too.

College rankings are all over the place, but the most prestigious and most often cited is U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges. Their college rankings for 2011 recently came out and here are the top 10:

1) Harvard University
2) Princeton University
3) Yale University
4) Columbia University
5) Stanford University
6) University of Pennsylvania
7) California Institute of Technology*
7) Massachusetts Institute of Technology*
9) Dartmouth College
10) Duke University

*These two schools were tied

It starts early. College freshmen arrive to campus only to be bombarded with student credit card offers from day one, increasing the likelihood they will spend too much, carry big balances, and enter into a lifetime of debt. Thankfully, there are ways for college students to establish credit with credit cards and do so responsibly. Keeping these tips in mind will help students pay off their balance each month and graduate from college free from credit card debt.

1. Carry only one credit card. With so many opportunities for college students to get credit cards, it’s easy for them to get carried away and end up with more cards than they can afford. By having just one credit card, students are more likely to keep up with what they owe, and it will be easier for them to establish credit.

2. Use the credit card for one thing only. By limiting credit card purchases to just one thing like gas for the car, groceries, or textbooks, college students are more likely to know exactly how much they owe at the end of the month. If the items designated for credit card purchases are essentials – food, for example – students should know before making a purchase that they’re buying something they can afford.

3. Use the credit card sparingly. College students can establish credit even if they almost never use their credit cards. By just using the card a few times a year, students will be able to build a good credit score, and doing so also makes it easier to pay off a balance since students owe less money.

4. Get a family member to cosign. If you’re a college student thinking about a credit card, see if your parents or other family members with a good credit are willing to cosign with you on a card. College students often sign up for credit cards when they’re away from home, neglecting the fact that cosigning with a family member may allow them to get a credit card with a low interest rate.

5. Shop for a low interest rate. College students shouldn’t just fill out the first credit card application set before them. Many banks, credit unions, and other institutions offer credit cards with competitive rates. These cards are often geared toward college students trying to establish credit.

While it’s easy for college students to head down a slippery slope ending in mountains of credit card debt come graduation time, there are still ways for them to use credit cards responsibly. Considering the credit card options available and knowing how to avoid several common pitfalls can go a long way for students trying to establish credit. In the end, the careful use of a credit card can bring financial rewards.

This is a guest post by Dee Barizo from The Best Degrees, an online school site that picks the top online degrees. Also, the site provides tuition rankings for students looking to save money on their education.

Getting sleep in college is sort of like getting water in a desert.  It’s hard to come by, but when you get it, it feels great.

Last night we ran across this cool article called 10 Ways To Get A Good Night’s Sleep While Living In A Dorm Room and here’s what they say (visit their site for all the details):

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We got such a great response to our list of 28 Cliche Dorm Room Posters that we figured we should put together a list of funny College T-shirts. We’re sure we didn’t find all the best funny college t-shirts out there, so we’d love it if you’d add some suggestions in the comments.   Thanks!

1. FU from Animal House

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While we prefer to focus on the lighter side of college at College Happenings, we recognize that ultimately, the reason people go to college is to secure a better job and higher pay than they otherwise could get.

Today we came across this nice little resource from College Crunch that covers a wide variety of average starting salaries for diverse careers.   It gives you a broad picture of the starting salary landscape in 2008.  Maybe it can help you decide on the major you want to pursue.

Cheap beer means different things to different people. To the uppity corporate executive, it’s a burden to be tolerated, but never endured by choice. To the party-going college student, it’s a fact of life, no more questioned or fussed over than small dorms and uncomfortable matresses. But no matter where you stand, cheap does not usually mean good! So what’s a taste-conscious beer drinker to do? Fear not, for we have assembled this list of 25 cheap beers to avoid so you wont have to learn the hard way.

[Note: We realize that taste is a subjective preference and some people will disagree with some of these beers. The idea was simply to list beers the average person would agree are cheap and bad.]

1) Schaefer

A former bartender we interviewed for this article was quoted as saying, “when I used to do that, the absolute WORST beer we sold was Shaefer.” Indeed, many a beer drinker can recall slogging down a can of Shaefer for its rock-bottom price and widespread availability. Amazingly, Shaefer was the top selling beer in Puerto Rico during the 70′s and 80′s, but it has fallen from grace considerably since then, and is now owned by the next beer on our list.

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As long as there have been dorm rooms, there have been dorm room posters. Some of these posters have more staying power than others, however, and many of them have grown to be so popular that it’s literally impossible to visit a college campus without seeing them. If you’ve ever visited someone at school, you have probably seen most or all of the posters that follow.

1. “College”

The grand daddy of all college posters is this classic John Belushi shot from the 80′s cult classic “Animal House.” Never before has one poster said so much, encapsulating the rebellious, party hard college lifestyle in one poster that every student can instantly identify with. If you plan on visiting a college campus anytime soon, you should expect to see this poster more often than any of the others, and if you’re moving into a dorm of your own, your roommate might already have one!
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There are several things you can do to make your College experience the best it can be.  Of course you’re going to want to party as much as possible…to make as many memories as you can – but don’t forget about the whole “class” thing.

Here are 5 tips that will help you Survive those classes, and still give you time to party your ass off.

1. Schedule study time between classes - the best time in the world to study is between classes.  It helps you keep your mind on the “class” train of thought, and it gives you a bit of down time between lectures.  If you schedule all your classes back to back, by the time you finish them, you’re completely worn out, and you are much less likely to study.  By scheduling study time between classes you can get the work done during the day – so you can party at night.

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College is probably going to be remembered as a great time in your life….but it’s going to shoot by before you know it.  As a result, you need to take advantage of the time you have now.  There are things you can do now that will help you in the future…and these 5 things will help you with life after college, but they can only be done, while you’re still on the inside.

5. Join A Fraternity or Sorority – There are two types of people in the world…people that can’t wait to join a frat in college, and people that hate all those people in frats in college.  There are more of the first type, but those of you in the second type list…you need to read this, and pay attention.  Joining a Fraternity or Sorority his a LIFE LONG association that will help you find jobs, get promoted, get into clubs, get discounts on t-shirts – you NAME IT…if you have a fraternity brother or sorority sister, it doesn’t matter if they even know who you are…you’ll still advantages that others won’t.

Is it fair?  Maybe not…but life isn’t fair.  Join up…you’ll thank me later.

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The college experience is fundamentally different today in comparison to even just twenty years ago, thanks to the mass adoption of revolutionary technological developments such as the Internet and cell phones. College students have many more ways to use their time now (should I play Halo 3 with a buddy in Japan, browse Digg’s popular tech stories, Skype my girlfriend, look at Internet porn, watch a bittorrent movie, or search the ‘net for the perfect term paper…due tomorrow)?

Whether used for good or bad, technological innovations have radically shaped the way college life is lived and the way education is done. From taking classes online to texting your friends during a boring lecture, this ain’t your grandfather’s pencil and paper education.

So without further ado, here are 19 technological innovations that we believe have radically changed the college experience. While you’re reading through, take a moment and consider what college life would be without them! continue reading…