TeenHelp - College

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I'm hype for college. I can't wait to leave high school but i mean...is it any better than high school? if so, then how? *) also i got these two brochures from Penn State, Rutgers, and The University of Tampa. Does that mean they may be interested in accepting me? I'm not sure....help :nosweat:

Hey there,

From what I've hard from majority of my friends in college, almost everyone has said that it was better than high school(well people-wise and finding friends). Academically, I think it mostly depends on which uni you go to. You can do college visits to figure out the environment and see the atmosphere. Well about sending brochures, are you a sophomore/junior/senior in high school? If so, mostly likely those colleges are trying to advertise and inform you about them. Like think of it as a newspaper ad- college brochures are pretty much the same thing. However, I'm not sure whether it means they're interested in accepting you if you apply. You can check out the admissions requirements on the college's website for that. I hope this helps, and good luck!

~Rishy

This helped a lot. Thank you!!

Hello there :) Whether college is better than high school depends on what you're looking at. I found it A LOT better because I'm a relatively independent person who doesn't need to be nagged by a teacher every day in order to get my work done. I know they're probably telling you that the professors don't care if you do the work or not or that they won't remind you to do it. They remind you every class usually starting a few weeks before it's due and they will answer some common or good questions that they've been asked or give you tips on what helped people in the past and most professors will give you rubrics and/or outlines so you know exactly what's required from the first day of class so there are fewer surprises.

There's also much less busy work, in a lot of cases your whole grade depends on the midterm, final, and 2-4 major assignments. It's good in the sense that you can focus on major things, but if you mess one up you could end up in trouble. Also, it's a ton of reading which they expect you to have done before class and some will count participation points. You can't possibly read every word of everything, so skimming is a good skill to learn.

If you need help with something, it's now your responsibility to contact the professor, they won't pull you aside if you fail something or they think you need help. They may be hoping that you will reach out to them, but it's your choice.

They are more available though, and your teachers in high school may make it sound like your professors won't care, but they are human and they do have hearts. They won't check up on you like a parent would, but if you get sick or something seems wrong, they may ask if you're okay.

As for the mail you've been getting, most of it is just because local colleges know that you're at a point where they want to recruit you. You can apply where ever you want, brochures don't necessarily mean you'll get accepted by a school. I started getting them from everywhere and ignored most of them.

Grad School > Undergrad > High School. At least, that's how it was for me. While grad school was certainly the most challenging (physically and mentally), it was also the most rewarding (academically and experientially). Undergrad was better than high school because I was able to take classes that interested me, create my own schedule (to some extent), and meet people who were more mature/intelligent. High school, while memorable in many good ways, was a chore, and it was difficult to relate to most of my peers.

I know the phrase "it gets better" is overused... but I really do believe things get better with age. As you continue to grow and become more independent, more opportunities present themselves, which means you stand more of a chance at finding things that make life enjoyable for you.