It wasn’t by choice.

I attended an elite boarding school in Massachusetts (via scholarship, thank you very much) for the sole purpose of attending Harvard. I loved Boston, and I had dreams of going to a place where my intelligence would be respected, not mocked.

When I started applying to schools in the fall, my GPA was high and I had a ton of extracurriculars. Things looked good, but my parents, who had just moved to Michigan for work, insisted I plan out some alternatives. Of course. Thankfully, they had moved to a place with a great in-state school; even when I applied to U of M, I didn’t dread the idea of going. It just wasn’t in my top five. Read More »

It was a photo finish but Chestnut sets world record and wins in the end!

First off I would like to thank Joey “The Jaws” Chestnut for bringing the Mustard Belt back to America on our Independence Day. 6 time Nathan champ Kobayashi of Japan had that held the belt for to long and now it’s home!

So who is Joey Chestnut and how do you possibly eat 66 hot dog’s in 12 minutes. Find out more here..

Choosing classes in college can be difficult and daunting. Colleges offer a much better selection of courses than any high school could possibly offer so the task of picking a load for the semester can seem overwhelming and downright frightening. It doesn’t have to be! Never fear, CO-ED’s got you covered with some advice to check out before you even step foot on campus. Psh, as if CO-ED has ever let you down.

Shop ’til you drop. Ask any teacher, advisor, or mentor and they’ll all tell you the same thing: read the course catalogue before you decide anything! Every school has a course catalogue and they are your single best source of information regarding requirements for your intended major, a particular class and additionally, an overview of what the class should cover and who the instructor is. Just make sure you know how to decipher what you’re reading. Collegeboard.com explains that categories usually start with the easier classes and end with the more difficult seminars. The College Board also suggests marking the classes in the catalogue that interest you the most or are a requirement for your major. (And, if you don’t know what your major is, the catalogue is a great place to see what kind of classes you might be interested in.)

Get your check-up. Did you take placement tests, community college classes, or an AP test for a subject in high school? Then Collegeboard.com says you may have already filled some requirements at your school. Double check to see if you have any pre-existing college credits before you sign up for an English class that Honors English your senior year of high school has already taken care of.

Use the advisors like the whores that they are. It may not always seem like it, but advisors are employed to serve you (Yes, you!) and are usually able to answer all five hundred of your questions- just so long as you make an appointment first.

Crash Course. Ehow.com, which offers 'Clear Instructions on How To Do (just about) Everything', suggests signing up for classes early and signing up for more classes than you plan on taking that semester. Lindsay Grant laments that she signed up late her first year of school at Santa Barbara Community College and 'everything was full and I ended up in some crappy classes'. Remember, however, that just because a class is full doesn’t mean you can’t still attend. Ehow.com recommends placing yourself on a waiting list for full classes or even 'crashing' a course that you’re not signed up for with the intention of enrolling once someone else inevitably drops the class.

Just because they’re good looking doesn’t mean they’re good… in class. 'A big part of picking classes is picking the professor,' says Vassar Student Fellow Rachel Cruz. 'Teaching styles can really rub people the wrong way. Some professors have research to do so sometimes teaching is secondary.' Having a crappy professor could ruin a great class. Likewise, having an awesome professor can make a dull class exciting and maybe even steer you into a career focused in an area you never gave a second glance. Check to see if your school has a departmental fair where professors and upperclassmen are stationed to answer your questions about classes. If that’s not available, take a walk to the professor’s office to talk to them. 'Even if you’re at a big university, don’t be afraid to go to the department. You can get a feel for the professor and the department just being there,' says Cruz. 'Its not like high school; now you usually have a choice between professors, unless you have a requirement.' Too scared to talk to your professors? At the very least, ask students at your school about their favorite and least favorite professors before you enroll in any class. Important questions like “Did you actually learn anything about the subject?”, “Did the professor bore you to death?”, and “Are they cool with students walking in twenty minutes late and hung over?” are good starting points. Don’t forget to also hit up ratemyprofessor.com to see how they stack up against the other faculty at your school in everything from difficulty to looks.

Abuse your privileges. 'Use your campus as a resource!' commands Rachel Cruz. Scared to take that math class because it's not your forte? Chances are your school has on-campus tutors just waiting to be taken advantage of or even a math study group where you might find a hot study buddy. Also, check to see if your school has any classes that they’d like Freshman to take that introduce them to the college life such as the University of Arizona’s 'University 101' class, which all incoming Freshman are enrolled in. The class will not only give you a heads up on where to get the best midnight snacks and what get-to-know-you event is going on that week, but also where to go to print out your essay when your printer breaks down thirty minutes before its due.

Know thy self. Let’s be frank, not a lot of kids want to get up at 6 AM just for class. Hell, most of us go to bed at 6 AM. If you know that you won’t make it to a 7 AM class, and you can help it, don’t sign up for it. Jason LaForest, a University of Arizona student agrees, 'I pick my classes by the time. If the class starts before ten I won’t even consider taking it.' Some professors won’t tolerate students being even one minute late for class and rarely attending won’t help you in the long run either. So, do yourself a favor and if you can, take the class at a later hour. Your grades (and hang over) thank you.

Primary electives. OK, so even if you’re majoring in Art, not every class you take is going to be a drawing class. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to branch out and take an elective or two. This doesn’t have to be a chore. Chances are if you have a hobby, there’s a class for it. Love movies? Contemporary Film might just have a slot open for you. Like to tango? Dance is most likely an option. The great thing about college is that you have more electives than the Drama and Home Ec. of your high school years. Amanda Rogers from Arizona State thought Personal and Exploratory Writing sounded interesting, and liked the class so much she made Creative Writing her minor. 'It just turned out to be something I never knew I enjoyed until I took the class.'

Balancing act. College is supposed to be sort of fun. Don’t overload yourself with classes. Be honest: you’re not going to want to spend every waking minute doing schoolwork. Figure out if you’re being realistic with the class load you’re taking. Can you really take six classes, write for the school paper, work at the coffee shop, watch Grey’s Anatomy, and keep tabs on your significant other? Probably not. Lindsay Grant of SBCC comments that choosing classes around her job was 'a bitch, but worth it'. 'I work, so I decided to have class just two days a week,' she explains. 'Its easier to get things done that way and not feel completely frazzled.' Try to balance the different courses you take as well. Don’t take every lit class or every math class you need in one go or you could end up hating school and your lack of social life. 'Generally, first year students don’t know what’s going to inspire them and work with them the most,' says Rachel Cruz. It's good for students to keep an open mind to enhance

Love makes anything possible. I pray this is true as I sit in front of my computer waiting for my love to instant message me'from across the globe'as she sits in a cubicle at her boring internship while I get ready for bed (there's a 12-hour time difference between us).

Her name is Zhong Hua or 'Nikita.' She's a 20-year-old senior at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. I met her at my school, the University of Maryland at College Park, when she was on an exchange program. She lived in the same building, but we were just friends until I saw her again in June after being accepted to a journalism program at the University of Hong Kong.

She won me over the first night we were reunited. She bought me dinner and gave me a t-shirt with my name decaled on it in English and Chinese. Then, she took me to the most romantic place in Hong Kong: the Avenue of Stars. Everything else is history.

I do not know when I will see her again outside of the fuzzy image of a webcam (which she has yet to purchase), but I'm holding my breath because I have not fallen out of love with her. I wish I could be certain that it will last until we somehow meet again. It helps to remember that distance is an inevitable part of any relationship: People leave, after all, sometimes forever, but love can be eternal. There is no heuristic that will make this work, no magical solution you can read in a self-help book. There is only unconditional love, a computer with Internet access and a phone card for international calls, along with the most important thing of all'hope.

But here are some tips for the stubborn lover:

Keep Consistent Contact: Staying in touch gets hard when you are living two separate lives, but it is necessary for a successful relationship. Set up a schedule to talk every day and send emails. This may seem tedious or force you to miss out on other things, but it is a sacrifice well worth the hassle.

Have a Plan in Mind: Instead of simply going with the flow and seeing how the relationship pans out, start thinking of an end to the long distance. Talk about when and where you will be together again and how you are going to make it work. After all, while long distance is ok for a determined amount of time, keeping it going forever is tortuous and pointless.

Plan Weekend Reunions (if possible): For those of you who are not separated by giant bodies of water (and many, many time zones), it is vital to find opportunities to be in the same place. This will remind you why you are putting so much work in, give you a chance to actually be with your lover, and really solidify what you have built. But, try to keep things even and switch off who is visiting whom. For those of you who aren't so fortunate, try and plan at least one big trip a year (or semester).

Don't Tempt Yourself: I am not saying don't go out with your friends and have a good time. But, be careful. It is really easy to stray from your boyfriend or girlfriend when they are not right there next to you. Keep your head on, remember how much you care for the other person and never do anything you wouldn't want your significant other to do.

And, most important of all:

Keep the faith'love is never easy!

Graduation is over. Your itchy and unflattering cap and gown are hung nicely in the back of your closet. You and your best friends huddle around your digital camera on the living room couch and look at pictures from prom and graduation. You laugh and you cry (unless you are a guy, in which case you punch each other) as you reflect on all your great times together.

It is hard to imagine living without these awesome people.

But, you just might have to.

Everyone is now going to different schools in the fall and will be spread across the country. Everyone will have new lives, new friends and new people to take absurd selfies with. Sure, there is AIM, Facebook and free nights and weekends on your cell phone, but what is to say that these people won't dump you the minute they meet their new roommate?!

I am no Miss Cleo (a psychic who used to have commercials in the early nineties ' maybe you remember her?), so I can't tell you for sure what is coming in your future. I am, however, a college graduate who had the exact same freak-out session one summer night a long time ago. So, I can shed a little light and advice onto this scary situation.

1. Keeping in touch with friends from home is hard. Thanks to new technology ' text-messaging, AIM, wireless internet, email and cell phones ' keeping in touch with people has never been easier. Despite those helpful little ditties, finding the time to call all your old homies is difficult.

Between the classes, studying, drinking and nursing of hangovers, there is little time in the day to call everyone you know and catch up on life.

2. But, it is not impossible. If your home friends are that important to you, you will find the time to keep them in your life. There is plenty of time when you are walking to class, taking a break between classes and laying around on a weekend to make a phone call. Even better, thanks to the joys of the internet, you can email or blog weekly updates to keep your friends in the loop. It may not be the most personal thing, but at least you are all aware of the daily occurrences in each other's lives.

3. Don't get too caught up in the past. It is understandable to hold onto your oldest friends. In fact, it would be completely rude to move away to college and say 'tata!' to all those people who were there for you at your worst (like when you were fat with braces). But, if keeping in touch with your old friends has completely hindered your ability to make new friends, you may want to reconsider your actions. College is about learning ' obviously - but part of that learning comes from growing up, meeting new people and having new experiences. Don't miss out on great experiences because you are so busy gripping your past.

4. Be patient. Just because you have some time to chat on the phone doesn't mean your friends are always sitting by their phones waiting for you to call. They may be out of the dorm, away from their phones enjoying the amazing things college has to offer or in the library cramming for a test. You may go weeks without talking to a certain person, but that does not mean they have completely forgotten you. As soon as you finally do find him or her, you will realize that nothing has changed.

Ah. One less thing to worry about.

Next on the worry agenda: doing your own laundry. Shit.

You’ve signed the last yearbook, bought the requisite college sweatshirt and cap and made sure that MyCollegeDaily profile is updated and fresh. But are you really ready for college? Here’s some good advice for those of you who just graduated high school:

Don’t panic: A lot of people think of college as the “real world.” It’s not; you’re still in school; you have time to figure out what you want to do with your life. Think of college as the wading pool before you step into the real deep end. And don’t worry; days where you’re working 9 to 5 at the office are still a few years away.

It’s okay to walk up to a complete stranger: It’s even encouraged! The only way to make friends, meet possible hookups or just get to know people is to be bold and introduce yourself. Don’t worry about seeming weird—everyone else will be doing it, too!

Spring break actually means something: In high school, spring break was just a week you spent with your family, maybe celebrating Easter or Passover. At best you went to visit Grandma Shirley in Arizona. In college, spring break means a crazy-fun beach getaway. It’s best to plan ahead: Hit the gym, so you look hot in your swimwear and start saving money for airfare and lodging. That way, you’ll be completely relaxed in a paradise far away from books, exams and Grandma Shirley.

Go to class: Unlike high school, no one takes attendance in college classes. Without anyone to police you, it can be tempting to blow off classes. Resist the urge; it’s hard to catch up on missed classes, especially at the beginning of freshman year when you already have enough other things to worry about. Plus, the whole point of going to college is to learn something—and not just how to aim a beer-pong ball.

Do your best to cope with homesickness (it’s natural): You’re psyched to be in college, finally. So, why do you find yourself missing everything about home? It’s normal to be homesick! The cafeteria’s sugar cookies may not be as good as Mom’s brownies, and no one will ever get the inside jokes you and your best friend shared, but your old life isn’t completely lost to you. That’s why we have cell phones and email. Give yourself a week or two to get used to things; if you still feel really sad after a month, consider talking to someone.

You can make like Madonna: Hated being known as the class nerd all through high school? Tired of that embarrassing nickname you got after a botched eyebrow waxing in 7th grade? Luckily, college = blank slate. Even if you’re going to a small school close to home, chances are your whole high school class won’t be there. If you want to, you can totally reinvent yourself: Ditch your old wardrobe, cut or dye your hair, or stay the same (and keep the eyebrow incident to yourself).

It’s crunch time: time to sit down and type all your life’s accomplishments onto an 8 ½ by 11 inch piece of paper. If that isn’t hard enough, you need to do it all in a way that sets you apart from the other 50,000 people applying to your dream school.

Eek!

Here are a few simple concepts to keep in mind when you sit down to write that
short but often daunting college essay.

Be Creative.
When writing your college essay it is important to, I apologize for saying this, “think outside the box.” I mean this entirely literally. There is usually a little box at the top of the application page that has instructions and guidelines for the essay—a boring question with seemingly constraining rules about the essay’s content and length. Sometimes even suggestions on how to approach the essay point by point. DON’T let these define your essay.

The essay is supposed to be about showing your style and personality, not about how you fit yourself into the 500-word cookie cutter they present you with. I wrote two essays for my application to Harvard, the first and most important being about chicken farming and why I hated it. A close friend who got into Johns Hopkins (in response to the typical question “Write page 485 of your autobiography”) wrote about founding a mock pirate guild in his late 40’s.

They’ve already seen the rest of your application!
Obviously you should answer the question(s) they ask and not go off on some crazy tangent, but don’t just reiterate the rest of what’s already in your application. They know what clubs you were in, what classes you took, what grades you got and any awards you may have received. Going over all the other material will be too much information for one essay and will actually tell the reader nothing about you.

Try expanding on one aspect, and be specific. Why did you do that activity? How did that class change your outlook on life? At the same time, maybe it’s a good idea to write something that the admission committee might not at all know or expect from you from your application. For example, I’m a Manhattan private school kid, so they probably didn’t see chicken farming as part of my application package. And I made sure to tell them it wasn’t just a “quaint little experience,” but one that changed how a city kid saw things.

Tell a story.
This is perhaps the best advice I received about application essays. Think of the essay as more of a first person short story with a moral/lesson/meaning/punch line at the end. Tell an anecdote with lively (but factual!) dialogue; comment on it with your inner monologue then and now; structure the story for the most impact (My sister’s personal statement for law school began with what it felt like to wake up on the office floor after fainting on her first day working for the Manhattan DA’s office during a particularly brutal case. It’s compelling reading.); then close it up with a moral/lesson/meaning/punch line that shows it’s more than a good story. It’s one close to your heart.

Plead your case.
Your essay is the only place on the application where you have the freedom to use your own voice, not just list accomplishments, classes, grades etc. It says a lot more than a transcript. And sometimes it’s the only thing that can separate you from another applicant who “did all the same stuff” you did in high school and got the same scores to boot. Plead your case, while you have the chance.

However, you shouldn’t set yourself apart simply by being the eccentric (read as crazy) applicant. There’s an urban legend that a kid got into Harvard with an essay that read “. . . Please let me in. Please let me in. Please let me in . . .” over and over and over again. I DO NOT believe this could be true. Yes, it’s “unique,” but it says nothing about the person in question, which is exactly what the essay is meant for.

The admissions office should remember your essay because it is compelling, meaningful and, above all, personal. They should remember the content, not just that they “never read anything like that before.” Your reader should want to keep reading even though this is their 1000th essay because you’re telling them honestly, dynamically and enthusiastically about You.

Don’t just try to “get it over with.”

Not to take up any more of your free time, but the first topic you choose, even the first one you sit down with and write a rough draft of, might not be the absolute best. The second or third or fourth topic might be farther off the beaten track, but may show a different side of yourself that will give the admissions committee the best sense of who you really are. In most of the other parts of your application, you’ve already done the work. Now, you’re just putting down the scores, the club names, the accolades, the names of your recommenders. In the essay, you get to speak up and really say something about yourself that matters. It’s hard to remember during the application process, but you are NOT your AP French Lit test score. Make sure you show that to the admissions committee.

You may have made the necessary 28 trips to Bed Bath and Beyond, but there is a good chance you are still missing some of the most important college items. Sorry, buddy, but just because your mom knows bedding doesn't mean she really understands college life (and trust me, you don't want her to). Instead of trusting na've and uneducated (in the ways of drinking, partying and surviving dorm life) adults to get you ready for the big move, CO-ED asked the people who know best'the students'what you must have as you pack up the car and settle into that sweet new lofted bed.

' Any food you can cook in a microwave'you’d be surprised what your options are if you get a little creative.
' Definitely bring a George Foreman, regardless of the fact that it's typically listed on the “contraband” items part of your pre-move in the brochure.
' Lots of random things (especially the ones your mom tells you to throw away when packing up your room at home) that can be used as ammo for a creative frat party costume: think weird hats, spandex, coconut bras … you know, the essentials.
' This is stupid but true. … an open mind.
' Lots of pictures, picture frames, pillows'anything to make your room more homey.
' An alarm clock
' Slippers
' A laptop (so you can bring it to the library when you can't work in your room, or to play poker during a lecture).
' An iPod
' A calendar
' A cell phone
' A planner'for assignments and party scheduling
' A scale (good to watch out for that Freshman 15)
' Shower caddy and flip-flops

' Crazy costumes
' A fake ID
' A tool kit
' A futon (you never know when you want to have a 'guest' over.)
' Soft sheets
' Extra towels
' A sewing kit
' Condoms
' A zip-up hoodie
' More condoms
' Ear plugs
' Air freshener
' A pop-up laundry bag
' Yaffa blocks
' An easy-going attitude
' A good sense of humor
' A good appetite … good enough to eat the nasty dorm food
' A friend with a car
' Friends with cute friends for you to date
' A mini-fridge to keep all your drinks cold
' A feather bed to make those awful twin, extra-long beds somewhat comfortable
' A microwave for drunken Macs and Cheese and s’mores
' Sweatpants
' Tupperware for clothes'not everything will fit in the closet

' Toilet-wipes, if you have a roommate who doesn’t wear pads and leaves blood all over the bathroom floor and WALLS.
' I filled up a Sobe bottle with 5 o’clock. I don't recommend using 5 o'clock.
' Elastic waist-pants for when you start getting fat
' A taste for beer
' Lots of movies
' Advil