It's no secret that trade-in programs at on-campus bookstores are not exactly loved by students. After paying exorbitant amounts of money for a text in August, students often find themselves being given pennies on the dollar when they sell that same book back in April.

While I can't vouch for how much better (if at all) Amazon.com's new textbook trade-in program is, I can announce that now there's at least another option to consider. You can go to Amazon.com's trade-in site, enter your (in good condition) books, and see what they are worth. Amazon.com will then provide you with a shipping label (key fact to note: shipping is FREE), and then you are given an Amazon.com gift card as payment for what you send in.

It might be worth bookmarking their page to see what you can do with your books when this semester ends! Let me know how the process goes by emailing me or by writing about your experience in the comments section for this blog post.

InsideHigherEd.com reported on December 7 that major changes are coming to the GRE in early fall of 2011. Obviously, the changes are still a ways off, but they're good to know about if you plan to start studying next year; you'll need to make sure you're studying for the right test!

Some of the changes include:

• Don't have to answer one question on the computer before being allowed to go to the next one
• Change of the grading scale (will be from 130-170 instead of 200-800)
• No more analogies and antonyms (woot!)
• Use of a calculator is now permitted (double woot!)
• Longer test time (moving from 3 hours to 3 hours, 45 minutes)

I came across this vase while reading something totally unrelated to my work here on About.com, and thought it might be a great idea for college students in tight residence hall rooms (or small apartments). After completing a product review, I can honestly say that they make great gifts, are cheap, and just may be that perfect gift you've been looking for. You can go directly to the manufacturer's website or read my review for more information.

A recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research came to an interesting conclusion: while declaring your major early may mean you get more specialized training and education while in college, it may also mean that you are less likely to stay in that field of study as a long-term career. Declaring your major later may allow you to explore more options and, consequently, make a better long-term decision about what you'd like to do for the rest of your life. (Who knew?!)

December 1 is World AIDS Day, so in the spirit of the day I am offering the following advice and links.

Advice:

• Practice safer sex. Always.
• Know your HIV status -- and get tested if you don't.
• Educate yourself about AIDS. Even if you think you know a lot, challenge yourself to learn one new thing about AIDS today.

Links:

• How to put a condom on correctly
• FAQs about getting an AIDS test
• About.com Guide to AIDS website
• World AIDS Campaign website

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching announced the 2009 Professors of the Year. And the winners are (drum roll please!):

• Professor Brian P. Coppola at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Go Blue!)
• Professor Tracey McKenzie at Collin College (in Frisco, Texas)
• Professor Richard L. Miller at the University of Nebraska-Kearney
• Professor Robert C. Thomas at the University of Montana Western, Dillon

Congrats to the winners ... and to the students lucky enough to be in their classes!

I hope most of you are home (or at least en route) by now, enjoying a home-cooked meal and some quality time with your friends and families. I wanted to use my post today to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving and encourage you to take a moment and reflect on all that there is to be thankful for: the opportunity to pursue a college education, to better yourself through intellectual pursuit, to strive to make a difference in the world, and to work toward a degree that more folks don't have the chance to earn than do. Things in college may be stressful and frustrating sometimes, but really, at the end of the day ... wouldn't you rather be in college than not?

Happy Thanksgiving! Now go eat some pie.

Lincoln University (of Oxford, PA) hit the headlines when it began notifying students with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30 that they needed to either lose weight or take a course about exercise and nutrition. Needless to say, many students were upset, although the university is claiming that their requirement is part of their curriculum: being of fit mind and body includes actual physical health.

This one is sure to continue to be controversial. What do you think? Feel free to add your comments in the comment section of this post or in the forums.

The Rhodes Scholarships -- and Rhodes Scholars -- were announced on Sunday, November 22. The scholarships, which are some of the most prestigious available, "were established after the death of Cecil Rhodes, who dreamed of improving the world through the diffusion of leaders motivated to serve their contemporaries, trained in the contemplative life of the mind, and broadened by their acquaintance with one another and by their exposure to cultures different from their own."

Scholars are invited to Oxford University and take courses there. You can head to the Rhodes Scholarships website to see a list of winners (by both individual names and institutions) as well as short biographies of this year's recipients. Congrats to everyone!

Thanksgiving comes at the perfect time in the semester: midterms and the workload are picking up just as you need some time to wind down. Your visit home can be complicated, however, if you are considering bringing your college friend or college roommate home with you. You may not want to leave them alone for Thanksgiving, but you may not be sure if going home with you is the best alternative. Before extending the invite, make sure you consider all the factors.