Some colleges get the dubious distinction of being named a top party school by The Princeton Review or even Playboy magazine. These rankings just further show how much drinking is part of college life, which is often a temptation that causes some students to plummet academically during freshman year–usually as their perceived social status is rising.
It’s common for college students, underage or not, to say they must drink to handle the stress of school, or to spend weekends blowing off steam related to the flurry of exams, papers, and projects combined with work and financial pressures. But some colleges are paying attention to the tough topic of alcohol and drug use by offering programs and even on-campus housing where students can counter addiction.
Residence halls for students who have been treated for drug and alcohol abuse are offered by schools including Augsburg College in Minneapolis, the University of Vermont, and Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA Today recently reported. At Rutgers, the substance-free campus housing allows students to live in a place free of nicotine, alcohol, and drugs, and with access to support from counselors to handle the demands of college.
These and other efforts at schools across the country show that if you have had problems with drug and alcohol abuse in high school, you don’t have to face a losing battle in college. If you’re in this situation, consider searching for a school that is making a point not just to teach academics, but also to provide life lessons to students.
The more services and help that schools offer related to drug and alcohol abuse can put you on a better path once you graduate. Students will be better prepared to handle the stress of the real world – without using alcohol or drugs to help them through it.
Life is full of mysteries, and one of its greatest mysteries is that it is now April and yet the March Madness Finals are being held tonight and tomorrow night. Anyone else thing that’s WEIRD?
Regardless, the brand-new baseball season will be virtually ignored tonight in favor of watching the NCAA finals. Who are you rooting for?
Tonight in Houston, Butler University squares off against UConn. It’s man vs. man, and it’s dog vs. dog, too–the Huskies represent UConn and bulldog extraordinaire, Blue II, represents Butler. Blue has actually been getting the royal treatment these days–he’s been flown to Houston by a chartered jet and he’s been staying at four-star hotels. Niiiice.
Often overlooked, but certainly not forgotten, is that the women’s finals are tomorrow night in Indianapolis, with Notre Dame and Texas A&M battling for top honors. The place will be packed, just as the arena for the men’s game will be, but will the women get as much notice? Nope. Another one of life’s mysteries.
Butler’s mascot is probably getting a spa treatment right now, and we’re at the office. Life just isn’t fair.
Big news in higher ed today: Rutgers University is paying Snooki $32,000 to come “speak” at their college. The price tag to have the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison speak at graduation? Only $30,000.
Wish we were April foolin’ you. But it seems to be true. And just because Rutgers and other colleges act like fools from time to time, that doesn’t mean you have be foolish about your actions when it comes to college.
Some college-bound students have a unique way of self-destructing shortly after their acceptance letters arrive. Some succumb to senioritis, some forget to send in their confirmation deposit (yes, it does happen), and some – well, some people just do dumb things.
In my own experience, I saw a formerly promising student completely tank the second half of senior year, causing her to lose her scholarship to the school. She was still admitted, just not with as big a welcome as before. To me, that’s much more embarrassing than being rejected outright from a school; it’s like being invited to a party and having the host say to you, “Sure, you can come, but I just won’t let you eat or drink anything.”
Yes, hindsight is 20/20, but some high school students do get it sooner rather than later. Take Brian D., a soon-to-be freshman atEmory University, who is puzzled by the antics of some of his classmates.
“I think that after working so hard for all of these years to get into college, it’s stupid to mess it all up because of some silly bad decisions,” he says. The solution? In his opinion, “My classmates should slow down and think about what they are doing and its ramifications. Don’t waste everything you have worked for and think about your decisions in your last few months of high school make them count.” He is quick to add, however, “But that being said, I am enjoying my last few weeks of high school because they are my last and I want to remember them.” Well said, Brian.
But as it turns out, it’s not only students who play the fool during the college admissions process.
Kamala Appel of CollegeAdmissionsTips.com is a former recruiter and alumni interviewer for Yale’s Office of Admissions. Despite the lofty status of her former employer, she still recalls the time that she totally got dissed by a principal when she was calling high schools to set up recruiting days.
“I had one principal laugh hard at me and hang up,” she says. “He didn’t believe that a rep from Yale would want to come do a presentation at his (diverse) school in San Francisco. ‘Yale wants to come here? Yeah right. No one here’s getting into Yale. I’d just be happy to see them graduate and leave. Ha! Ha!’ Click. I was floored.”
But Appel remained the adult in the situation. “Another recruiter would have written [the school] off, but I didn’t want to punish the kids for the rude and idiotic behavior of their principal. So much for leadership and faith in your students,” she says. “I did end up going after talking to the assistant principal; she was very apologetic.” And as for the rude principal? “I shared some choice words with that principal when I met him in person. He was a fool, to put it nicely, and not just on April 1st.”
The thing about fools is that the joke is usually on them. So don’t be a fool–keep your eyes on the prize and save the (harmless) hijinks for your first spring break.
New Yorkers have cause to be a little on edge today–an Egyptian Cobra has escaped his exhibit at the Bronx Zoo. Though officials believe he slithered into the warmth of one of the buildings on zoo property, it’s of little comfort to the Zoo’s more squeamish neighbors–especially now that they’ve been told it could be WEEKS before they catch up to him. I feel safe enough on Staten Island, though, and have had a few belly laughs reading the tweets from the stray snake. Apparently when one does escape the Bronx Zoo, “open a Twitter account” is first the to-do list.
Indiana Jones and I have one thing in common: We don’t like snakes. In fact, the only way you could get me to like a snake is if it were…wait for it… a college mascot. Check out this reptiles that get the crowd roaring on campus.
SNAKES
Striker, the Cobra, lives at Coker College, Hartsville, SC. (See his charming self at the right.)
The University of California-Santa Cruz pays homage to the Banana Slug at its athletic events. (Too gross for a photo. Seriously, UCSC, what were you thinking?)
In a not-so-surprising turn of events, we have learned that Alexandra Wallace, producer of the heinous “Asians in the Library” YouTube video, is leaving UCLA.
Wallace is not being expelled by the university, as many people assumed she might. Rather, she is leaving on her own accord–though the numerous death threats she and her family have received probably weighed heavily on that decision.
There are two interesting things to note here: One is that a university cannot expel someone simply because they are an idiot; apparently, Wallace’s ill-conceived video is covered by her rights to free speech. Another is that there is a contingent that believes death threats are an appropriate way to fight this display of hatred. Because really, there’s nothing more peace-inducing than a death threat…
We didn’t post Wallace’s rant because we saw no need to perpetuate her opinions. But we will post this wildly clever musical response that has also gone viral on YouTube. Enjoy–and let’s stop hating on people who are different from us.
I’m staring at my incomplete NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket, trying to figure out which teams I’m going to select, leading up all the way to the national championship game. I don’t have much time, as I need to fill out my bracket today or tomorrow to compete with my friends and even strangers (even President Obama filled one out last year!) who are hoping to be the one with the best bracket by the end of March Madness and the national championship game on April 4.
Choosing a college can be a lot like filling out an March Madness bracket. You’re pitting schools against each other, too, in making your decision. Call it your own college choice bracket. Sure, you probably don’t have 68 colleges to choose from, like those competing in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tourney (it is March Madness, after all), and maybe you’re down to your sweet 16 or the elite eight or the final four. Maybe you’re at the point where there’s just two schools vying to get your enrollment, just like the basketball tournament. Only one can win–but which one?
Here’s what you need for a winning bracket, which also can relate to your school choice:
1. Knowledge of the schools. Just as with the basketball tournament, those filling out brackets this week need to research which teams can make the cut. You’re also looking at which colleges are the best fit for you and how they compare to others you’re considering. For the tournament, we’re looking at the quality of players, experience they have had this season and strengths and weaknesses as a team. In making your college decision, you need to look at the reputation of the school and its accreditation, what programs it offers that of are interest to you, and what makes it stand out in its student life–dorms, activities, and yes, athletics.
2. Location of the games. If a team has to travel all the way across the country, like Washington is having to do when it plays in Charlotte on Friday, the long travel time can be a factor in the team’s performance. It’s the same for you – you have to consider whether attending a school far away from your family will hinder your ability to thrive despite homesickness–or whether it’s just what you need to gain independence.
3. Underdog status. You don’t want to immediately discount the smaller, less-well-known schools in the bracket or your college choice. Teams such as Morehead State University, Wofford College, and Oakland University, described by The New York Times as a mostly commuter university in suburban Detroit, may not have the big-name recognition as others, but they could still give their opponents trouble in the tournament. Those underdogs that continue to perform well are referred to as the Cinderella team–a group whose talent is underrated, but just might result in a happy-ever-after ending. So if you are weighing a larger versus smaller school, look past the size and focus on what else besides an enormous campus.
4. Gut feeling. When it comes to two teams where they both have the same amount of strengths and weaknesses, I have to go with my gut. That’s what makes filling out the NCAA tournament bracket so much fun – and so nerve-wracking! But with your college choice, you should feel confident in knowing that there are many schools that will give you a wonderful education and college experience. Where your gut comes in is in knowing which school feels like a better fit for you at this time.
So fill out your college choice bracket and recognize that you’re a winner just in making the decision to attend college!
Professors know that to keep students interested, their courses sometimes need to have a little more fun and hipness than your average college class. Buzz-generating topics in this spring’s lineup of courses focus on the popularity of zombies, celebrities like Lady Gaga and more.
Since a recent report found that students in their first two years of college make little educational gains (one reason being that faculty are so focused on their research), it’s great to see that some of these courses are available to freshman and sophomores. It’s not all hype about the topic, but there’s a point to what they’re learning.
COLLEGE ZOMBIELAND
You may feel like the walking dead after a night of studying for a major test, so why not learn about zombies in college? Several schools offer classes around this theme, including Georgia Southern University’s Zombies 101: The Living Dead in Film, for first-year students. The seminar covers everything from Night of the Living Dead to recent films like Zombieland and the zombie spin on classic books like Pride and Prejudice.
GAGA OVER LADY GAGA
There’s no poker face in this University of South Carolina course, Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame. Professor Mathieu Deflem describes the class as a “sociological analysis of selected social issues related to the career of Lady Gaga.” The course looks at business and marketing, media, fans, live shows, gay culture, religious and political themes, sexuality, gender, and other topics to discover the culture of the fame exemplified by the case of Lady Gaga. Another course, From Elvis to Lady Gaga: American Pop Culture 1950-2010, at Saint Leo University in Florida, focuses on how pop culture has changed over time.
GIVE INTO YOUR XBOX, PLAYSTATION ADDICTION
Although you will have to put down the controller, there are some courses that seek to connect with students who are addicted to video games. Sure, some schools are offering degrees now in the fast-growing field of video game design, but for those who don’t want to work in the gaming industry for a living, you still see how video games relate to other college topics and society. In Video Games: History, Theory, and Social Impact, offered by Pennsylvania’s Lebanon Valley College, students examine video games as cultural artifacts (maybe that would be my old Atari?), works of art and more.
BATTER UP
One of spring’s favorite sports – baseball – also has sparked the topic of college courses, like Baseball Statistics at Birmingham Southern College and Baseball History at York College of Pennsylvania. Take these courses, and you’ll likely be looking at your college team or the major leagues in a different way.
On the 11th day of Christmas, The CollegeBound Network gave to me…
11 SCHOOLS IN THE BIG TEN
Some things in college just don’t make sense. For instance, the Big Ten athletic conference has 11 schools, not 10, as one might logically assume. Also, Boston College is neither a college nor is it in Boston—it’s a university located in Chestnut Hill, just outside of the city. And don’t even get me started about Miami University in Ohio…
Another thing that doesn’t always make sense is college admissions. In theory, good students should be accepted to good schools, right? Well, theories have a way of disproving themselves. Year after year, students with stellar test scores and phenomenal grades get turned away from their top-choice schools. Are admissions counselors losing their minds? No, they simply have too many students and not enough space for them on campus.
To put it bluntly, college-bound students are definitely on the wrong side of the demand-and-supply. There will always be too many applicants for too few seats–but that doesn’t mean that you’re locked out of a college experience. It just means that you’ll have to find a different dream college.
I know what you’re thinking: find a different dream school? It might not make sense to you now, but it will when you get to college next year, it will. Some students transfer because they are disillusioned by their first-choice schools, while others, like myself, are pleasantly surprised by schools they hadn’t really thought of attending. When I was in high school, my dream school was Skidmore College. Although I got in, I simply couldn’t afford it and had to turn the offer down. Instead, I accepted a large scholarship to Wagner College, a small liberal arts college in my own hometown of Staten Island, NY, and have never regretted the decision.
So remember, what doesn’t make sense to you right now will hopefully pay off with a clear explanation in the end. Except for the Big Ten. Still not sure why they don’t just call it the Big 11.
The holiday season is a time to reconnect with old high school friends who are returning home from college.
Be prepared in case your reunion is a little bit awkward because your friends have moved onto college life and all that implies, and it may feel like they’re leaving you behind. But don’t let that stop you from trying to hang out with them.
In fact, any real-life advice they can give you about college could help you out as you’re making your college choice, pursuing financing aid, and just planning in general for life on campus next fall. This is your chance to ask more detailed and personal questions than you could ask during your college visit or campus tour.
Even if you take just a few minutes to chat with your friends, here are some questions that can tap into their valuable experience:
1. How tough is it to stay on a budget, and what are they spending their money on?
You may find some friends have had to take part-time jobs, even if they weren’t planning on working, and others are constantly checking their bank account in hopes that they haven’t hit $0 yet. You’ll get a better idea of what type of money you need to have budgeted for college, whether you’re taking money out of savings or asking your parents for help.
2. What’s the biggest distractions they’ve faced when studying?
Knowing what’s kept them from focusing on finals and other tests could prepare you for what you’ll face when dealing with the pressure of exams.
3. Do they get homesick?
The independence that freshman love still can be accompanied by homesickness. So you’ll want to get prepared for times when you really want to be back home, which may only happen when you’re faced with a mound of laundry or are in need of a home-cooked meal. Or it may happen more often, depending on the relationship you have with your family.
4. What did they do to meet people?
You’ll want to find out what clubs, sororities or fraternities, or other social activities they attended to make new friends. Even if you’re attending a different college, it could point you to potential activities to consider.
5. Can I really wear my pajamas to class?
Well, maybe you won’t ask this particular question, but now’s your time to ask what is and is not acceptable on a college campus, particularly when it comes to classroom etiquette. While being yourself is always important, it’s also a good idea not to offend your professor or classmate on the first day of class with any misguided actions or words.
Have other questions? Come join us today at 4PM ET for our weekly #collegebound Twitter chat, where we’ll continue talking about those burning questions you have about college.
Find out more about the popular Twitter chat, #CollegeBound, which can connect you with college respresentatives and others who have the same goals, struggles, and questions you have. Every Monday at 4 p.m. EST on Twitter. Get detailed info here.
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