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Graduation season is upon us at most colleges, and many students of all fields of study are asking themselves: what now? Unless you’ve already landed a job or are in line for a professional field like law or medicine that will keep you in school for years to come, this is really the end of your school days and the start of your full-time working life. Even during normal economic times, graduation is frequently the start of quarter-life crises for many young people, but graduating in 2010 brings about a special set of considerations. What do you do if you’re graduating during a tough economic climate?  Let the Nerd serve up a cold glass of advice.

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It’s easy to tell if you have senioritis (the odds are that if you aren’t sure, then you probably are a victim of the widespread condition). But why do seniors get senioritis? Sometimes they’re just plain sick of their studies after four (or five, or six) years and have run out of motivation. Sometimes students have a case of the college senior year graduation blues – that is, they’re stressed out about the financial and emotional aspects of the huge life change they’re about to make. And sometimes, students just want to have fun and enjoy their last semester with their friends.  All of this is perfectly normal, but unfortunately, this can lead to lousy grades and other consequences. Here are some of the Nerd’s finest tips to help students “treat” their senioritis.

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With the end of the academic year fast approaching, it is time to acknowledge the sobering reality of finals prep. Every student has their own unique way of studying for final exams, but some methods are much more effective than others. Unfortunately, an inefficient method of preparing for finals may be what keeps you from succeeding. Your finals are too important to mess up. Enter the Nerd with a few ways to stay on task and ready yourself for the most important exams of the year.

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College is a big business, and one of the biggest expenses in this business – next to tuition, room, and board, is textbooks. Nothing hits your party fund like a trip to the campus bookstore. Reselling books may recoup some of your investment, but not all. You shouldn’t have to take out extra loans just to cover your books. The Nerd is here to offer you some alternative approaches to the costly textbook dilemma; just follow this tip guide to lessen the cost of your education.

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Regardless of how good a student you are, how detail-oriented, hard working, or diligent, you can be certain that you will miss a class at some point in your academic career. And likely many more than one. There are many reasons for missing classes, ranging from illness and emergencies to hangovers and a desire to sleep in. Why you missed class matters – to you. If it was for irresponsible reasons, your absence signals that you need to take a closer look at your obligations and priorities.  What do you do after missing class? Do you just show up at the next class and start fresh? What about material that you’ve missed? Do you talk to professors? Here are seven things that the Nerd suggests you do when you’re absent.

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Plagiarism, the attempt to pass off the ideas, research, theories, or words of others as one’s own, is a serious academic offense. Most students know when they are intentionally plagiarizing, for example copying an entire essay out of a book or buying a paper off the Internet. However, many people are tripped up by unintentional plagiarism – not giving proper credit for others’ quotes, facts, ideas, or data.  The Nerd is here to keep you out of trouble and ensure that any papers you write or presentations you give are honest, transparent, and most importantly the result of your own work rather than that of another individual.  Check out our tutorial on how to cite sources and paraphrase information.

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Good, comprehensive notes are the lifeblood of a student’s performance in any given course.  Remember, when deciding the best way to take effective class notes, the important thing to do is figure out what works best for you. To some students, the sense of organization that a laptop can provide is a lifesaver. For other students, the old-school pen and paper is a much better option. Or perhaps a combination of the two — paper in some classes and lectures, and computer in others — is your best strategy.  The Nerd is here to break down the advantages of taking your notes with a laptop or a standard paper notebook.

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I’d like to think that every day of my college career was an adventure and I never knew the opportunity that each waking morning would hold, however that would not be telling the whole truth.  While much of the college experience consisted of trying out exciting new things, one area of my life remained unchanged and is still part of my daily routine today. Not one day of my time at school began without reading the campus newspaper.  Whether it was just browsing the headlines, flipping to the sports section, and then completing the crossword puzzle in class – Syracuse’s flagship publication, The Daily Orange, was as much of a staple in my backpack as Scooby Doo fruit snacks and Formula 50 Vitamin Water.  Perhaps I paid so much attention to the school newspaper because I was a Broadcast Journalism major, but I was not alone in my fondness for The Daily Orange as many students became familiar with the work of their favorite columnists and some future writing careers set their roots at the university level.

This week, the Nerd is here to advise students that a college newspaper job is a foot in the door for an up and coming journalist.  Follow our steps to see how you can properly apply for and lock down a job writing for your school’s paper.

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You spent hours filling out applications, lining up references, opining in essays, and polishing and proofreading your resume a painstaking number of times. Now it looks like all that hard work has paid off: you just got the news that you landed that highly sought after summer internship. You’ve gotten your foot in the door at one of the top organizations in your field of study. Now what?

Your first order of business is patting yourself on the back. College internships are more competitive than ever these days, and if you ended up with a top spot at a firm you’re really interested in, congratulations are definitely in order. Heave a sigh of relief, call up your party buddies, and give yourself a night off to celebrate.

After you’ve crawled out of bed and shaken off the cobwebs the next morning/afternoon, you’ve got some serious thinking to do. Internships are a great way for college students without a whole lot under the “Experience” heading on their resumes to make a splash in the business world.  Always keeping your best interest in mind, The Nerd has come up with some ideas to help you get started on the first stop to career success – the valuable internship.

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For collegiate athletes, playing a sport began as fun and turned into a passion. If you are one of the lucky few that can take their passion to the next level, it will be a challenge to strike a balance between athletics and academics, but a worthwhile one.  Maybe you can hit a running jump shot, sink a 50-foot putt, or lay down a perfect bunt, but you will need the grades to continue showing off your skills in college.

If you have dreams of turning pro, that’s great. But you should know that, out of all the high school football players in the country, only 0.09 percent go on to play professionally. For high school men’s basketball players, only 0.03 percent make it to the pros – so you better be a superstar before you decide to put the game ahead of the books.  Most Division I schools have an academic support system set up just for student athletes, or at least a contact person who can steer them in the right direction to get the help they need.  If you are a student-athlete in need of some guidance, the Nerd is here with some pointers on how to get your career on the right path – whether you future lies in the office or on the field of play.