Introduction
After finishing your schooling, you will ultimately make it to your college life, where the rest of your future and career resides. you might be procrastinating that college’s going to be a herculean task. Let us know ‘College Harder Than High School’.
College Harder Than High School
In a way, it’s easier than school, but at times it’s a bit difficult too. Now let’s dive into 8 reasons why college is a bit harder than school and why it isn’t:
Freedom of choice
Unlike the case of school, in college, students can customize their classes, their dorms, and their class schedules according to their wish, unlike that of school. If a student isn’t able to show up in the morning sessions, they will be able to attend the evening session unlike in school.
This freedom does encourage students to be more productive and able to grasp things more efficiently in a stress-free manner. It also helps a student to manage their time and use it wisely and with utmost responsibility.
Sticking to the syllabus
Back in school, teachers used to spoon-feed students with notes, and students used to have a prescribed textbook for each subject that was being taught. But in college, things are entirely different. Here, you will be provided with your course syllabus and a list of recommended textbooks from which you are expected to refer and learn.
Sticking to the syllabus is of great significance as you will be able to find all essential data like the date of commencement of examinations, the class schedules, recommended reference books for each subject, the name and contact number of the professors in charge, etc, a student thereby allowing a student to plan and schedule things accordingly.
The course syllabus will also provide great help in perceiving which all topics have more weightage and which all are to be understood in depth, thereby helping you to get an outstanding GPA.
Well-experienced professors
School teachers often compel their students to study or give them nightmares if they score lesser marks in their examinations. Unlike them, a college professor will not compel their student to pay heed to the classes or to score good grades. Since they are dealing with adults, they’ll be giving you personal space and won’t be interested in interfering in student’s personal life.
The majority of the professors will be having years of personal experience and through this, they will be able to guide their students to help them get good grades and also lead them to better careers than theirs. Their years of practical or field experience enable them to nurture and equip their students quite well.
A friendly professor will be helping you to get good internships and various other career related opportunities as well as hands-on experience on that particular subject. He or she will let the student know which all book has to be essentially referred from the course syllabus, which topics are of higher weightage and thereby managing you to attain better grades.
Paying attention for longer hours
Back in school, one used to deal with classes that had a duration of 45 minutes or utmost an hour. When you open the case of college, sometimes one will have to pay attention for like 3 hours straight, and that too with no intervals in between
This will enable a student to acquire the skill of paying attention to a particular thing for a longer time. The amount of knowledge imparted to students in these 3 hours will be also immense compared to that of high school.
The art of taking notes
Lecture notes have to be taken while a professor is engaged in class. It will provide you with a better and simple understanding of the concept in your way.
Back in school, the teachers used to provide the students with notes on the particular subject in which they are engaging. But in the case of college, some professors will either dictate the notes orally or will be sent them via mail. While some professors prefer their students to write lecture notes rather than spoon-feeding them with notes and thereby limiting them to a narrow spectrum of knowledge.
Lecture notes should be written in the simplest form so that even if you take your notes weeks after the lecture, you will be able to recollect the concept as that of a movie.
Pictorial representation of a particular topic will be often simpler than writing that particular concept in huge paragraphs. This enables faster recollection of that topic, thereby enhancing the memory and caliber of that student.
Need to have a vast and in-depth reading
We used to stick to only the very important concepts and were confined to a narrow range of reading back in school. If you desire to attain good grades in college, you must be a person of the vast and penetrating type of reading.
In school, we used to pass or get good grades just by reading the notes and class materials. You can’t expect to get good grades by only reading the class materials here. In reality, if you continue that habit from high school, you will fail flat on your face for your university examinations. Instead, go for the intense, in-depth, and vast reading of that particular topic that you are studying. This will enhance your knowledge on that particular topic and also will be able to acquire and understand stuff that isn’t mentioned in your course syllabus.
Finding proper study- Life balance
Leisure time available in school was way lot more compared to that in college. One will be having a lot of time apart from doing their daily chores and studies. Learning a new skill also used to be an easy-peasy lemon squeezy kind of thing. Taking the case of college, the leisure time available will be very low. Students will have to submit a pile of assignments by the deadline and projects too, unlike that school.
Since college students are adults, their household responsibilities also thereby increase. This does often lead to the creation of immense stress and sometimes depression.
Just like one does spend time studying and getting done with their assignments, they should also find time to go out and get themselves relieved and relaxed. Playing a sport, having a pet, and learning a new skill can all reduce your stress to a great extent.
If you don’t spend enough time with your higher self alone every day, and do work continuously like a machine, after some point in time, your body starts shutting down and your mind too. This will land you in a completely worn-out situation. Hence, having a proper study-life balance is essential.
Making acquaintances and networking with people
It is well said that “a good friend is worth a thousand libraries”.
Getting good friends is indeed a herculean task here. You need to go through a series of sieving to construct your circle of peers, which is a hard task.
Make friends with people who push and inspire you to become a person with a better personality instead of selfish
and suspicious people who pull you down and pray for your downfall. Never settle for anything less than what you deserve. You need to be ruthless throughout this selection process to not settle for anyone less. Keep yourself away from the mess that others create and never give space for such a thing in your life to be disturbed by it.
Talking and networking with people enables you to acquire something more than bookish knowledge. Listening to people’s experiences will guide you to live a better life. This enables you to learn from their success and the mistakes they committed. Getting a good peer group circle will often give you access to places too. Hence, establishing new relations should be given extreme importance.
So, which one, college or high school harder?
Yes, it is. At the end of the day, even if we have a lot of freedom and do enjoy the right to have a choice, the burden of responsibilities is going to make your life hectic. You won’t be able to enjoy the leisure time that you had in school anymore. The number of assignments and projects to be done will be more and that too in a very short span. There are also great values that you learn from your college life like finding a balance between everything in your life, the art of managing your time properly with utmost efficiency, finding peers of the same mindset, and establishing relationships with reputed people in the society and also gathering knowledge through your broad-gauge reading. When we dive deep into all of the reasons, ultimately one will conclude that college is indeed a bit harder than high school. Here, you can’t blame anybody else, your parents, teachers, or classmates for your failure. Your success ultimately depends on how you manage time, get things done by the deadline, and also making efficient use of your freedom.
