Katie Naymon

We’ve all been there: it’s 2am, and you have a ten-page paper due in 12 hours. Your cursor blinks on the blank Word document, mocking you as you scramble through notes looking for something to write. Hours pass, and finally you open your Internet browser. With SparkNotes, Wikipedia and the entire web at your disposal, it’s incredibly difficult in these situations to resist copying and pasting material. It can sometimes be even more difficult to say no to a friend who wants to copy your math problem set. Cheating happens in college—no doubt about it. But read on for tips on how to resist the temptation to cheat and how to say no to friends who might pressure you into it.

What is cheating and why does it happen?

When you take someone else’s thoughts and ideas without crediting them to that person, you’re cheating. According to Dr. Rebecca Gladding, psychiatrist and author of You Are Not Your Brain, cheating tempts college students for two reasons. “Someone cheats usually because either they really hate the course and they just don’t care [or] they are completely stressed out and they want to do well and they’re afraid they’re not going to do well and there [are] a lot of outside pressures.”  Gladding notes that usually in college, students cheat because of the latter: too much stress and too much pressure to succeed. For Lisa*, a junior at Northwestern University, cheating was a tempting option because of stress. “I remember being tempted to do it a few times, especially during my first year when I felt like there was this immense pressure to do well,” she says.

Whether you’re a pre-collegiette poring over SAT prep books or an upperclassman getting ready to take the GRE, tests can be stressful. But they don’t have to be! From food to music to learning styles, there are multitudes of proven ways to do better on every test you take, from midterms to MCATs. 

1. Chew gum

You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s no urban legend. Baylor College of Medicine did a study in 2009 where students chewed gum during a standardized math test. The gum chewers scored better than the non-chewing control group. Chewing gum improves cognitive performance in adults because it stimulates the brain by increasing blood flow, according to the researchers. The best part? You probably already have a pack at the bottom of your purse. If you’re allowed to have gum during your test, start chewing to raise that score! Chewing pre-test may also help. 

2. Play some background music

By the time we’re in college, we all know the drill: we PMS, we get our period, most of us have mild to moderate cramping for a few days, the period ends. Repeat every month. For some girls, though, this pattern might suddenly change—and turn into a much more painful experience. A period accompanied by abnormally severe cramps might indicate something else is at play. Her Campus talked to Dr. Alain Joffe, medical director of the Johns Hopkins University Student Health and Wellness Center about what conditions appear to be just bad cramps, but are actually something else entirely. Read on to decipher if your cramps are normal or worthy of medical attention.

According to Dr. Joffe, normal menstrual cramps are cramps that last for a few days and respond well to painkillers, birth control or other self-care like heating pads. If you’ve suddenly got cramps that won’t go away, you need to seek out a doctor. Read on for the medical conditions that can make cramps worse for collegiettes.

1. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Whether you’re a virgin or are contemplating having sex with a new partner, first times can be nerve-wracking. There are many factors to consider, both emotional and physical. We talked to Heather Corinna, founder and executive director of Scarleteen, an independent, grassroots sexuality education and support organization and website. Corinna is a sexuality, contraception and abortion educator and counselor as well as a writer and activist. Read on for her and collegiettes’ advice on how to know when you’re ready for sex.

When is the right time to have sex in a relationship?

Some girls wait until marriage, some wait a few months and some just a few dates. There’s no recommended timeline—the right time to have sex is when you and your partner feel ready. Eva, a collegiette at Colby College, decided to lose her virginity a month into hooking up with the girl she liked. She says you know it’s a good time to have sex “once you stop thinking about it and don't doubt the person and trust they're on the same page,” she says. “I had a first time that was genuinely lovely. We fell hard and fast.” For others, it takes a bit longer to get comfortable. Veronica, a collegiette at Johns Hopkins, has dated her boyfriend for four months but has decided to wait to have sex. “I want to make sure I’m in love. I don’t want to have any doubts about it. You hear about a lot of people who do it and then regret it,” she says.