Tuesday, April 3, 2012

College: It's Not Easy


            Today I want to talk about how stressful college really is.  Most of the students at SIUE are young adults that are expected to be a full time student, get good grades, live away from home, hold down a job, work out, have a social life, and try not to forget about Friday’s exam.  It’s a struggle to say the least. 
            I don't think high school prepares individuals at all.  A student can take every advanced/accelerated/honors class available in their high school and still not even come close to being prepared for what actually happens at college.  Most high school classes are a joke.  For example, I did not read one book in my English class senior year and I still managed to pull off an "A" in the class.  In college, if you don’t read you won’t pass; it’s as simple as that.  Also, in high school I was able to take a test, preform poorly, write the question and answer 7 times each, and get ½ credit back for every question that I got wrong the first time.  If we were still unhappy with our grade, there were always a ton of extra credit opportunities so that we could get our grade up.  It’s not easy like that in college.  In most of my classes I have 3-4 tests worth 100 points each and a final that’s worth 200 and that’s it.  No extra credit, no homework, no corrections, nothing.  The professors that have classes with 100+ people in their lecture halls do not usually care if you pass or fail, they couldn't care less if you decide not to even show up for anything but the tests.  In high school if you have a low grade the teacher would come up to you, personally, and try to help you out.  I understand the whole “no child left behind” thing but seriously?  I think high schools should change their ways just a little bit so that students aren’t in shock for their freshman year of college.
            My high school teachers and parents have told me that college is going to be "the best time of my life" and that I'm "going to love every minute of it."  BULL.  They say "live it up because it goes by too fast."  This is hard work so time can go as fast as it wants to.  Yeah, sometimes it's fun and yeah, some times can be easy, but the majority of my day is spent in my room studying my butt off for exams; that's not fun.
            So what do you think?  Did your high school teachers prepare you?  What can high schools do to actually prepare students for college?  What are some things in your college experience that you would have liked to know were going to happen earlier?  

5 comments:

  1. I totally agree with this. I have one teacher that gave extra credit only to students with at least 260 points in the class which is a low B...I have a 251 so I can't even do the extra credit to bump up my grade. That doesn't make any sense to me. It is really hard with only a couple tests holding your grade. So I am studying for hours in hopes for a good grade on a test. How are you supposed to eat healthy and work out in college when you are always on the go and busy with homework? Its hard. But I have improved this semester. Time management is key in college, and that is what they should be teaching in high school!

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  2. I completely agree with you becca. Our high school curriculum was a complete JOKE. Example 1, I forgot to capitalize your name. That's Dwight at its finest right there. But I am also learning that in college, you really have to give it over 50%, unlike high school. I struggled learning this lesson the first semester but I feel like i'm doing pretty well this semester. I feel like high schools can bring in a college professor for a visit to that school and teach the teachers how to better prepare the students.

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  3. I completely agree, college is so much harder than they make it seem. You really have to do your work and pay attention, its nothing like my high school courses at all. I am just thankful that I'm good at managing my time and prioritizing my life. If I didn't have good focus and the drive to succeed I would be in great trouble.

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  4. I agree completely. High school was much easier than college and it really didn't prepare me at all. If I could go back to high school I would in a heart beat and I would actually care and get straight A's. I am a full time student, I work almost 40 hours a week and I have to balance my social life with family and friends, exercise, and studying. This has probably been the most stressful year of my life. Matter of fact I have to go first for our presentations for our research paper and I am freaking out because I work 9 hours a day and have other school work as well. I am pushing my body physically and mentally to its limits. But hey who cares right?

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  5. My high school didn't prepare me for college as well. I am a music performance major, and in highschool I was only offered one vague music theory class. When I got here, everyone in my class knew a lot more than I did and the theory classes here were extremely advanced and required past knowledge. This was hard for me because I had literally no background on half of the things I was expected to know from the beginning. I wish someone would have told me before school started that college doesn't care where you came from, some classes still move way too quickly and many teachers don't give a shit about there students at all. Like the other day my friend went in and asked her teacher her grade, and the teacher replied with , "why are you asking me , shouldn't you know what you have?" and she said, "well i think i have a c" and the teacher responded laughing and said "your a riot". Really? Like how did she get a job here, that frustrates me. But anyways, no, high school does not prepare you even the slightest for college.

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