It’s the second half of our special Super Bowl blog looking at colleges and universities in the spots where fans abound.

MetLife Stadium, where the NFC Champions New York Giants play, is actually in East Rutherford, N.J., but since New York is in the team name, our lineup spotlights schools in the Big Apple. See why you may make want to make a play for one of these colleges as an applicant.

Berkeley College

Number of students: 8,900 (at eight locations in New York and New Jersey)

Founded: 1931

Majors: Most popular majors are criminal justice, fashion marketing and management, management, and accounting.

Cool fact: Online students have access to online tutoring, career services, and student organizations, and also can able to participate in all on-campus activities.

New York University

Number of students: 50,917

Founded: 1831

Majors: The visual and performing arts is the most popular major, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Cool fact: The University holds a “Welcome Week” along with other festivities such as the Strawberry Festival (featuring NYC’s longest Strawberry Shortcake), the Violet Ball, and others.

City University of New York

Number of students: 480,000 (at 24 colleges and institutions in New York)

Founded: 1961

Majors: The CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies allows motivated students to design a field of study and earn their degree by working on an individual basis with faculty.

Cool fact: The University has hosted its own film festival, CUFF, since 2009.

Columbia University

Number of students: 28,221

Founded: 1754

Majors: Economics, political science, and history are most popular majors.

Cool fact: One of Columbia’s many traditions is Orgo Night. At 11:59 p.m. the night before the Organic Chemistry final exam, the marching band occupies Butler Library to distract students from studying before proceeding to other campus spots.

Are you headed to New York City for school? If so, let us know in the comments section below where you are attending.

-Lori Johnston (additional reporting by Delaney Young)

With the New England Patriots and New York Giants facing off in Super Bowl XLVI next month, we wanted to see where they stacked up, in terms of colleges and universities. Neither town fumbles with its wide array of schools, which have turned both areas into hubs for higher education.

The Boston, Mass., area – home to the New England Patriots – boasts elite schools including Harvard University and MIT (both in nearby Cambridge), private and public two-year and four-year universities, community colleges, and technical schools. The team plays outside of Boston, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Here’s our Super Bowl-worthy lineup of historic and innovative colleges and universities in Boston.

Boston University

Number of students: 33,480

Founded: 1839 (It actually began as a Methodist seminary in Vermont and moved to Boston in 1867.)

Majors: Boston University has more than 250 fields of study.

Cool fact: Boston University has seven Nobel Prize winners, including Martin Luther King Jr. (who earned his Ph.D. from the school in 1955), and 22 Pulitzer Prize winners among its faculty and alumni.

Emerson College

Number of students: 4,290

Founded: 1880

Majors: Majors in the School of Communications and School of Arts are among its most popular.

Cool fact: Emerson has a well-developed comedy community that consists of several different comedy troupes.

University of Massachusetts Boston

Number of students: 15,400

Founded: 1964

Majors: UMass Boston has eight colleges and graduate schools, with the top five bachelor’s degrees awarded in management, psychology, nursing, criminal justice, and English.

Cool fact: The University has been recognized for its advocacy of human and civil rights, and works to promote social justice worldwide.

Berklee College of Music

Number of students: 4,131

Founded: 1945

Majors: The largest independent college of contemporary music in the world, offers majors in composition, contemporary writing and production, electronic production and design, film scoring, jazz composition, music business/management, music education, music production and engineering, music therapy, performance, professional music, and songwriting.

Cool fact: Berklee alumni earned 30 Grammy nominations in 2011.

If you go to or are applying to these or other schools in the Boston area, we would love to hear from you in the comments section below. Look for schools in the New York Giants area in our next blog post.

-Lori Johnston (additional reporting by Delaney Young)

Here’s the scene I saw recently at a public university: Students spread out with laptops perched on tables or their knees, reviewing course material, doing online research, and of course, logging onto Facebook.

It may not be much different than what you see in the halls of your high school or at libraries or coffee shops.

A few of the college students had iPads, Kindles, and Nooks. But for the most part, the majority of them had the essential gear for a college student – a laptop – as they crowded into cozy booths near a coffee shop, claimed cushy chairs around TV screens, took a break to eat at tables in and near restaurants, and even sat on the floor near the stairs.

A lot of them had pricey physical textbooks and required books for class out with them, too.

But that all may be changing. Apple just started selling e-texbooks with a new version of its iBooks store, and high schools can buy them for their students. Plus, five colleges –the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, the University of Virginia, the University of Wisconsin, and Cornell University – are planning to purchase e-textbooks in bulk (through the Internet2 program).

It’s great that these colleges are making an effort to curb the high costs of textbooks for students. But one big question is what type of prices can be set for the e-textbooks, and if they can truly be less expensive than traditional textbooks.

Other challenges still exist, such as making sure the e-textbooks are compatible on a laptop, smartphone, and tablet. The students at the colleges in the pilot e-textbooks program will use Courseload software to print, access eTexts on tablets, smartphones, and computers, and use annotation that can be shared with classmates and instructors.

Throughout your college experience, textbooks are going to be a big part of your budgeting each semester and anything that can be done to reduce costs can be helpful. And even better, those bulky backpacks filled with traditional textbooks may no longer be something you have to lug around.

What do you think  — is the e-textbook a great idea or tech overload?

-Lori Johnston

View the complete transcript here.

Recently, 23 universities were awarded a total of $150 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education and private donors who want these innovative programs to help millions of students.

We took a look at the list of recipients in the 2011 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund competition. There are some cool efforts that colleges and organizations, from coast to coast, are doing with middle school and high school students. See for yourself – here are four worthy of the spotlight:

Old Dominion University Research Foundation (Norfolk, Va.)
What it’ll do: Improve math instruction in high-need middle schools in Virginia, Texas, and Kansas by using online coaching, videos of effective classroom instruction for teachers, and a virtual community of learners.

North Carolina New Schools Project
What it’ll do: Create Early College High School programs in 18 rural schools that serve high-need students.

Oakland (Calif.) Unified School District
What it’ll do: Help improve college readiness by implementing The College Board’s EXCELerator process and providing other support to students and teachers.

Berea College (Berea, Ky.)
What it’ll do: Use Advanced Placement training in middle schools and high schools participating in the college’s Promise Neighborhoods project.

Do you feel as if your school system or local colleges and universities are helping you get ready for college? Let us know in the comments below.

-Lori Johnston

The special guest panelist for the 1/23/12 installment of #CollegeBound chat is Mark Babbitt, CEO and founder of YouTern.com (@YouTern) where emerging talent connects with high-quality internships and mentorship at entrepreneur-driven start-ups, dynamic businesses, and non-profits. Through YouTern, and their blog “The Savvy Intern,” college students, recent graduates and young professionals gain the experience and advice necessary to become employable – and successfully bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world.

Mark is the ideal expert for @CollegeBoundNet‘s #CollegeBound discussion about what’s next and how to Prepare for Tomorrow… Today!

The stats are pretty scary. According to YouTern.com, 45 percent of young adults under 25 remain unemployed, underemployed — or have abandoned their job search. And in 2010, 80 percent of graduates do not expect to have a job soon after graduation — up dramatically from just 49% the year before.

Now more than ever, it’s imperative that students do everything they can to prepare for their future careers today. That includes actually stepping foot into those positions even before they graduate college. In fact, says Mark Babbitt, CEO and Founder at YouTern.com, nine out of 10 direct-from-college jobs will go to students with experiential education on their resumes.

Today’s #CollegeBound chat will focus on the steps you can take to get the best internship opportunities, as well as how to maximize whatever situation you find yourself in, be it working in your current position, volunteering on the side, or in transition.

Join us online at 4 p.m. ET — register now!

Want college success? Find a mentor.

Mentors can be students who are older than you, a minister or Rabbi, or your boss in a part-time job. But often you can enlist a professor to become your mentor, and it’s one of the reasons why class size (for your major) is important.

One of the best opportunities to find a mentor is in a smaller class where the instructor can get to know you.

My professor and mentor, Conrad Fink, a former foreign correspondent and executive for The Associated Press, inspired three decades of journalism students at the University of Georgia. He sadly died this month after battling cancer, but he taught me a lot. Among his lessons, I learned some of the key things you can look for when choosing a mentor.

1. Respect.
Some students were fearful of Fink at first because of his gruff nature and intimidated in a way by his long history in the industry, where he covered wars and other major news events. In the small classes, you couldn’t hide from Fink and what he had to say about your writing, or avoid being questioned during class discussions. But any intimidation soon turned to admiration and a desire to make him proud of my accomplishments as a student and journalist.

2. An open door.
College professors will let you know about their office hours, and you’ll want to take advantage of that. With Fink, we could stop by to soak up his “war stories” or to get his thoughts on where he saw us finding our place professionally. I also noticed that former students always visited to catch up with him – it showed the special relationship he had with his students. I often stopped in, even when I wasn’t taking his classes. As an adjunct professor now at UGA, I appreciated my chats with him and was always hoping he would be proud of where I had taken my career.

3. A challenge.
He always pushed me to work harder and do better as a student journalist and after I graduated. In the days after his death, many of his former students have referred to one of his quotes: “The door is always open, the traps always set.” The mementos that lined his office walls, from photos to excuses why students couldn’t make it to class, also showed us that we needed to keep entertaining him and hold his interest.

4. A generous spirit.
When Fink got annoyed at his students, he showed it by kicking our desks or narrowing his eyes and trademark bushy eyebrows at us in frustration. But those actions showed me he cared about more than giving me a grade. He wanted me to mature as a person and as a journalist. His generosity was evident in how he provided opportunities for us to network with other journalists, and made it possible for us to attend industry events across the country. When I expressed interest in a certain area of journalism, he connected me with his brother who could provide insight. At the same time, when I backed out of an internship he helped set up for me for an opportunity at a magazine, I had to mend the relationship by letting him know I appreciated his help, but believed this was the right choice for me. (He still thought I was wrong, though, but he respected my decision.)

5. Relationship beyond the semester.
It will be rare for you to find a professor that you will keep in contact with after the semester is over, or after you graduate. But if you can find one person who will be there for you, they can provide amazing counsel as you mull job offers or take steps in your profession.

College gives you access to the best minds, but it’s up to you to seek a relationship that goes beyond your grade. Carving out a mentor relationship can be well worth the time and effort it takes, so give it a shot.

-Lori Johnston

Yes, the same network that made the phrase “It’s T-Shirt Time” famous, brings you a unique Facebook application called My College Dollars. The app scours the web for scholarships opportunities based on the information in your Facebook profile — genius! Using the app also qualifies you for a chance to win tickets to the VMAs and cash prizes.

What’s really cool about the app isn’t so much the information (which has always been available online), but that it’s geared toward users who might not otherwise be aware of all the college financial aid opportunities and information out there. My College Dollars was the brainchild of Devin Valencia, winner of the Get Schooled Affordability Challenge contest. Her winning entry gave her the opportunity to work with designers and a $100,000 budget to create this app. MTV worked in collaboration with The College Board, the Get Schooled campaign, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the app yesterday.

In addition to the scholarship alerts, there’s also a FAFSA guideline, a deadline calendar, an “ask the expert” feature, and links to other resources. And, because MTV is involved, would you expect it to not be enhanced with super star power? The app is peppered with inspiring messages about the importance of education from music artists, actors, and athletes.

Check it out here, and let us know what you think of it.

-Dawn Papandrea