5 Tips For Skinny Guys to Gain Muscle Fast

I was always looking for ways to build muscle fast. This article hits close to home for me, I was a skinny guy who always wanted to get ripped, but never was able to. Until I learned a couple key lessons that I want to share with you today.

In today's day and age, there is so much focus on losing weight and burning fat that often there is nowhere to turn for the skinny guy who wants to gain muscle. Then the skinny guy finds weight gainers and tries them, or some other worthless supplement, and never really understands why he is not big and muscular like the other guys at the gym.

Well, hard gainers there is hope for you! Here are my 5 ways to build muscle fast for skinny guys

1) 10 Reps Max

If you are lifting beyond 10 reps then you are actually using more of your slow twitch muscles. Keep your weights heavy and don't go beyond 10 reps. You need to hit the maximum amount of muscle fibers. If your goal is really to get ripped, then you have to get into heavy weight mode.

2) Quick and Intense

Hardgainer workouts need to be intense you don't need to spend two hours a day at the gym for your skinny muscles to grow. Your sets need to be done closer together, I generally believe in a 30-60 second rest between sets. Between different exercises, try to get it set up and start your first rep in about 2 min. To begin you may feel out of your comfort zone. Trust me though this one tip alone will increase your muscle density dramatically over the next month or two.

Your cardio should also follow suit, check out this info on interval training, the best kind of cardio.

3) Max Out Only Once Per Muscle Group

You don't have to go to failure every time you pick up a weight. You want to keep your muscles stimulated and in growth mode. You don't however want to rip them to shreds so that it takes 2 weeks for them to recoup. This is not effective muscle building and is not one of the ways to build muscle fast. If you take one heavy exercise and go to failure on it, then you aim for about 90% of the way to failure for the rest you will be doing at more than enough to stimulate your muscles. For example, if you are working your shoulders and doing presses and upright rows in one day. Pick your presses and go to failure on them. Don't however go to failure on your upright rows and whatever else you are doing for your shoulders.

4) Focus On Compound Exercises

You will never build the muscles you want to by doing shoulder shrugs and leg extensions. This is not one of the ways to build muscle fast. Sure there is a time for these, but lets face it you are doing these because they are easier than what you should be doing. Your hardgainer workouts need to center around the following kind of exercises. Legs - Squats and Deadlifts (these are the most important of all) Chest - Bench press, and Dips Back - Rows and Pull ups or Pull Downs Shoulders - Presses

It's that simple. You can vary these exercises by doing them at different angles and in different orders, but these are the exercises that are going to beef you up. Simple as that.

Want the best advice on exercise that provide the best ways to build muscle fast?

5) Put On More Plates

You should be keeping a log, so I suggest that you take a little log book around with you at the gym. Keep a routine and track your reps/sets and weights. You can also put little notes down, like how your muscles felt etc. This way you can track your progress. You should be trying to increase your weight by about 5% every other week. You simply must keep improving to keep building and stimulating those muscles. Especially if you are a hard gainer trying to get ripped.

Hardgainers Unite

This is not your typical bodybuilding advice, but if you are reading this and are a skinny guy looking to get ripped, then you are not your typical bodybuilder. You are looking for ways to build muscle fast and these are the best ways to do that. Like I said in the intro, I was 6' tall and about 155 lbs soaking wet. Now I am still 6' but have graduated up to 200lbs and that is real muscle. Trust me?if a bean pole like me can get ripped, so can you.

- Gareth Durran

天秤爱上一个人的种种表现

1.看见你就笑－－－我觉得这是喜欢的首要条件吧，就算再隐藏，看见喜欢的人，心里的喜悦是掩饰不了的。但天平太礼貌了，这只是他们最外的一层吧。

2.常在你身边－－－喜欢一个人，时刻都希望在对方身边，但是天平是很害羞的，不会笨到坐在喜欢的人身边（没表白时），特别是别人让他或她坐到你身旁时，她或他绝对不坐，更是有戏！！～～（但前提是你们是谈得来得）但是，起码，他或她会常出现在你眼前，喜欢的表现看第三点

3.眼神接触－－－－虽然坐不了身边，眼神的偷望都是吧里的朋友公认的吧，请大家不要害羞，就用很坦诚微笑看着天平吧（记得要多次重复这动作），如果眼神接触时，对方望你后眼神笑笑但马上转开，接着变得很高兴，话忽然多了（虽然不再看你，但是他或她的余光绝对可以扫到你的)说明对方是表现给你看。

4.身体接触－－－－这招真的很好区别的，天平再暧昧也不可能对一般朋友或不喜欢的人做身体接触。如果你常常靠近她或他身边，有时不小心碰到身体的敏感部位时（不小心，但不要做色狼）对方没有退后或者好像没事发生一样，证明你们的关系已经很不错了. 天平男对关系好的女可以打闹，但不会主动靠在她们身上，绝对会留有空间的，但对喜欢的人就会身体接触都可以：

例子1： 天平男拿一样东东，前面有几个他很熟的女挡着（你的潜在情敌），入他会退后一点，身体不会接触（恭喜你，他还不是喜欢她们）。但是他喜欢的人在前面（他也觉得你喜欢他时）他会很自然地身体靠着你去拿一样东西。

例子2：天平MM还是GG，只要她或他心里是喜欢你，就算你拉着他或她的手，对方也不会有反应的。下雨，或坐电梯是，你特地用身体贴着她或他，如果对方让你身体完全贴在一起都不退后，那就大大地恭喜啦！！



5.突然的沉默，尴尬的气氛－－－－－天平的人很怕冷场的，一般和好的朋友来说都不会出现冷场，如果，他或她和其他异性都从不冷场，大大闹闹，唯独和你这位好友出现冷场，或互相都不知说啥时，你在望着她或他，给个微笑，他或她会宛然一笑时，这就是喜欢啦，因为天平遇到喜欢的人在面前时，脑袋瓜就不会太好使的，聪明的他们有时紧张就会乱，除了说错话，还会出现尴尬的气氛，而且他们的语速都会很快，当你问：“你刚啥意思？你说什么？”他或她就会答：“算，你不懂，或 只说一次，听不到就算”嘻嘻，有耐心的人遇到爱情时就会乱，谁还重复得了？～～

6.不会主动问你要电话－－－－－呵呵，但是，却老玩你的电话，其实她或他就是想知道你有没有记他的电话，或者看看你有没有男或女友，给的暗示：你还不问我电话号码？？？？ 这时，你一定要打蛇随棍上，马上介绍你的手机，然后再看他的手机，然后看看对方会不会表示拿你电话。。。。。（一般，对方都会主动要的～～只要你跟这个门他或她进）

7.一天到晚都试探问你有没有男或女朋友， 如常问：“这东东谁送的？”“周末佳人有约吧？”（如果常这样问，就是喜欢你了，想知道你是否有喜欢的人，自己有没有机会）

8.答应你无理的要求－－－－这种无理的要求是男女交往中出现的，如，你要他贴身或心爱的物品，他或她都给你；你无意对他或她有意义的要求，她或她记住，并努力去做，还会告诉你自己的进度（重视你，喜欢你）.撒娇要他或她唱歌等很傻的事，她或他口头上不肯，但最后都败给你。。。。你让他或她帮忙做作业，写东东，拿东东，他或她肯定做到（虽然口头上会埋怨，但行动完成了）呵呵，恭喜你啦～～

9.告诉你对某人不好的看法或表现出真实的自己－－－－－－天平是完美的人，在一般人眼中都是脾气很好的，和平为主，但是很少听到她或他对人的反面评价。如果你的他或她跟你抱怨谁不好或心烦事，或者发点小脾气，呵呵，她或他把你放到心上了，只有对信任的人才会表示心中的真实～～（记住，千万不要把这些话外泻出去）

10.关心你的困难，啥事都会告诉你－－－－天平是风，他或她一般不会把行踪告诉别人，除非他或她拜托你请假～～ 但是，如果对方无意中会透露自己要去哪玩，和谁在一起，邀你一起去。。。。跟你说，就是喜欢你，让你了解她或他～～

11.想认识你的朋友，这条是男天平特有的～～ 女天平就不一定～～

12.很自然地让你用他或她的东东，也很自然地用你的东东，从借到不用还，就是不分你我的感觉，呵呵~~(只要你好好注意一下，你会发现，天平和异性的这种不分你我的默契只有喜欢的人专属的，如你不确定，你可以不还，如果她或他发现不见,嚷到： “谁拿了我的。。。？”你答：“我啊～”对方马上无奈笑笑，不追你还就算，呵呵，喜欢你啦～

13.时刻在你面前说出他或她的爱好，人生目标～～ 并表明要好好努力～～这种分享只有在心爱的人面前才会说的，天平虽然朋友多，但是他们一般都不会透露自己的野心或想很成功的心，只有在亲人和喜欢的人面前才会放松和说出来～

Apple boss Steve Jobs reveals iPhone 4 may be recalled

The much-vaunted new iPhone 4 may be recalled, Apple boss Steve Jobs revealed last night.

Posting a message on the social networking site Twitter, the tycoon said: ‘We may have to recall the new iPhone. This I did not expect.’

Launched in Britain last week, the £500 handset has been dogged by technical problems.
Steve Jobs shows Russian President Dimitry Medvedev the new iPhone 4. The Apple boss has revealed the new phone may be recalled following a glut of complaints

Steve Jobs shows Russian President Dimitry Medvedev the new iPhone 4. The Apple boss said the new phone may be recalled following a glut of complaints

Reception has been found to cut out when users cover a metal band built into the phone’s bottom left-hand corner.

The new iPhone was also said to be unsuitable for left-handed people.

Mr Jobs responded to complaints about the new iPhone losing its signal by telling users to 'just avoid holding it in that way'.

Angry users have complained that the phone's reception suddenly plunges to almost zero when they simply hold it in their hand.

Dozens of videos have been placed on YouTube showing the iPhone 4 losing signal the moment the metal antenna that surrounds the edge of the new device is covered.

Mr Jobs issued his bizarre advice as he responded to an email from a user on the Ars Technica technology news site who had complained about the sudden loss of signal.
A clip from an iPhone 4 advert which shows the model holding the device in the 'wrong' way

A clip from an iPhone 4 advert which shows the model holding the device in the 'wrong' way

In an astonishingly blunt response, Mr Jobs replied: 'Just avoid holding it in that way. All phones have sensitive areas'.

In a statement, Apple said: 'Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas.'

'This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.'

Apple claims that using one of its 'bumpers' - which cost £25 each and clip over the iPhone to protect it - will stop the user's hand interfering with the signal.
apple1iphone2.jpg

Another iPhone 4 ad shows the model's hand blocking the antenna

The firm is selling the rubber bumpers on its website but none will be shipped to the UK until July 16th.

Users have flooded Twitter with rumours about the problem and stop-gap remedies including using tape to cover the bottom of the phone.

Left-handed users are being particularly affected because when they hold the phone in their left hand their fingers cover more of the right-hand side of the phone - where the antenna is.

The left side of the iPhone 4 receives Wi-Fi signals while the right side picks up the 3G signal for calls.

Technology website T3 ran a test using one of the ‘bumper’ cover for the phone which appears to solve the issue.

Danish wireless technology expert called Gert Frølund Pedersen told Wired magazine that the problem is probably because the phone’s new antenna is built into the metal frame which surrounds the device.

‘Human tissue will have an inhibitory effect on the antenna. Touch means that a larger portion of the antenna energy turns into heat and lost.

'This makes the antenna less efficient to send and receive radio signals,’ he said.

A loss of signal, known as attenuation, can occur when an antenna is bridged.

Holding it in your hand will change the length of the antenna and interfere with the specific wavelengths it is calibrated to pick up.

The Apple iPad also faced some teething problems when it was launched with users reporting problems when they tried to connect to wi-fi. A software update had to be issued to sort this problem out.
A new iPhone complete with black rubber 'bumper' which Apple claims will help solve the problem

A new iPhone complete with black rubber 'bumper' which Apple claims will help solve the problem

And the iPhone 4 is not the first Apple 3G phone to have problems with its reception - users also reported problems with the earlier iPhone 3GS when it was first released too.

There have also been early reports of problems with the iPhone’s screen.

Launched by Steve Jobs as ‘retina display’, with an paralleled definition and number of pixels, some users in the US have complained about some yellow discolouration.

The spots can appear in corners and the thin bands have shown up toward the tops and bottoms of customers' screens.

Some Apple insiders on web forums have claimed that the yellow colour is down to the clue that the firm uses to bond the glass on its screens which has not had the time to evaporate.

They claim that the discolouration will clear after a day or two as the glue evaporates.

The iPhone 4 was unveiled earlier this month. At the time, Mr Jobs said it represented 'the biggest leap since the original iPhone'.

It offers video calling, a higher-resolution display and the ability to record and view high-definition video.

The new handset updates the iPhone 3GS which launched a year ago and sold more than a million units in its first weekend.

A spokesperson for Apple was not immediately available to comment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1289965/Apple-iPhone-4-recalled-says-Steve-Jobs.html#ixzz0s3G4UAQo

Why British students are flocking to America

Forget Oxbridge. The cream of Britain’s undergraduates are being seduced by North American universities. Where does this leave our own stuffy, underfunded institutions?
Charlotte Hunt-Grubbe

Imagine a dinner party in west London. The wine is flowing and so is the conversation. A successful baby-boomer father turns to the woman on his left and boasts: “Chloe’s at Oxford, you know.” But she merely raises an eyebrow. Oxbridge is so common these days. “Henry’s at Yale,” she replies coolly. In the silence that follows the envy is palpable as the man, who is used to feeling superior, realises he’s missed a trick. This is the nightmare scenario propelling today’s pushy parents to go one step further for their school-leaving children. The bar has been raised. The best British universities no longer carry enough cachet to impress.

At a North American university fair in the towering panelled hall of King’s College School, Wimbledon, one mother hovers protectively over her 16-year-old son and whispers, conspiratorially: “We haven’t told anyone.”

Of course they haven’t: they want to get one up on them. “Our friends have no idea we are considering the States.” Her son stands obediently mute among the din from throngs of kids quizzing delegates at stalls emblazoned with Harvard, Yale, MIT and the rest. Their excitement suggests the secret is out. The higher education to die for is across the pond.

Buoyed by glowing feedback from students already in America, the “Obama effect” and international recruitment efforts by American universities, British students are increasingly badgering their teachers for information about American degrees. “I realised it was an important area of the boys’ lives and I didn’t know enough,” says Andrew Halls, King’s energetic headmaster.
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* Middle class tighten grip on top universities

A male member of the audience leans close. “The parents here are very upwardly mobile. Very,” he says, catching my gaze and widening his eyes dramatically before recoiling as if he’d said nothing at all. But a brief scan of the crowd reveals only a few fathers’ heads canopying above the crowd and an occasional stylish mother. Surely this is helicopter parent utopia — where are the rest? “We didn’t invite them,” says Halls; the idea was for the students to find out for themselves. One American delegate reveals why: “I frequently meet with a student and the parent does all the talking and the child stands there like a ventriloquist’s dummy. One wanted to move into her daughter’s dorm room.”

When I was at school, American universities weren’t on the radar. My US stint in 1996 was my headmistress’s pioneering attempt to open us up to study abroad. I was plucked from my sixth-form biology class and whisked off to a genetics lab perched on Long Island’s coastline an hour’s drive from New York. In the entire year there I met only one Brit my age on campus. Nowadays, Jack Wills-clad exports are guaranteed sightings on any top American university campus. Right now, there are 4,352 undergraduates from the UK out there, 3% up on the previous academic year, and - thanks in part to a few high-profile recruits like the Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, who snubbed Cambridge for the liberal Brown University in Rhode Island - top US and Canadian universities are in vogue.

“People automatically think I’m so intelligent,” says Londoner Charlotte Beecham. “They love the accent.” The ferociously hip 21-year-old, drawn to the artsy glamour of New York University’s Greenwich Village campus in Manhattan, is unabashed about its lure.

“It’s the money,” she says. “The facilities are insane. In lectures, every seat has a pop-out map book, and my campus has a NYU Starbucks and flags everywhere, and basketball teams and everyone is really enthusiastic, and the library is nine floors and open 24 hours.”

With just a few UK students among more than 21,000 undergraduates, it takes a gutsy soul to hunker down here. “Some days I feel quite alone, and New York is intimidating from time to time, but you just get on with it.” She has moved on from her old London schoolmates. “They’re jealous,” she shrugs. “I’ve made new friends and tried new places and they are pretty much doing the same things, which I think is quite dull.”

So, who’s applying? “It tends to be a girl who sees herself in the world on a big stage,” says Vicky Tuck, principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College. “Parents have raised their children to be very aspirational, and the child pursues excellence with an international outlook.” Lisa Montgomery, a private-education consultant specialising in US undergraduate admissions, agrees. “The families tend to shop globally and vacation globally; it’s the same for education.”

But coughing up thousands, over £30,000 a year for the top universities, means many parents like to know precisely what their child has said on their application forms and are furious if they are sidelined. “Universities struggle with the freedom-of-information laws,” says one delegate. “If the student is 18 or over, we can’t give out any information about grades or what is on their forms without written authorisation from the student. You can imagine how that goes.”

Snobbery and oneupmanship aren’t the only reason parents look stateside. At the fair, I chat to a father and his son, a gentle kid who balances on crutches, tucking his crippled leg to one side. “He’s so excited about going,” the father says. “I feel the education is the best.

But,” he glances tenderly at his son, “it comes out top for other reasons too.” Funding for disability access comes easily when there are bulging coffers to raid, and money is something the top American institutions have in excess. Even their state-run universities have plenty to go around. “We are publicly funded as opposed to publicly under-funded,” the University of British Columbia delegate jokes, taking a jibe at what many consider to be the flailing attempt at government support for our own pillars of excellence.

After trawling the rain-soaked, facility-starved UK campuses, entering an American equivalent is like stepping into nirvana for some parents - and the pulling power of these dazzling displays is not lost on those staging them. “I only want the best for my girls,” says Charlotte Beecham’s father, Robert, a private-company director who has lost both his daughters to the States and whose son will soon join them across the pond. “We did a proper survey of what was available in this country, and compared it to the east coast of America. It was all over in five minutes.”

The need to sell their wares has only recently dawned on British universities, which, before hefty tuition fees and global league tables turned applicants into consumers, were happy to stuff hordes of parents into a grotty lecture hall, mumble through a few slides and wave them towards the canteen. In the States, it’s all about one-on-one time with the cash cows, and boy, does it pay off. “The way the faculty members speak to parents over there, the way the school is portrayed, the motivation and encouragement and the sheer chasing of good achievement through honest labour... you just can’t walk away from it,” says Beecham’s awestruck dad.

It may seem unfair to compare America’s well-oiled, heftily endowed recruitment machine, liberally serviced by alumni who pour money back into their alma maters, to our embryonic one — with 2.9% (£252 billion) of GDP spent on higher education, the US can easily entice top students and researchers to star institutions, something that the UK, at 1.3% (£18.3 billion), struggles to do. Nevertheless, education is on an unswervingly global trajectory and what we’ve got is, well, in some cases, embarrassing.

“You can’t go into adult life, especially when there is no job for you, with a £20,000 debt and not care that you had poor teaching,” says Halls, who warned at the conference about “dumbed-down”, “apathetic” teaching at some of the UK’s best institutions. “We all know UK tuition fees are going to go up. Pupils think Oxbridge and Imperial are fantastic, but they quickly hit disillusionment and wonder if, instead of paying £20,000 to go through a broken system, they could pay more - or try to get these surprisingly good bursaries - and study in the States.”

Sceptics, however, believe the “flight to the US” is less about parents wanting to give their child an elite education and more about their saving face when the child doesn’t make the grade for Britain’s golden quintet: Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and LSE. “There is a perception that getting into some of the UK universities is more difficult,” says Tuck. Particularly for privately educated pupils. “One of the problems with top UK universities is the pressure the government’s been putting on them to widen access,” confides an expert. “There is concern that students at independent schools may not get a fair crack of the whip. Parents are increasingly looking at Harvard, Yale and Princeton and the others so their children can compete educationally on equal terms.”

For many, however, the leap is for more superficial reasons, a point not lost on Wellington’s headmaster, Anthony Seldon. “The vogue at the moment is for America,” he says. “I expect in 10 years’ time they will be talking about Chinese universities. It’s human nature to boast that you or your children have been somewhere, got a bigger car or bigger house or better holidays or your child goes to a better school or university.” Vicky Tuck concurs: “Oxford and Cambridge still occupy a very high-status position but some people regard getting into an American Ivy League university as a more prestigious thing to have done,” she says.

Such comments are supported by an Oxbridge-educated, early-thirties aristocrat who, when asked whether an Ivy League stint is seen in his parents’ circle as something to crow about, admits: “It’s absolutely true. A Harvard degree is a ‘one up’.” This same elitist British crowd are happy to pay whatever it takes to “keep their options open”, notes Lisa Montgomery. “There’s a rise in old-school, Eton-going British families contacting us,” she says.

Social cachet is, however, usually the last thing on the students’ minds. I speak to another hopeful, a honey-blonde 16-year-old with an Identikit mother. The teen has the sophisticated poise of a beauty queen with “destined for California” invisibly etched on her forehead.

So, why does she want to study in America? “It sounds fun?” she says, rolling her oversized eyes at the mother gurning anxiously by her side. “No, darling, that’s not what the lady asked. Why do you want to go?” The ingénue pauses, a slight indent on her brow. “Because it sounds great,” she decides. “The facilities, the parties, the men.”

Ah, the men. She is not alone in finding the brash Abercrombie-and-Fitch-wearing American hunks alluring; the Ivy League alumni are enough to make any girl gibber. In today’s enlightened times, however, the hope of snaffling a future CEO of Goldman Sachs is appealing but not the only path to wealth. As one female British student in her final year at Yale says, “I am here to become a CEO, not marry one.”

Charlotte Beecham baulks at the thought of hooking up with an American boy. “I’ve been really disappointed. I thought, ‘They can’t be worse,’ and I found that the men are so stupid. My new thing is I only aim 27-plus.”

Jasmine Hay, 19, from Walton-on-Thames, is more optimistic. “There are a lot of cute guys here, more than at my friends’ universities in the UK,” she confides from her dorm at Holder Hall on Princeton’s New Jersey campus, 18 months into her stint there. “They seem more confident and outgoing than their UK counterparts.” Saying that, she’s plumped for an Australian/English squeeze. Hay plans to major in chemistry, and volunteers two hours each week to teach local school kids, something she seamlessly slots around her own English, organic chemistry, physics and Spanish classes.

Parents keen to push their kids into higher learning stateside should note the words of Thomas Sprenkle, 29, an American graduate of Brown and Pennsylvania universities: “Even at exclusive colleges, heavy drinking, casual sex and soft drugs are prevalent,” he says. “Penn, Dartmouth and Cornell are Ivies with large ‘Greek scenes’ [undergraduate fraternities and sororities] and Princeton’s eating clubs are legendary for their booze-fuelled parties. Many of America’s liberal arts colleges are in isolated, rural areas where boredom often leads to drinking and casual sex.”

From her New York base, Beecham is non-plussed about the party scene. “In the city it’s very different to the fraternity/sorority scene,” she says. “I’ve taken trips with friends to Harvard and Penn and it is like the movies. People do play weird drinking games.” But not everyone wants to join the Greek scene. “At the time I loved it,” says Alice Howard, 26, a graduate of George Mason, Virginia. “When I met the sororities and found out what it was all about, it was ghastly.

I couldn’t bring myself to do it. At George Mason it was about having matching red sports cars and being cliquey. Watch any stereotypical American movie and it’s like that.”

Another rite of passage for American students is the infamous spring break, where popular Florida and Cayman resorts are taken over by legions of college students from all over the States, becoming “one massive booze-fuelled spree” which, says Sprenkle, “most students treat as a solid weekend of partying”. One alumni from the University of Toronto, who’s snogged “about 20 British girls”, says UK girls are seen as “a bit of a catch” and not remotely well behaved. This is countered, however, by an Ivy alumni who suggests that “British students are more likely to emulate grown-ups in hosting private dinner parties and participating in fancy balls.”

Although most families that send their kids across the Atlantic are ones that can freely splash cash (two-thirds of international undergraduates in America are funded this way), not all can. At Harvard, for example, “needs blind” funding lets kids from families on incomes of up to £33,000 go for free, and even those on up to £93,000 a year pay just £9,000. British families without those resources will do everything within their power to get their children there. “I met Brits in America who were down to their last pennies to give their children the education they never had,” says Robert Beecham. “It’s magnificent.”

David Naylor, a retired dentist from Penarth, near Cardiff, says he would have sold the house to fulfil his son’s dream of going to Harvard. Luckily, his razor-sharp son, Tim, 26, was a sure-fire hit for the university and, thanks to needs-blind funding, the cost to the family was about the same as for Tim’s brother to go to Falmouth University in the UK. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” says fair-haired rugby enthusiast Tim, now in his last year of barrister training in Cardiff with a top-of-the-range-pupilage in the bag. “The first five months were difficult. But I loved it. The study opportunities are out of this world, and the extras, the people that come in, the alumni you meet - incredible.”

He confesses that the move from his Welsh hometown was a wrench. “My grandfather passed away in my first few months and it was tough being so far away.” He also notes the period of adjustment, and of being “lost in translation”. “I found it very difficult socialising at first. Things like getting a pint when you’re 18 in a country where the legal age is 21. Proctors police you to make sure you’re not drinking. When I went back after Christmas a few rugby guys took me under their wing, we had a good season that year and from then on I loved it.”

Naylor considered Oxford but, a small-town boy from Wales, he felt “intimidated” and out of his depth on the Oxford interview circuit. His own comprehensive school in Wales “had no idea” how to apply to the States; he was the first to venture to America. He now works hard to raise awareness of funding available for talented, super-bright state-school kids, one group that is lagging behind in American applications.

Norman Renshaw, who manages Intuition Scholarships, a clearing-house for 110 non-Ivy-League universities with international scholarships to give away, aims to entice people to different locations, generally perceived to be the flyover zone — everywhere from Florida and Louisiana to Missouri and Idaho. “People think, ‘If I can get a good-quality, well-ranked university over there, it will only cost me $8,000 a year,’ ” he says. These universities needn’t be sniffed at. “They may not have the Ivy League tag,” says Halls, “but you pass a lot of them on the world league tables before you get to somewhere like Edinburgh University [ranked 20th in the world, just behind the University of Michigan]”.

“I had universities throwing scholarships at me when I applied to the US,” says Hays. “But they were lesser-known ones. It’s annoying that Princeton only give financial aid if you can’t afford to come — they don’t give scholarships, even for the brightest kids, if you can pay. And my family can.” But if you are sporty, or after the American experience and aren’t too fussed about the Ivy Leagues, there are plenty of alternatives with extremely lucrative scholarship deals.

Hayley Thompson, 23, a highly motivated ex-Millfield girl, turned down a medical degree at King’s College London for a scholarship and a broad liberal arts education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She considers it a great decision. “I sailed in Maine and conserved manatees in Mexico. It opened me up to experiences like Thanksgiving and Hallowe’en.”

For the basketball coach Matt Shaw, 31, the outstanding sports facilities and rigorous coaching were the draw. After four years between the College of the Desert in California and University of Mary in North Dakota, he’s now running the Noel-Baker basketball academy in Derby and sticking close to the US style of teaching: “If you didn’t study, you didn’t play. That’s a powerful way to teach kids.”

Paul Kelly, the headmaster of Monkseaton High School in North Tyneside, advises caution, however. “You have to be very careful what you buy into.” His school made headlines in 2000 when its pupil Laura Spence was rejected by Oxford then taken on by Harvard, a move that sparked accusations of “political elitism”. “America has a much wider range of universities than England, both better and worse, and it is highly inadvisable to go to one that doesn’t appear on the league tables, has a very small number of students or is very new.”

Location is also important. No matter how fantastic the scholarship deal is, no child is going to thank you for sending them to a No Country for Old Men-style outback, where a sweltering, dust-ridden trip to the pub ends staring down the barrel of a redneck’s gun. “America is not all beaches and cosmopolitan and the things you see on the television,” says Kelly. “There are states with good universities like Colorado and Kansas, but the environment can be harsh and it’s a long way to go to get to anywhere.”

And as much as aspirational parents might hope their child is a Steve Jobs in the making, it’s best to be realistic. “You can get kids who think, ‘I won’t get to Oxbridge so I’ll go to Yale,’” says Halls. “Which is idiotic.” Professor Niall Ferguson, the British historian who, before his current post as a professor at Harvard, taught at Oxbridge, adds: “It’s about twice as hard to get into Harvard as it is Oxford. Only 7% of applicants are successful.” This figure, an all-time low, follows others with falling admission rates such as Yale at 7.5%, down almost 1%, and Stanford at 7.6%, a fall of over 2% on the year before.

Anyone who does get into a top American uni soon realises that the study is intense. “My son says he’s startled by the amount of teaching he gets compared with his friends studying here,” says Emma Duncan, the deputy editor of The Economist, whose son Jack Harman, 19, is studying at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. And Natalie Durant, 19, who is three months into a degree at Stanford, says it can be tough. “Sometimes you feel everyone is so much cleverer than you, or better at a sport or just generally more accomplished,” she says - quite something coming from a top-of-the-range ex-Lady Eleanor Holles schoolgirl.

James Cartright, 32, an officer with the Royal Gurkha Rifles, who graduated from Rutgers in New Jersey nine years ago, calls the learning “brilliant”. His sentiment is shared by Jasmine Hay. “I love the open structure of the degree, and how I can choose to take classes in pretty much anything,” she raves. “It’s incredible. I’ve learnt so much about subjects like philosophy that I never would have got to take in the British system.”

But it’s not for everyone. For those who know exactly what they want to study, a liberal-arts degree won’t specialise fast enough. And some subjects, like law, don’t transfer overseas without a lot more work when you get back. “I recommend the cheapest option,” says Sprenkle. “If the American school offers full funding, take it. Resources and facilities will likely be better but not necessarily the teaching. I have a hard time justifying that my diploma, even from a leading university, cost my parents $140,000.”

British university leavers tend to soar up career ladders, leaving their American counterparts eating their dust — something that irritates many Ivy League graduates who have to return to university to re-train in a speciality. But a stretch in America can open doors, as Alice Howard can attest. “After graduation I moved to New York and got an internship in fashion PR,” she says. “When I came back to London for a holiday I went to the PR firm Freud where I’d interned before the States and said, ‘Look! Hire me.’ I think there was a sense of, ‘This girl took herself to the States so if she wants something, she’ll go for it.’ I was thrown in at the deep end in the fast-paced, cut-throat fashion-PR world in New York and it definitely helped me be punchier in London.”

Cartwright also got a boost. “Americans believe you can do stuff,” he says. “I want to become an astronaut, how am I going to do that? Let’s give it a shot. I’m a bit like that anyway, but I thrived on the unfettered enthusiasm.”

It’s worth sparing a thought for those who have a lot to lose, in the short term at least: the parents. Financial loss pales in comparison to the loss of control over a child and the physical separation. “It’s a complete and utter disaster,” wails Robert Beecham. “But they are happy - which is all well and good as long as they don’t meet any nice American boys.” The internet offers some comfort: Hay emails her mother daily and skypes her family twice a week, but Montgomery sees many parents struggle with the decision to let them go. “They largely want their children to stay on the east coast to keep them closer,” she says. “Sending a child to California is daunting.”

And it’s worth being aware that the experience will change your child, possibly beyond recognition. Parents hoping for more sophistication may open the door to a strange creature in sweat pants with a Yogi Bear accent and a stomach to match. Others may notice alarming habits, like their previously TV-addicted child reading Kafka and trying out their newly acquired transatlantic lilt on anyone within earshot. But it’s highly likely that what comes back will be a delight. “Charlotte’s got an interview for a placement at American Harper’s Bazaar! It’s part of the deal - incredible, isn’t it?” says Beecham’s father proudly. Indeed, and how very à la mode.

How they rank:
The world's top universities

1 Harvard

2 Cambridge

3 Yale

4 University College London

5 = Imperial College London

5 = Oxford

7 Chicago

8 Princeton

9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

10 California Institute of Technology

Stupid in love

Stupidity is a quality or state of being stupid, or an act or idea that exhibits properties of being stupid. The root word stupid, which can serve as an adjective or noun itself, comes from the Latin verb stupere, for being numb or astonished, and is related to stupor.

There is no better time to be in love than summer. The days are long and the nights are warm, so it is the perfect time to lie in the grass, go for a bike ride, or just sit on the beach, even if it only lasts until September.

Let me tell you something, never have I ever been a size 10 in my whole life.
I always left the engine running and came to see what you would do if I gave you a chance to make things right.

So I made it even though Ethan told me this would be nothing, but a waste of time and he was right.

Don’t understand it, blood on your hands and still you insist on repeatedly trying to tell me lies. How come is that easy for you to spit out?

This is stupid and I am not stupid, don’t talk to me like I am stupid.

My new nickname is “You Idiot”, such an idiot, that’s what my friends are calling me when they see me yelling into my phone. They tell me let go; you are not the right one. I thought I saw your potential, guess that’s what made me dumb.

Scheming and cheating, why do I, therefore, enjoy wasting my time on it?

As my life flashes before my eyes, I am wondering will I ever see another sunrise?

Many won’t get the chance to sat goodbye, but it is too late to think of the value of my life.

I am terrified, but I am not leaving anywhere because I know I must pass the test.
So just pull the trigger.

To beat the froggiest of morning voices, I get out of bed ad tale a lumpish song along – a little lyric learned in kindergarten - Something about a boat.

I have found it in the bog of my throat before my feet have hit the ground, follows its wonky melody down the hall and into the loo, as if it were the most natural thing for a little boy to do, and lets it loose awhile in there to a tinkling sound while you lie still in bed, alive like you have never been, in love again with life. Afraid they will find us drowned here, drowned in more than our fair share of joy.

Don't I Love in Vain

Someone once told me that I have to choose what I win or lose, I cannot have everything.


Don't I take chances, I might feel the pain. Don't I love in vain as love won't set me free.


I could stand by the side, and watch this life pass me by. Be unhappy, therefore, but safe as could be.

Happiness is like the old man told me, look for it, but you'll never find it all.

Fling all the grudges that are tugging at your heartstrings.
Forgive her/him/them no matter how bad she/he/they hurt you.
Forgive yourself.

..'cause only then you can wangle the happiness that you're after, God willing.


You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

You are the guy who'll decide where to go.


~*~

I've spent most of my life walking under that hovering cloud, jealousy, whose acid raindrops blurred my vision and burned holes in my heart. Once I learned to use the umbrella of confidence, the skies cleared up for me and the sunshine called joy became my faithful companion.


~*~

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heart-ache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognise them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, to discover what is already there.

addicted to the pain

A hug is two hearts wrapped in arms, A hug is the shortest distance between friends.
If you're angry at a loved one, hug that person. And mean it. You may not want to hug - which is all the more reason to do so. It's hard to stay angry when someone shows they love you, and that's precisely what happens when we hug each other.

Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.


Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it.

Don't give your mind permission to get disturbed. A disturbed mind is easily influenced. This will cost you your peace. Learn to maintain your peace by freeing yourself from attachments. Competing or comparing yourself with others will not allow you to focus inwards. An inner focus allows you to keep your eye on your higher self. Remember your original nature. It allows you to forge a link with the Divine. Then it becomes easy to recognise useless thoughts and replace them with a spiritual perspective. A calm mind is not just peaceful, it is focused, self-directing and Divine.

In love relationships there is a fine line between pleasure and pain. In fact, it is a common belief that a relationship without pain is a relationship not worth having.
To some pain implies growth but how do we know when the growing pains stop and the pain pains take over?

Are we masochist or optimist if we continue to walk that fine line? When it comes to relationships how do you know when enough is enough?

We have seen each other three or four times a week since we could. We send each other mixed signals.

Why do I keep doing this to myself? I must be a masochist or something.

Why is it so hard for [us] to factor us into [our] life in any real way?

We are actually having real conversations. We are finally getting to know each other. Something that should have happened four months ago. It is like we are developing a friendship. Minus the fact that he is a douche whenever we are not hanging out and the physical part of our relationship. Yes, we are still very physical. That’s probably the hardest part to give up. In a place where I feel all alone being in your arms makes this place less lonely.

After we made love I new it was over. Did I ever really love you or was I addicted to the pain, the exquisite pain of wanting someone so unattainable?

I drove home on a complete high from the past 12+ hours. I was sad our Valentines weekend was cut short because of a special situation. Now I’m at home and questioning everything.

On the way home I was furious. Not with you, with myself. I was the real sadist. You might be the one with the whip but I was the one who tied myself up. Tied myself to a person who was terrified of being tied down.

I can not have my feelings dependent on someone who is so hot and cold with me.

When I am lacking any real connections with people here its not so easy to give one up even if it is unhealthy.

To all my friends:

I’m in the middle of this and I can’t, I can’t see. So I need you to yank me out of it. You have to say stuff, to yank me out of it.

I know what I’m doing to myself. I’m not an idiot. I’m just an idiot for continuing to do this. I’m just not sure what else to do.

I wanted to go to you but I felt like I was tied to the chair. Some part of me was holding me back, knowing I had gone too far, reached my limit. And just like that I had untied myself from you. I was free, but there was nothing exquisite about it.
Sometimes we need to stop analyzing the past, stop planning the future, stop figuring out precisely how we feel, stop deciding exactly what we want, and just see what happens.