College vs High School?

[Kellie 122]

I had a really enjoyable and memorable high school, especially because I was an athlete, but I would say college because so much more freedom. I can pick and choose my schedule, what I do at nights, when I study, when I GO to class, and whatnot, feels more like my life, but high school was a great time for me too.

 

However, I would say college is much harder, and can be way more stressful at times. But maybe that's because I constantly took 18 credits a semester and was on a pre-med track, most people won't be as stupid as me lol.

Edited June 13, 2015 by Kellie

[immblueversion 331]

College, for sure. Everyone is so much more mature.

[NonbinaryDuck 362]

By scientific studies shown:

 

High School = "aaaaAaaAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

College = *drinks alcohol* "aaaaaaaAHAHAHHAHHH!!!"

----------

 

In all seriousness, I've heard college is more easier when it comes to schedules and having more flexibility in your life. Like I can wear a duck costume in public while pelting ritz crackers at toddlers and literally nobody can stop me because now I'm an adult and I have adult responsibilities therefore I shall abuse my power.

[Misty Rose 3,216]

How the hell does the arranging your schedule however you want it thing work? I thought you still had certain established hours in college and whatever class you took you had to abide by those hours

[Guest]

That's the mindset that I've had up to this point.

 

When I was at community college I was taking 14-15 credit hours per semester. That's four classes and a lab. It was stressful, but I managed to do it and maintain a GPA of around 3.7. Now that I am at university, I find the workload more stressful, so I'm really only comfortable taking three classes. I have a low stress tolerance and I'm in engineering, which is notorious for requiring a lot of time and dedication. I think three classes is more than enough for me, but that's only 9 credit hours, and I need 12 to be full time.

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but now that I'm 21 years old I have to be a full-time student in order to be covered under my parent's insurance. So, taking three classes doesn't cut it anymore, and I'm really, really nervous about taking four. Since I've been at uni, I've already a hard time maintaining a GPA of around 2.5 in my core curriculum classes (the important ones). I'm sure I could do it if I really exerted myself... but I'm sure I could live if I got punched in the face, too.

 

I prefer to take three classes in the spring and fall, then take two over the summer as I'm doing now. Having been at uni for five semesters now, I think that's the perfect balance, and that pace still has me graduating in a reasonable timeframe. Unfortunately the whole world seems against me here, and I feel very pressured to pick up the pace. I don't know what to do...

 

So, to steer this back on topic, one thing I like about college is the freedom to work at my own pace. But that freedom to work at your own pace doesn't exist in my case anymore, and I am not at all happy with that. So, in many ways I almost wish I could just go back to sitting in class from 7am-3pm, doing an hour of homework, and calling it a day.

I'll be going to a new community college myself this August and I plan on changing my major as well this time around. I see what you're saying though. Taking those many classes does indeed mean you will end up finishing quicker no doubt. But when you mention to being covered your parents insurance I also see what you mean by your post too.

[Alto 437]

in my experience high school was better

 

sure you have more freedom yada yada in college

but my best friends made higschool experience the best

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

I'll be going to a new community college myself this August and I plan on changing my major as well this time around. I see what you're saying though. Taking those many classes does indeed mean you will end up finishing quicker no doubt. But when you mention to being covered your parents insurance I also see what you mean by your post too.

 

I guess, the point is, I don't really see any other reason to hurry things up. I don't understand why it's so important to graduate as soon as I can. I'm personally not in any particular hurry... I enjoy going to class, learning new things, and having friends to talk to every week. I don't mind being a student. When school isn't so stressful, this is the best time of my life. I'm sure having a full-time job is great, too, but I'm not in a rush to get there. The added stress of an extra class every term is NOT worth getting a job six months earlier.

 

 

How the hell does the arranging your schedule however you want it thing work? I thought you still had certain established hours in college and whatever class you took you had to abide by those hours

 

A few examples:

 

Some classes are offered online. You don't go to class ever, but you do have to schedule an exam time on campus.

 

Some classes are half online. You go to class maybe one day a week, and you do the rest online.

 

You are only in class for ~3 hours per week for each class. For each hour you spend in class, you are expected to study ~2 hours on your own. So, it isn't uncommon to have 12 hours of in-class time and 24 hours of study time on your own, every week.

 

Classes are offered at many different times of day. Sometimes you'll have classes that are one day a week for three hours, other times you'll have a 50 minute class 4 or 5 days a week. Sometimes you'll have a Tu/Th class or a Mo/We class. You can also have classes in the morning as early as 7am, or in the afternoon, as late as 9pm. 

 

You can take as few or as many classes as you like, whatever is comfortable for you. Do be aware of certain issues, though, like the one I mentioned.

Edited June 13, 2015 by Admiral Regulus

[Alto 437]

 The added stress of an extra class every term is NOT worth getting a job six months earlier.

this! ~back when i was 1st year-2nd year

 i was taking a full 24 unit/credit per semester since it was the norm around here and it was hell

cutted it back to 15 when i was in 3rd for less stress

Edited June 13, 2015 by Alto

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I'd say college is 100% times better than high school because high school is the time were everyone is trying to find themselves and it often leads to problems with social issues and mean people. College is a time when everyone is more mature and grown up.

[MountainDrew 1,877]

For those of you who are in college, how many classes do you typically take each term? How did you arrange your schedule?

Each semester I take between 4-7 classes.  I arrange them so that I don't have to be up at 8am every freaking morning (I'm not a morning person) and so that I have time to work at night.

 

I had to take seven courses at one point so that I could remove a failing grade from my transcript (stupid Calculus), but the norm for me is 4-6. 

 

At my college the max credit load per semester is 18.  The minimum is 12.  With some exceptions made for those who are concerned about their GPA.

[Jennabun 1,579]

College is like a bajilllion times better than high school!

- you get to choose most of your classes based upon your specific interests

- you get to schedule your classes around your job and sleep schedule

- there's less daily work usually -- just a lot of reading, but whatever

- there's a lot of fun organizations to join, and they're more serious than high school clubs

- overall people are more mature, so it's easier to get along

- it just feels more laid back to me

[Guest]

 

 

- overall people are more mature, so it's easier to get along

 

All those point's I would def. have to agree on. When I was in my first semester I was really worried but I made friends quiet easily and we had ourselves a nice group. Went to have coffee in between classes and helped each other out, it was really nice. That was back in 2013 and then I had to move states but I'll be back taking classes again in August at a new college and I'm hoping to meet some new people there . 

[Jennabun 1,579]

All those point's I would def. have to agree on. When I was in my first semester I was really worried but I made friends quiet easily and we had ourselves a nice group. Went to have coffee in between classes and helped each other out, it was really nice. That was back in 2013 and then I had to move states but I'll be back taking classes again in August at a new college and I'm hoping to meet some new people there .

 

I bet it will go great! You just have to be open and be willing to put yourself out there. I had awesome experiences during my undergrad and now that I'm in a graduate program it's the same - as long as you participate in class and engage with your classmates it's an awesome time. I hope you meet lots of nice people!

[The Diver 760]

I never went to real college but I attended community college and nearly lost my mind. Lol! My time in high school wasn't bad but it still sucked. I enjoyed going to trade school because I was surrounded by people who were mature and we're there to learn everything they can about their trade. I also liked how the instructors treated you like you were an adult and as if you were working for them (I'm literally friends with my Offshore and Salvage instructors and we go out and have beers. Quite awesome really.)

 

It ain't college but trade school is something that I enjoyed greatly. 110-14 ftw!

[Idris 241]

For me in Englandshire I can announce that walking out of the school gate aged 16 was one of the best days of my life. I couldn't beleive something so horrible was finally over!

Then two years of college with a third funded by me so I had all my 'bits of paper' to work on earthmovers. It was the first time in my life I seemed to be fully in control of my own destiny and it felt good!

Based on that concept of High School it wouldn't have worked for me.

 

Then university aged 30, which was another step on. I'd say that was even more like a job? You have to fill in a lot of gaps to get a good grade. I did a foundation year so that was 4 years of 6 modules a semester in mechatronics. The only punishment there is your own failure. And the reward a first! Super pleased with that finish!

 

But that wasn't the end, because I signed up for an MEng Mechatronics in 2000, so another 12 modules left to do. And that was tough. You pretty much get a subject/research goal and off you go. If you are crazy enough, the masters is the proof you can handle a doctorate. I doubt anyone would cover such a range of subjects in any other situation, not even a job. If you want to feel the wind under your wings and the terror, then that is the quol to have a go at

 

Folk I talk to say the doctorate is a three year slog to write a huge book about something so specific you probably won't ever read it again.

High School or College? run as fast as you can for a bigger world!

But don't be thinking that education stops in your mid twenties, because it doesn't need to.

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

Oh, college beats high school by a mile. Since you have to pay and not required to attend, it weeds out the jerks who couldn't care less from high school and replaces them with people who actually care and not just want to make their fellow students miserable. Plus, the scheduling is better and I've had far more chances to get to know some great groups of people.  

[Thuja 3,659]

While I did have a more issues going to college, I still think going to college is better than going to high school.

Edited June 13, 2015 by Thuja

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

I prefer college, as you get to decide what classes you want to take and can actually do something you like.

[Clawdeen 14,159]

College is a way better atmosphere than high school. 

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

College is a heckton of work but there’s a lot more flexibility than in high school and the atmosphere is much better. The teachers seem to be more engaged as well.

[TBD 17,254]

Now that I'm just an working adult- I will say I would give anything to be back in high school again- in other word being a youthful kid again.  Yeah growing up is part of life, but no one tells you about how you shouldn't take your youth and these simple life for granted. if I have one few regrets in my life, that would be regretting not taking the time and moments to enjoy high school and how simplicity life was. I was the kind of kid who is too serious for his age and think I'm too 'mature' for this or that. Not sure it was because of angst or what but yeah I was pretty serious and not bother to care to try to enjoy my middle/high school- and more just focus on my study.  Getting down to college was the start of my depression. Going into the work world isn't much a huge improvement either. Man if I could go back in time to my 15 year old angsty self, I would tell him, if you think your teenager's life sucks now, wait until you're in adult world".  I do sometime feel more concealed when working because everyone expecting too much from you and you just gonna suck it up and be adult about it. By what they actually mean is "being a adult=being a fucking robot. Right now I growing to try to bypass all that "generic adult" shit and tried my best to enjoy every good moments and do the things that would mean something to me. And that it can also put an positive impact toward people around me. There's no way going back to high school but it's also never too late to try to enjoy life while you still have it. And  I hope I will get to meet up to that level in the future. 

 

[Cash In 22,313]

College and it's not even close. More freedom and more flexibility. Sure the workload is bigger, but I'm actually studying something I'm interested in, rather than like six subjects that I couldn't care less about. The only part of high school I enjoyed was the social aspect. Screwing around with my pals during break was the only real fun I had.

[Dreambiscuit 9,691]

I never went full-time to college; I had a few select courses (which I promptly dropped). College seems to be less about controlling and disciplining students, and offers more choices, even though they force students to take a lot of courses they don’t need or want so the college can make more money off them. Instead of constant bullying as in high school, the students are more of a mind that they are now ‘adults’ which is absurd. They are just older kids, but given the impression they have magically gained the maturity to do anything adults do with equal judgment and perspective. Now there’s an unsettling mix of ignorance and ego, which is the worse combo imaginable. This is why college is worse than high schools; it’s just another level of brainwashing with unsubstantiated opinions rather than facts, and students, looking to gain attention and show what brilliant ‘adults’ they are, making it their misguided mission to beat the rest of the world over the head with their new programming. College is often misinterpreted as a place where people go to become smarter, but it does immeasurable moral and emotional damage because it’s not really about leaning at all, but ‘experiencing’ all the wrong things. If it were truly about learning, the ivy league schools wouldn’t require students to have a high GPA in order to get in. If they can prove they don’t need the education I guess that’s okay and doesn’t make these institutions of ‘higher learning’ look bad to the public.

[Guest]

As someone who has their bachelors degree and is currently attending graduate school(as my work is helping pay for it all), I can definitely say that college is better. Though my college experience was pretty bad. 

The only fun part of HS was the social aspect and hanging out with my friends. Ever since day 1, I hated it. When I graduated I was so glad to be done it. It felt like a giant waste of time as I can only recall a handful of information that I actually learned. For example, here in the US, our schools primarily teach American history and rarely discuss the rest of the world. I thought it was silly when I heard that there was an Advanced placement European history course- aka “AP Euro”.  The equivalent was a regular American history class asking me to remember the first ten amendments LMAO I was “fortunate” to go to one of the best school districts in Southern California, but man this was a joke.  It did not help that I had a lot of personal things going on with my folks during that time either. No, I would never go back even if you paid me. 

As for my college experience. I began with community college(also known as junior colleges in some states) which was very reminiscent of HS. The barrier to get into these colleges is very low. Like if you have a pulse, you can get in basically. However, the coursework that you complete is transferable to a 4 year program at any university here. These programs typically have you complete your first two years of college and then have you transfer to a 4 year program to complete your program of choice. Here’s the huge catch though. Everyone’s first two years of college are the same as they made it a requirement to complete TWO YEARS of general education before you can fully get into your major. You can use AP credits earned in HS and/or test out of a few classes, but everyone has to do this!!! 

The main difference is that if you are at a university, your tuition is much higher! You would have to pay 5-10 times what you would be paying for the same general education class at a community college. I found it incredibly stupid that people would go to the famous schools and brag about going there right after HS…when in reality they would be doing the same thing as I would be doing and ending up in a boatload of debt. Everyone I personally know that went straight to a university owes over $10,000 in debt, I’m not exaggerating. It was then when I noticed that schools are no different than brands and are purely businesses. They prey on people to get into debt for degrees that are not guaranteed to get you a job. In fact, I have begun to see a lot more advertisements from Universities stating that there is no guarantee that their degrees will improve your quality of life. 

Another qualm I have is that the coursework was not very challenging as I later found out that college level math for undergrad…is basically algebra and elementary stats ffs. Apparently many people cannot complete basic math or English, so the standards are very low. Thankfully the tuition was dirt cheap in comparison to the universities. I was able to use financial aid and federal grant money to help pay for my bachelors. Thankfully, unlike my university counterparts who began there earlier- I owe nothing in terms of student debt. 

As for social life, it depends. If you interact with clubs and with your community, you can get busy. I tried a few clubs my first semester and I met so many fake people that I ended up quitting all together.

There is also a huge liberal bias across these campuses here in California. I don’t consider myself left or right wing, but the lack of respect people had at the schools for opposing opinions was ridiculous. People would get into shouting contests if you did not agree with their ideology. Professors would side with this insanity at times and tried to teach their specific biases at classes instead of the truth. When I began attending, I assumed colleges and universities were open minded academic settings that students can respectfully discuss on various topics, but I was wrong. 

I continued attending university as many mid level jobs here required a degree. Unfortunately, the pandemic began as I graduated and I could not find a good job for almost two years here. I went through a few different minimum wage jobs before I finally landed this account manager position where I am currently working. I thought it was my degree that helped me secure this position as they wanted 5-7 years of office experience(which I did not have), but I was later told that they picked me as I proved to be dependable and great with people. They did not care at all that I went to school. No one else in my office went to school and some of them are making six figure salaries. 
 

I was reluctant to even go back to school, but my work offered to pay for grad school and pay me a lot more money than the others, so I find myself in this current situation. I will say that graduate school is pretty much the same bs that I had to deal with years ago and I am frankly tired of it. 

[Envy 6,163]

It's a bit complicated for me, as things always are! Lol

I would say college is better than high school in general. However, my college years were (have been...) rife with health issues, depression, etc. The fact that I have to say "have been" says a lot. I should have graduated altogether longgggg ago. College has been rough for me... High school was rough in its own ways, but health issues were barely present. It's led me to really romanticize my high school years over the years, but I'm learning to appreciate the years beyond. High school had marching band, which was an incredible experience, especially given the high school I went to. Sadly, I couldn't join a college marching band due to health issues.

But as I said... college is overall a better experience. For one, high school is very structured - same schedule everyday, and at a really early hour to start for teens. College has been variable for me. At my last university I had no classes before 9am at any point and most of them were not that early. I had a lot of days to sleep in, some days I didn't have class until 10 or 11am! Plus, you'd have those days where a professor or two can not make it, and you are free. This is an appeal that college has that nothing else has. High school and before is rigid. Jobs are rigid.

The classes in college? I have had many more memorable classes than in high school. There were some great classes in high school, but you have more freedom in college and more subjects to explore. Like I loved AP European History in high school, but in college I got to take a class specifically on Medieval England!

Also, musically. While marching band was an amazing experience I haven't gotten to experience post high school, but college has symphonic orchestra! My high school probably has that now, but back when I was there orchestra was purely strings. I love classical music and all, so getting to play in orchestras has been great!