College Bronies, how is College?

[crazitaco 596]

Your experience in college will depend on where you go, and what you major in.. I'm a studio art major at a junior local type college, so I don't experience much of a "college" life. My teachers are generally chill and will help you if you ask. I still live at home, I don't attend big college parties, and I'm not starving/completely broke because tuition is inexpensive enough for me to save and pay out of pocket each semester. Maybe being an art major won't land me a job, but at least I won't be in outstanding debt. And my classes have improved my art skills tremendously, so no matter what I still feel like I've gained something valuable from my classes. I don't regret anything yet.

Meanwhile I have a computer science whatever engineering friend attending a big university in another city who seems to live the stereotypical college student life. Complete with not sleeping, living off ramen, inhumanely challenging courses, having frat bros, and living in a dorm. He seems constantly stressed, and always talks about how he misses high school. He has a lot of regrets.

Edited June 1, 2014 by crazitaco

[BassBrony 33]

College is awesome! I found the workload to be a bit more than high school but nothing that you can't handle. What really makes it great are the unique and vast number of people you meet. Also the feeling of freedom to do what you want is unmatched!

 

Watch out for exams though, they're god awful.

[Boo 92]

I'm currently majoring in English Education, and I'm transferring to another college in my Junior year to begin a double major in Eng. Ed and Linguistics.

 

I barely passed this semester due to an illness and an emotionally draining friend group. I'm currently on academic probation (which is not as terrible as it sounds). Since everyone is mostly answering your questions, I want to impart some advice:

 

☆ GO TO YOUR CLASSES. I know this sounds obvious. But it is very tempting to just stay in bed and skip your 10am, or go to dinner with your buds instead of your 5pm. You are paying for your education. At my college, we did the math and it turns out that we are losing ~$150 for every class we miss. You are really shooting yourself in the foot if you don't go, not only for the cash lost but also for that extra bit of information (not to mention that if you're in a small class, the professor will notice!).
☆ No one cares about what you did in high school. Anecdotes are interesting, ex-teacher stories are funny... but, you were a quarterback? No one cares. Valedictorian? Cool, but it's irrelevant now. Got all 5's on your AP courses? Lmao, whatever.
☆ Talk to your professors. They know what's up. Some are demon-incarnate, but most (95%) are there to help you. Office hours are amazing and should be utilized as often as possible!
☆ Try to avoid buying textbooks from you school store. Campuses love taking your money in any way possible. Bigwords is bomb for finding the best deals on buying/renting textbooks. Speaking of which, try to rent them as well. Buying = a loooot more money. (I don't recommend renting workbooks though, for obvious reasons!)

☆ Learn how to study. Like a lot of people here said, exams are hell. A lot of schools offer a like, one credit course on studying strategies and whatnot - I really advise taking it. I was one of the many students in high school that never lifted a finger outside of the classroom and got all A's. This really screwed me over my first semester of college. Find something that works for you. Also, never study in your room. Ever.
☆ Make friends/join clubs/be social! Seriously, freshman year is great for mingling and making buddies. I joined a LOT of clubs, even ones that I wasn't fully interested in, and I definitely have a handful of lovely people to be with. Also, fraternities/sororities/greek life is not as convoluted as everyone says it is.
☆ Don't be that guy that sets off the fire alarm at 3am because you burned your Easy Mac. Everyone in your dorm/residence hall will hate you. Especially me.
☆ GO TO YOUR CLASSES.

[Mutemutt 773]

I find high school was so much easier, everything was pretty straight forward then. Things got more complicated in college, and waaaaay more stressful.

 

It really depends on your classes and college but, for me (Computer Engineering), I'd say it's pretty tough. Honestly, I've had multiple breakdowns now from all the stress. Don't mean to scare you or anything, but it's the truth...

 

Depends on how many classes you take and what times and whether you live close to campus or not. For me, there's been plenty of times where I've had an hour or two to wait between classes but nothing to do but study since all my friends are in classes or off campus at the time and I can't leave since it would take too long to get back. Then there's all the studying as well; there's not too much homework but you still have to make time out of class to prepare for exams and such. I'd say, generally, you'll have "enough" free time. It's pretty nice when you get a schedule with no Friday classes though; so many 3 day weekends 

 

There's almost no "homework" homework, just "suggested" practice problems and projects. So, plenty of time to do whatever was "suggested" and tons of time to do projects. At least you get credit for homework; you don't know how good you've got it till it's gone...

 

I sound so doom and gloom... College life is great though, all things considered. I swear!   

Edited June 2, 2014 by Mutemutt

[Rainb0wdashie 60]

So I'm bored, and I feel like talking about this since I spent the whole afternoon trying to get information. And I figured I might as well make a thread about it so I can get to know you guys better@  

 

Anyway,

 

On Friday, I'm turning in an application at my community college to start classes. 

 

The problem is that I really don't know what I want to do. I've never really wanted to do anything. I dread being locked into the tedium of a career for 40 or so years, and I'm not passionate about anything - well, not passionate enough to get a degree in anything. 

 

The only thing I'm considering studying for, degree wise, is Aerospace Engineering. No big decision making influenced this decision. I was literally sitting in my work truck thinking about what classes I could take and I thought "Well, I like physics. Rockets are cool. Aerospace Engineering!"

 

The application I'm sending in is for general admissions, so afterwards I'm going to be meeting with guidance counselors and all that jazz. 

 

Hopefully, I'm not too late for the fall semester, because I'd like to get a few classes I want to take for fun out of the way (Graphic Design, English Lit, and Music theory and production), and then if I really am interested, will start working towards a degree in Aerospace Engineering in the spring semester. 

 

So yeah, that's my game plan for now, it might change later. But in the meantime, all you college bronies should post in this thread about what you're studying and whatever advice you might have. Then we can all do that talking thing and be friends! 

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

@@Rainb0wdashie, Hey, looks like we already had a general thread for college, so I went ahead and merged your thread with the already existing one. Thanks!

[Nulln 755]

You should take your college ID everywhere cuz a lot of places give you discounts with it

 

I got a free popcorn at the movies when I showed them mine.

[takai 1,060]

Honestly, College is awesome. Well, compared to High School at least.

 

You take classes where you actually learn things, and have to actually pay attention in order for you to pass.

 

You have a lot more control over your own life. You get much more free time than you ever had before you take college.

 

No cliques or groups, except maybe for the obnoxious group that plays Magic The Gathering. So you never have to worry about drama or anything. Plus, everyone there is an adult. They don't care who you are, or what you're doing there. Everyone just goes to class, then leaves. It's a much more healthy environment than high school. I've loved it ever since I started. I feel much more comfortable walking around.

 

Is it hard? It depends on the classes you take really.

 

All in all, college is by far the best schooling experience I've ever had.

[Lighting Star 93]

I'm not a student in college so I hope it's ok if I ask this here, but how does being a Brony fair in college?

[Virgil 685]

 

 

As a student of mechanical engineering, don't choose your major based on how easy or hard it is. Choose it based on how interesting it sounds. If you like what you're learning, you'll be willing to put in the hours you need to get the grade. It won't seem like work to you, unless you're doing something that you don't enjoy.

This is very true, as some of the courses I've taken that are technically at a higher level have felt easier because I was quite interested in the topic and vice versa. So this is a good principal to keep in mind.

 

But in regards to your question about difficult, free time, and so forth it boils down to one thing really: Time Management. If you can make a very detailed schedule and stick to it, you'll do fine and have a good deal of free time typically.

 

As a bit of practical advice that if you implement now (in high school ), it will make things much easier and smoother.

1. Figure out your best learning style now if you haven't already, although there will be cases where you have use a style that doesn't come easy to you, so be prepared.

 

2. Don't forsake Mathematics and English. If you get behind in these subjects now and don't do your best to learn them, you'll have to waste time and money in college playing catch up. And these subjects will help you later on at some point. Example: In most American schools grammar is payed no attention to. Now I need to learn other languages but I've found out I know next to nothing about the actual parts of speech which I should have learned, which makes that ten times as hard ( In most High School and Community college classes they will not bother with grammar as long as you can read and write fairly well, like I did ) .

 

When you do look at colleges... Community colleges can be a very good idea. You can experiment with what subjects you like, which may cause you to decide to pursue something you never thought about before. Plus they are very inexpensive and you can get your basic classes out of the way. On the other hand, they are nothing like the standard four year college, as Community colleges are in my experience glorified high schools only difference is they are actually fun for the reasons mentioned above.

 

So if you learn Time Management now, you'll have a bit of culture shock, but you'll be able to adjust much quicker. However if there is a very specific college and career path you want to take and you know for sure ( you learn either in High School or just after a couple semesters in a Community College ), going straight to a Real College may be a better idea, especially if the field your interested in is very specialized or that college is more specific in what classes it wants you to take.

[Nulln 755]

I'm not a student in college so I hope it's ok if I ask this here, but how does being a Brony fair in college?

My college is full of bronies.  Very extremely open bronies.   College people are usually pretty open-minded and accepting, but you do get the occasional guy who stands in the middle of the sitting area outside the cafeteria to yell about how Jesus loves you and hates all your sins.  But then you get your giant group of free hugs signs gathered around him, so it's all ok.

[Virgil 685]

I'm not a student in college so I hope it's ok if I ask this here, but how does being a Brony fair in college?

Once your in college, most people don't really care what you like generally speaking, so depending on the area you should be fine. As an Example: You'll probably find all sorts of clubs for things you would have wished you had in High School.

[Evilshy 5,090]

I'm not a student in college so I hope it's ok if I ask this here, but how does being a Brony fair in college?

People don't judge you for stuff like that (at least not openly, they might think that you're weird, though), which has the double benefits of nobody giving you shit for being a brony, plus there are more open bronies so its easier to find brownies to hang out with. My roommate had a bunch of grab bag ponies on his desk, I dated a girl I met through MLP, I hung out with people for other reasons and later found out they were bronies. Overall a pretty chill place for bronies.

 

I had already graduated high school when MLP became a thing, so I don't know how it compares to that.

[long gone 8,929]

People don't judge you for stuff like that (at least not openly, they might think that you're weird, though), which has the double benefits of nobody giving you shit for being a brony, plus there are more open bronies so its easier to find brownies to hang out with. My roommate had a bunch of grab bag ponies on his desk, I dated a girl I met through MLP, I hung out with people for other reasons and later found out they were bronies. Overall a pretty chill place for bronies.

 

I had already graduated high school when MLP became a thing, so I don't know how it compares to that.

This. I've worn MLP shirts to college before and have gotten more "Nice shirt!" comments than hate.