Beyond living with all your friends, eating whatever you want for dinner, and playing beer pong on Tuesday nights, what’s so great about college? Going to class in your pajamas. During the first week of the school year, it’s easy to spot the new freshmen: they’re the ones dressed in expensive jeans, button-up shirts and lace-up shoes. But after a couple of weeks on campus, even the freshmen will start falling for the appeal of rolling out of bed and schlumping to class in pajamas. And even those students who don’t have to be awake for 8:30a.m. classes tend to favor sweat pants, leggings-as-pants, and gym shorts instead of tailored clothing. But while it’s comfortable and drastically cuts down on morning prep time (allowing you to sleep later, of course), dressing like a clown when you’re headed to class is overrated, and here’s why.
College professors understand that their students are partying hard on the weekends and getting the maximum enjoyment out of living on their own without having to find full-time employment. But even the coolest, most laid back professors deserve to be shown a little respect. You wouldn’t show up to your girlfriend’s parents’ house in dirty sweats that you slept in, would you? It’s considered common courtesy in the real world to practice basic personal hygiene in the presence of anyone who’s your elder — or who’s teaching you something — and it should be in your campus bubble, too. Even if you barely survived an all-nighter of partying or studying, wash your face, comb your hair, brush your teeth and pull on some tailored pants or shorts — even if they’re yesterday’s jeans. Making the effort to show this kind of respect isn’t just a one-way street, either. Your professor will have more respect for you and take you more seriously as a student, perhaps singling you out for internship opportunities or being more receptive to writing recommendations for you in the future.
If you’re still a freshman, you may want to argue that it’s more important to impress your friends than your professors. But your fellow classmates care more about your personal hygiene than you might think. If you haven’t showered after a late night out, you probably smell, even if you don’t notice it yourself. And what girl is going to want to go out with a guy who doesn’t brush his teeth, or wears pilled-up striped pajamas in daylight? Depending on your campus culture, students at one college may dress up more than students at other schools, but stick to the basics: wear bottoms that button, make mouthwash your morning wake-up call, wear deodorant, and if you haven’t showered, fake it as best as you can.