10 Things You’ll Discover at College
May 28, 2009 03:29 PM ET | Lynn F. Jacobs, Jeremy S. Hyman
By now, most students who are starting college next fall have sent in their acceptances, not to mention the first chunk of change. And now, the real worrying for them starts: What is college really going to be like? And how is it different from what I'm most used to—high school?
So, with congratulations to the new inductees—oh, sorry, we mean admittees—here are the 10 most important differences between college and high school:
10. No one tells you what to do. Gone are teachers who will remind you umpteen times to do your homework and be ready for the Civil War test next Friday. Now you're on your own. Day 1 of college is your educational Independence Day.
9. Many students are smarter than you. Used to be you were on the class honor roll and earned your parents the right to display bumper stickers proclaiming your brilliance. Now you're in a school where only the top 12 percent of students in the state (or nation) got in. Upshot? You'll have to work harder, and it'll be more competitive. But at least you'll have lots of brainy friends.
8. Classes can be huge. Classes can have 100, 200, 300, or—at some schools in Arizona—700 students. Not to worry. You can find motivation among the huddled masses of humanity if you keep focused on why you came in the first place—and what you hope to achieve.
7. ... And easy to blow off. Much as professors tell you to come to class, they usually don't take attendance, and even when they do, attendance counts for only a small fraction of the class grade (usually 10 to 15 percent). But while it's easy to skip out, it's not so easy to ace the course if the one midterm essay asks about something explained the class you missed. Suggestion? Set out to cut no more than two classes (per course) a semester.
6. Two thirds of the work is done outside the class room. In high school, you sat in class for 35 hours a week; in college, it'll be 12 to 15. Think you just won the lottery? What you're not thinking of is that you're expected to prepare two hours on your own for every hour of class. Do the math, and you'll discover that entering college isn't the express train to the La-Z-Boy recliner.
5. You set your own schedule. With no one to tell you when and where to study, your success in college will depend, to a large extent, on how well you schedule—and stick to—your commitments. Some suggestions? Schedule classes grouped together (all in the morning or all in the afternoon), set study times and stick to them (be honest with yourself about when, if ever, you're in a studying mood), and realize that consistency and persistence (not necessarily your strong suits) are the keys to college success.
4. There are new subjects to be learned. A quick glance at one online college catalogue uncovers Reinforced Concrete Design 1 (Engineering), Language and Society of Japan (Communications), Politics of the Cold War (Political Science), Criminalistics: Forensic Science (Anthropology), and many other subjects not even remotely similar to what you're used to from high school. Take advantage of these new learning opportunities and get out of your comfort zone of English, American History, Spanish, and Trigonometry.
3. Learning at college is cumulative. As opposed to high school, where you might take a different introductory science each year, courses at college are tiered. There's a lower-division (or introductory) level, and there's an upper-division (or advanced) level. And, not too surprisingly, the intro courses are prerequisites (that is, must be taken and passed before) the more advanced courses. Tip? Try to do well in the beginning courses in the fields you might want to go on in, because come the advanced courses, there'll be new and harder material to study material that presupposes you've mastered the more basic concepts.
2. You have to choose a major. Once you've finished the basic requirements (sometimes distributed over natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences, with four courses in a foreign language thrown in for good measure), you'll have to take a major—that is, eight or 10 more courses in one specific department. While we advise you not to declare a major right when you start college—it's always best to try out two or three courses before going in whole hog—it is good to start thinking about what interests you as you slog your way through the various intro courses and requirements.
4-Star Tip. Try to find a field that you are both good at and like to do. You'll have to take lots of courses in your major, and it's no good if you're either getting all C's or bored to tears. And don't let someone else (e.g. parent, teacher, academic adviser, friend) tell you what you really like. It's your passion, and you know it best.
And the No. 1 difference between college and high school:
1. You can be free of your parents. Sure, you can take cellphone calls from your mom four times a day, or text your father between—or during—classes. But why would you? Now's your chance to work, think, and live on your own. Why not make the most of it?
Bonus. Professors' Perspective. Parents giving (usually wrong) academic advice just mucks up the course for their unlucky offspring. And there are no parent-teacher conferences at college. Professors and deans snicker about students whose parents intervene at college about as much as you dissed the losers in your graduating class. (You might tell your parents this, if they don't already know it.)
As you begin to look at colleges be sure to check out this year's rankings: Best Colleges 2009.
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