<p>Hi, this is a very general, open, and broad question so a variety of answers will be appreciated.</p>
<p>I just want to know if everyone is really enjoying college? I know it sounds like such a strange question, but I'll explain what I mean. </p>
<p>Although I know college is a lot of work academically, is it really overrated when people say its one of the best periods of their life, or is it really true? I just would like to hear people's experiences and please mention the college you were/are attending. Like in terms of different things, mostly the social scene. Is it just more enjoyable than high school. High school has been fun, but I'm so over it, just the catty behavior and inability to always meet people. </p>
<p>Yea, so I'm really looking forward to college, but should I be, or am I just overhyping the future?</p>
<p>Thanks, and stories are greatly appreciated. =]</p>
<p>College most definitely was one of the best times of my life (I won't say the best, because I still have the rest of my life to lead). I had a lot of fun and made some great friends. I was really involved, which I think helped. College was way better than high school for me. College transformed me and made me a better person.</p>
<p>Whether you'll have a great time, part of that depends on you, and part is luck. ;)</p>
<p>well i've only been there for a year, but i know it's the best decision i have ever made, maybe ever will. Of course it has its ups and downs, but the experiences i've already had there are amazing. My school is a good mix of academics and partying, and all the freedom really lets you find yourself in both areas. It was def one CRAZY year and i can't wait to go back!! Also, i am kinda of a more reserved person than most so sometimes its harder for me to meet people and new friends, but ive opened up more over the last year too and have taken on some pretty sweet responsibilities and have met some great people. And just like HS, it IS possible to have a good gpa(i have a 3.87) and still have a great social life(i party every weekend and rarely study past 5pm). wish undergrad would never end...</p>
<p>I've been there for two years. It's been the best time in my life so far, but hopefully it won't all go downhill from here. :) To follow the format a little bit from above I party more or less every weekend at least one night, have a girlfriend who I spend a pretty decent amount of time with, hold a position of "power" (that phrase used very loosely) in an engineering group that I've made a lot of friends though and rarely study past... midnight. Hey, I'm an engineer, it's an accomplishment.</p>
<p>What you have to remember though is that college can be hard. College can be really hard. It isn't a 24/7 party (unless you're in business or communications) and you have to keep on top of things or you'll get in over your head. If you do stay on top of things, though, you will have time to do a lot of very fun things. You'll be free from your parents/other close adult supervision for probably the first time in your life, which is a good thing. You'll be free from highschool teachers breathing down your neck for homework for the most part, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on how responsible you are. You can do whatever you want. You just have to accept the consequences. And now you don't have anyone to blame but yourself, which is at the same time scary and thrilling. So is college fun? If you make it fun it is. The better statement is that college is freedom. How you choose to exercise that freedom is your decision.</p>
<p>"It isn't a 24/7 party (unless you're in business or communications)"</p>
<p>I'm sure students from Wharton or Annenberg would beg to differ. </p>
<p>How you enjoy college depends on what you're like as a person, and what college you'll be attending. Some people are legitimately disappointed at their college experience; some are beyond ecstatic.</p>
<p>I think the biggest factor in enjoying your college experience is choosing the right school for you. I'm from Rhode Island, and for example, I know that I would be miserable at Brown University even though it's a great academic school in the middle of a great city. </p>
<p>Spend some time on the campus before you make your decision and try to get as familiar with it as possible. That's the best way to ensure you pick a school you can succeed at and enjoy.</p>
<p>I'm back in school now, but I'm going to talk about the first school I attended, right after high school.</p>
<p>I definitely remember it as the best time of my life (so far). I love learning, and I had many opportunities to learn. I found a subject I really loved and was good at and was taught at my school by people who were really good matches for me. I worked hard, but it was work I loved. I got a wonderful education andI am very grateful to the taxpayers of my state who subsidized that education.</p>
<p>But if I'm being honest, that's not how I perceived it at the time. Part of it is that from 7th grade to 12th grade I went to a school that was just horrible for me, and college was definitely better than high school. Part of it is that right after college a series of really awful things happened in my life, and college was definitely better than that. And part of it is probably a tendency to think not of what college was actually like when I was 17, but to think of what college could be like if the world reset to when I was 17 years old again but I had all the knowledge and experience I've acquired since then. I would do some things differently. I would savor other things more. And so on. But it would be a different experience than the one I actually had.</p>
<p>I still think it was the best or second-best period in my life (I was in grad school for the other contender for the top two, which gives you a pretty good idea why I came back yet again), but I also think I didn't experience it that way at the time.</p>
<p>I also think that many people do not have the best time of their lives in college, and I don't want to suggest that they should feel the same way I do. I was constantly being told high school was the best time of my life, and I hated the expectation that I enjoy it and be happy instead of just trying to keep my head down and survive until I could leave.</p>
<p>I love college. I pretty much free reign in shaping my education. Right now, I'm writing a paper on Craigslist personals and race-based sexual hierarchies for anthropology, and it doesn't seem like work to me at all. You will love college (or at least the academics part) as long as you choose classes and write papers on topics you truly care about.</p>
<p>My first year of college has probably been one of my favorite years ever. I did like junior year of HS a lot, but I have had more nonstop fun in college. I'm so glad I over-extended myself in HS, because once I got here I was able to balance tough classes, a varsity sport and other clubs, and a crazy social life very well. Being on your own is so awesome.</p>
<p>It all depends on you.....there are so many factors that enter into the equation. Some kids get really homesick in college and some kids never want to come home again. Depends on what sort of homelife you have had and what sort of person you are. Some adjust really quickly while others don't. Some love the new found freedom and some wish they had more structure and boundaries. Some do really well and some don't. I think it's important to not put too much pressure on yourself to make college the best 4 years of your life. They weren't the best four years of mine, but they were still good. So, enjoy them the best you can and know that there will be many wonderful things ahead either way.</p>
<p>im loving it.. but definetly not as much as i could be. i made some bad decisions in the beignning of the year regarding who i was hanging out with and not being myself. so end of first semester/beginning of second was rocky but when i look back i cant even try to remmeber all of the good times (because there were too many, not because i was too drunk to remember them all) things worked out and i know itll jsut be going up from here</p>
<p>just let go of any perfect expectations you have and take it one day at a time. so what, im not living with any of the people who turned out to be my best friends. just means ill get closer with some others and always have a place to go away from my room. i wont think of it as missing out on all of the good times with them, but what i get to gain.</p>
<p>i love the freedom, sleeping late, the parties and not having to answer to anyone when i come home at 4am smashed. classes are interesting and engaging and a lot of work but thats okay. im so looking forward to next year already. should be another blast. i wish college could last forever</p>
<p>college is like a buffet. it's delicious, but don't eat too quickly or you'll get indigestion. i had to puke midway through freshman year, but damn, the salads were great.</p>
<p>I'll be a senior next year, and I hate this crap.</p>
<p>Classes are a waste of time, as they are too boring to pay attention to and I must teach myself before the test. </p>
<p>People live to get drunk at night, it's depressing. People are needy, and can't do anything alone. You put up with them until they get girlfriends and then abandon you.</p>
<p>Although my college life my differ slightly, in comparison, I suppose it may not be as fun, but I've enjoyed it all he same. As long as I can hang out with friends and make fun of professors, I'm good.</p>