DORM SCOUT / Dorm Life!

Princeton Review rankings are out. The rankings list everything from academics, diversity, party schools, to politics. The rankings are usually somewhat controversial, especially the section which ranks the top party, weed smoking, and hard-liquor drinking schools.  The rankings can be beneficial to students because it can convey to the student how others will view their institution.

Are you getting ready to take the GMAT anytime in the near future? If you are, get ready to have your palm scanned before taking the test. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that palm scans will now be required from all test takers in attempt to reduce fraud. 

Fascinatingly, the scan actually takes an image of your veins, not your finger or palm prints. The scan will prevent individuals from taking the test multiple times for other students. The new scanning procedure will begin in the Fall of 2008 in the United States.

(Photo by Flickr user Static Frustration.)

For the third part of our dorm room shopping guide (part 1, part 2), we’re going to talk about decorations. Many people consider this the most exciting aspect of making their room more homey. In college, decorations are your opportunity to show off your personality.

You have the rest of your life to be serious and practical, so this is the time to do anything that might be considered outrages. Almost anything goes, as long as your school hasn’t banned it. In college it’s socially acceptable to have an insane looking room.

It’s honestly impossible to give a proper guide to decorating a dorm room because it’s the students chance to represent his or her personality. So the best tip I can offer you is to have fun.

College Dorm Shopping Guide:

Part 1: Furnishing

Part 2: Bedding

Part 3: Decorations

Application developers are creating programs aimed at helping students and educators to enhance their studies. The programs, available through the iTunes store allow the iPhone to do countless things, ranging from simulating science and math scenarios, being an eBook reader, or being a virtual flash card.

Since the App Store launched on July 11 programs dozens of educational programs have gone on sale. Now individuals have the change to own a device that allows the user to visualize hydrogen atoms, learn a new language, locate stars and constellations, and read books, among other things.

There are so many programs available that range from free to $39.99, that it’s hard to decide which to download and which to not. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of some of our favorite applications.

1. AccelaStudy has come out with five flash-card language programs, with more on the way. The applications, that sell for $14.99 each, currently teach French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish. The company has said that Portuguese, Russian, and Polish will soon be making their debut on the iTunes store. Each program features over 1,200 words in 41 subject areas, quiz functionality, and a searchable dictionary.

2. Netter’s Neuroscience and 3. Anatomy Flash Cards are one of the more expensive applications available on the Store. Each set costs $39.99 and feature a study mode and a quiz mode, where the user can test their knowledge. 

4. The BookShelf application lets users to read and download eBooks to their iPhone. The $9.99 program allows users to set an auto-scroll feature so that it can be used without hands.

5. Starmap can be downloaded for $11.99. The application is a “pocket planetarium” that helps stargazers find constellations, planets, and shooting-star zones. The program can help users locate over 120,000 visible stars. The application is available in multiple languages that include, English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch.

6. Flash My Brain Flashcards and 7. StudyCards allow individuals to create their own flash cards for $9.99. Users can take photos or add songs to their cards and share them via the app’s online library, which already has a staggering 100,000 user-created flash cards to pick from.

8. Atom in a Box allows users to visualize a hydrogenic atomic orbitals by showing a three dimensional hydrogen atoms. Users can explore all aspects of the atom using animations and mathematical descriptions for just $9.99.

The development of applications for the iPhone is a pretty new thing, so it’s really going to be interesting to see what types of programs are available a year from now. The phone has so much potential to be an incredible educating device.

Once you’ve finished college it isn’t going to be acceptable to have neon colored sheets; so have fun in college. Go wild decorating. Use your room to express your personality.

Now that we’ve covered furnishings in part 1 to our dorm shopping guide, we are undoubtedly ready to discuss some tips what it comes to purchasing your bedding:

1. White bedding is a bad idea. You’re going to be spending a fair amount of time in your room. The dirt and trash you bring into your room is most likely going to find it’s way onto your bed. If you get white bedding, it’s most likely going to be stained and destroyed by the end of the first semester.

2. A mattress pad is a good idea. I went to boarding school for three years and was lucky enough to have pretty comfortable mattresses the whole time. But those who bought mattress pads were envied as we watched them, basking in extreme comfort at night. College dorm mattresses are known to be similar to rocks. You can get a cheap cushion mattress pad or go all out and buy an expensive memory foam padfrom a store like Brookstone.

3. Extra-long twin sheets are a must. Your bed at school is going to be an extra-long twin, and regular sized sheets are going to be too small. Make sure you’re buying extra-long twin sheets while at the store.

4. A few sets of sheets is also a good idea. You may not feel like washing your sheets too often, so if you have a few sets of sheets it isn’t really going to matter. While one set of sheets sits around grungy (not a good idea), the other can be on your bed.

Have fun picking out bedding for your dorm.

College Dorm Shopping Guide:

Part 1: Furnishing

Part 2: Bedding

Part 3: Decorations

Furnishing a dorm room is not a hard thing to do considering you’re given the necessities — desk, closet, bed, dresser, and sometimes even a fridge or microwave. However, it can be tricky deciding what else you should put in your room. Here are our tips for furnishing your dorm room:

1. Buy a lamp. Dorm rooms are notorious for being horribly lit. Purchasing a lamp is a sound investment because with a brighter room you will be more inclined to study and it’s easier to think in a bright environment.

2. Buy a rug. If your room doesn’t come with a carpeted floor this is a must, because without one the ground is going to be cold and rock-hard. In addition to making the ground softer, it’s going to give your room a more cozy feeling. Make sure the rug you purchase is durable. Also I recommend a dark color because stains will be less apparent.

3. Plan with your roommate. He or she may already have an item such as a mini-fridge that you two can share. You’re not going to want to come to school on moving day and discover you have two of everything because there simply wont be enough room.

3. Heavy furniture is bad. The lighter the furniture the better. Don’t bring a huge futon or something to school. A good rule of thumb is, if you need more than two people to lift it, forget it.

4. Read your college’s website. It may take some browsing but there is most likely a housing area of your school’s website that lists what is going to already be in your room.  The website will also tell you any items that aren’t allowed in your room. This will give you a good idea of what you need or don’t need to bring to school.

College Dorm Shopping Guide:

Part 1: Furnishing

Part 2: Bedding

Part 3: Decorations

Curious about which schools get top marks on their consciousness of the environment? We’ve compiled a list of 20 schools that go above and beyond when it comes to watching out for our planet.

1. EARTH University, located in Costa Rica, without a doubt has a extremely fitting name. The school is dedicated to promoting sustainable development in the tropics. The campus has students from over 20 different countries that go through a four-year program to earn an agronomy degree. The students learn to balance ecological preservation and agriculture. EARTH University aims to create an eco-ethic in everyone on campus with its “rational use of resources” program.

Aerial view of CU Boulder.

2. University of Colorado at Boulder boasts the oldest, largest, and most accomplished Environmental Center in the nation. The school is responsible for Earth Day which it created in 1970 and the E-Center has lead higher educations’ travels toward sustainability for over 37 years. UCB students began the nation’s first college recycling program (1973), began the nation’s first student bus pass program (1991), funded the nations first campus wind energy purchase (2000), and became the first student government to commit to climate neutrality for student run facilities (2007). The university was one of the earliest signers of the President’s Climate Commitment, which many other “green” schools such as Harvard and Yale, which are included on this list have refused to do. To top everything off, UCB each year is among the top campuses for funding environmental research.

3. College of the Atlantic is a tiny school located in Bar Harbor, Maine with just one major major — human ecology. What is human ecology? It’s ”the study of our relationship with our environment.” The school was the first college in the United States to pledge carbon neutrality. This pledge undoubtedly started a trend because now over 270 other U.S. colleges and universities have taken the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

4. The Evergreen State College is located in Washington state. It maintains a strong commitment to sustainability. An acre large organic farm produces enough food to have leftovers after selling to the campus food service. Proceeds from the sale of leftovers goes to financing farm projects and other student initiatives. The college also has a large composting program in place — made up of worm bins, a compost reactor, and scrap collection at residence halls. Students voted to approve a fee increase so that the school was able to purchase 100 percent green power.

5. Oberlin College, a small liberal arts colleges in Oberlin, Ohio, consists of faculty and students who collaborated in 2005 to create a real-time web-based monitoring system in some dorms that shows how much energy and water is being consumed; to help students alter their consumption habits. Students of Oberlin worked with Cleveland’s CityWhells to create a campus car-sharing program. The Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies is a groundbreaking green building that opened its doors in 2000. The college also has Ohio’s largest solar array and is making the transition to 100 percent planet-friendly cleaning products.

6. Harvard University began its Green Campus Initiative in 2000 and has continued to grow it. Harvard has made significant investments in energy conservation in campus buildings by introducing such services as green cleaning, and integrating local and organic produce into its cafeterias. The University has 20 new and renovation construction projects that have been certified for green credits since 2002 — more than any other higher education institute in the country. The school also creates biodiesel made from kitchen oil that is used in university buses. (photo above is of a dorm at Harvard)

7. California State University, Chico recently won grand prize in the National Wildlife Federation’s Chill Out Competition. A contest which challenges colleges to find effective ways to combat climate change. Chico State shows its dedication to sustainability by including LEED-certified buildings and solar arrays atop some campus roofs. Students have taken up energy-saving projects and sustainability-oriented learning programs.

8. University of British Columbia is a leader in green Canadian campuses. The University adopted a sustainable development policy in 1997 and a year later opened a campus Sustainability Office. UBC offers more than 300 sustainability-related couses. The Vancouver campus was Canada’s first and only university to receive a Campus Ecology Recognition from the United States based National Wildlife Federation in 2003 and 2005. More recently, UBC developed an in-depth sustainability strategy to keep its eco-movement going.

9. Middlebury College, located in Vermont, is full of climate activism. MiddShift, a student run group, pushed the board of trustees to approve a plan to make the school carbon-neutral by 2016. Students have also taken the initiative to create energy-saving contests in residence halls, increased their use of public transportation around campus, and turned down school thermostats. Recent alums and students helped organize the Step it Up 2007 campaign demanding action to fight climate change.

10. Tufts University is getting serious about its views on climate change. It has committed to exceeding or meeting the Kyoto target for emission reducations, and it was the first school to join the Chicago Climate Exchange. The Tufts Climate Initiative won the EPA Climate Protection award in 2005.

11. Green Mountain College calls itself “Vermont’s environmental liberal arts college.” GMC uses the environment as a theme in its core curriculum. Methane from nearby dairy farms provide half of the school’s electricity. In addition, the college’s efforts to save energy have helped it earn the first Energy Star Showcase Campus award in 1999.

12. Leeds University is a leader in eco-friendly waste management. The schools work in the area has helped it win a Green Gown Award from the United Kingdom based HEEPI (Higher Education - Environmental Performance Improvement). The U.K.’s second largest university has replaced trash bins with recycling containers, which has led to the doubling of the amount of recycling happening on campus. The school also favors purchasing recycled goods.

13. Yale University President Richard Levin has his sights set on making his school the greenest and cleanest university in the United States. The school is determined to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2020. To reach this ambition, it plans to use renewable energy sources, purchase carbon offsets, build new buildings greenly, and make its energy system more efficient.

14. Aquinas College, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, claims to be the first college to offer the undergraduate major sustainable business. The four year curriculum combines formal business training with environmental studies. Growing interest in the green business has led to the creation of the Center for Sustainability.

The beautiful view from UCLA.

15. University of Maryland students are sending a loud message about sustainability. Around 91 percent of undergraduates voted to raise student fees in order to pay for clean energy. Quite the feat considering tuition fees are already astronomical. If the fee is implemented, the extra cash will provide enough money to make the university the largest higher-education purchaser of renewable energy in the United States. The University of Maryland is doing everything it can to reduce its energy usage. It recently completed a heat and power plant in 2003 that earned the EPA’s Energy Star Award. In addition, motion sensors that automatically shut show unused office equipment are currently being tested.

16. Glasgow University was the first Scotland based university to receive an energy-efficiency accreditation in 1998. Glasgow obtains almost 45 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and is continuously on the lookout for new ways to reduce its overall energy usage. The school is recognized by HEEPI for its sustainable practices and it has ensured that newly constructed buildings will follow energy-saving designs.

17. University of California, Berkeley has recently opened up an organic salad bar. Many schools are moving in the same direction, however Berkeley’s dining hall is the first in the country to be an officially certified organic kitchen. Students at Berkeley don’t just having food on their mind — in recent years, a demand for introductory energy courses has almost tripled.

University of Colorado's Sewall Hall.

18. Arizona State University is one of the schools with the highest enrollment in the nation on a single campus. This makes sustainability a massive topic on campus. The school has just opened up the worlds first School on Sustainability, which will offer courses to both undergrad and grad students. The dry, hot climate that surrounds the campus allows students to be fully aware of the effects of global warming; this is why the school’s Biodesign Institute will focus on creating natural systems to innovate for the environments of tomorrow.

19. University of New Hampshire hopes to educate its future organic farmers with a multimillion-dollar, 30 acre dairy farm. The project is funded by organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm. UNH also sponsors programs like WildCAP which gives students discounts on Energy Star and energy-efficient appliances.

20. Stanford University has recently added the Global Ecology Research Center to its campus. The project was named one of the American Institute of Architects’ Top 10 Green Projects in 2007. The multi-story structure has walls constructed with redwood salvaged from century-old wine caskets and a number of recycled building materials. Stanford’s cutting-edge energy research has sparked quite a lot of interest from students and faculty. The college had to turn away people who wanted to attend a recent student-created renewable-energy conference that attracted twice as many people as was expected.

Almost every high school student in America is looking for the ultimate tips for winning a college scholarship, but we all know that it’s no easy feat. Make sure you do not many any of these common errors to help keep your application from being ignored by scholarship judges. Weiterlesen »

Life in a college dorm can be great if you are properly equipped. Besides bed linens and kitchenware, there are plenty of other necessities that will make life in a dorm as pleasant as possible. Best of all, many of these items can be found at many stores for low-to-moderate pricing.

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