University Chic -
University Chic's Blog
February 8, 2010 - 9:22pm
Comment

Between the costs of tuition, room and board, books, a computer,  and the ever-essential daily Starbucks run, it’s expensive to be a college student these days. And we’re in a recession. (Good timing, right?) Now more than ever, it’s important for students to watch their wallet and look for ways to save (ideally without sacrificing your morning Venti).

Enter online book rental services. Everyone complains about trips to the crowded bookstore for overpriced textbooks, but now there’s an easy alternative: You can rent all the textbooks you need online for much less than the cost of buying them. Comparing Chegg.com, CollegeBookRenter.com, and CampusBookRentals.com, I set out to determine which online textbook rental service offered the best bang for your buck.

Initially, I thought CampusBookRentals.com was the clear winner: They offer rentals per semester (130 days), per quarter (85 days), or for the summer (55 days), each with a 15-day grace period in case you need a little extra time with your book; books are shipped to you for free and come with pre-paid envelopes so you can ship them back for free too; and each rental has a 30-day risk-free period, which is handy in case you drop a class and need to send that book back. Also, if you need to take the class again, you can easily re-rent and get 30% the original rental price.

But then I discovered one big problem with CampusBookRentals.com…every textbook I searched for was out of stock! For the sake of fair comparison, I planned to compare the rental prices of three identical books from each service. But I couldn’t compare the prices because the first several I searched for on CampusBookRentals.com were MIA. After ten searches with no luck, I gave up on CampusBookRentals.com.

Perhaps there’s a reason Chegg.com is number one in online textbook rentals - every book I searched for was available (annd at reasonable rental prices to boot). Though Chegg.com lacks a few of CampusBookRentals.com’s benefits (like the grace period and re-rental discount), it makes up for it with its inventory. While the prices on CollegeBookRenters.com were a few dollars less for the books I needed this semester, they don’t offer the 30 day “any reason” guarantee, or the promise to plant a tree for each book you rent or sell like Chegg.com does.

By renting three books (Everything’s an Argument, Textiles, and The Science of Psychology) on Chegg.com instead of buying them, I would save $238.56 (renting the books for $87.72 instead of paying $326.28 to buy them). Imagine all the coffee you could buy with that extra cash (not to mention all the freetime you'll have, what with not having to wait in line for half a day just to find out that book you paid $150 for is now only worth $15 bucks.)

-- By Ali Straka, University of Missouri

University Chic -
University Chic's Blog
February 8, 2010 - 8:24pm
Comment

What did you do when you were 13? You were probably worried about getting through your last year of middle school and entering the “big boy” known as high school. However, for seventh grader David Sills of Bear, Delaware, his future forecast is way different than most students his age. USC offered Sills a football scholarship and this week he verbally committed to USC’s football program for the quarterback position for the year 2015. No, you did not misread that, a 13-year-old seventh grader already committed to college. As Kevin McGuire of the Los Angeles Examiner best put it “the fact that Sills has pledged his allegiance to a college program before his body has fully developed and his voice has finished cracking… is alarming.”

To the average person, this might just seem absolutely ludicrous. However, as a USC student I think it is important to recognize the importance of acquiring recruits for the football program. Recently, USC hired Lane Kiffin to replace our old coach Pete Carroll who moved to the Seattle Seahawks. While, I will miss the Carroll era given that was the USC football I grew up with, it is an established fact that Kiffin has great access to future recruits. Signing the top recruits is crucial to guarantee a successful football program. In fact, Sills’ current coach, Steve Clarkson, was the former coach of our current quarterback star Matt Barkley.  It may also be worth noting that our rival, UCLA, sent Sills a questionnaire two years ago. While the idea of recruiting a seventh grader may seem a bit absurd to the general public, in the eyes of a football coach it makes logical sense.

-- By Nicole Stockdale, USC

Ellie Krupnick - Barnard College
Ellie Krupnick's Blog
February 8, 2010 - 1:18am
Comment

Of all the new trends to appear on the Spring 2010 runways last fall, the most fun and unexpected was tie-dye. Previously limited to former hippies and future hippie-wannabes, this free-spirited print is on the verge of becoming the It trend for hippies and hipsters alike.

And don’t forget celebrities— Kristen Stewart made every fashionista green with envy when she walked the red carpet sporting the most coveted look from Proenza Schouler’s Spring 2010 show: a loose tie-dye long-sleeve tee in electric blue, neon green, bright yellow, and black, paired with a coordinating textured miniskirt. The look summed up the design duo’s surf-and-skate inspiration for spring, which featured neon tie-dye in looks 12, 13, 14 and Stewart's chosen look, no. 20.

Proenza's mighty pricey, but getting tie-dye at all price points will be simple come spring. In the upper range, Style.com trend forecasters highlighted this mod Acne dress ($629) and a playful Tory Burch mini ($495) as their favorite dip-dyed pieces.

Personally I’m coveting this slouchy black and white tee by Blue Life ($88), from shopbop.com— the off-the-shoulder style projects that sought-after Model-Off-Duty vibe. Or try this Free People Slinky Knot mini skirt in a pinky-maroon tie-dye (on sale for $29.95). The stretchy style can be dressed up or down and even worn as a cute tube top, as shown on the model.

The easiest, cheapest way to get your tie-dye fix? Forever 21's simple yet stylish Shutter Back Tie-Dye Top ($15.80). In wearable gray and white, this short-sleeve tee would work with jeans, leggings and even a swingy black skirt (tucked in, of course)— all at a 1970's era price that can't be beat.