Is College Hard?

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Dentalogist

Dentalogist

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I'm quite nervous about college courses like biology and ochem
 
College can be difficult in a number of ways, academically, socially, organizationally, etc. for most it is an entirely different experience than anything before it. You'll never really know until you try. College is basically a fresh start; some people who only did marginal in high school really take off with the added independence while some straight A 4.0 students are failing out their first year due to a lack of structure and accountability.

Just because something is going to be a challenge for you doesn't mean you shouldn't do it!

As far as organic chemistry and biology, there will be much material to learn and much independent study to do. That means you studying outside of class most days of the week. Stay on top of your material. On the first day of biology you'll say hi to everyone and the class will be full of "pre-meds" and by mid semester it'll be half empty. It always helps to establish a group of like minded classmates for study groups and to keep each other accountable.
 
organdonor said:
College can be difficult in a number of ways, academically, socially, organizationally, etc. for most it is an entirely different experience than anything before it. You'll never really know until you try. College is basically a fresh start; some people who only did marginal in high school really take off with the added independence while some straight A 4.0 students are failing out their first year due to a lack of structure and accountability.

Just because something is going to be a challenge for you doesn't mean you shouldn't do it!

As far as organic chemistry and biology, there will be much material to learn and much independent study to do. That means you studying outside of class most days of the week. Stay on top of your material. On the first day of biology you'll say hi to everyone and the class will be full of "pre-meds" and by mid semester it'll be half empty. It always helps to establish a group of like minded classmates for study groups and to keep each other accountable.
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Is the reason for that is because they weren't smart enough? I'm worried because I wasnt an A student in HS
 
Dentalogist said:
Is the reason for that is because they weren't smart enough? I'm worried because I wasnt an A student in HS
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Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Intelligence is only one of many factors that go into college performance. You can be the smartest person in the whole class but if you don't crack your book open and study still fail the exam. On the other hand someone who has great study habits can do very well regardless of their natural intelligence. Sometimes people get caught up and the first time they aren't living with their parents they can get caught up in all kinds of things that affect performance in the classroom. There are kids who suddenly without their mom telling them what to do start partying, drinking, and doing drugs. Hard to do well when you are caught up in that.

Basically, college is a clean slate. How well/poorly you did in high school doesn't matter. Everything gets reset. Nobody will know you as the smart kid or the dumb kid until you give them a reason. That fresh start can be a good thing or not.
 
Like said above, college is a clean state, but it's not like high school at all. I went into college nervous too. Drop outs in high school are rare, but after hearing that people don't finish college, I was worried. After being sheltered a little by my parents, college was a more independent endeavor. I went in knowing that I need to keep my **** together otherwise it would only harm me in the end. I quit drinking, smoking, partying, etc. First semester I tried to get into parties, but it was fruitless and a waste of time. So I did a lot of growing up and studying. Besides a few games of pool, Civ 5, maybe DnD, my Fridays are pretty much studying otherwise. It's a grind, as high school was for me. In that respect, it wasn't hard, at least for me. I know a few people who are still struggling. Having an easier major might help, but in the end, I want to do what's best for my future, even if it means not partying with a bunch of randos on Friday night, waking up Saturday afternoon with a massive headache and not getting any work done 'till Sunday.
Growing up was a gradual phase for me, I'd like to think that I'm much more mature in quite a few aspects compared to my freshman year. For me, the freedom led me to doing side things that I liked in terms of volunteering and what not that wasn't really available in high school. Once I got my priorities straight, it was just a matter of tackling the day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month routine. Once you get into the groove of things you should be find. The problem might be how long it take you to get into the groove.
 
For what it's worth, I actually found the first two years of college easier than high school. In large, lecture-based science classes (like biology and chemistry) there isn't much in the way of required homework and your main job is simply to study. As someone who took a full load of AP classes back in high school and was used to 4-5 hours of homework per night, that was a huge relief.

That being said, the material itself is more challenging in college, and it can be difficult to keep studying when there is no one looking over your shoulder and demanding that you do well. Parties and alcohol become problems for many people, so it's important to remember what your real priorities are when you get to college. You'll grow up a lot during college and If you find a way to balance studying with interesting hobbies, college can be one of the best experiences of your life.
 
I think the toughest part about college for some people is having to be self motivated.

In highschool you have your parents and teachers after you for missing classes, missing homework, studying for exams, etc.. But in college it is almost entirely on YOU - "self directed learning" is the catchphrase for this.

The other problem is temptations - alcohol, social groups, etc can become distractions that end up hurting you.
 
Hard?
Academically: depends on where you go and what you study.
Personally: yes.
 
I didn't find college particularly difficult, but you can't just ask "is college hard". It is going to vary really widely depending on where you go to school, what program you are in, how naturally good at retaining and regurgitating information you are, how interested you are in the subject matter, how much effort you consider to be "hard", etc. etc. If you are somebody who skated by with straight A's in high school without really having to try and you don't go to an extremely rigorous college degree program, I don't think you will find college as difficult as some make it out to be. But if your personal strengths lie in areas other than being able to hear, retain and regurgitate information, and you are a bio major or similar, then college is going to seem quite a bit more difficult. It really just depends on you.
 
Were the classes hard academically? Some of them were, especially when the instructor happened to also be a PI in that division. For example we had the vice chair of cell development who was literally of the highest degree pedigree (Harvard PhD ---> UCSF Post-doc) teach our genetics course and made the exams a minimum of 12 pages, all with absurd word problems that you had to sift through to figure out what analysis you needed to do. It was insane.

I think the hardest part of college was adjusting from a 20 week semester to a 10 week quarter system. As said above, there's no attendance or HW to save your grade, it's a midterm and final or sometimes just a final. So having the motivation to have a schedule to study was really important.
 
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Yea it totally depends on where you go. I go to a small 4 year near my home town and it's pretty easy to get A's compared to other places. My school system does semesters, so there's more than just a midterm and final like @AlteredScale mentioned. Some professors at my school give a few points for attendance, some offer extra credit, etc. The professors that did that all taught lower level classes though. Ochem was definitely hard where I went before my small 4 year (arguable most difficult college in my small state), but it was doable.

I've found in college ANYONE can do well if they put in the time and effort. If you were never the smartest guy around but study your a** off and are disciplined and know how to study, there's no reason you can't get a 4.0 every semester.
 
If it's not hard, is it really worthwhile?
College is always difficult. What will make it needlessly difficult is a lack of good time management skills (yes, this is hard to develop in and of itself but is salient). Also, taking APs in high school will help prepare you for the college load more than regular classes.
 
As others have said, whether college is hard or not largely depends on your abilities and dedication, what major you pick, what college you go to, etc.

I didn't find college to be that difficult, but it was time consuming. High school performance does not equal college performance- I'm a high school dropout that is currently a medical student, had a college GPA >3.8 and an MCAT in the mid-30s.
 
No its what you make it.

I had a horrible high school gpa and my GPA in college is a 3.4
 
Considering my background thats awesome that I have a 3.4.
Of course it isn't where I need it but it will def be above a 3.6+ before I apply.

I graduated hs with a 2.4 GPA.

I changed for the better lol
 
such a broad question really. yes college is tough. i heard you have to be book smart to pass chem and hysics
 
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No, its not hard. It's a beautifully fun, challenging experience.

It's only hard if you make it hard by mismanaging your time and not having fun when you can afford to. Just embrace it..."Play Hard Work Hard"
 
I think your high school education makes a big difference in how hard it is. For example, much of passing classes like calculus are based on how well you learned the fundamentals before it. I had a terrible high school education and was very, very weak in chemistry and math. I was competing with people who had taken AP chemistry and passed it but decided to retake it in college in order to get higher science grades when they applied to medical school. But what really makes college hard is all of the distractions. There will be so much awesome stuff you can do instead of studying. So many parties, video games, TV shows, whatever. Most people aren't used to having to budget their time.

After you get through freshman year and all of the basic classes, its an even playing field. No high schooler has taken organic chemistry (or at least the kind you'll be learning in college). It's pure determination after that.
 
Dentalogist said:
I'm quite nervous about college courses like biology and ochem
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On the scale of water-beds to diamonds, I'd say its about at the level of silly putty.
 
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It's hard if you make it hard. Don't sit around playing video games or watching Pretty Little Liars on TV when you need to study for an exam next week. Study immediately after class and study every day thereafter for each course. I now see that there's no playing around in college, or it will be hard. Like I just posted on another thread, my HS cGPA was a 3.00.. my senior year being a 4.00 because I actually started learning how to study. My GPA in college is now a 4.00, my grades never going below 97% in each class. I have a social life, too. It's not like my entire life is school, school, school. I've just learned to schedule out every week and manage my time wisely, as well as develop VERY useful study skills.

I personally find it much easier than high school.
 
I see a lot of generalizations in this thread. In my honest opinion, the difficulty of college will depend on where you go, what your major will be, and which professor you end up taking. Some professors will be easy and others will be living hell. Use ratemyprofessor and myedu and ask around for the best professors to take. Please don't ever go in a class without knowing something about how the professor teaches.
 
Make Or Break said:
I see a lot of generalizations in this thread. In my honest opinion, the difficulty of college will depend on where you go, what your major will be, and which professor you end up taking. Some professors will be easy and others will be living hell. Use ratemyprofessor and myedu and ask around for the best professors to take. Please don't ever go in a class without knowing something about how the professor teaches.
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All professors teach the same material nonetheless. That's why it is essential to study on your own time, and from the textbooks. The professors are required to teach the same curriculum for each class. Yes, some professors give exams every week or make you do projects every other lecture day, but that in itself is so that you can learn. I have had some terrible professors that did not do in-depth lectures at all and then expected everyone to do well on pop quizzes. I aced them all because I stayed on top of the syllabus, studying outside of class. Some students failed because they felt that the textbook was not necessary. So, in my own opinion, indeed some professors can make the class difficult, but the student can make it easy by simply studying and knowing the material enough that they will not worry when the next in-class essay comes out of nowhere.
 
It's truly hard if all you do is binge watch Netflix.
 
It mostly depends on your major.

I wouldn't worry about biology and ochem - the rumors are exaggerated. You'll be absolutely fine with good time management.
 
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It's as hard as you make it. First two years I had no idea how to study, didn't do so hot. Last 2 years, got my stuff together, worked a job, went out and had fun, and killed it. Time management is the key. If you get your stuff done at a reasonable time, you'll sleep, have time to do EC's, and go out.
 
I'm a freshman and it's a few months in, and honestly it's not that bad depending on your professor. I feel like my classes are more enjoyable to be in and learn if the professor is funny and interesting; like my psych professor. On the other hand, my bio teacher sucks and class is a drag.
 
it takes a little bit of work, but overall it's pretty easy. Waaaay easier than med school.
 
I've found over time, performances in high school vary a lot based on how much effort one puts in. I remember an upperclassman whose now currently at a mid tier MD school. I'm sure he had a decent GPA because he was mostly an A/B student in most of his classes. He took a lot of "easy" classes even though he always seemed a lot more capable. He was lazy and laid back. He occasionally mentioned his dream of becoming a doctor but like some other people I know from high school who have matriculated or have been recently been accepted to medical schools, he got by and did well enough to get into the best state schools our state had to offer. Then he worked his butt off and it paid off with the acceptances he landed.
 
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