Thread: High school VS. College

I am currently attending college and I have to say I love it! Highschool was ok but was full of that drama shit that always made me angry. College is more laid back and way more mature and being in such a big school with a lot of neat things and cool people just seems more my environment :]

In my experience, highschool tends to be more of a group-oriented environment. As a result people naturally identify with a group and conform to it. College on the other hand values individuality over conformity (to an extent).

As someone who couldn't be bothered to conform, highschool was an overall boring, grindy experience for me. I always had friends in different groups here and there but always got left out of the group mentality. Things started to work out for themselves once I got to college.

Try to think of the new experience of college as an exciting opportunity rather than something overwhelming. Its very rare to find a chance to start fresh like that, and I'm sure by now you certainly have the know-how to build something great for yourself. I'd say if you have the chance, go for it. As long as you get out there and be yourself, thing'll work out.

I have about nineteen days of high school left, and I graduate in about a month. I've never been a fan of school since I went to junior high. People started turning into assholes and I stopped wanting to be around people. I only started to moderately like school last year, but I still have a negative overall view of my schooling.

I can't want to graduate and move on to college. I'm quite tired of the immaturity and general stupidity of public school.

Originally Posted by BLUELINE976

I can't want to graduate and move on to college. I'm quite tired of the immaturity and general stupidity of public school.

I hear that.

Highschool was awesome for the first semester or so, then it spiraled down and down until I finally chose to move schools because I became so disillusioned. Life at my new school has sucked balls as well, but at least I'm graduating early. I genuinely don't know how to feel about University, but it seems most people like it better than highschool, so I've got my hopes up.

Originally Posted by Knight

Were they the best years of your life?

Which was better for you college? Or Highschool?

I am going to be a senior in highschool in a few months. I didn't like the first two years of Highschool, but things are better now. But I am worried that the first two years of college, Will be like the first two years of highschool because I'll have to get used to a new place.

Should I even go to college or not? my grades are decent but i'm no wiz.:shadewink

Ps.......I hope this ain't in the wrong forum, it just seems that alot of people spend time in the extended discussion.

Your first two years of college are unlikely to be anything like your first two years of high school, though obviously it depends on where you're going. Some (I'd say most) colleges can be wonderful, some can be really crap. Don't worry if you don't think you're smart enough. The thing about high school, especially if you didn't go to a very good one, is that it's a stressful environment so sometimes even bright kids can't focus so well there. Plus many kids don't even know what they want to do with their life at that age. They go to college and they find new talents and interests they never knew they even had before.

I personally way enjoyed college more than high school, but my high school was a bit of a disgrace, and the teachers there were all apathetic to the max and treated everyone like they were a trouble maker, even those (sometimes especially those) who were quiet and well behaved, because they often didn't argue back they were easy game.

I spent 3 years at a community college trying to decide just what I wanted to do. It was okay, but it was like a mixture of high school and university. You're half-way between being treated like a responsible adult and an irresponsible kid - or maybe that's just because there were more irresponsible kids there? There were a few disruptions in class by some people that obviously didn't want to be there. I remember a few more responsible adults saying, a bit displeased, "it's like being back in high school you get treated like a kid!" but if you've just come from high school you can see how it's a little better. Once I had settled on biology as a main interest, I went to university.

Coming to the end of the first year there, I can say it is very, very different and much better than high school. You're not pushed, breathed down upon, or yelled at, or spoken to like you're filth like you are in high school. Lecturers are often friendly, approachable, sociable and always happy to help with problems (unlike in high school where if you asked for help it meant you weren't listening and don't deserve help). They even help and give advice for non-study related problems that could be affecting your studies, and there are usually facilities in most universities to get services such as daycare, counselling, help with finances, etc. At the same time, you have to take full responsibility of your work which was a bit of a culture shock for me. I'm used to little reminders in class "remember to get this essay in at such-and-such a time" for example. You just don't get that in uni, you're given full responsibility for your own study. All materials are there for you but you must take the initiative to get them yourself. All info is there for you but the lecturer isn't going to explain it all. The bare bones of notes and handouts of what is given for you to use isn't going to get you good passing grade, you must do further reading on your own terms from your own chosen selection of sources. Self-study is a major part of it all. I did find this difficult to adjust to as we never did anything like this in community college.

Lol, I must sound like a spoiled brat to say it was a "culture shock", but I will admit, in high school and community college the info was kind of spoon-fed to us. There was never any initiative to do self-study from anything other than the handouts and assigned textbooks. There really needs to be more of that in high school/community college to help students prepare for that kind of study.

High school was shit on wheels.

University was AWESOME!

The only things I miss about high school are sports and my old friends, and maybe some of the teachers. For everything else, college kicks the shit out of high school.

I have to disagree with that. I think the first two years of collage is a lot like the first two years in high school. In that the first two years of high school you study what they tell you, then the last two years you have a lot more leeway in what you can study. In you usually end up taking the same core classes for the first year or two. Then you get to take what you want.

The differences is that collage has a lot more optional stuff, and a lot less required stuff. Obviously another big difference, is people who are in collage, normally want to be there. Or at least they are paying for it. So while there are still a lot of slackers in collage, there really isn't many people who are out right disruptive. If something is boring they just leave, or don't do it. There is no reason to act out when nothing is forced, and you can leave at any time, and of course the teachers don't put up with that stuff in collage.

I would personally suggest that you do not go to collage, unless you have some goal in mind. At least not full time, you could always take a few classes if you want some of the collage experience.

So many people go into collage though with no idea what they want to do. They kind of cruise for a few years taking core classes while they consider their options, then they either drop out, or go for some easy degree. Possibly even taking things they are not really interested in.

While collage is always nice, I don't think a collage education in a boring subject or what you really have no interest in is of any real help to you in your life.

College. Sex, drugs, and alcohol. Couldn't take a step without falling into one of them, and lots of times it was a trio of them all If it weren't for classes, college would be the best thing ever.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

College. Sex, drugs, and alcohol. Couldn't take a step without falling into one of them, and lots of times it was a trio of them all If it weren't for classes, college would be the best thing ever.

I lol'd at that one.

I'm in Knight's situation right now. I don't know about anybody else, but I am fucking tired of high school, the little BFE town I live in, and everything else. I WANT OUT!!!

Originally Posted by Alric

I have to disagree with that. I think the first two years of collage is a lot like the first two years in high school. In that the first two years of high school you study what they tell you, then the last two years you have a lot more leeway in what you can study. In you usually end up taking the same core classes for the first year or two. Then you get to take what you want.

Yes, it is more or less true that the first few semesters of college, when you're just taking gen-eds, are basically like a continuation of high school academically. Not very challenging. But college is a lot more than just the academics... the overall college experience is very, very different from high school, wouldn't you agree?

I have two and a half days of high school left. I've watched my friends go to college and their lives have changed in the ways you would expect, (independent from parents and such. Working more.) But in alot of things it hasn't changed much. Mainly because they have stayed in town, I should think, and they had lives outside of school. I expect it will be similar for me.

Because I'm only in my first year of college I can't really say I can give a proper evaluation of the overall college experience, but since voting "Don't know yet" isn't going to help you at all, I've voted "College" and will evaluate it versus high school based one what I've experienced.

I am with the rest of the folks here; college is a much more mature, serious (in a good way), self-motivated learning environment than the classes in high school. It's incredibly different. I vaguely remember my overall high school experience nowadays (mostly because I'm not being forced to experience it or think about it everyday), but what I do remember can be described as follows: Arrive early in the morning and get in your sardine can, listen to lecture and do activities, learn a few things, switch sardine cans, repeat the last three steps several times, go home and do assignments from each sardine can lecture and get rest to repeat the same schedule the very next day. This is way more cynical than necessary, but it's the impression I have of what I went through in high school - now, to be fair, my high school was academically excellent compared to many schools in the state and in rest of the United States, but it was still a high school. So much pressure. And I haven't even mentioned the bloody drama!

Back to college. Now, here you go to, say, an Algebra class. I'm sitting in a classroom like in high school, (except I sit at a table with other students instead of a desk next to others' desks) but it's not covered by that crowded atmosphere. There aren't seating charts, there aren't those that really don't care to be there (those type of people, if they're in your classroom, disappear after week 1), you can walk in and out of the room at any time, you are often on first-name basis with your instructors, the atmosphere with the lectures isn't "you have to be here, sit down, be silent except when questions are asked and learn something", it's "hey! Ready to learn some new stuff?" and after maybe two hours of class your instructor might ask if you'd like a break for a drink or a smoke or to stretch your legs, then you get back to class, and you learn new stuff.

There's still work of course, but here's something awesome about my setup - I'm a full-time student (14 credits this and last semester), and yet I only have one class a day. My schedule is that I have a night class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and an afternoon class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have one online course, and I have a morning class that meets Monday-Thursday that doesn't start until much later into the semester. So, I've got a lot of time on my hands! You could say it's for the homework, but the homework isn't THAT unbearable that it takes that much free time to finish! I'm applying for jobs left and right and am almost constantly attacking my keyboard with my typing fingers while around DV most days and nights of the week! I know not every college schedule is like this, but they are much more flexible than high school, where you're there or you're a drop-out.

Finally, I recommend going to college. It's said many times over to high school seniors that it's not enough to have a high school education to "make it" today. It's pretty true - many jobs will require at least an Associate's Degree (2 years) in college education to prove that you've put in the person initiative and all that jazz. If you have more reason to go than not to, then go. What are your interests? What do you want to do with your life? (Besides the response "I WANNA ROCK!" ) Whatever that is, do a little Googling and see what you come up with for getting paid for your interests. Like lucid dreaming? There's such a thing as the Lucidity Institute, so lucid dreaming and studies regarding them can be used as a job, for example. (Dr. Stephen LaBerge is a psychophysiologist - had to go to college for that one, I tell ya!)

It can get you places. High school is just kind of there. It's the government's way of making sure that you're pointed in a direction and given a little push to get you going - college is where you hop in a car and check things out for yourself. Now, wouldn't you rather do things because you want to, or towards your goals, as opposed to being told everything to do that doesn't necessarily deal with your interests, and maybe not aiming at your goals?

That's what I thought you'd say. Good luck with whatever your ultimate decision is!

American college sounds a lot better than Australian University. At my uni, there isn't much of a social life. People just rock up, go to lessons, then go home again. Not much social interaction at all, at least not compared to your college, it seems. I liked highschool a lot better, had heaps of friends, all had lessons together, hung out together, less pressure, it was awesome.

Only upside for me is studying at uni gives you a lot more freedom, study wise.

Originally Posted by Speesh

In my experience, highschool tends to be more of a group-oriented environment. As a result people naturally identify with a group and conform to it. College on the other hand values individuality over conformity (to an extent).

As someone who couldn't be bothered to conform, highschool was an overall boring, grindy experience for me. I always had friends in different groups here and there but always got left out of the group mentality. Things started to work out for themselves once I got to college.

Try to think of the new experience of college as an exciting opportunity rather than something overwhelming. Its very rare to find a chance to start fresh like that, and I'm sure by now you certainly have the know-how to build something great for yourself. I'd say if you have the chance, go for it. As long as you get out there and be yourself, thing'll work out.

this was my experience with high school exactly. It was so boring and restrictive in high school. But in college its open and relaxing for a majority of the time. And you are much more free to pursue whatever extracurriculars interest you.

I'm currently a sophomore in high school and we're in the middle of no-where in New York. It's really annoying because we have all these little white kids running around thinking they're gangster, then get scared when they go to Syracuse, a city of about 150,000. 90% of our school is white, 9% is asian, and 1% is actually african american, so you can see why they think they're all tough but really aren't. Hopefully college won't be so full of people thinking they're the greatest and don't know what lies outside they're own town.

@Burke College is way more mature; far fewer people are ignorant and "try to be gangster".

oh yeah, for the record, to me neither one compares to life 5th grade and down. THOSE were the best time of my life lol.

I'm now in highschool(well, not really, but what is comparable to highschool, I do the highest level, grammar school is the english name I believe, it's from 12-18 years if you don't fail or skip a year), so I can't compare it to college(and probably never will, I'll probably go to a university)
but I don't really notice the groupthing, sure there are groups, but not that extreme as in the american tv-shows I know(if I had to fit myself in a group it would probably be metalhead or stoner, but stoners aren't really a group at our school since half the school smokes weed)

see, high school was easier, but college is more fun, yet i am terribly lazy, so its incredibly hard, just from a procrastinating standpoint.

I dropped out of high school and it was the best thing I ever did. I didn't go to college and that was a great decision also. I got my GED and now I make a lot of money and as much or more money than my friends who went to college did. The good thing about college seems to be that you are away from your parents, living on your own and still very young and crazy. New ideas, sex, drugs, etc... Mind opening, do whatever you want with nobody to tell you what to do. But you don't need to do that at college, I traveled the world instead. The best days of my life are right now.

Neat! Most non-celebrity high-school dropouts I know are working on some shipyard, gutting fish or whatever. What do you do for a living?

Originally Posted by Dannon Oneironaut

I dropped out of high school and it was the best thing I ever did. I didn't go to college and that was a great decision also. I got my GED and now I make a lot of money and as much or more money than my friends who went to college did. The good thing about college seems to be that you are away from your parents, living on your own and still very young and crazy. New ideas, sex, drugs, etc... Mind opening, do whatever you want with nobody to tell you what to do. But you don't need to do that at college, I traveled the world instead. The best days of my life are right now.

Seems like an awesome experience, but I'm curious, how did you pay to travel the world?

Originally Posted by Replicon

Neat! Most non-celebrity high-school dropouts I know are working on some shipyard, gutting fish or whatever. What do you do for a living?

I doubt they have a GED though.

As for me, highschool has been loads of fun. Shitty at times. But this year has been by far the funnest (11th grade till now).