Are you doing better In College vs when you were in High School

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Where are you guys doing better??? Do you feel like you did better in high school or college??? If, so why are you doing better in one vs the other???

Where: College.

Why: Taking it more seriously.

That being said, I only have about 20 credits so far.

Yes, because unlike high school, college takes some work to get good grades as well as the fact it is important to do well so I don't end up $40,000 dollars in debt and nothing to show for it. I didn't care about high school; I stepped up my game my junior year because my low GPA was going to hold me down. I could keep up with the smarter kids, I just didn't give a crap about it, nor did I do my homework. College is a different breed, you'll learn in time.

I'm doing extremely better than in HS. In HS I had a 3.0 GPA (Unweighted) and I honestly slept/daydreamed/drew through most of my classes lectures and never spent a single minute after school studying for tests or quizzes.
In College I got my act together and started putting in effort, albeit still minimal effort and i've managed to excel in all my classes. College really is about setting yourself up to a different tune or mindset, if you know you've got to understand the material for the test and spend time reviewing then you'll succeed. Admittedly I can tell you that this lack of a proper mindset is one of the main contributing factors for a lot of freshmen doing horribly their first year.

Did much better in college (undergrad), in fact, I did so badly in HS that I took the GED in the 11th grade and started going to college early and working instead.

Why this is? A lot of mental/physical growing pains for starters; serving in the Air Force on active duty had a big impact, and finally a long relationship with a pharmacist who really motivated me toward higher education, even if she was an evil bitch.

I also hated how regimented HS was, college provided so much more latitude, even a small thing like being able to drink a coffee in class was huge for me. HS also felt pointless, it wasn't leading toward anything of importance, while undergrad was leading toward getting into a professional school, a real goal.

My situation is I did okay freshman year of hs, but didn't take it too seriously ended up with a 3.1 uw and 3.25 w. This year becoming more srs with a 3.57 uw and 3.72 w, despite having a C in social Studies this yr. I can't stand history and can't wait to drop down to regular history as supposed to honors and just continue to focus on the math and science department. TBH I can't study history for my life lol. My goal is to continue this upward trend and get my overall gpa to 3.4 uw and 3.6 w by the end of Junior Year combining gpa from freshman, sophomore, and junior year.

GPAs were about the same, but I learned how to show up for class/exams and learn new material in college/grad school. Upper division courses are amazing, especially if you have the chance to take them in an honors program or accelerated degree program. Critical thinking and creativity aren't as suppressed in college as in high school, and professors assign more papers than nightly homework assignments.

Much better in college... I just knew what I wanted. I realized in HS that once you were in the top 10% (in Texas) it didn't really matter until you were valedictorian or something. So I worked hard enough to be in the top 9.5% or something, got a great scholarship to one of the cheaper state universities, and didn't worry about it.

In college, I knew I wanted to do medicine or grad school, so I worked a lot harder and made a >3.85.

It does. not. matter. I had a lot of family problems in high school, started working at 14, smoked pot, never studied, spent all my money on cars and video games, got suspended, took easy classes and only one AP exam, in the humanities no less. I graduated with a 3.3.

Then I joined the Army and after several years and combat tours, grew up. After several years I got out of the service, and did well in undergrad while doing thousands of hours of volunteer work and working in EMS.

I'm starting M.D. school this fall. My advice is, don't worry. Of all the gunner types I knew in high school, many of them are in middle management office jobs. Take some time to see the world, get some perspective and become a whole person. Then chase your dream, because the dream you have today is very possibly not the dream you'll have in a decade.

My GPA is about the same. Although I have (obviously) learned new things in college and my general skills (like writing) have improved I would say the only thing that has changed in terms of doing "better" is my study habits for science classes. I have become more deliberate and active in my studying. Instead of just reading through the material I do things like quiz myself, rewrite the answers to objectives (eg. "know the steps of glycolysis" - I write out the reactions), etc. I feel like I understand the material more now that I have adopted study habits that work better for me.

Edit: I am graduating college in May and going to MD school in the fall.

Originally Posted by I'm No Superman

Where: College.

Why: Taking it more seriously.

That being said, I only have about 20 credits so far.

This. This, so hard. I'm taking college much more seriously, and with ~140+ credits in, I have a 3.8 GPA.

Originally Posted by dumptruck

It does. not. matter. I had a lot of family problems in high school, started working at 14, smoked pot, never studied, spent all my money on cars and video games, got suspended, took easy classes and only one AP exam, in the humanities no less. I graduated with a 3.3.

Then I joined the Army and after several years and combat tours, grew up. After several years I got out of the service, and did well in undergrad while doing thousands of hours of volunteer work and working in EMS.

I'm starting M.D. school this fall. My advice is, don't worry. Of all the gunner types I knew in high school, many of them are in middle management office jobs. Take some time to see the world, get some perspective and become a whole person. Then chase your dream, because the dream you have today is very possibly not the dream you'll have in a decade.

Pretty much. My gpa in high school was higher, but it took some hits not showing up to exams and getting in trouble. Same with the first year of college before I got sober and grew up in the Air Force. Just focus on what you want to do and take courses you enjoy taking. The rest will happen if you work hard and concentrate on the important things first.

Absolutely. Maturity. I got all of the rebelliousness out from sophomore year through the age of 22. Living a little and growing up helps a lot!

My high school and freshman year was so mediocre with a cGPA of 2.9. I had the chance to enter a program through college after my SOPHOMORE YEAR called "dual credit" Get your high school diploma and associates simultaneously only going full-time to the college.

I am a junior - oncoming senior this next Fall now in college at the age of 18 with a nice GPA, good EC's, worked, started research etc balancing this all together. So high school does not determine how well you do off in college.

I'm doing exponentially better in college than high school.

It suits me much better and I am more motivated.

I was a slacker in high school, I took honors/AP stuff never really studied, just did my HW....I was like top 15% (25/200 some) of my class but nothing special.

I did HORRIBLE on the SAT. I got 80% on the math but 50% on reading and 49% on writing, possibly other way around on the last two. Why? Because I didn't really give a ****, just was pissed I had to spend all Saturday taking a test.

Had basically no EC's.


I found out the hard way this type of behavior doesn't get you anywhere, didn't get into my first choice college (only hard to get into college I applied to).


So, I've been making things happen in college. Nearest makes no difference 3.9GPA, 100's of volunteer hours, shadowing, preparing for my admission tests adequately...etc..etc...


Summary: You can do better in college even if you weren't that great in high school!

Originally Posted by Kahr

Did much better in college (undergrad), in fact, I did so badly in HS that I took the GED in the 11th grade and started going to college early and working instead.

Why this is? A lot of mental/physical growing pains for starters; serving in the Air Force on active duty had a big impact, and finally a long relationship with a pharmacist who really motivated me toward higher education, even if she was an evil bitch.

I also hated how regimented HS was, college provided so much more latitude, even a small thing like being able to drink a coffee in class was huge for me. HS also felt pointless, it wasn't leading toward anything of importance, while undergrad was leading toward getting into a professional school, a real goal.

Nice work, going from GED to Dental Student. Did you ever think you would make it to dental school back in high school???

Originally Posted by dumptruck

It does. not. matter. I had a lot of family problems in high school, started working at 14, smoked pot, never studied, spent all my money on cars and video games, got suspended, took easy classes and only one AP exam, in the humanities no less. I graduated with a 3.3.

Then I joined the Army and after several years and combat tours, grew up. After several years I got out of the service, and did well in undergrad while doing thousands of hours of volunteer work and working in EMS.

I'm starting M.D. school this fall. My advice is, don't worry. Of all the gunner types I knew in high school, many of them are in middle management office jobs. Take some time to see the world, get some perspective and become a whole person. Then chase your dream, because the dream you have today is very possibly not the dream you'll have in a decade.

How did you manage to handle all the college classes by taking all regular but on AP. I'm assuming that AP was in science right?? If, not then how did you make the transition??

I slacked off in high school and managed to graduate 4th out of a class of roughly 300 students. Impressive? Not really. I'm surprised half of my class graduated. High school material is far more watered down than college material and any studying that I did was saved for the night before a big test.

That method wasn't quite working out so well when I first started college. Nonetheless, college became much easier when I dropped the procrastination attitude at the door. I started doing work when it was assigned. Set time aside for studying. Devote certain days to certain topics that an exam is going to cover. I figured this out by reading the syllabus. Those things are a joke in high school. In college, it becomes your Bible to classes.

In essence, don't procrastinate and don't forget to breathe. You'll be fine.

For those of you who did better in college rather than high school. what was going through your mind when you were going to start college??? Did you ever doubt you could mantain a high gpa for Med School because of your performance in hs?? What was your mindset like entering college???

Originally Posted by Fuarky

For those of you who did better in college rather than high school. what was going through your mind when you were going to start college??? Did you ever doubt you could mantain a high gpa for Med School because of your performance in hs?? What was your mindset like entering college???

For me, I didn't even think about being able to maintain my GPA in college. I dicked around during high school, kept a 3.0 without even trying. It was a shock the first couple of semesters of college, and I made a 3.2 and 2.8. After that, I decided that I'd be heading off to med school, and since I had something definite to work towards, I started working my ass off and adjusting to the general demands of college. I ended up making a 3.8 and 3.81,

The biggest thing about being able to do well in college, is being able to manage your time wisely, and learning how to sit down and study consistently. If you've got the mental aptitude to be in college, all it's going to take to do well is a lot of mental elbow grease.

Same. 4.0 in both.

I think it's much easier in College. Yes it's real classes and important lectures and studying. But the amount of free time is staggering! Its amazing when you put in 2-3 hours of studying and homework a day with morning classes and literally have nothing to do from 2pm till 12am

Originally Posted by MarlboroSmooth

I dicked around during high school, kept a 3.0 without even trying.

Geez, a 3.0 in HS without even trying? I'm impressed.

Originally Posted by corymartin2012

I think it's much easier in College. Yes it's real classes and important lectures and studying. But the amount of free time is staggering! Its amazing when you put in 2-3 hours of studying and homework a day with morning classes and literally have nothing to do from 2pm till 12am

You really do have a lot of free time in college, as opposed to high school, but not many people actually use all 10 hours of free time. Once you factor in social obligations, extracurriculars, trying to recover from hangovers, etc, that ten hours of usable time is actually about four or five hours. And even then, few people actually use all of their free time every single day. If you've got the dedication to study for five+ hours a day, every day, I applaud you. I ended up studying/working on papers for about two or three hours most days, a bit more on the weekends and during weeks that I had testing.

You have more free time, but you've also got a lot more freedom, and sometimes more responsibilities. Time management is a crucial skill to develop, even if you've got ten hours of free

Originally Posted by I'm No Superman

Geez, a 3.0 in HS without even trying? I'm impressed.

I apologize if it came off as self-service. High school wasn't difficult, and I didn't take AP classes for the most part.

Originally Posted by MarlboroSmooth

I apologize if it came off as self-service. High school wasn't difficult, and I didn't take AP classes for the most part.

How did you manage to transition to college without AP Classes, I thought AP in Science was a must for college???

Much better in college.

I never got straight A's until college (not even in elementary school ). I never really cared about school (especially high school, I hated it). But I changed everything when I decided that I was going to go to med school right when I started college. I decided that I was going to have to get good grades to make it and I made it work. It makes all the difference when you're motivated . And the great thing about college is that you start out with a blank slate.

I was a slacker in high school. I didn't take any AP classes, honors, etc. I took the absolute bare minimum of everything (like only took 2 years of math, 2 years of science, etc). Didn't take the SATs either. I went the community college route before transferring to a university.

Originally Posted by MarlboroSmooth

I apologize if it came off as self-service. High school wasn't difficult, and I didn't take AP classes for the most part.

Oh, I thought it was a typo, my bad.

Originally Posted by Fuarky

How did you manage to transition to college without AP Classes, I thought AP in Science was a must for college???

I didn't have any AP science classes in high school and I got into college just fine I actually only had one AP class, and that was AP English Lit this year. I did a lot of coursework at a local community college instead of going the bazillion AP classes route. I also had a lot of unique science classes (ex: Zoology 1, Zoology 2, Zoo Research 1, Zoo Research 2, etc) that were quite challenging, even though they weren't AP.

My point- AP classes are not the end-all-be-all of how you will get into college, or how well you will do in college.

Originally Posted by Fuarky

How did you manage to transition to college without AP Classes, I thought AP in Science was a must for college???

A must? Absolutely not.
Helpful? I'm sure.

You're not going to be jumping into microbiology your first semester of college, and until you're familiar with the general demands of college, trying to use the AP/college credit to give you a step up in your course progression is just setting you up for failure. I'm sure it gives you a good foundation for what you'll be learning in college, but the classes you take early in college like cell biology and genetics are much more important than any AP course.

Originally Posted by Cephal0pod

My point- AP classes are not the end-all-be-all of how you will get into college, or how well you will do in college.

Blasphemy.

I know, I'm such a heretic. Expecting a swarm of angry villagers at any moment now.

This thread gives me hope that I could turn around my performance in hs and do MUCH better in college, which I will have to step up my game obviously cause in hs I rarely pay attention to lectures, and often times forget to do homework or study out of lazyness.