What can I look forward to in college?
Senior about to graduate; going into University next year. #university #college-advice
9 answers
Gloria’s Answer
My favorite experience about going to college was meeting new people from all over the country. I actually went away to college rather than going to college in my hometown. This meant that I lived in a school dorm with all the people who are not from the area. My first college roommate was a student from Japan who had very little English. My second roommate was from Alaska, as different from me as anyone could be. I grew up in the same time all my primary and secondary school years, so college was a very different experience for me. I learned that people, even in the US, are very different from region to region and state to state, from their politics to how they see history. At the same time, I learned that people are very much the same, no matter where they are from. We have the same problems and the same things that bring us joy.
Gloria
Bonnie’s Answer
There are many things to look forward to in college. Some of them are fun, while others require work. For example, to be successful, you should plan on spending about 2 hours outside of class for every hour you spend in class. In fact, one of the things that will make you most successful is showing up for every class. You cannot expect to learn everything you need to learn if you don't attend each class, because there are often class discussions that are not going to be part of someone's notes. Therefore, even if you get the class notes from someone after class, you may have missed something important.
On the fun side, there will be many different activities available to students and many different clubs you could join. There really is something for everyone. It just depends on your interests.
College can be a bit overwhelming at first, and that can depend on many different factors. It will, again, depend on the size of the institution, the major you select, the difficulty of the coursework, etc. A lot of students who were very successful in high school and were able to "skate" through a lot of the work may find it more difficult once they get to college. However, if you go in understanding that the degree of difficulty will have gone up significantly, you will be prepared.
I've known students in the past who, once they get out into the world of work, pine for their good old college days. I hope you have that same kind of experience! What may seem difficult while in school may seem easy compared to building a career. Enjoy your experience by balancing work with fun. Good luck!
Matthew’s Answer
You also need to take care to not just "follow the majority" - they might be taking things too easy - if you see someone putting in more effort, ask them how they are making their study plans, what areas they are reviewing, are they testing themselves and how - just try to learn some new techniques and give them a try yourself to see if it gives you a new approach.
Exploration can be done for a particular subject as well as a general approach - how to approach time management for a given class workload, test prep, how to do team projects, etc.
Erin’s Answer
Each experience is going to be different, but for most people, college is the first time that you are completely setting your own schedule. This is the time to learn about time management. No-one is accountable for your where-abouts accept you and no-one can take credit for your successes but you. The really awesome thing is that even though your life is totally yours to be accountable for now, everyone is around to help give advise. As an adult, that's priceless. This is the beginning of you setting your own path. My suggestion is to be able to listen to the experiences of others and advise of others and then to take the pieces that work for you. If you feel like your degree path is perfect... then it is, simply because YOU think so and YOU have to accomplish it. You guidance counselors are there to help you and they are wonderful resources, but realize that you aren't wrong if you aren't sold on their paths. Just like you have the power to determine if your path is right, you also have the power to determine if it's wrong. If you want to change your degree... then do it! Your guidance counselor probably won't like it, but if that feels wrong to be where you are, then it's your responsibility to fix it. Understand this... there is no way to do college wrong. There is only the way you chose to do it. That will lead to more choices, and that makes your life. If you don't get a job in your degree field, you're not going to end up without a way to pay your bills. You'll just do something else and have a college degree under your belt which will qualify you for management in almost any field. There really isn't a way for you to mess this up. I know you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to make the perfect decisions but every choice you make will be perfect.
Josh’s Answer
Mai’s Answer
College is a great experience. I know I was really worried about being in a new place with people I didn't know. One thing I had to remember is what my goal is for going to college. It is easy to get distracted with parties and clubs and all of that. You will definitely meet a lot of really great people from your professors to other students, but it will also be different from high school as the work requirements will be a lot stricter. I have enjoyed every moment of my college experience. So my suggestion is go out there with eyes open and enjoy this time. Make those new friends and have those new experiences, as real life of working all the time will come soon enough. Good luck to you
Sal’s Answer
Christine’s Answer
Good morning Karsyn. Distractions... distractions... distractions.. The best advice I can give is to master TIME Management. Start researching good time management practices now! College years were the best time of my life - so have fun, but keep your eye on the prize. My greatest advice is to dig in to your academics 1st semester .. the fun will be there . Get good solid grades that first term so that you have a solid foundation to build. I will also add that college studying is much different than high school .. lots of memorization in high school and regurgitation .. however, in college you will be expected to understand concepts and apply them ... so how you go about studying may be a little different.
Christine recommends the following next steps:
Richard’s Answer
New activities. New hobbies.
New information. You will delve deeper into topics than in high school.