That College Kid
Popularity: 13% [?]
Popularity: 23% [?]
The internet, which used to bring a sense of anonymity, is now the easiest way to find everything about you. Between Facebook and Myspace anyone can pull up all kinds of information about you, including photos, personality traits, contact information. Besides guarding your privacy, you can take other steps to ensure you have a safe online identity.
1. Use ClaimID. This is a website that pairs with OpenID to have one login for multiple websites. This way, you can make sure your information is tied to one username. So when your potential employer googles your name, you can make sure he only sees what you want him to see and not what some crazy man with your name posted on Myspace.
2. Run your email through IdentiFight. This service will find website accounts that are tied to your email. It will pull up your flickr, myspace, magnolia, etc. So be careful NOT to give your mom the same email you post pictures of you drinking beer on myspace.
3. Search different combinations of your name on google. See what comes up.
Popularity: 22% [?]
Months ago I promised a few of my cheap recipes, but I never actually got around to posting any. So I’m starting. Here’s my penne pasta casserole. It costs a few dollars to make and feeds me and my boyfriend twice.
Note: This “recipe” doesn’t count on exact amounts. Pasta, beef, sauce and cheese all depends on your liking. We like a lot of meat and cheese. Some people like more pasta. You can’t really mess this up. Also, you can substitute the pasta for another kind if you’d like. Macaroni noodles work fine.
Popularity: 29% [?]
Cramming has different views, some say it’s great, others disagree. Personally, I always cram at the last minute, especially for classes I don’t feel are pertinent to life or my career (classes like history or biology). Yes, it’s nice to know that stuff, but it’s not important enough for me to spend hours learning it all. So, I’ve devised a nice, easy way to fit as much info into my brain in a short amount of time long enough to be good for a test.
This is the most important step. Don’t try to force feed your brain information that isn’t important. If you have a hard time figuring out what your professor will test over, ask someone or go through the book. Most chapters have key facts, a summary, etc. that outlines the most important things.
It’s best not to start at 2 am the night before a 9 am test. Cramming works best the night before, but with a good amount of sleep. A foggy brain doesn’t recall well. Make sure you have enough time to cram, depending on the material, at least a few hours, and enough time to get a decent sleep.
If you’re upset, distracted, pissed, whatever, it’s going to affect your cram session. Try to relax, forget about the outside world. Do whatever you need to, even if that means *gasp* going to the library to find yourself a nice, quiet place. Personally, I hate the library. Something about the incredible quiet bothers me. Plus, it always smells like an old lady.
Know how you’re going to go about this. Do you mostly need to learn vocab? Do you need to learn theories? Do you need to know formulas?
Memorization
For classes where you need to regurgitate definitions, try creating a matching test at Easy Test Maker. It’s free and is easier and cheaper than flashcards. There’s also flashcard software available if you’d rather do that. Either way, this is a great way to memorize.
Multiple Choice
Most professors have two very possible, one could-be and one completely off choices on multiple choice. By the time you’re in college, you should be very familiar with this format and very good at taking them. So, study important facts, but focus on details. Anything bolded or reiterated in lecture and anything that might be related. Multiple choice is when you’ll be asked who passed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Essay
If your professor provides possible essay prompts, definitely take advantage and at least get all the information you’ll need. I don’t recommend actually writing the essay out, just write it in shorthand, get all the info out and how you’re going to answer the question. Read over this a few times afterward and then once again before the test and you should be set.
If you’re not lucky enough to be given the question ahead of time, you’re in for a little more work. Learn the big picture and a few things to fill in the lines. Once you have that down, bullshit is your best friend. Don’t make things up, just surround your facts with fluff.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Have you filed your FAFSA yet? Don’t worry, I haven’t either. I’m still waiting on my mom to do her taxes. You’re allowed to file January 1 and it’s better to do it as close to then as possible so you can get everything squared away and have access to the most money. But if you can’t file until now or even the end of March, you’re still okay. It’s when you’re waiting until June or July that you should get worried.
Myth: If my parents make too much money, I can’t get any financial aid
Fact: You won’t qualify for nice things like Pell grants, but you can still qualify for federal loans. Depending on which year you’re in, you can get a nice chunk of tuition covered with a Stafford loan. I was able to get a subsidized loan, meaning the government pays the interest while in school. Unsubsidized you have to pay, but the interest rate is incredibly low.
Myth: I don’t have to worry about paying loan interest while in school.
Fact: Depends on your loan. If you get a loan with no accruing interest until after you graduate, then you don’t have to. But most loans do accrue interest. If you have a Parent PLUS loan, pay that interest right away. Better yet, don’t get another one of these loans unless you really really have to. They are a ripoff. The interest rate is incredibly high and if you let it build up while you’re in school, you’ll be amazed at the amount owed by graduation. Multiple that by four…ouch.
Myth: I don’t have to file scholarships and grants on my taxes.
Fact: Sometimes you do. It depends on what kind of scholarship. If you get mailed a 1099 form, you definitely do, if not, you still might. Always ask your financial aid office just in case.
Popularity: 24% [?]
1. Sell on ebay. This requires some research, but what I do is scour Best Buy and Circuit City (and other such electronics retailers) for great sales, then buy the product and put it on ebay. Best Buy has some great sales where you can get $100 off retail value, sell it on ebay and get a $50-75 profit easily.
2. Join websites that pay you to fill out surveys and do free trials. The ones with high payout are usually trial offers that require a credit card to join, and if you cancel within the trial, you won’t be billed. I’ve made $80 in two months with Cash Crate. You’ll also need an extra email address for all the spam you will get from the surveys.
3. Do laundry for your friends. It costs me $2 to wash and dry one load of clothes, so charge $4 and you make easy money with a few minutes of work.
4. Bring energy drinks and snacks to all-night study sessions in the university center or library and sell them to the different study groups. This works best during finals week.
5. If you’re decent with computers, start a computer maintenance “business”. Post flyers advertising your services around campus. Offer to backup hard drives, clean up and optimize computers, install new memory…Charge half of what it costs to take it to Best Buy.
Popularity: 67% [?]
