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College
Next year, I'm going to college, and I am freaking out =(. I'm worried that it will be really hard and that I won't be able to maintain a 3.0 GPA (the requirement to keep my great scholarship effective). So a few questions.
1. Is college really hard? How much time would you say do you have any free time (meaning not having to study, go to college, or work)?
2. Is maintaining a 3.0 possible? (not only possible, but probable?)
3. Are teachers/professors as understanding/nice as high school teachers, or are they "down to business and won't take any crap"? (lol)
Thank you!! Please add any other things that I should know (besides not partying hard and stuff like that..I know)
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Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Colleges & Universities?
Well, I'm a first year Engineering student in Canada, so I don't know how different it is in the U.S. I do know that our schools tend to be more difficult (not to be condescending, but we do take more courses!)
1. It is hard. A lot harder than high school is. It is all courses that you enjoy, however, so it's a lot more fun than high school ever was. It's quite possible to have a ton of free time, or no free time, depending on how much you do. I know for a fact that the people who do every single suggested question and every assignment, although they have the highest averages, they have no social lives. It's all about prioritzing and finding that fine balance between work and play. I had 7 courses last term; calculus, newtonian physics, engineering ethics, engineering design and graphics, linear algebra, and chemistry, with philosophy as my elective. This term, I have 6 courses; calculus, electromagnetic physics, design projects, materials science, computer programming and my elective, economics. Keep in mind that I'm in the hardest faculty in an extremely hardcore academic school; it won't necessarily be like this for you.
2. A 3.0 is quite possible. All you have to do is go to class, do your work, and study hard!
3. Profs tend not to be as saccharine as high school teachers, but I love my profs. Yes, they don't take any shit, but they're a lot more fun than my teachers ever were... I have a calculus prof who likes to use gory death situations in his examples, and several profs who can make fun of their students. They tend to respect you more as adults, and they definitely know what they're teaching you!
As for things I'd tell you:
-don't drink too too much, bad things can happen.
-have fun! Do weird things! My friends and I have a tradition of eating pizza in strange places (like up a tree!) and going for 4am Burger King runs. It makes life more fun and bearable when you're stressed out.
-get involved! If your faculty has a spirit group, try out for it! You want to remember these as the best years of your life.
-one of the most important things ever... break out of your comfort zone. I had a paralyzing fear of acting, and I got involved my first week of school in the airbands. I ended up acting in front of 4500 people! It completely made my frosh week better, knowing that I could break down my barriers.
If you have any more questions regarding this, my msn address is amanda_scott_87@hotmail.com. I'm a Frosh Week representative for my school, and a mentor for incoming students as well, so I can definitely answer any of your questions.
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whoa whoa whoa slow down homie. I can understand what you mean, im in comunnity college but it's the same same. It depends on the subject you're majoring on and the teachers you pick, hell we have the same thing here in Mt Sac. but no it's not that hard if you work around it ya know? trust me it's waaay better than high school, people are nicer, not all are assholes, and they actually arnt as stupid as the ones in high school. but don't worrie you would be scared if you had a 4.0 and tried to maintain it, sure its possible just try very hard and keep up you're studies.
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Nothing wrong with partying hard :)
I pretty much agree with the answers below, so I will just add a few points here and there. The one major difference to high school is the degree of freedom that you get. This gives you the opportunity to improve yourself or to screw up in ways you were not able to before.
At the beginning it can be a little intimidating. But very soon it becomes routine. I remember in hs writting say 10 pages or so in a project was a big deal. Very quickly that becomes something you can cough up in a very short period of time (all depending on the subject of course).
Fundamentally, the dumber you are the more you have to study. I couldnt have put that more crudely but thats the way it is. If you are exceptionally smart you can get through it without much effort while still maintaining a high average. You will soon figure out where you stand, but I seriously doubt you will have too much trouble if you are used to getting good grades now.
The degree of free time varies depending on what I wrote above and with how much you work. I personally found myself having loads of spare time (though its important to note I did not also hold a job at the time).
Anyways good luck, and dont worry about it so much I am sure you will do fine.
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I remember how stressed I was before going to college. It's a new experience so it's common to be nervous.
1) It varies. A lot depends on what type of courseload you're taking. Try to keep an even balance between difficult and easier classes. The more difficult classes usually require more studying and work outside the classrom. You don't want to overload yourself. By keeping a balance, I was able to have some free time for myself nearly every day.
2) Yes, it is probable if you work for it.
3) Some are, some aren't. In my experience, if you have a situation come up and discuss it with them, they will generally work with you. However, you will come across some that are all business and expect your work to be done on time without complaint.
Other tips-
*Get to know your academic advisor well. They'll be the ones that help you plan your academic schedule. They're also the one you need to talk to if you're having problems.
*Invest in a dayplanner and use it. I used mine to write down assignments that were given in class. After classes, I would sit down and schedule the rest of the day for studytime, homework, me time, etc.
*Make friends with your classmates. This gives you the opportunity to easily make study groups as well as someone to help you catch up if you have to miss a class.
*Don't study during meals. There are several reasons for this. First, you'll easily gain the freshman 15 by not paying attention to how much you're eating. Second, the cafeteria is generally noisy, which makes studying difficult. Last, it gives you a much-needed break.
*If you live in a dorm, try to find others that are in your classes or majoring in the same thing. It gives you easy access to a study partner and someone to ask if you have a question about the coursework.
*Find the library and befriend the librarians. This will be invaluable to you when you're doing work that requires research. Also, it gives you a quiet place to study.
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Colleges vary. But it's sure to be a very different experience from high school. For one thing, you'll be treated as an adult; you'll get more respect from professors, and that's a fundamentally different relationship from HS.
On the down side, they're much less likely to nursemaid you. If you screw up, they'll eventually take action, but the feedback on your overall academic performance may not come to you (not to mention your parents) anywhere near as quickly as it did in HS.
Is it hard? That really depends on what courses you take, and what your academic strengths are. And, of course, how hard you want to push yourself. For me, it wasn't as hard as high school; but that's partly because the whole social scene was different. Having said that, I will say that it's a mistake to take a route that's TOO easy for you. I took a lot of sociology courses, because they were easy for me. And while I learned some interesting stuff and ended up picking up a second major in soc/anth, to be terribly honest that degree has been useless to me.
If I could go back, I'd almost certainly go all-out for computer science. And the SINGLE course that has proved most useful to me - BY FAR - was a Computer Literacy 101 course that was taught by a sociology professor. Because before that, I was afraid of computers (this was in the late 1980s); after that course, I loved them.
And now I work heavily with computers. Go figure.
3.0 is certainly possible, and even practical. Just keep on top of things. As you obviously already know, it's really easy to get into a partying scene that will totally destroy your standing. I saw that happen a LOT.
College is a time of INCREDIBLE opportunity. Try to make the best of it. I wish I had.
Good luck!
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good grief calm down :-D. Your going to college not to war. Study hard dont quit until you know what you are supposed to know.
1.how hard it is depends on how much you study and how intelligent you are, you cant study too much!
2. of course is possible and probable, you made it through highscool just follow the same principles you used in graduating.
3. dont worry about how nice or down to business the professors are, worry about if your following there instructions and if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing.
stay focused!
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