Is college actually hard work? - Grads only please!?

Question

They said high school would be much harder but it was easy as hell. I am about to head off to George Washington University in DC and want to know about the workload, also about work expected and social life. Im kind of anxious so ALL HELP is APPRECIATED!

Answer 1

It will be more difficult because you are on your own. Noone is going to remind you that a report or paper is due. Noone is going to wake you up and make sure you get to class on time. Noone is going to tell you to go to bed at a reasonable time. Yes, it is more difficult.

Answer 2

Here's the thing: nobody is looking over your shoulder in college to get your work in: it's all up to you. Professors don't care if you turn your work in, but don't think you'll get a good grade unless you do so :-)

Is the work harder? Yes. Yes it is. Is it SOOO hard that you should be anxious? nope. If you demand perfection (perfect grade type), you're going to pull your hair out because a much larger group of people in college are trying to do that too.

College is much different from HighSchool. Work load is greater, but you can dictate how much load you have (how many classes you take).

Social life? You can have as big or as little a one as you want. Some people party non-stop and don't study much. Some people hit the books and don't stop. Most find a happy medium in which they are comfortable, make friends, and have a blast!

I graduated in 2002, went right back for grad school, and am now happily employed. I was very happy at college and wish you the best in your studies :-)

Answer 3

The difference between high school and college is that there is a lot more responsibility on you to study and get the work done "the monkey is on your back". The teachers kind of hold your hand in high school whereas in college you are responsible for learning the material whether or not it was covered in lecture. The tests are more geared towards critical thinking, making sure you understand and can apply the material rather than just being able to memorize it from the book or notes. Ultimately college is what you put into it. It takes effort to be at the top of your class, but it also takes a lot of effort to fail. You will also have to learn how to juggle your studies and your social life. Your parents will no longer be there to tell you not to go out or what time to come home at. You will be busy.

Answer 4

college is much harder then high school - in high school the teacher gives you an assignment each day and you go over it - in college they give you the syllibus the beginning of the semester and your expected to read it and do it on your own by the dates without anyone to remind you -

also in high school you may have 1 book for a class for the year - in college you will have 3-6 books per class per semester - and they are not all small books - you will be expected to read them - interact in class - write papers - do presentations -

make sure you balance your priorities - i know college can be a party - but it is a lot of hard work - i went to college right out of HS - and i barely passed with a C for my Asso degree- i failed several classes - almost got thrown out of school - and looking back now at 29 yrs old - i realized i wasted the time i could have gotten that degree the right way and gotten a great job - now i am going back for another degree - and i realize that c is not a good thing - this time i am on the deans list and i know how important it is for future jobs to have good grades - and i am taking it serious - it is hard work - i wont graduate this time until i wasn 32 - so i lost 10 years of making a great salary and 10 years twords my vested retirement - so i wont retire until 10 years after my friends - and i wont have a house - or a nice car - or any of those things - because i was more worried about college being fun

Answer 5

College is harder than high school in several ways.

1) Independence: For many, you become responsible for yourself and your own attendance for the first time ever. A lot of people get a little "high" on this fact and skip classes just because they feel like it, or you partied the night before...your parents aren't around to "make you" go to class. That's the first step toward not doing well in college! Always attend class!!

2) Homework--college professors tend to assign a lot of homework. Since classes usually meet 2 or 3 times a week (as opposed to every day) they expect you'll have more time to work on your homework.

3) Parties -- most schools have a very active party scene. If one isn't used to this, it can really sidetrack you from why you ACTUALLY went to college. By all means, take part in some of the social activities. But always remember to keep everything in balance! You can't party all the time and expect to do well...it won't happen (unless you cheat...and that can get you booted out of school).

4) Significant others: While in college, many people meet the friends they will have for life...this includes spouses. Relationships become more "adult" and meaningful than the high school boyfriends/girlfriends you had. Sometimes students focus too much time on these relationships and not on their schooling. Again, it comes back to finding a balance.

5) Study Habits...when I was in high school, I could do my homework while I watched TV, talked on the phone and listened to music AND I was a 4.0 student....college level work needs more focus and dedication...my first few quarters taught me that!! Set aside time to actually STUDY. DO YOUR READINGS!!! You will find that just doing your assigned readings (ON TIME) will help you tremendously in any class you take!

Hope this helps :)
Graduate, BA English, from a Jesuit University :)

Answer 6

Every University is different. If you did well in High School you shouldn't have a problem at the University.

I thought like you do. My very first class as an Graduate student was Managerial Accounting. I really had a hard time with it. Got a "B" then the second part in the next term got an "A". It didn't come easy for me.

State University of New York at Albany. MMIS and MSMIS.

Good Luck

Answer 7

Depends on your courses and whether you challenge yourself and work hard to earn good grades or do the bare minimum to pass the class and graduate.

It also depends on how well your high school prepared you for the kind of work to expect from a college level course. Colleges expect that you go in knowing how to research material for a paper, how to properly cite your sources, how to write a lab report etc.

It also depends on your study habits. Can you be disciplined enough to go to your classes, take notes, and study and complete your assignments on time or do you procrastinate and put things off? College is far more challenging if you're constantly crunched for time because you partied or put off your assignments until last minute.

Professors won't hold your hand. They expect you to be an adult and to handle the responsibility for your life and your education. You get out of the experience what you put into it but given the cost of a college education, it's not wise to waste the opportunity to get the best education you can possibly get.

If you don't feel you are quite ready, take some time and perhaps a few classes at a junior college or community college first to get your feet wet.

Answer 8

I think a lot of it depends on your major...easier majors require less of your time. If your major is harder, you have to bust your butt if you want to keep good grades.

Here's how the college scenario worked for me:

I graduated from high school with a 4.0 (and I hardly ever studied, and I went to one of the top 5 schools in the state), and now I'm an A/B student (swiftly approaching graduation) in college. If I didn't study, I could probably scrape by with C's, and that's a BIG "probably." As for the social life, you have to make time for it...give yourself some time off from doing your homework because there is A LOT of homework to do. I pulled a 4.0 my first few semesters at college, but the constant work wears you down. I had to learn to give myself a social life, or I would have probably gone crazy from all of the work.

College is a wonderful experience, but you'll get out of it only as much as you put in. Good luck with it...you sound like you'll be fine :-)

Answer 9

GWU has a standard curriculum you must take in order to graduate, no matter what your major field of study. It is rather broad and is intended to help define you as a "product" of their program of education, someone who has earned the right to boast of a degree from them.

It's a good school.

Automatically that means you are expected to put in the work and take the courses.

Expect to spend between 3 and 6 hours of week in outside study for every 1 hour of classroom time. Few course will require 6 hours but all will need 3 at minimum. So if you are on a semester schedule of the minimum 12 hours of course credits to be considered "full time" (by most standards), you have between 36 72 hours a week of outside study. If you "load up" with 18 hours of course credits (usually the maximum practical schedule), you can see where the math leads you. If you don't have to work at a job, then you really should carry as many credits as you think you can handle.

Social life -? Man, you're going to have a ball. Just don't have TOO MUCH fun. It will ruin your grades.

Answer 10

It all depends on what you define as hard. If the classes are ones where you can BS your way through, then no problem. If you end up with a semester where you have three 15+ research papers all due on the same day, in three different subjects, then it gets a little difficult. If you treat school like a 9 to 5 job, then it won't be too hard. Most problems are usually based on time (mis)management. There is soooooo much free time in college, it can be a distraction.

Answer 11

College is one of those things that depends. If you want to make good grades and get accepted to big schools like medical schools and stuff with a free scholarship then ofcourse your going to have to work towards it. It is hard if you want to keep acceptable grades AND join serorities or feternities, partying, etc. I highly suggest everyday when you v=come back from classes with all those notes you teachers give you to SERIOUSLY study them. Because if you dont your gunna have to study all the notes you took one semester all in two days. So study a little every night. And if you do that and pay attention in class you should be able to fit a social life in with your school work. So college can be hard or it can be easy depending on how much effort you put into it. Hope this helped! Good Luck!