The Super Senior (Musings About Fun, Graduation & The Real World)

The final months of college can be very stressful. When mixing in classes, a senior thesis, job applications, grad school apps, work and vacation plans, it can feel as if you are taking on more than you can chew. While reports are showing more and more college students moving home after college (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-10-cover-kids_x.htm ), the transition from college to the “real world” can still be a big step financially. You have graduation costs (cap, gowns, graduation stoles, invitations, parties), moving costs (moving companies, gas, U-Hauls), relocation costs (repurchasing furniture, signing leases, security deposits), and much more.
With costs adding up, why not make some extra cash on the things you no longer need or are likely to throw away? The key to making the most possible is timing though!

Here’s 4 tips on how to make a few extra bucks the quick and dirty (honest) way with all the goods you’ve acquired over the past 4 or 5 years.

1) Sell Your Books: Sell off the books you no longer need. List them on Amazon.com or Half.com. Unless you’re planning on taking them home with you after college, get rid of them. Chances are most graduating seniors end up donating them or selling them to the local bookstore, where in each case you get less money than you might have if you sold it online.
2) Sell Your Furniture: Everything goes! Think of those old garage sales where you use to setup a lemonade stand and bartered with strangers trying to buy your swag. Start selling your furniture. If you live in a fraternity or sorority house, consider doing a “house garage sale.” Keep the cash, or donate it to the chapter, eitherway you win! Big Tip: Don’t wait for the mad last week dash to post your items on craigslist or try to run a garage sale. With the hundreds of other students doing the same thing, you lose the batter of supply and demand and will probably not get as great of a price. Whatever you don’t plan on bringing with you out of college, consider selling!
Here’s a few ideas: Bookshelfs, Desk & Chairs (though you may want these one for finals), Extra TVs, Game Consoles, TV Stands, Kitchenware, Bed Frames, Extra Mirrors, Futons & Bean Bags.
3) Selling Your Clothes: Do you really plan on bringing your entire wardrobe home? That shirt you bought for the Jersey Shore themed party, are you really going to wear it again? Or the boots from Halloween 2008? Sell it and make some cash back! With craigslist if you organize your post well you can probably sell your stuff by the bag and get rid of it all at once.

4) Sell Stuff For Your Friends: Is your friend trying to offload his TV to someone else, or are they trying to get rid of their desk already? Offer to sell it for them if you get 25% of the profits.
There’s numerous ways to make some extra cash, be creative, and most importantly… have fun, because it’s college!

photo credit Tostie14

Graduation tip #2 goes along with the previous graduation tip, which was to talk to your teaching assistant.  Today’s tip focuses on the simple rule of asking (at least) one question per discussion section.  While this tip may seem very simple, you’ll be surprised at how many students actually do not do this.
This idea comes from another tactic that many shy people are taught, which is to say hi or smile at 3 strangers per day.  The goal here is to become more comfortable with interacting with strangers you do not know and eventually striking up conversations.
The simple task of asking a question or two and engaging in conversation at least once per section helps show your involvement in classes.  The trick here is to make sure the TA also knows your name!  Think in the big picture, in the real world what good is talking to the big boss and giving him a great idea, and then leaving without even introducing yourself?

I remember when I was in college, I had some teaching assistants who in the 10th week still did not know the names of many of their students.  Was this their fault?  Were they partying too hard or just really bad with names?  It was neither, it was my fault!  Throughout the entire quarter I had failred to make a lasting impression that would force them to remember my name!

So to summarize, participate, participate, participate.  Here’s a bonus tip.  Email the TA before the discussion session with a quick question, or a follow-up question after the section.  This helps ensure the TA knows your first and last name and to not confuse you with other students who may have the same first name.