9 Steps to Start The Semester Off Right

It’s that time again- back to school.

If you’re like us, you like to have a fresh start every semester. You may not love the smell of textbooks like we do, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the first few weeks of college before midterm madness sets in.

This is the point where some of you might say, “Oh, but Flashnotes, I don’t know how to prepare for the first day of class”.

First, we’re going to call you out on that BS. You’re in college now and have had plenty of time to perfect your first day of school- you’ve had at least 13 of them.

Second, how have you survived this long without being organized? It’s the key to success!

If you’re genuinely at a loss for how to organize your life- you’re in luck. We’ve compiled this great list of ways to get organized and stay organized throughout this semester.

1. Clean out all that old stuff- Never going to take another history class again? Why keep those daily doodles?
2. Buy binders or boxes to put your old stuff that you might need in the future.
3. Clear off your desk for proper usage.
4. Buy variety packs of highlighters, post-its, and folders. Color coding everything does not make you crazy- it makes you smart.
5. Get a wall calendar and start using it. Before the semester even starts, write important dates in it- rent, bills, days off school, finals, midterms, etc.
6. Get a day planner and do the exact same thing.
7. Create folders on your computer’s desktop- one for each class.
8. Get a dropbox or use your portable hard drive- you never know when you’ll need a back up.
9. Create a running to-do list.

Trust us, it’s much better to start off the semester right. All of these things are super easy to do and will save you from that inevitable mid-semester stress attack.

Ten Things to do When You’re Bored and Not Studying

We know you study all the time. We know you’re a great student. And now we know you’re bored- because you’ve stumbled upon our blog. Here are 10 things to do when you’re bored and not studying:

1. Explore your surroundings– Go on a walk, bring a friend or your camera, if you have an Iphone, Instagram any flowers or interesting street signs/bumper stickers you see along your way!
2. Sing– If there isn’t a karaoke bar near your campus, or your not 21 yet, consider trying online karaoke!
3. Smile at every person you see– We know that you might look a little creepy but you might just make someone’s day or find yourself with a new friend!
4. Play Frisbee– go outside and play Frisbee with a friend, if you can gather a large group of people consider playing frolf!
5. Color– You can do this from almost anywhere! Print out some free coloring pages, grab some markers and create!
6. Tie dye– Find an old sweatshirt or a pair of white shorts, head to your local art-supply store, pick up some dye and some rubber bands and blast some Grateful Dead!
7. Re-watch your favorite childhood cartoon– A surprisingly nostalgic experience ‘nuff said!
8. Make a collage– Make a collage of your favorite images; print out your favorite Facebook photos and rip out pictures from old magazines, hang it wherever you want!
9. Make the perfect PB+J sandwich– Do some taste testing and master the perfect peanut butter to jelly ratio!
10. Try meditating– Let us know if you figure out how this works!

Remember, it’s also ok to do absolutely nothing!

Bubble Charts vs. Outlines: The Showdown

When students are first taught how to write essays, teachers instruct them to organize their thoughts to help them write a structured paper. Students only learn two different methods: the bubble chart and the outline. But which method is best? I’m glad you asked.

This is an epic face-off between linear thinkers and abstract thinkers. Let’s meet our competitors.

In the first corner we have the bubble chart. The bubble chart allows students to be creative with ideas by exploring the many different sub topics of an essay and how they interact with each other. A type of free writing technique (that lets writers get all of their ideas out where they can then decide what they want to use in their paper. Although, the bubble chart lacks rigid structure, its strength is organized chaos.

In the second corner we have the outline. The outline allows writers to follow a more structured path. The outline follows a more linear train of thought and forces the writer to explore and develop the main subtopics before delving into the nuances. This sounds pretty organized and thorough right? We agree, but some would say this is detrimental to a writers’ creativity.

 

 We’ve got a wild card here: the word vomit. Just when you were ready to choose between the bubble chart and the outline, a third candidate jumped into the ring. The “word vomit” writing style is not organized at all. It allows for a writer to just dive right into the essay without so much as a care to the prose’s finite organization. Sometimes the best way to write is to just develop the meat, and then connect the key concepts using the bones later. Remember, the choice to not organize is still a choice.

Students may benefit from using an outline for long research papers while bubble charts may be more helpful for those 1-2 page creative essays. The free for all type of essay that doesn’t require any organization is also perfect for conversational styles of writing.

So, which candidate won in this epic battle of organizational proportions? Sorry to be anticlimactic, but all of them win. In the end it is up to the writer as to what method they choose: the more structured outline, the free flowing bubble chart, or the choice to not organize at all.

Which method do you use?

You Know You’re In College When…

We hear that Flashnotes users care about their school. Well we care about your school, too!

The problem is, we have a lot of users from a lot of schools. It’s hard for us to relate to everyone. Our solution? A student from University of Maryland put together a list to help us familiarize ourselves with his campus:

You Know You’re From UMD When…

• The only time you go to the library is during midterms or finals to party at Club Mckeldin.
• On a sunny day, you lay out on Mckeldin Mall rather than go to your class that is less then a hundred yards away.
• You’re completely obsessed with the Maryland state flag regardless of whether you’re actually from Maryland.
• You have sweat stains on your shirt going to class after walking up the hill before Stamp Student Union.
• You live at The View or Varsity Apartments but can never get your friends to party at your place because it’s too far away from South Campus and the bars.
• You get a parking ticket from DOTS because you parked in a parking lot 5 minutes before 4:00 pm.
• You thought that the R.H. Smith School of Business building was a 5-star hotel
• You can’t eat any food without putting Old Bay on it first.
• You scan and leave for every basketball game just so you can have a better chance to attend the Duke game later in the year.
• You’ve learned to accept the fact that “Fe” will never reopen but you still get excited when rumors stating it will open restart at the beginning of each semester.
• UMD Alert sends more texts to you then some of your friends and most of their texts are after the incident is given the all clear.
• You see a University of Maryland bus and want to jump in front and test whether you actually get free tuition if you get hit.

So now that we know all about University of Maryland, tell us about your university!

How to Get a Date With Flashnotes

Okay, so the title is a little misleading. You’re not going to actually be dating the company. But you can find yourself in love with our awesome marketplace…of love.

Not many people know this, but you can actually get a date through Flashnotes. That’s right my friends. That same wonderful website that allows you to buy and sell your college notes at your own price, is the very same site that can hook you up with your future Friday night plans.

Trust us, follow these easy steps and you can secure yourself a fine young lad (or lass) for a magical evening.

Men: We’re going to make this nice and easy for ya.

1. Post your notes under the subject “psychology”
2. Leave hidden love poems in the middle of your notes
3. Let all the beautiful ladies in your class know where to find your “psychology” notes.
4. Watch them all swoon over how wonderful your writing and academic prowess are 

Pro Tip- never date more than one lady at a time- apparently this upsets them.

Ladies: We’re going to let you use your most dangerous weapon: your mind.

1. This is a divide and conquer strategy, and we know you love strategizing
2. Gather all of your great tests from ALL of your classes
3. Convert these multiple choice tests into digital flashcards
4. Sneak in secret messages about how the author of said flashcards is the smartest chick on campus.
5. Men will start flocking to you, because let’s face it ladies: everyone needs a good study buddy

Are there dating sites out there? Yep. Are we a dating site? Nope. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t find love in some peculiar places!

This is really a win-win situation. You can make a ton of money by selling your course materials on Flashnotes; you can also use the money you earn towards a dinner for two. Oh la la!

Best Practices Studying Tips

From a young age, we are never really told how to study. We’re told that we need to do it, but no one ever shows us the process. That’s because studying is more or less a relationship between a person and subject materials. Each relationship is different.

One thing we’ve come to learn at Flashnotes is that everyone studies differently. What works for one student, doesn’t necessarily work for another. Case in point:

Andrew and Andrea. Andrew and Andrea are in the same class- BSCI124.

Andrew studies “a little bit” 2-3 days before his exam. He reads his textbooks if it’s “important and relevant”. He refuses to do all-nighters. He maintains a 3.4 GPA.

Andrea does all her studying the night before, “drinking massive amounts of coffee”. She reads all the required textbooks and readings multiple times.  She also maintains a 3.4 GPA.

So which approach is right? Does anyone have the right to tell students how to study?

There are multitudes of articles- all written by adults (not in school) that claim they know how to maximize a student’s time and efforts. A UCLA study claims that studying during all nighters isn’t great. Another article shows that studying the night before can work. If the “experts” can’t agree on what the best practices for studying are, then they have no right to try to impose their will on students. So what are students to do? I’m glad you asked.

Do you get good grades? Keep studying the way you’ve been studying- it’s workin’.

Do you get less than perfect grades? Maybe it’s time to look up some “best practices” and make an educated decision.

Are you ashamed to tell anyone about your grades? It’s definitely time to switch up your game. Immediately change whatever schedule you’re operating on- because it’s not workin’ for ya.

You have to do what works for you. You’re also an adult- so it’s time to start being accountable for your own decisions. Good luck!

8 Tips to Survive Your First Day at Your Summer Internship

Look at you! You’ve worked hard this past semester, planned a great internship for the summer, and now you’re preparing for that glorious day when you can waltz into the office and make that internship ‘ya bish’. While we commend you on your hard work, you’ve got a long summer in front of you.

Here’s how to make the best out of that first day:

1. Figure out how to get to the office. You can’t just Google the location and think you’ll be fine. Figure out what floor it’s on, what doors you can access, if there will be free or paid parking.  It’s always good to run this route once before you actually start the internship. You want to arrive stress-free and on time for your first day!
2. If you’re nervous, always remember that you were hired for a reason! It’s definitely daunting walking into an office that already functions as a well-oiled machine. It’s even more daunting doing it all by yourself and you’re bound to feel like you don’t fit it. Well, don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. Your supervisor hired you because they believe that you’re capable of getting the job done and think you’re a great fit culturally. The company wanted YOU out of all the other candidates. Now, isn’t that a great feeling?
3. It’s okay to not know everything. Please, DON’T act like you know it all. Let’s be real here, if you knew everything, you wouldn’t need this internship in the first place. It’s perfectly fine to hop off of your high horse and shovel some shit for a while. Your supervisor will respect you much more.
4. Ask a lot of questions. You’re going to be given A LOT of information at once. Just take a deep breath, and try to cram as much information in your head at once. If you miss something- it’s fine to ask for clarification on an assignment. The whole point of the internship is to gain as much real world knowledge as possible, and if I recall correctly- there are no stupid questions. 
5. When you’re done with a task, ask for another. Become the office busy bee! Let your supervisor know when you are completed with a task as soon as you’re done. You don’t need to emphatically announce that you are done with a task (this comes off as childish), but instead ask your supervisor if they have any recommendations for what you can work on next. This will show them that you are efficient, capable of taking on harder projects that require more responsibility, and also passionate about your position.
6. Develop a professional relationship with your supervisor. Regardless of whether you and your supervisor are BFFs or not, you’re going to need your supervisor to write a good letter of recommendation that speaks to your professional skills. If you’re lucky, you’ll get along with your supervisor. If you’re unlucky, they won’t even remember you’re name, much less care about your feelings. It’s all good though, you didn’t get this internship to make friends, you did it to learn something and make professional relationships. If you’re convinced that your supervisor hates you, remember that the best you can do is to finish all your work on time with a smile.
7. Don’t bitch about your internship with the other interns. I can’t stress this enough. If you’re having a bad day, keep it in. Don’t tell the other interns how awful everything is going. You’re going to come off as ungrateful and unworthy of the position (not to mention, that gossip travels fast within a company). Complaining about your job to the people that you’re actually working with makes you a less viable resource to work with and it also shows weakness. Save the drama for your momma. Seriously, call your mommy if you feel like complaining- she probably has really good advice on how to deal with work related issues.
8. Always view everything as a learning opportunity. This is very cliché, but very true. All internships are learning opportunities, and you are bound to mess up once or twice during your time at a company. However, if you view all of your setbacks as a learning opportunity, you can grow from them and you won’t be doomed to repeat them.

To recap: B-R-E-A-T-H-E. You already got the internship (which is half the battle).

We know that starting a new internship is both nerve racking and exciting, but with these tips, you should be all set to go for your first day! If this isn’t your first rodeo, share some tips with those who have never done one before! Leave a comment with your advice below.

You Sell Your Notes, Now It’s Easy to Sell Your Textbooks, Too!

Here at Flashnotes, we’re all about saving you money the logical way.

We know that college students are bombarded with options when it comes to selling back textbooks. Should you sell your books back to the school? How about Ebay? What about that weird guy in the van parked on campus?

No. Just say no.

We’re here to make your textbook buy back process 10 times easier. Through years of personal experience in college, Flashnotes can honestly say one thing about textbook buy back: ValoreBooks does it best.

ValoreBooks also has some of the cheapest textbooks around. You can save over 90% on over 18 million titles. If you had to choose between paying more for your college textbooks and paying less, which would you choose? Yeah, that’s what we thought. Take a second, make a logical decision, and buy cheaper course books.

ValoreBooks gets it- college is expensive! That’s why they give students the highest buy back rate online. That means more money in your pocket. So, unless you plan on using those old books as a pillow (like we’ve seen you do in the library- don’t pretend you didn’t drool a little bit when you fell asleep on your book), there’s no reason not to sell them back. Imagine how much money you could make!

Another reason we love ValoreBooks is their hassle free return policy. The 30-day money back guarantee is actually our favorite service that they provide. Here’s why:

You professor gives you a list of books to purchase for his/her class. Being the productive student that you are, you go out and purchase them all before class even starts. Once you see the syllabus on the first day of school, you realize that you won’t even need half of those books that you just purchased! Well, with ValoreBooks, you can pretend like your overzealous book-shopping spree never even happened. Just send them back for free, and it’s like you never spent the money in the first place. Genius.

ValoreBooks just makes sense: they save you money when you buy your book and they earn you more money when you sell your books back. That means more money in your pocket, and honestly we can’t argue with that logic.

Try it out for yourself!

Use Dwolla To Manage Your Flashnotes Cash

We love keeping our options open- both in and out of school. That’s why we’re now offering another option when it comes to payouts!

Thanks to all of your feedback, Flashnotes has improved our service. We’ve partnered with Dwolla!

Dwolla is a great payment network that’s secure and hassle free. You can access your account from anywhere (even your smartphone), which makes it super convenient to use. Allow anyone (or anything) connected to the internet to move money quickly, safely & at the lowest cost possible.

Students already use Dwolla for everyday transactions (like paying back friends for those late night pizzas), so we’re excited to add one more daily transaction onto your tab- your Flashnotes earnings! Students can now easily manage their Flashnotes paychecks from their Dwolla accounts with a simple click of a mouse. 

Want to know the best part? You can transfer money between Dwolla and your bank or credit union anytime you want, for free. That’s music to our ears: free is our favorite word.

Flashnotes is all about helping students, and in honor of that, we like to provide them with the best possible service. School is filled with enough headaches; payment issues shouldn’t be one of them.

Want to give it a go? Sign up for Dwolla here!

Make the Most Out of Your Career Center

We know that as the weather gets warmer, the semester is coming to an end. For some of you (the lucky ones) the warm weather brings an end to your entire college experience. So, now is the time to make the most out of your career center.

Whether you have visited the career center once every month or have never even stepped foot into the building, make it a point to drop by the office before the semester ends.

The career counselors’ main job is to get you a job. How awesome is that?! Your university literally pays someone to help you find you a job. I can’t even explain how great of a concept this is, but if you’re not excited now, here are four reasons why you should care:

The career center can perfect your resumé. Don’t have any work experience? That’s fine, the career counselors can fluff up your resumé to make it look like you do. With the help of a counselor, you can. Don’t know how to organize your resumé? That’s alright- the career counselors can provide you with some eye-catching ideas to make your resumé stand out from the rest.

The career center can help you perfect your LinkedIn. If you haven’t already joined LinkedIn, you should join right now. March down to the career center and have the kind counselor help you pimp out your account. The first step to making a great first impression (and you only get one shot at making a first impression) is to make sure your LinkedIn is professional, up-to-date, robust, and shows your personality.

The career center can help you figure out what to do with your major. Don’t know what you want to do with your life? The career counselors can help you figure it out. They ask the right questions and guide you towards discovering what makes you happy. What happens when you majored in something that has a limited job field? Your career counselor can help you think of applicable skills learned from your major and apply them to jobs in other fields. It’s okay to start a career in something other than your field of choice. Nine times out of ten your career won’t be in the same field that you majored in. It’s perfectly normal.

The career center can actually find you a job/paid internship. Once you have an idea of your dream career, the career counselors can help you narrow down the different power players in that industry as well as their up-and-coming competitors. If your career counselor is really awesome (most of them are) than he/she will be able to reach out to the business and arrange an introduction for you.

The career center at your university will basically hold your hand as they walk you through the process of finding a job after college. Their livelihood depends on making sure you’re employed. So while being a broke college student isn’t fun, you don’t have to remain a broke college student after you graduate. The lovely career center counselors have got your back.

Don’t want to drop by the career center on your campus? Check out these online options that we love, too.

New Grad Life is a great resource for all things career oriented. Follow them on Twitter for easy updates!

Career Builder is like Monster.com but with the added bonus of helping you perfect that resumé.

The Huffington Post College always has a plethora of useful college information, including career advice.