The Naked Roommate, 6E: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College

by Harlan Cohen

Overview

For 10 years (and counting), The Naked Roommate has been the #1 go-to guide for your very best college experience!

From sharing a bathroom with 40 strangers to sharing lecture notes, The Naked Roommate is your behind-the-scenes look at EVERYTHING you need to know about college (but never knew you needed to know).

This essential, fully updated edition is packed with real-life advice on everything from making friends to managing stress. Hilarious, outrageous, and telling stories from students on over 100 college campuses cover the basics, and then some, including topics on

College Living
•Dorm dos, don'ts, and dramas
•Lying, noisy, nasty roommates

Finding People, Places, & Patience
•Social network dos and don'ts
•Friend today, gone tomorrow

Classes
•To go or not to go?
•How to get an A, C, or F

Dating
•17 kinds of college hookups
•Long distance = BIG concerns

The Party Scene
•The punch in the "fruit punch"
•Sex, drugs, and safety first

Money
•Grants, loans, and loose change
•Credit cards and campus jobs

In college, there's a surprise around every corner. Luckily, The Naked Roommate has you covered!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492613329
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	04/01/2015
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 1.50(d)
Lexile:	960L (what's this?)
Age Range:	15 - 17 Years

About the Author

Harlan Cohen is the New York Times bestselling author of the Naked Roommate series and is one of the most widely read and respected syndicated advice columnists for teens and twenty-somethings. His column, "Help Me, Harlan!," is distributed by King Features Syndicate, and his advice has been featured in hundreds of publications, including the New York Times, Seventeen, and Psychology Today.

Harlan regularly tours high school and college campuses giving presentations to students, professionals and parents. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, visit www.HelpMeHarlan.com and www.NakedRoommate.com.

Read an Excerpt

Welcome to the first page, the first day of college, and my first tip.

There are a lot of firsts happening here-first time possibly away from home, first time possibly living with a stranger, first college class, first college professors, first college hookup, first love, first loss, first time possibly having sex (or not having it, or just hearing other people have it), maybe your first pregnancy scare, first sexually transmitted infection (also called sexually transmitted disease), first time seeing people use drugs, first time borrowing thousands of dollars and first time spending thousands of dollars, first time having to make choices on your own, first time staying out all night, first time having to make a new life for yourself, and the first time when you can do as much as you want or as little as you want and have no one to answer to but you (assuming you don't answer your phone).

Naturally, the first time you do something, it's normal to not be completely comfortable doing it. Comfort takes time. So understand that it will take time to find your comfortable places in college. Be who you are, not who people want you to be (or who you think people want you to be). Focus on what you want, not on being wanted. Work to find what you love to do inside and outside the classroom. Create a world filled with options-socially, academically, and spiritually. Don't wait for people to give you your college experience. Create it. Make it happen. And along the way, appreciate that no matter what happens, no matter what you're feeling, no matter what obstacles you encounter-you are never alone. You are surrounded by people who can listen, support, and guide you. As someone who has lived it, seen it, and heard about it in my advice column and from students on college campuses around the world, I can tell you: it's a fact. You are never alone in college.

As one resident director and recent graduate said to me, "They always say that college students deal with the same issues, but until I was a resident director, I never realized it was true. So many people are going through the same things, but don't know it." Each day is unpredictable. You never know what's going to come your way. That's part of the wild ride. In the words of an advisor I interviewed, "In college, you can have the best day of your life and the worst day of your life-and all within the same hour."

Welcome to your college experience.

Table of Contents

Contents

Contents

Book Orientation: The Stuff before the Tips

Welcome Students

My Reason for Writing This Book

How This Book Was Written

The Sixth Edition: Toned, Leaner, and Fitter

Additional Resources

A Note to Parents

A Note to Educators

A Final Note to All Readers

First Page, First Tip, and First Days of College

Chapter 1
Arriving on Campus: So Real You Can Smell It, Touch It, and Taste It

1: Expect the Unexpected

2: Patience, Patience, and More Patience

3: Finding Your Three Places on Campus

3.5: The Five People in Your Corner

4: When Lost or Confused, Ask

5: Be Yourself: Not Me, Not Him, Not Her

6: About Your Parents...

7: Homesickness: Breathe Deep, It's in the Air

8: Technology: The Fifth Wall

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 2
Residence Halls: Living, Eating, and Bathing with Hundreds of Strangers

9: Residence Halls: A Cruise without the Water

10: Meet People without Even Trying

11: Resident Assistants: Your Personal Assistant

12: Not All Residence Halls Are Created Equal

13: The Ugly Side of Residential Life

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 3
Roommates: Good Ones, Bad Ones, and Everything in Between

14: The Ultimate Roommate Rule

15: The Random Roommate

16: The Naked Roommate

17: The Best Friend Roommate

18: The Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Roommate (pick one)

19: The Noisy, Naughty, and/or Nasty Roommate

19.99: The Masturbating Roommate

20: The Your-Girlfriend/Boyfriend-Doesn't-Live-Here Roommate

21: The Lying, Stealing, Klepto Roommate

22: The Drunk and/or High Roommate

23: The Roommate in Need

Harlan's Tip Sheet

A Break to Warn You about Holiday Break

Chapter 4
Finding Friends: Your Social or Antisocial College Life

24: The Snow Globe Factor

25: Shopping for New Friends

26: Why College Friends Are Different

27: Friend Today, Gone Tomorrow

28: High School Friends, Cows, and Cats

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 5
Getting Involved on Campus: An All-You-Can-Do Buffet

29: Getting Involved: What, Where, When, How, and Why (but not in that order)

30: Clubs and Organizations: A Smorgasbord of Opportunity

31: Sports and Athletics: Buckets of College Sweat

32: Academic Organizations: Where Smart People Gather

33: Religious Activities: Your Prayers Answered and the Culture Club (not Boy George)

34: The Perks: Travel and See the World for Free

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 6
Greek Life: Behind the Doors, Windows, and Walls of Fraternity and Sorority Life

35: Greek Life: Getting In

36: Greek Life: The Good

37: Greek Life: The Bad

38: Greek Life: The Ugly

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 7
Life Inside the Classroom: Assuming You Wake Up and Go to Class

39: To Go or Not to Go

40: Nice Professor, Nice Professor

41: How to Get an A (or almost an A)

42: How to Just Pass

43: How to Fail

44: The Cheat Sheet

45: The Art of Reading (or not reading) the College Textbook

46: Take Notes Here

47: Do It in a Group

48: Old Exams, Sharing Notes, and Mostly Legal Ways to Pass

49: The Major Issue: Picking One

50: Advice on Your Advisor

51: Pick a Number, Any Number

52: Time for Time Management (this will be fast!)

53: Wine Tasting, Bowling, and Other Important Electives

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 8
Dating and Relationships: Your Higher Education in Lust, Love, and Loss

54: The Rules of College Love (or just lust)

55: The College Hookup

55.5: The Most Important Relationship

56: Close-Distance Relationships

57: Long-Distance Relationships (LDRs)

58: High School Bitter Sweethearts

59: Imaginary Relationships and Online Dating

60: The Friendly Relationship

61: Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Relationships

62: Cheaters, Users, and Abusers

63: I Have No Life Other Than My Relationship

64: I Got Dumped and No Longer Have a Relationship

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 9
Sex: Having It, Not Having It, Hearing Other People Having It

65: Deciding to Do It

66: Deciding Not to Do It

67: Doing It Way Too Much

68: The One-Night Stand

69: Pimps, Hos, and Reputations

70: Sexual Souvenirs

71: The U of Birth Control

72: Possibly Pregnant

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 10
Drinking on Campus: Tapping the Keg of Truth

73: Drinking on Campus

74: Slow Down, Don't Drink Too Fast

75: Not Everyone Is Drinking

76: The Social Lubricant

77: Safer Unsafe Sex and Alcohol

78: Sexual Assault and Alcohol

79: Don't Be So Stupid That You Accidentally Kill Yourself

80: Drinking and Driving

81: Still Hungover...

82: You Might Be an Alcoholic If...

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 11
Drugs on Campus: The Smoking, Snorting, and Pill-Popping Truth

83: About Drugs on Campus

84: How to Avoid Them

85: Why Not to Do Drugs

86: Just Don't Accidentally Die

87: College Smoking Butts

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 12
Money, Laundry, and Cheap Eats: Assuming You Have Enough Money to Eat and Do Laundry

88: Loans, Grants, Scholarships, and Loose Change

89: Your Financial Aid Advisor: Money, Money, Money, Monnnnneeey

90: Part-Time Jobs, Big-Time Benefits

91: The Credit Card and the $600 Candy Bar

92: Bad Checks, Bad Credit, and Bad Ideas...

93: Checking Out the College Checking Account

94: Sorry, This Book Is Now "Used"

95: Cheap Strategies for Eating (or barely eating)

96: Laundry Tips: This Page Is Not Fabric Softener

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 13
Things Not Mentioned in the College Brochure: What They Don't Tell You

97: The Freshman 15...Or, Um, 45

98: The Student Body Image

99: Exposing the College Eating Disorder

100: Depression and Other Major Mental Health Issues

101: Sexual Assault

102: To Transfer or Not to Transfer

103: Safe, Schmafe

104: Commuting? Words to Take with You

104.1: Community College: A Smart and Less Expensive Road

105: Diversity: Sexual, Religious, Racial-It's All Good

Harlan's Tip Sheet

Chapter 14
College: A Higher Education: It's Almost Time to Say Good-bye

106: The U of No Regrets

107: Your Tip Goes Here

The Naked Rear End

About the Naked Author

Editorial Reviews

"The Naked Roommate is a fun and helpful read for any student entering - or even wondering about - college." - Santa Fe New Mexican

From the Publisher

Gr 11 Up-A hilarious and truthful book that gives high school students a look at college life, beginning with "Arriving on Campus" and ending with "It's Almost Time to Say Goodbye." In between, Cohen covers homesickness, laundry, Greek life, sex ("Having It, Not Having It, Hearing Other People Having It"), alcohol, cafeteria food, roommates, making it to class on time (and what happens if you don't). The author talks frankly about "Hook Ups," "One-Night Stands," and STDs. Each topic includes a "Harlan Tip," accompanied by a true story from a college student. The advice is sound; the tone is light.-Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park High School, MD Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The cute little guides that college orientation teams hand out to frightened freshmen offer valuable information, but very few of them touch on the nitty-gritty of day-to-day dorm life. How many of them, for instance, prepare you for the libidinous roommate who habitually brings his love life home with him or the friendly suite mate who turns the study room into a rock concert hall? With its real-life reminiscences of students who survived weird situations, Harlan Cohen's Naked Roommate serves as the crash course that any college student needs to cope with the stress, challenges, and possibilities of undergraduate. It's no wonder that it's now back in a new fifth edition.