Is College really that hard?

Basically in college, you’re on your own. The professors are just there to teach you and don’t care whether or not you get a good grade. It’s your responsibility to get things done. I’m not in college yet but I’ve heard from numerous people that’s how it goes. I think some professors or other teachers will help or tutor you if you need help but they don’t really have the time for that. If you work hard and get things done, college will go well and a good career awaits. Just take classes you know you’ll be interested in.

Some of the problems college students have is indeed the discipline needed to do the work since no one is insisting you do anything. A lot of freshman experience freedom from their parents for the first time and end up [partying rather than studying. They fail and either have to change their ways and try again or they never return. It sounds like you won’t have any problem in this area. The second part is the academics. As Josh mentioned, this depends greatly on the school you go to. Three stories: Friend 1: went to CSULB and was a star. All the professors knew him. Transferred to UC Berkeley and was a struggling nobody. Friend 2: went to UCI, worked 40 hours a week at an outside job to support herself and still made all A’s. Also transferred to UC Berkeley, did not need to work at a job, and barely graduated with C’s. Me: went one semester to a community college, got all A’s and was always wanting more and more information etc from the teachers. Transferred to UCLA and thought I was going to die from the workload. I needed to study 80+ hours a week just to keep up. Needed to do that for four years to graduate. Hardest thing I had ever done or ever done since (and I’m 60 years old). But I will also say it’s the greatest accomplishment of my successful life. BTW … I had great teachers who spent a lot of time helping me and were all very interested in me succeeding.

The difference between college and high school is that you’re paying a great deal of money to learn. It’s all up to you whether you want to pass or fail. In high school you have mommy and daddy there to push you through everything and have teacher meetings if the teacher feels you need to, but in college, if you’re having trouble, it’s up to you to talk with your professor. The difficulty really depends on the school, the professor, and yourself.

I just finished my first year of college, and I must admit it was very different from high school. Your success depends only on you. No one else will push you. There is much more freedom in college and I think that’s why people struggle. Many times they take this freedom to have fun rather than apply it to their studying. The work load is much heavier in college. I had to study a lot more and apply myself much more than I did in high school. I think the difficulty of college also depends on your major. For example pharmacy has been difficult because of all the sciences classes and it’s a very competitive program. My best advice is to work hard for the degree you want, but don’t forget to have a little fun. Too much stress isn’t good for anyone! Good luck and savor your time in high school! (: