Three Books Every College Student Must Read

With the amount of advice articles and books out there about college, you need to decide which advice you are going to take. Is there something that stands out for you in terms of writing and advice giving style? Are you already familiar with an author who writes about this subject? Is there a part of college you're dying to know?

Having read and heard of multiple college advice books, I have rounded up three of the ones I have turned to time and time again for advice and hope you will look into them as well:

Ruminations on College Life by Aaron Karo:

Ruminations is without a doubt, my favorite book about college life. Karo, who began writing Ruminations as an e-mail column during his freshman year at University of Pennsylavnia in 1997, makes college life sound like one big ongoing comedy hour.

Instead of dishing out generic advice, Karo writes about his own college experiences and within each tale, you can bet there will be at least one person saying "been there, done that." Karo's take on Greek Life, classes, dorm life, coming back home for break, and more; right up until graduation, will have you laughing until your stomach hurts.

The Naked Rommmate (and 107 Other Issues you Might Face in College) by Harlan Cohen:

Cohen is a syndicated college advice columnist and a well known speaker on campuses. His book takes common issues students face and adds personal experience, as well as stories from students across the country, and gives advice that is true to a T. Some of his advice is pretty funny.

In a chapter on taking good notes in class, he tells you to read the chapter and take notes. When talking about how to stay responsible at a party, Cohen encourages holding a small pet or yourself if that's what it takes to avoid the pressure to drink.

In spite of the oddball advice, Cohen gets serious when it comes to isses about sexual assault, the ugly side of Greek Life, and campus security. If you want to hear from someone who can be serious when the occasion calls, but can also crack jokes at times, The Naked Roommate may be just what you are looking for.

College Survival was published by Peterson's, an online college resource company. This book, like The Naked Roommate interviews students from across the country about their experiences, then uses that to give you advice about how to survive your own college experience. However, I found this book disappointing.

There is nothing you won't find in College Survival that you didn't already know. Most of the chapters are common sense, such as the ones about computers and the Internet, packing for school, and how to make friends. Furthermore, most of the students interviewed were only from Ivy League schools such as Stanford and Harvard. You can pick up this guide for the basics, but don't expect go get anything new out of it. Also, don't get it if you don't appreciate the sampling of students interviewed; I know I sure didn't. Why not get some students from not so big name schools as well?

There are many books about college out there so don't limit yourselves to just these. If you want to go beyond this list, type in terms such as "college life" or "college survival" into Amazon or chosen book purchasing web site of your choice. This list is just meant to give suggestions and starting points based on what I've read. No matter what you choose though, keep these books throughout your college career and pass them down to younger friends and family members who will soon begin their college years as well.