If I had to make a list of the best things in the world, top ten lists would be at the top of my list. Who doesn’t like top ten lists? If you don’t, you’re going straight to the top of my “Top Ten People Who Hate Awesome Things” list.

Speaking of top ten lists, I was recently featured in Viralogy’s list of the Top Ten Personal Finance Bloggers You’ve Never Heard Of. The blogs were objectively ranked using a secret/magic formula based on the following stats: linkbacks, traffic, comments, authority, followers, and retweets. I think the formula works great because Broke Grad Student made the list at #7.

I’m not exactly sure why I’m posting about this on my blog. If you’re reading this, then you’ve obviously already heard about my blog. You’re staring at it right now. Enough about myself, let’s talk about something else.

For those of you who are curious, Viralogy is the brainchild of Jun Loayza, and it looks really promising so far. If you’re a college student or recent graduate with an entrepreneurial itch, be sure to check out Jun’s video interviews with other young bloggers and entrepreneurs on the Viralogy blog. The interviews are interesting, entertaining, inspiring, and educational.

The 22-year-old virgin, Natalie Dylan (pictured right), is making headlines again. If you missed the story the first time around, she’s the girl selling her virginity to pay for college. Recent reports state that she has received around 10,000 bids for her virginity so far with a high bid of $3.7 million. Yeah, that should cover the cost of grad school.

It turns out Natalie is following in the footsteps of her 23-year-old sister, Avia (pictured left). Avia worked as a prostitute for three weeks at the infamous Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada, earning enough money to pay for her own degree. Do I detect a hint of sibling rivalry or is this the beginning of a family business?

While the Dylan sisters may be paying their way through college (and much more) by selling their bodies, some of us don’t have the body and/or the morals/values to pull this off. For those of you who want to pay for college while keeping your underpants on, I’ve put together this list of 6 ways to pay for college without selling your virginity.

1. Apply for scholarships.

You don’t have to be a genius, a jock, or ridiculously good looking to get college scholarships. There are plenty of weird and unusual scholarships out there. Of course, it helps if you have resources to help you find scholarships.

2. Do community service.

If you enjoy helping others, then programs like AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and Learn and Serve America may be a good fit for you. These programs offer perks, depending on the program, such as monetary awards to be used toward student loans, loan deferment, and even partial loan forgiveness.

3. Join the military.

The U.S. Armed Forces offer a variety of programs to give students money to pay for college. Students can either attend college first and then serve in the military or serve first and attend college later. Students who participate in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) during college can be eligible for merit-based scholarships in return for a commitment of 3 or 4 years after graduation. Students who serve an active duty tour first can receive up to $50,000 toward school expenses, depending on the branch of service.

4. Use your imagination.

If you want proof that we’re only limited by our imaginations, then be sure to read about these unusual ways college students have made money. Alright, maybe they’re not as unusual as selling your virginity, but they’re pretty close.

5. Get a job.

Did you know that you can still pay for college by getting a good ol’ fashioned job? But wait, isn’t prostitution commonly referred to as the world’s oldest profession? Hmmm, maybe Natalie Dylan and her sister are on to something here.

6. Make money online.

If all else fails, start a blog about paying back your student loans and making money online. Use the money you make from the blog to pay back your student loans. The best part about this option? You have total control over whether to do it with your underpants on or your underpants off.

Washington Mutual was seized by FDIC on Thursday night in the largest bank failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion.

As a customer of WaMu, I’ll get to experience the change of hands firsthand. So far, so good. Despite all of the dramatic news coverage about people pulling their money out of WaMu, I left mine in there, and guess what? It’s still there!

For most customers, there’s really no reason to panic, and there never really was one in the first place. However, with all of the media hype about the financial crisis, it may be hard to resist.

Photo by Julian Bleecker

So why shouldn’t you panic if you’re a WaMu customer?

Customers of WaMu, based in Seattle, are unlikely to be affected, although shareholders and some bondholders will be wiped out. WaMu account holders are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation up to $100,000, and additional deposits will be backed by JPMorgan Chase.

Source: NY Times

That’s right. All deposits, even those over the $100,000 FDIC limits, are still safe after being acquired by JPMorgan Chase.

What should you expect during the transition?

“There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning,” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a statement.

Source: CNN

The transition should be fairly seamless. Branches will still open on Friday, bill payments will go through, checks will clear, and online services will still work. Your account number even stays the same.

Where are the rest of the details?

There hasn’t been an official press release, so all of the details aren’t available yet. For example, I’m wondering if the interest rate will change on the 4.00% APY Online Savings account.

As you can see, there’s really no reason to panic, so save yourself some time and WaMu employees some stress by not rushing to the bank to pull out your money.