Category Archives: Topics

It’s that time of year again. Thousands of students will line the lengths of bleachers across America—donning drapey gowns and a full head of hat hair—and wait patiently to commence the next phase of their young-adult lives. But before that, they’ll bear witness to some of the most notable academic, political and pop-culture figures of the Twenty-First Century speak on adulting, some of which will give some pretty darn good advice.

If you’re graduating this year, or if you’re just wondering what you’re doing here and could use a good pep talk, be sure to check out some of our favorite advice straight from the mouths of this year’s best commencement speakers.

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Why do some landlords prelease? To ward off the possibility of vacancies, of course. There’s nothing worse for a landlord than a unit sitting vacant—each month that goes by is a month’s worth of rent metaphorically thrown in the trash. It’s for this reason that preleasing can act as an insurance policy for landlords; one that ensures you won’t be missing out on any potential revenue. But are there other advantages?

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Colleges around the nation are home to some of the most loved characters who help lead their team to victory! Mascots are a symbol of school spirit to help rev up the crowd, inspire fans, and intimidate the opposing team. However, some mascots just don’t quite live up to those expectations. We understand that with so many different teams and colleges that coming up with a unique mascot name cannot be the easiest task. After taking a deeper look into what mascots exist, we’re shaking our heads at these characters. In no particular order, here’s our list for some of the most outrageous college mascots.

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You Tweet at your favorite celebrities. You “like” your favorite artists and restaurants and you “like” that your friend posted a brand new selfie on Facebook. You’re constantly Snapchatting throughout the day making sure you look oh so adorable in the infamous puppy filter. Ever consider taking your social media obsession and turning it into your dream job?

On average, as reported by CNN, Americans spends over ten hours a day looking at a screen, consuming media. That time is divided between cellphone use, computers, video games, and TV. Of that time, it is projected that the average person between the ages of 18-64 spends 3.5 hours a day on social media, where as teens nowadays spend up to nine hours a day on their favored social media platforms, according to Social Media Today.

Taking data from LinkedIn, Rent College Pads put together a list of universities you should attend if you want to land a job in the social media world. Listed below are the number of employees that work for Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter that graduated from that particular university, as well as, what that university is most known for!

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The University of Illinois, where trees and parking are plentiful and housing is not. (Flickr)

There will always be construction; it’s one of those things in life that’s inevitable. Maybe the road you most frequently travel on to get to class has been torn up for the past year and is just about to finish, and you’re getting hopeful that finally—FINALLY—your commute will be a little less painstaking. We hate to break it to you, but the week that project finishes, another one is going to crop up on this same route. That’s the nature of public works—some things are always happening.

Rent is the same way; it’s always going to go up. Inflation—that thing your grandparents can never fully understand—is an unrelenting force that seems to push rental rates up across the country, basically every year.

We analyzed data pulled from the U.S. American Community Survey, done by the Census Bureau, and zeroed in on 200 cities that are home to universities across the country. We found that the cost of rent increased from 2010 to 2015 at all but eight of them. Oof.

Why do rents go up? You can blame the law of supply and demand for that. A lack of rental housing (low vacancy rates), an increase in enrollment, a shortage of dorm rooms and inadequate new off-campus housing development means more students searching and not enough places to go around. This results in a market whose scale is heavily weighted in favor of landlords looking to collect rent.

At some campuses, there are enough luxury apartments to house virtually every student who’s looking to live off-campus. At others? The situation is much bleaker. From the survey data, we looked at the 20 campuses that have seen the biggest increases in rent over the past five years and assessed whether or not there’s a reason for students to be hopeful that rents would be dropping anytime soon.

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Google’s headquarters in Mountain View. (Flickr)

How does free food, arcade games, a bowling alley, a laundry and fitness facility, and free massages at work sound? Let’s not forget to mention Wi-Fi-enabled shuttle transportation to and from work, onsite doctors, 18 weeks paid maternity leave and education reimbursement.

These are just a few great perks Google offers their employees! This is definitely not your typical nine to five office job. Arguably the best place to work in the world, Google employees over 57,000 “Googlers” in more than 70 offices throughout 40 different countries. Google’s tech headquarters, Googleplex, is located in Mountain View, California. Business Insider ranked Google as the number two in their Best Companies To Work For In America article and Universum put Google in the number one spot for the World’s Most Attractive Employer.

So how does one land a job at Google? Using data from LinkedIn we’ve compiled a list of top schools whose graduates have moved on from college and into a career with Google. Continue reading →

The bowling alley at 900 Factory in Logan, Utah near Utah State University. (900 Factory Website)

College living isn’t quite as simple as it used to be. No longer is your only option a dilapidating house with five people you’ll soon know all too well. Over the years, hundreds of luxury off-campus student housing complexes have been popping up around the nation. Even having granite counter tops and a pool just isn’t enough of a draw for students at some campuses.

To step up their game, the players in the student housing industry have had to include other amenities that set them apart from the rest. Here’s a list of some over-the-top and crazy amenities that no student needs, but every student enjoys! Continue reading →