Did your High School prepare you for College/University?

[MonkeyDRuffy]

I am just wondering, how well did your high school prepare you for the College/University level? In my area (Ontario province in Canada), we don't have any standardized exams for entry into University. This is potentially problematic since getting straight A's in an "easier" high school is seen as equal to another high school. I noticed this at my University, where students that did better than me (numerically in high school) were struggling in the sciences at the University level, while I did better.

I believe my high school teachers (Science) did a great job preparing me for University. First, they did give us difficult questions on exams/tests etc. My Chemistry teacher only gave us pop quizzes to make us review our notes regularly (which worked).

Just wondering how well your high schools prepared you for the College/University level.

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[Verum]

I slacked off in HS meaning i got straight A's and B's by not studying. Plan to change in college though.

 

[TheShaker]

I went into college only knowing basic algebra and limited geometry so, no. I actually barely knew anything other than English but I was somehow allowed to graduate. It was my fault though, I didn't really do anything to educate myself.

It took about a semester of very hard work to catch up to the background knowledge of my peers so I guess it made things a bit harder. It does give me a good answer to the "challenges" essay that most schools make you write though.

 

[MonkeyDRuffy]

I slacked off in HS meaning i got straight A's and B's by not studying. Plan to change in college though.

Do you have a specific plan for that? Or just review your notes regularly?

 

[MonkeyDRuffy]

I went into college only knowing basic algebra and limited geometry so, no. I actually barely knew anything other than English but I was somehow allowed to graduate. It was my fault though, I didn't really do anything to educate myself.

It took about a semester of very hard work to catch up to the background knowledge of my peers so I guess it made things a bit harder. It does give me a good answer to the "challenges" essay that most schools make you write though.

Looking at your MD apps page, your GPA is pretty good considering you had limited skills in Mathematics and you are studying the Physical sciences (which require a strong base on math).

 

[Yonko Shanks]

NO. My high school was a sham. Out of 900 kids in my class, 100 graduated.

 

[TipToad]

I went to a pretty good high school (very WASP-y, school clubs took trips to Hawaii, etc). I wouldn't say it prepared me well for college, though. HS was tough, but college was much, much harder.

 

[circulus vitios]

I was a B- student at a 30th percentile public high school.

No, not really.

 

[TheShaker]

Looking at your MD apps page, your GPA is pretty good considering you had limited skills in Mathematics and you are studying the Physical sciences (which require a strong base on math).

That's not my actual major. I just changed up my information a bit to throw off nosy adcoms. 😉

First semester Precalculus was rough though.

 

[Life Eternal]

I would probably say most high schools in this country don't prepare you very well for college. If you are determined hardworking individual you will most likely do well at the college level.

 

[Purple2012]

I went to a private Christian school and any science was watered down, or fictionalized.

Pretty much like this.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07WX3F7UQWA[/YOUTUBE]


Going to that school just reinforced my atheism.
It's actually really scary and sad to be around people like everyday.

 

[La Presse]

The high school I graduated from? Kinda. I had AP classes and the like. I preferred the int'l program I attended overseas. The system was British and was divided into 3 groups: science, commercial, and arts.

14 subjects. 1 school year. Very rigorous coursework. You don't even know.

 

[Stumpyman]

I went into college only knowing basic algebra and limited geometry so, no. I actually barely knew anything other than English but I was somehow allowed to graduate. It was my fault though, I didn't really do anything to educate myself.

It took about a semester of very hard work to catch up to the background knowledge of my peers so I guess it made things a bit harder. It does give me a good answer to the "challenges" essay that most schools make you write though.

Same here. However, I would add that, even though it wasn't easy learning things that most others knew pretty well, I wasn't "burned out" entering college, and was able to start with a clean slate.

 

[MonkeyDRuffy]

I would probably say most high schools in this country don't prepare you very well for college. If you are determined hardworking individual you will most likely do well at the college level.

Pretty similar in Toronto. You have a lot of these students that have inflated marks, but are getting C's in University. Yeah, usually if you have a great work ethic, you can do well at University.

 

[Amba]

Nah. No APs offered at all and terrible physical science prep.

It doesn't really matter, though. Most people are able to succeed in college if they have the internal drive, regardless of the quality of their high school. I'd like to think I turned out alright 👍

 

[AdrianVeidt]

Honestly, high school is not needed to succeed in college. I didn't technically graduate from high school and I'm doing fine in college.

 

[Narmerguy]

It's hard for high school to prepare any of us for college the way we want. They can only do so much given the resources and challenges of teaching multiple students at once.

I went to a private school, plenty of APs, etc etc...and I still felt somewhat unprepared for college. I found my college way harder than high school, and the kinds of skills it took to succeed (time management, independent studying, seeking out resources, talking to professors in office hours, etc) were very different from the skills it took to succeed in high school (doing your homework, studying more than a couple hours for a test, doing what you're told).

I wish I could have cut out the first two years of high school, finish high school two years early, and just go ahead and start college. I just feel like all those years in high school was a waste. I didn't learn that much, I didn't improve my critical thinking, I wasn't challenged, it wasn't that interesting... I just wish I could have had college-style experiences at a younger age. I probably wouldn't have spen 80% of my free time playing video games.

 

[TheShaker]

Same here. However, I would add that, even though it wasn't easy learning things that most others knew pretty well, I wasn't "burned out" entering college, and was able to start with a clean slate.

Same, I knew I wanted to go to medical school on the first day so I was going full gunner for the first year. 😛 I became a normal human being after a while though.

 

[Ansar]

It certainly didn't give me any edge over other students.
I'd probably say I was in the lower rungs.

 

[HipChick]

Hell.no.

 

[scene]

My school probably could have prepared me better for college but I didn't elect to take any AP courses and wanted to "slack off" in high school. Nevertheless I got mostly A+s and B+s but that does not mean anything now, lol.

 

[neurotroph]

Nope. First semester of college I easily had the worst academic performance of my life. I learned how to adjust my habits though and got all A's and A-'s second semester. I go to a really competitive school though; my high school classes weren't geared towards students who would be going to schools like mine.

 

[typicalindian]

absolutely not. My high school was a joke. I know high schoolers today that are graduating with 10 or 11 AP classes under their belt, 2 years of research experience, and a whole bunch of other stuff that will set them up for a lot of success in college because of the work ethic they have. Hell, one of the high school kids in my lab is taking organic chemistry in his senior year of high school. -_-

 

[ShenanigansMD]

You really could replace high school with college and save yourself four years. High school was such a waste of time, unless high school football is one of your life's priorities.

 

[Praefectus]

Yes. I went to a really good high school that regularly produced Ivy Leaguers and Southern Ivies (i.e. Vandy, Emory, UVA, etc.).

 

[Mountaineer12]

I went to a good private school, so yes, I think it helped a lot. However, I had a lot of friends in college that went to good high schools and did well, but completely tanked the first year of undergrad so I don't think a good high school necessarily means you'll do well in college.

 

[lobo.solo]

Nope. I never had any kind of lab experience until college...

 

[angldrps]

For the most part, going to college from high school, felt like transferring from kindergarten straight into college. It took few months to adjust to everything especially to my undergrad's quarter system , which made it feel like classes were going at lightning speed. I did benefit from the few AP courses I took. AP Biology confirmed it to me that I like Biology enough to declare it my major and AP Calculus improved my math skills tremendously. I also took AP Government, which made me bit more comfortable with writing essays.

 

[angldrps]

absolutely not. My high school was a joke. I know high schoolers today that are graduating with 10 or 11 AP classes under their belt, 2 years of research experience, and a whole bunch of other stuff that will set them up for a lot of success in college because of the work ethic they have. Hell, one of the high school kids in my lab is taking organic chemistry in his senior year of high school. -_-

I have to say that when I meet highschoolers like these I always tell them to not to go crazy with academics as much and enjoy this time as much as possible. In the long run, it doesn't really matter which undergrad one attends because MCAT/GPA + ECs are really what med. schools look for. Unfortunately, high school students look at me like I am speaking a foreign language when I tell them this.

 

[Davidasaurus]

In high school I slept in class, crammed for exams the night before, and did homework right before class. Somehow I maintained strong marks and walked into the SAT and scored a top percentile.

Needless to say I had quite the rude awakening once I went to college. My work ethic was total crap, and that didn't fly once I began my college courses. It's a whole different environment with 120938019283091823 more distractions especially if you live on campus. Took a while for me to acclimate, but I'm glad I did. I've seen quite the downfall of kids around me who haven't, including a number of kids dismissed from the university for consecutive academic probations...

 

[plumhill]

Not really, and I don't think many schools truly prepare students for university. Even if you're going in academically prepared, there is more to get used to than harder classes and a high school simply cannot prepare you for that sort of environment

 

[Neurosis]

Nope. In high school I tended to gravitate toward English/History classes rather than Math/Science, i took all the APs for the former and in the end when I wanted to major in a science I was left completely unprepared. Granted I took honors chem and AP Bio but those courses pale in comparison to real college classes.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I went to a crappy high school in the south that trickled in students from the private school nearby. No it didn't prepare anyone for anything.

 

[HughMyron]

Nah, high school doesn't prepare you for college at all. I took like 12+ AP Classes and coasted through high school, getting As in everything, but struggled in college.

High School is just a joke and a tax dollar drain.