CCers who have already completed at least 1 year of college...answer this please!

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p><strong>What I'm going to say is not just on CC, but other places I hear this too</strong></p>

<p>I hear people say how college is hard, only take x # of credits at a time or you'll die, you have 2-3 hours or more of homework for every hour in class, it takes so much time, etc....but then that they also spend SO much time with friends, say you have more free time in college than in HS, they party 2-4 nights a week, goof off online a lot, etc. To me, it sounds like a lot of that extra time gets wasted partying or doing dumb stuff and you could easily handle another class and a few more credits if you manage your time well, but then people say that's really, really difficult. Is it just bad time management?</p>

<p>These 2 sides are SO CONTRADICTORY!!!</p>

<p>Please help explain this why people complain SO MUCH and then say they have so much time in college still. I don't get it.</p>

<p>(I'm a freshman this fall...in a few weeks!)</p>

2

<p>Depends on your major, how you learn, and what classes you take. Some people are able to take a huge classload and still have a social life, others take a huge class load and thats all they do.</p>

<p>It is normal to do 2-3 hours outside of normal classes.</p>

<p>I, on the other hand, am the type that just takes the huge class load and only does that. You don’t have as much time as you would like in college (i sure as heck didn’t, despite having a 3 day weekend).</p>

<p>Regardless, there isn’t a person on here that can explain what you have seen/read/heard fully. Everyone is different.</p>

3

<p>College is organized differently than high school.</p>

<p>In high school, you have homework most days. Classes have little daily assignments. You go to class every day and turn in what was due the day before. You might have a project or two, but it’s nothing extreme. You are also in class 8 hours a day. The material moves along at a nice steady pace and if you mess up a test or something you’ll likely be okay.</p>

<p>College is a whole different ball game. You probably won’t have homework every day other than to read and be caught up with the class. You only go to class a few hours a week. It might seem a lot easier.</p>

<p>But you have huge projects and tests that are worth huge percentages of your grade - and the amount of time you put in on those can be extremely variable. One week you might not have much work. The next you’ve got hundreds of pages to read and three approaching tests. Not everyone needs to study like an insane person for each and every test, so sometimes you don’t have to study much. Maybe you’re good at that subject. But sometimes you’re not, and sometimes you have to study ridiculous amounts. </p>

<p>A lot of this can be dealt with really well with time management skills and then you DO have a LOT of extra time.</p>

<p>Most of the work you do in college is self-directed: you are responsible for how you spend your time. You are not spoon-fed the material; if you don’t get it you need to spend extra time understanding it outside of class. It moves at a much faster pace. But no one is telling you how to spend your time - if you only need to study a little for something, then you’ve got lots and lots of time to party or whatever. But the next week you might have to study 10 hours a day. It’s so variable.</p>

<p>You also are sometimes looking at tests or projects which can be 25-50% of your GRADE, so you’ll want to study your butt off to do well on them or you’ll be failing the class.</p>

<p>Also, perhaps people could fit in the TIME for another class, but most people don’t have enough brain-space to do all that. Regardless of how much time you put into it, you need to know vast quantities of information compared to high school. And with the variable nature of work in college, one week could be fine with 20 credits but the next could be pure hell.</p>

<p>Also, I think most people don’t want to constantly be hitting the books. They want time to relax, whether that be partying, clubs, or just chilling. So they don’t completely stress themselves out and they take 15 or so and still have time for a social life, which to most people is just as important.</p>

<p>Hope that helps…it’s hard to explain but you’ll DEFINITELY see what I mean your first few weeks on campus.</p>

4

<p>As i’m sure people will tell you, everyone’s different. Some can handle a heavier course load than others. Personally I can handle a pretty heavy load and not have to study or do much work outside of class. Then again i’m not really the studying type. Depends on how you learn and a whole bunch of other factors. My advice, don’t be worried by what anyone tells you about college. Everyone has a different experience. You’ll learn everything you need to know when you get there.</p>

5

<p>I haven’t found college awfully difficult. Then again I’m not an engineering major and all the courses I’ve taken so far are pretty easily handled through logic and some plain old studying. </p>

<p>I’ve been doing 15-16 credits and I think it’s a perfect workload. It gives you enough schoolwork to do feel like you’re doing something with your life (and to keep you on track for graduating in four years) but it gives you enough free time to unwind and go to the gym and be active in a few organizations or participate in greek life etc. Last year would have sucked if I wouldn’t have had time for just kicking back and enjoying life. Late-night viewings of Hell’s Kitchen in the Fall for example, or going to a concert, or practicing the bass. One should take their studies seriously but college ain’t all about work work work if you ask me.</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>The thing is I’ve had high school classes where your grade is based on 1-2 tests, a couple papers, and that’s it- no little daily, easy-point assignments to fill your grade. This happened in a few AP and even just Honors classes. I’ve had classes where you don’t have daily homework- just a test, or a paper due once every week or every 2 weeks or something.</p>

<p>I’ve also had high school classes where we have a major test the next day or a paper due, and the teacher doesn’t remind you and acts like nothing is going on- it was up to us to remember.</p>

7

<p>I don’t want to sound like I think I know everything ^, but I’m just confused, as stated in the original post about why people say those things because it doesn’t quite make sense.</p>

8

<p>I can only speak to my experience. Even when I had my highest amount of credits (19), I was becoming a member of a music fraternity, spending lots of time with friends, and was still able to get a 3.7. Also, 8 credits of that was honors coursework that culminated in a 15-20 page research paper, so it wasn’t a picnic.</p>

<p>I think the deal is in how you approach it. I wouldn’t leave anything till the last minute, but I’ve never felt like I had to get anything done super early or that I had a ton of work.</p>

9

<p>Well not everybody had that. Even in the AP classes I took I usually had an assignment each night. Usually just reading, but still.</p>

10

<p>Despite what everyone’s parents tell them about being special and the like, some people are just dumber than others. Thus you have people who need to study a million hours a night to do well. There’s also some people who are too happy to party it up, blow $30k of their parent’s money, and go home with a story when they dropout. </p>

<p>And it’s not necessarily a question of good or bad time management. It’s harder than you think to study non-stop…especially when studying non-stop doesn’t guarantee you’ll do well (unlike HS). I might have lots of “free time” but that doesn’t really mean it’s free.</p>

11

<p>^^I’ve had classes on both ends of that spectrum- some AP classes (Spanish) were a total joke, while others I think were actually like a college class (especially Euro, tough teacher).</p>

12

<p>Re: iluvpiano.</p>

<p>High school AP classes are like elementary school classes compared to real college classes.</p>

13

<p>Dearest OP of many many threads,</p>

<p>Breathe. There’s no way to figure out everything about college before you even get there. Just ride the wave and it’ll all start to make sense as you go.</p>

14

<p>^I second this.</p>

15

<p>^^Third it.</p>

16

<p>Fourth it, …</p>

17

<p>Ok…but I just like to know what’s going on ahead of time…that’s how I am!</p>

18

<p>Fifth it, fifth of bourbon even.</p>

19

<p>Sixed.</p>

<p>Seriously, half the fun of my first semester at college was figuring stuff out on my own. Making friends, adding/dropping classes, laundry, paying bills. Even if you gather everything everyone knows about college, something surprising is bound to happen. Let it happen, and enjoy your new experiences.</p>

20

<p>Here’s the key, that hasn’t really been mentioned (that I saw):</p>

<p>Yes, you have a lot of free time.</p>

<p>But when you have a bad week, it can be BAD. For whatever reason, all of my classes like to cycle together, and always have assignments/problem sets due on the same day of the week.</p>

<p>Take last semester for example. I had 5 classes that had problem sets due every other week. … 4/5 happened to be due on the same day of that one week (the 5th was due on the opposite week).</p>

<p>So one week would be incredibly free, the other would be majorly stressful (don’t say, “well start earlier!” - as an engineering student, it’s difficult to start some problem sets until you know all of the material being covered; it’s not like this is an english essay you can start at your own pace).</p>

<p>So yes, lots of free time!
But if you had added on another class, it would have been death on those crappy weeks.</p>

<p>And then I could go on about finals. It would be miserable to cram an extra class that you have to study for into those last few weeks.</p>