How hard is it?

[Windmill]

How hard is collage? Is it much harder than high school? I'm really interested in collage and I'm not sure if this threads allowed 'cos I don't go to collage but until it gets deleted I'll try

Also, whats a semester? Like, whats these 19 hour semesters or something I hear about? Does that mean you do 19 hours of work a DAY?

Also, whats the difference between lab and lectures? Does lab mean doing stuff?

 

[fishstix]

How hard is collage? Is it much harder than high school? I'm really interested in collage and I'm not sure if this threads allowed 'cos I don't go to collage but until it gets deleted I'll try

In general, college is somewhat more difficult than high school. Of course, there are really difficult high schools out there as well as really easy colleges, so there are exceptions. Not all colleges are equal in difficulty. Even within a single college, there will likely be some programs that are more difficult than others.

I've heard that most people experience a drop of about 10% from their high school average to their university average. In other words, someone who averages around 85% in high school could expect to average around 75% in university. Of course, not everybody is going to experience that and some people will see larger or smaller differences between their high school and university grades. Some people won't see any difference.

Also, whats a semester? Like, whats these 19 hour semesters or something I hear about? Does that mean you do 19 hours of work a DAY?

A semester is half of a school year. Some places divide the school year into 2, and each resulting term is called a semester. Others divide the year into 3 trimesters. Still others divide the year into 4 quarters. And some places don't divide the year up evenly and have some other system instead.

Credit hours are calculated differently at different universities. The '19 hours' you mention does not likely mean 19 hours of work per day. It is more likely to mean 19 hours per week.

For an example of the way that this works, I'll explain how my university did things. The school year extended from September to April and was divided into two halves (semesters). There were 3 credit unit classes and 6 credit unit classes. A 3 credit unit class generally involved 3 hours of class time per week, and lasted half of the school year (one semester). A 6 credit class also involved 3 hours of class time per week but lasted for the whole school year (two semesters). Homework and labs were not counted in those hours - they were extra. A typical full-time student would usually take between 4 and 6 classes at one time. As I've said before though, not every university is the same and some have different systems.

Also, whats the difference between lab and lectures? Does lab mean doing stuff?

Lectures generally involve sitting in a room and listening to the professor talk. Most people take notes. Sometimes lectures also include group discussions. Unlike high school, students do not generally get time to work on assignments during class.

The definition of 'lab' will vary depending on what sort of class it is in. In a science class, a lab will likely mean doing experiments in a laboratory. In a language class, a lab could mean actually speaking the language instead of just learning how to read and write. A math lab might be extra tutorial time where one actually gets to work on assignments. A computer science lab could mean doing projects on a computer. An economics lab might include group-work with the other students in the class. Sometimes labs are field trips. Labs can be just about anything, but are generally more hands-on and practical than lectures. Most classes that have labs will also have lectures.

 

[eviltangerine]

fishstix did a good job of replying but to add my 2 cents:

How hard is collage? Is it much harder than high school?
well, sure, college is harder than high school in that you're not led by your hand through the material, you have to study and there's a lot more out-of-class learning than in high school. However, with that said, I find that college and high school are simply different learning environments are while often compared, are too different, I think, to make a great comparison.

High school is typically early in the morning straight until the afternoon. In college your classes are longer (1 to 2 hours), are less frequent (typically 2 to 3 times a week), and there's usually time in between them. I mean like anywhere from an hour to a number of hours. The classes are also more intense, but it works out because you're not taking them back to back to back (at least I'd hope your schedule isn't back to back to back...if it is, well..that's rough) you're going to one class, taking a break and then going to another class.

So it's just different. additionally, homework in college is solely for your own benefit. You might not have caught on to this in hs, but homework is not busy work, it's there to ensure you learn the material and help you with sample problems. There ARE courses in college that collect absolutely no homework and your grade is calculated from your exams only (typically midterm and final). But along the way if you do some problems here and there, you will be doing so much more for yourself than you ever thought possible.

Also, whats a semester? Like, whats these 19 hour semesters or something I hear about? Does that mean you do 19 hours of work a DAY?

oh yea...the hours pretty much is university specific. Some universities revolve around 20 hours being normal, mine's 15 (a good number are), and then my friend's school (upenn) divides the number by 3, so there a healthy workload is 5 and 6-7 is considered tough. So you can safely ignore this number if you'd like

 

[Windmill]

Thanks guys for your help! collage sounds real exciting, I can't wait to go

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Think of HS, and add freedom + responsibility to that... it's the same thing. lol

I'd say the people are basically the same, except more extreme cases of mature people, and totally immature people.

 

[Alenci]

I think my classes in general are easier, but I've got far more work. How much work you do a day basically is up to you. I've filled up my schedule, but that was a matter of choice.

My classes are shorter. In junior high, we had Thursdays and Fridays that were block days- 1.5 hr classes meant "to prepare us for high school." In high school, our classes were all 1.5 hrs "to prepare us for college." In college, my lectures and recitations turned out to be just 50 minutes. Only my labs run longer.

Last semester I started my classes at 7:30 or 9:30 and was out after lunch time on most days, except when I had labs. This semester, I start all my classes at 9:30 or 10:30 and often don't get home until dinner. (Then it's time to do homework until bedtime!) So it feels very different from high school.

 

[DailyBlessings]

I'd say it depends on what you put into it. Someone who just wants to party can go to a school that allows that and squeak by doing little work at all. Someone who, say, double majors in Education and Music and takes 20 unit semesters, will have no time for social life at all, but presumably will enjoy what they are doing instead. The nicest advantage of college is flexibility- if you don't like the way something is going, it's easy to change it.

 

[Grunt]

College difficulty mainly depends on what you major in. Things like engineering, science and medical majors are a lot of work, and can involve some difficult stuff. Other majors like education may not involve such difficult subject matter but are just as much (or more) work. Generally your liberal arts majors are the easier ones.

Difficulty and amount of work varies from class to class and mainly depends on the instructor/professor you have... you'll probably get experience both sides of the coin.

I've had a religion classes that were almost a joke - 2 exams that were take home (that's midterm and final) and 2-3 simple papers (we're talking two pages or so).
On the other hand I've had physics courses that I spent literally 20-25 hours a week on, outside of class.

 

[Doubledb]

college is pretty difficult. it also depends on who your profesor is? how much you have to read? how many hours you are taking? and what else you are involved in?

college is a lot of time management. you have to learn to grow up and get too class, study, eat when you need too.. and if you have a job then you have to manage that in as well. Usually students take between 12 and 16 hours (if they take less they are commuting/not full-time, thier class was not offered, opr they are finishing up... if thye take more it isually because they have a lot of one-hours classes and have to take a lot to finish their degree).

 

[Ellesar]

College difficulty mainly depends on what you major in. Things like engineering, science and medical majors are a lot of work, and can involve some difficult stuff. Other majors like education may not involve such difficult subject matter but are just as much (or more) work. Generally your liberal arts majors are the easier ones.

I can definitely agree with you there. I'm an engineering and pre-med major, so I have some pretty difficult classes.

to me at least...college is different than high school. I'm taking 17 credit hours (the maximum you can take at my school per quarter is 18), and it's all split up. some days I don't have any classes, and other days, I'm in class all day. it depends on the university you attend...

 

[awesome liver]

Thanks guys for your help! collage sounds real exciting, I can't wait to go

hopefully your reading comprehension skills improve as well as your spelling ...

college is hard. it will eat your alive. the people you meet will drain the life out of you and revitalize it all at the same time. you will party like it's 1999 every weekend or every other weekend and it is gloriously fun. sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll never die. you will discover interests where you didn't know interests existed. you'll learn more than you might think you ever can. there's no such thing as bed time, no curfews, and no limits to what you're allowed to do, if and when you find the right people. in essence, you'll find your own groove, and discover that the person you were will no longer be for better or for worse. the only thing to do is not fight it because it's just a natural progression in growing out of your naive self that you once were.

me on the other hand, i stayed the same, but i aruge a whole lot better with more concrete facts to shut people up. and i grew to not like, but love beer and wine. some people take up liquor but those people have stronger stomachs than me.

 

[luxclaire]

In highschool self displine comes from your parents since you are living at home. In college self displine comes from yourself. The question is how much self displine can you force yourself to study, go to class, do hw, and make the effort similar to highschool. Also the limitation of distractions, we are distracted everyday, especially in college, when your expose to new things.

 

[*Starlight*]

Well, I don't really like college much now, it's much more difficult than high school. But it's maybe because the course I'm taking isn't really what I want to do in life... But there aren't many courses to choose from at my school, and that one was the closest to what I like...

 

[MetalBlade]

college is harder than high school, obviously, since it is higher education, but it's not impossible. A semester is what 15 weeks...haha I don't even know off hand, but a semester is like so many weeks. Credit hours are how many classes you take. Certain classes will be ranked on how many credit hours (classes you take) 19 credit hours is a lot!!!! That would be like 6 classes! ouch! A thing to keep in mind is, while in high school you generally have class all year long, in college you have a class for so many weeks (usually half a year).

 

[onfire4him77]

If your worried about college difficulty, go to a specifically college prep high shcool.
Now all high schools are supposed to prepare you for college, but some do a much better job then others.
My school, we have color days, and well basically, 2 days a week we have 5 classes, 2 days a week we have 4 classess, and 1 day a week we have all 7.
Now we have block periods of 1.5 and then we have our 2 everyday classess.
Now the work, is insane, basicaly haha...Lets just say, learning how to work on 4 hours of sleep has become a science, we are writing 10 page papers in 10th grade (my grade)
And all the seniors that come back say that College is a peice of cake because of all the work they do here, they become used to it, and college is either easier or the same.
So, if your so worried, go to a college prep school.

 

[fishstix]

If your worried about college difficulty, go to a specifically college prep high shcool.
Now all high schools are supposed to prepare you for college, but some do a much better job then others.
My school, we have color days, and well basically, 2 days a week we have 5 classes, 2 days a week we have 4 classess, and 1 day a week we have all 7.
Now we have block periods of 1.5 and then we have our 2 everyday classess.
Now the work, is insane, basicaly haha...Lets just say, learning how to work on 4 hours of sleep has become a science, we are writing 10 page papers in 10th grade (my grade)
And all the seniors that come back say that College is a peice of cake because of all the work they do here, they become used to it, and college is either easier or the same.
So, if your so worried, go to a college prep school.

Other than perhaps the 10 page papers, that sounds nothing like college to me. It doesn't even sound like grad school.

 

[Grunt]

My school, we have color days, and well basically, 2 days a week we have 5 classes, 2 days a week we have 4 classess, and 1 day a week we have all 7.

Eh, for the average college you'll probably have 3 days (Mon, Wed, Fri) with 3-4 classes, probably 4, maybe 5 hrs spent in class. Tues/Thurs is usually light, 1-2 classes with 2, maybe 3 hrs in class.

Honestly, a school like that sounds to me like a perfect recipe to get a kid burned out before he/she actually gets to college...

 

[patienceisavirtue]

really depends on your major, i think. if you're going for a double major in electrical engineering and computer science... i would say you're probably gonna work pretty hard ;P

 

[tessalionsboyfriend]

College is about more then classes. Im going to post part of my blog here now I don't normally do this but I can't say it better then I did when I graduated in december so here we go:

And to pick up where Drew left off (thank you drew):
"I've always said this. College is about a hell of a lot more than classes...people who don't go away or get too wrapped up in their studies are hurt from not experiencing this, and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise."
This cannot be more true. I can not tell you the amount of things I have learned in college by skipping class and hanging out with people. The power of friends to heal and soothe what is wrong in your life is unparralled in this world. Sometimes it is worth to skip that 8 am class to sit up with two great friends and talk about life (val and drew in this case). I learned far more there then I would have in " GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF THE AMERICAN STATES". I learned a lot from classes, but I also learned a lot from not taking classes. I learned that you can't always do what your friends are doing simply becuase they are doing it (see history 173, and Art history 100). Or because what your parents did (see Latin 1 and 2).

You have to do what you want to do and what is right in your heart. It is better to disapoint a few people in your life then to disapoint yourself. It took me a while to get this lesson but now I have and it is for the best. I wish I had learned it sooner. I have also learned that sometimes it is best to simply walk away and start over rather then try and fight to hold on to what is slipping away. I think I learned just as much if not more from my out of class "work" (read hanging out) then I did in class. I know some of you reading this will not believe it but it's true. Classes are only one third of your college education. The other two are friends and parties. If you can't master how to enjoy yourself in life, you are in for a long and hate filled life. Take the time to smell the 151 and enjoy life.

That paper can wait till after a monkey boy or 3....and a jagerbomb....and a few beers....and a trip to the dinner. If you try and just "keep your nose to the grindstone" you are going to miss what college is about and supposed to teach you. It took me a long time to learn this lesson and in the end I was grateful that I did besides almost missing it. College is not about simply earning a degree, oh no no no my dear friends. It is about learning how to live. Live on your own, live with people, live on a budget (for those of us who don't get bankrolled my the first national bank of mom and dad), live with joy and pain, ups and downs, live with deadlines and drop dead dates, learn to deal with stress (drinking helps here), learn to deal with people who turn their backs on you and lie to you (these people can be delt with by footwear in some cases ). College is a time to learn about who you are. Dig into that and really get your hands dirty and love life for the four (or more) years you are here. It's well worth a B+ over that A- to skip a class or two.

Also, just because you may take a "liberal arts" major, don't expect it to be easy. I know that I have put in more hours for my poli sci major then some of my science major friends

 

[awesome liver]

you make your best friends after 2 a.m.