Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

In terms of academics social life, adaptation to life outside from home, and all that stuff. I'm a senior in high school, and hoping that college will be more interesting. I have some friends in college, but some of them are stupid and attend community colleges, some i dont see anymore, and others are typical "college kids" who smoke pot, get drunk and do stupid things because they have not matured yet. So what should I expect next year?

By Welshie (Welshie) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 06:07 pm: Edit

As you've hinted at, it depends on who you are and where you go. As for me, I'm going to a middle of the road (except for library standards-- Woo!) school (BYU) and so far the courseload is pretty easy. I have three classes a day, Monday through Friday and each class is fairly small (about average high school sized classes).

As for homework, my Proof Theory class requires that we keep a journal about how we are doing and that requires three entries every week and in addition to that, there are proofs we need to look at/try before coming to class when someone else solves it on the board. Calculus 2 is where most of my homework comes from. We have nightly assignments that are due every friday (in other words, they are collected weekly). The material isn't too hard and right now most everyone in the class is starting to become more friendly with one another and study groups are forming. We do have quizzes weekly but they are fairly easy three question quizzes that are basically homework problems. My religion class is easy because I've learned most all of the material beforehand but it does have the occasional insight and there is a lot if discussion/Q&A which I like. The reading involved here is very low-stress with only 10ish pages every two nights (I have the class Tuesday/Thursday). My writing class has a lot of.. well... writing but for some reason or another, the material just comes to me so it isn't hard for me to pump out a 4-5 page paper in an hour or so (plus peer review/revision time). In addition to the writing (I've written a good 20+ pages in that class alone and I have it two times a week and I just finished my third week of school), there is a lot of reading in that class (~30 pages a night if you split the reading/writing into separate nights). Last is my History of Jazz class. The class is pretty interesting but most of the information we are learning is old material to me. I tend to not stay awake in that class because it doesn't grab me right now for the aforementioned reason. One interesting/challenging aspect of it is the fact that I have to be able to identify several (~20 per term) songs just with quick audio clips so the mid-terms are broken up into audio/listening portions and writing portions.

As I've said to most people who ask me how college is, college is different. You definitely do a lot more work but at the same time you have a lot more time to do that work. You don't really have to worry about doing meaningless, time-consuming things that you would have to at home so that frees up your time a lot. During a typical day you can go to class, go out to eat, socialize for a few hours and do hours of homework-- you are engulfed into the college atmosphere. There is a lot to do and a lot of time to do it. Most importantly though, you chose what you do, how you do it and when you do it. It's interesting stuff.

-Jesse

By Vladimir2004 (Vladimir2004) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 11:00 pm: Edit

thanks for the info, Jesse. Even though I look foreword to college, I'm kind of nervous about it.

By Welshie (Welshie) on Sunday, September 19, 2004 - 02:10 am: Edit

Understandably so. Most folks have some sense of nervousness when they embark on something new or unknown. I'm sure the first couple of weeks will be a bit awkward but after you settle in I'll bet you'll learn to love it.

By Lifeisgood (Lifeisgood) on Sunday, September 19, 2004 - 02:21 am: Edit

College is everything it's said to be... Crazy amounts of reading, music all night, great friends, sketchy guys in the shower, foam dance parties, lots of papers, confusion while you figure it all out, watching out for drunk friends, doing activities with people who care about them, working really hard for a cause, hooking up... and it's only been 3 weeks! It's weird and wonderful... it's whatever you make of it.

By Anglophile (Anglophile) on Sunday, September 19, 2004 - 02:23 am: Edit

College is so much better than high school, so don't be nervous! No more busy work, no social hierarchy (it's replaced by an intellectual hierarchy), and the food is much better . The students are much more mature and there are so many interesting people to meet. As for social life, there are so many opportunities to meet people and have fun. I'm joining the ballroom dancing club on campus, hopefully fencing also, and tutoring-- never a dull moment.

ahem Vladimir...I hope you did not intend to imply that community college students are stupid...

By Megofou (Megofou) on Sunday, September 19, 2004 - 01:24 pm: Edit

College is crazywonderful. This place feels like home and I've only been here for two weeks. I've lived more in those 14 or so days than I did my entire senior year.

You will meet people. It's strange that I've made close friends of people I'd never set eyes on twenty days ago, but I have. People are contantly calling me to do things...at all hours. If you want to be alone, you can. If you don't, you don't have to. Lots of people drink. Some people don't. Either way...the alcohol provides some form of entertainment to everyone. The sober people get to watch the drunks and the drunks get to be drunk.

Hmmm. Class. So far, classes are tricky. Not hard. Tricky. All it takes is learning to adjust to a different style. More reading, less repetitive and boring homework. Less tests, but more content. So far it looks like I'll be able to keep my 4.0...but you actually have to work for it at college.

The only thing you have to worry about is...laundry. Bastard laundry. Even when you know how to do it and don't mind the actual act, it sneaks up on you. One day you have a closet full of clothes...the next you have a bag full and can hardly find an outfit to get you to and from the machines.

Not...that I'm sitting in a bathrobe right now trying to work out this very predicament. *shifty eyes*

;-) Have fun.

By Demonllama (Demonllama) on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - 02:05 am: Edit

college is awesome! especially if you live in a coed floor. so much more different and better than high school.

By Itsjustsarcasm (Itsjustsarcasm) on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 03:42 am: Edit

College is great. It's a lot more work than high school (at least compared to mine), and the people are more like you. I don't go to a party school by any means, but once Thursday night kicks in, I know how to have a good time. You can find a niche easier in college, and it's just so much better than high school.