Money and the College Student

A large part of surviving college is not just going to class and making the grades. It's learning to manage all the responsibilities that come along with living on your own. That means budgeting money for groceries, gas, and other expenses, paying bills, and all the while attempting not to go bankrupt or accumulate debt.

Bankrate.com, a financial advisory website, provides tips in mangining one's personal finances. The first step is to figure out exactly what it is you are buying and how often. This can be done by keeping a log of your purchases. This way you can physically see exactly where all that money is going.

When Bankrate.com asked 100 students what unnecessary items they purchased on a regular basis, this is what they found out:

Men's Top 10
1. Alcohol
2. Fast food
3. Cell phone
4. Movies (first-run tickets and rentals)
5. Car things
6. Dates
7. Music (CDs, MP3s)
8. Video games
9. Electronics/computer stuff
10. Tobacco products

Women's Top 10
1. Alcohol
2. Fast food
3. Cell phone
4. Movies (first-run tickets and rentals)
5. Clothes
6. Dates
7. Music
8. Makeup
9. Shower gel, perfume, lotion etc.
10. Hair products


Also, according to Bankrate.com, "the cost of campus parking tickets didn't make the Top 10 lists, but were mentioned by a number of students as a big expense. Tickets ranged anywhere from $10 to $50 depending on whether it's a first ticket or a repeat and the availability of campus parking."

Once you track your spending habits, Bankrate suggests creating a simple spreadsheet and evaluating your list. It's as easy as asking yourself "Is that really where I want to spend my money?"

So now you may be wondering how to change your spending behavior. Bankrate suggests labeling envelopes and putting a certain amount of cash in each as your allotted budget for the week. For example, you may put $30 in an envelope for "eating out" costs. That means that is all you have to spend on fast food, resturants, or campus dining facilities for the entire week.

Although this tactic requires self-discipline I feel it could be a very effective way of limit spending. It's never too early (or too late) to organize your personal finances and create a financial plan!

Campus Safety: Are we letting our guard down?

Like many other students, I have always viewed JMU as a safe-haven. A place where everyone is nice and seemingly trustworthy and where nothing can go wrong. You may call me naive or even ignorant, but I feel it is common for college students to sometimes become a little too comfortable with their surroundings. We often feel we are invincible and protected by this little bubble we call our college community. As a result we often do not take into account the real dangers that exist both inside and outside of campus boundaries.

Just last week I received a "Timely Notice" from the JMU Department of Public Safety. On October 17, 2007, a female student was abducted and sexually assaulted by an older man after leaving her class at Memorial Hall. It was not until today that this 60 year old man was arrested on account of both sexual battery and abduction/kidnapping. Earlier in the semester and on several occasions in the past three years, I have been notified of robberies, gang activity, rapes, and assault cases via these Timely Notices. Each time, I am baffled that anything of this nature could happen at JMU.

By no means am I attempting to scare anyone in writing this blog. My only hope is that students take a little more time to contemplate the issue of safety. Because unfortunately, crime is a major issue on college campuses nationwide.

During my campus visit to JMU, I remember my Dad asking the Student Ambassador giving our tour about the crime statistics both on and off campus. At the time, I really didn't think anything of my Dad's question or the Ambassador's answer. But now, especially after the Virginia Tech Tragedy, it seems that these statistics have become more of a deciding factor in one's college picking process.

Colleges and universities are doing everything possible to make sure their students feel protected. JMU for example has implemented a new emergency response plan. This improved emergency system includes cell phone alerts via text and voice messaging; blast e-mail messages, which can be sent and received within minutes; a campus siren system with a public address system; the university Web page; off-campus reverse 911 alerts; loudspeakers in each campus police patrol vehicle; and announcements on local television, radio, and newspapers.

My question is, have all these precautions on top of the campus police and hundreds of blue emergency lights scattered around campus added to our anxiety about safety or simply allowed us to feel a little bit too secure? When it comes to issues of safety, are college students letting their guard down?

Want to know more about campus crime statistics? Check out the Post Secondary Education Website. It allows anyone to locate statistics on alleged criminal offenses at a myriad of different college campuses. This Campus Security Data Analysis Tools also allows you to compare statistics between colleges.

SparkNotes: Advice to College Freshmen

It is my common belief that if you are a college student, you know what SparkNotes are, how to use them, and where to find them. This site provides free in-depth commentary, analysis, and study guides for literature, poetry, history, film, and philosophy. Although helpful guides, many college students rely heavily upon these guides, often referring to them as life-savers. No time to read that 750 page novel by tomorrow? Or are you just plain lazy? No problem, just SparkNote-it!

While browsing through the SparkNotes website today, I stumbeled upon a completely new catagory of topic summaries. In a section of the website called SparkCollege, the creators walk students through important things they need to know in beginning the transition into college life. SparkNotes is now a guide to college life? I had no idea! I was surprised at how inclusive the website was, tackling numerous isses from surviving the first night to buying textbooks, understanding the Greek system, as well as sex and dating.

SparkCollege states, "Knowing what you’re getting yourself into can relieve a lot of the stress associated with college. It’s important to know what to expect when you land in the dorm or when you arrive at your first class. Your time in those first few weeks is precious, so you’ll need to use it wisely. You don’t want to find yourself so overwhelmed by everything that homesickness sets in before classes even start. To make the most out of your first year, you need to be prepared. So, let’s begin at the beginning: your first week at school."

The site even takes on a somewhat comical tone in the section entitled "Sex & Dating" when it warns, "Dating someone you meet in a class is okay as long as you start the relationship after midterms. If it turns ugly fast, you’ve only got a few weeks of seeing the person before class is over."

Now that SparkNotes provides advice to freshmen on surviving the college experience...what's next?

"S" is for senior & stress

Whoever it was that said senior year is "supposed to be easy" was lieing. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have never been so stressed out in the past three years of my college career. Not only am I juggling classes, a job, and multiple extra curriculars, but I also must figure out what I want to do after college. This is a daily source of stress. At this rate I will consider myself extremely lucky if I don't have an ulser come graduation day.

According to a UCLA study, when it comes to handling stress college seniors have the most experience, yet freshmen are the most stressed group with 30% reporting they often feel overwhelmed by college expectations. While this makes sense given our three years of experience, I would argue that seniors also have a lot more on their plates in comparison to freshmen. Studies have found that 1 in 5 college seniors say they have considered suicide, this statistic nearly triples the number of freshmen experiencing similar thoughts. Am I the only one that found this statistic absolutely alarming?!

While nearly every university has programs for stress managment, offering counseling and tips for stress reduction, is there something else our society can be doing to stop this growing epedemic? Are the stress levels experienced by college seniors equivilant to those of adults living in the "real world"? How do these stressors compare? Is this generation of over-achieving college seniors simply afraid of failing?

Check out this article about the stress of senior year.