If you’re not currently enjoying high school then you might be wondering whether or not college will be as bad.
This post will show you a number of reasons that college can be better than high school and some things to consider.
So, is college as bad as high school? Generally, people will enjoy college more than high school. You will be able to choose the classes that you take, the professor and the schedule that you have. You will also have more freedom, your peers will want to be there and the lessons will go more smoothly.
There are actually a number of reasons that college can be better than high school and there are a number of things that you can do to improve the chances that you will enjoy college.
You’ll be taking classes that interest you more
One of the main reasons that you will likely enjoy college more than high school is that you will be able to choose the classes that you take.
In college, your major will set out a number of classes that you must take in order to graduate and a number of classes that you can choose from, called electives, as well.
Since you can choose the major it means that the classes that you will be choosing from should be classes that you find a lot more interesting. This is unlike high school where many of the classes will normally be chosen for you.
You can choose the professor
Another reason that college won’t normally be as bad as high school is that you will be able to choose the professor.
This is because college classes will normally have multiple offerings, in the same semester, that are taught by different professors at different times. This means that you will be able to choose the class with the professor that you like the most.
This is unlike in high school where you will not likely have had much input on what teacher you would get.
However, there will be some classes that will only have one time and one professor to choose from. This will be less common in your freshman year and more common in your junior and senior years. In this case, if you don’t want to take the class with that professor then you could choose to take the class in a later semester.
When you are picking your classes, in college, you can use the website ratemyprofessors.com to see what other students have said about them in the past. When choosing classes, be sure to pick them as soon as enrollment opens since the classes taught by professors with high ratings will fill up quickly.
Your peers will want to be there
Another reason that college can be better than high school is that the other students will likely want to be there a lot more than in high school.
This is because they will also have picked a major that interests them so they will likely be more enthusiastic about the classes that they are taking.
This should also mean that you will have more in common with your classmates so you should enjoy your time in class a lot more.
You will have a lot more freedom
In high school, a lot of the decisions will be made for you. This is not the case in college where you will have to decide on the classes that you take, how to get to and back from college, what to eat and even where to live.
This means that you should enjoy your time in college more since you will have more freedom to structure your day to be how you would like it to be.
You will have a more flexible schedule
In high school, your classes will likely be chosen for you and you will likely have to be in class a lot. A normal day in high school might run from 8 am until 3 pm.
This is not the case in college. In college, you will be able to choose the classes to start at times that suit you. There will also be less in-class time a normal semester in college will only have about 15 hours of in-class time per week.
However, the classes will be more challenging which means that you will have to spend more time out of class studying. I have written more about how college can be harder than high school here.
The lessons will go more smoothly
You should find that the classes that you have in college will go more smoothly than those in high school.
There are two main reasons for this. The first is that the other students will want to be there so they will be less likely to distract the professor when he/she is teaching. The second reason is that the professor will likely be an expert on the topic so they will be able to teach the material with more ease.
There is more support
You’ll likely find that the level of support that you have access to, in college, is greater than in high school.
In college, you will have access to the professor in office hours, academic advisors, normally a bigger library with computers and wifi and sometimes you’ll also have a teaching assistant that you can also get help from.
This means that you should have an easier time getting help when you get stuck and ensuring everything is going smoothly when you are in college.
It opens you up to new opportunities
Another reason that college shouldn’t be as bad as high school for you is that college can open you up to new opportunities.
By getting a degree in a major that interests you it means that you should qualify for a number of jobs in your field when you graduate. These jobs wouldn’t have been available to you if you would have just tried to get them straight out of college.
There will be lots of social events
College will also tend to have a lot of social events throughout the semester.
The dorms will usually have social events so that the residents can meet each other, there will be freshman orientation events, sports tournaments and many more things.
There will also, likely, be a lot more events that are hosted by other students that you can go to as well.
You can choose the college
The culture of colleges can vary a lot depending on a number of factors.
The size of the student body will likely be one big factor. Colleges with a large student body will usually have social events going on and there will be more resources available to you. However, large universities can often get packed in certain places such as the bookstore, library and cafeteria.
Whereas, colleges with a smaller student body will generally have smaller class sizes and you will know a larger percentage of the people around you.
The size of the university will not be the only thing impacting its culture. Other aspects that you can consider would be the location, the type of college that it is and the entry requirements.
You won’t have had the chance to choose the high school that you are going to so you will likely be able to pick a college that is much more interesting to you.
Things to consider
How much better college is than high school can depend on a number of factors. Below, I will mention some things that you should consider that could mean that you enjoy college less.
College will be more challenging academically
The classes that you take in college will likely be more academically challenging than the classes that you take in high school.
This is because the professor will likely go through the material a lot more quickly than in high school, the material will be more advanced and you will be expected to study more in your own time.
You will have to be more disciplined
Since you will be expected to make your own choices, when you are in college, you will need to be a lot more disciplined.
If you do not stay disciplined and take measures to ensure that you are on track with all of your classes then you will likely struggle to do well. This could cause your college experience to be a lot more stressful than it needs to be.
