Xatal

If you’re starting off at college for the first time and you’re finally going to choose your classes, you’ll want to know that college classes are a bit different from high school classes — there are different types of college classes. What you do in each type and what you can expect from them will vary.

From my experience, there are four major types of college classes: lectures, seminars, discussions, and labs. Keep reading »

If you’ve never been to college, it’s tough to imagine what a typical week’s schedule will be like. Even if you plan out your classes, it’s hard to say how you will actually spend your time, such as when you’ll be getting up, eating, and so forth.

Although everyone chooses a different schedule based on what works for them and yours will inevitably be unique too, a sample one is always good to have.

Below is my schedule from the first quarter of my freshman year, where I took three classes: Astronomy, Bioethics, and a writing class (“Core”). Here’s what a typical week looked like for me: Keep reading »

As I go through my day, a million things occur to me to do later on — maybe I want to remember to watch a certain TV show, maybe I need to get some schoolwork done, or maybe I have an appointment I need to remember. The biggest problem is that I always forget what I was going to do.

Most of the time, these reminders aren’t that important, but it does really suck when it’s something significant.

Finally, I realized the best way for me to get my life together: sending text messages to myself. I’m on the computer often, and because I check my e-mail often, my reminders don’t go forgotten. When something occurs to me to remind myself of, I quickly open my phone and send a text message of the reminder, such as, “test on Friday”. Then, when I’m home and at the computer, it pops up as an unread e-mail. Keep reading »

A common mistake when dorm shopping that people make is buying the wrong type of sheets. Many will go out buying new bedsheets, and mistakenly buy Twin sizes.

While I’m sure there are some exceptions, the vast majorities of college dorm mattresses use Twin XL sized sheets. A lot of people never even hear about this size of sheet until it comes time to for dorm shopping.

Twin XL beds are as wide as normal twin beds, but they’re an extra five inches longer, presumably to accommodate taller students. Keep reading »

When you start preparing to do your dorm shopping, a bunch of ideas will spring to your mind at different times. Even if you already have a checklist of dorm supplies, it’s still very easy to forget to buy one or two things.

When I was beginning to do my dorm shopping, I found the most useful way to keep track of things I needed was by keeping a list. Whenever something would occur to me that I needed, I would immediately write it down. Keep reading »

The next time you hear somebody mention college rankings when calling one college better than another, kick them in the shins.

Well okay, don’t be that harsh, but you should stop taking them seriously right there.

Somehow, college rankings have become a significant way to judge universities, yet few realize how difficult it is for one small number to fully and accurately summarize a university. Many use college rankings as a way to quickly compare two schools, yet few actually realize just how faulty rankings are:

#1: College rankings lists differ a lot.

The most commonly-cited list of college rankings is from the US News & World Report. This publication holds the most weight and is referred to more than any other, but there are still other ranking lists out there. Forbes has a list as well, and the Institute of Higher Education ranks schools as well. Each publisher uses an entirely different method to rank schools and emphasizes different factors.

The end result? A school ranked highly on one list might be terrible on another. UC Berkeley, for example, ranks 3rd overall on the Institute of Higher Education’s list, yet a modest 73rd on Forbes‘s list. The US News & World Report places Berkeley in the middle, at 21st. The University of Michigan ranks 26th from the Report, yet only 161st from Forbes. Keep reading »

If you’re going to college away from your hometown, managing your money becomes an important factor to deal with.

Storing a large wad of cash in your dorm room is a terrible idea, you’re just asking for someone to steal your money from your dorm. Cash is also rather inconvenient, since you might find yourself needing money when you least expect it.

So what do you do, if you’re going to avoid bringing mass amounts of cash? Keep reading »

A year ago today, I made this post and began this blog!

I’ve always wanted to make a website. For a while I tried my hardest to come up with some clever and totally unique website idea, yet I could never get any ideas out of the train station.

While not original, blogging has been more enjoyable in a different way — rather than just aiming to create a thriving website, I’ve been able to share my experiences directly to readers to help with something that I know a decent bit about. I’m very grateful to any and all readers for taking the time to read my posts and to every reader who comments about what I have to say. It really is an honor, and I thank you all for it.

As for the future of Xatal, I hope to continue writing for a while yet — I still have more post ideas lurking in the back of my head.

However, I am curious a bit about what you like to read — I think everybody should have a say in what direction Xatal goes in. I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a second to fill out the below poll, and, if you have any comments at all, please let me know!

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