<p>For some reason I feel that high school was a lot harder than college. It seems that this is the case in both the actual content that is learned, and the problems sets and graded assignments.</p>
<p>I went to a competitive public high school and I currently attend a top10 private college. Here are the differences I noticed:</p>
<p>-high school focused on brute force, i.e. a lot of homework, a lot of quizzes, a lot of tests. This is economically inefficient because everybody has to do every single problem even if they know it all instead of just focusing on the stuff they need more help on. College has less assignments so there is more time to study what is important, and if there is homework, it is usually composed of just 5 difficult problems.</p>
<p>-College relies more on thinking with concepts than details, which often causes careless mistakes.</p>
<p>-The teachers are better, so there is less time wasted catching up on what was learned in class (Only applies to some classes. I noticed this especially in the natural sciences).</p>
<p>-Curves, curves, curves, and curves. I cannot emphasize this enough, in most of my high school classes, what I earned was what I got. Now, you can get a B and wind up with an A+</p>
<p>-Beer. A good distraction to help out with the above point because of 2 things: 1. time 2. Harming of mental capcities</p>
<p>Maybe it's because college just started and I'm just getting used to it. Or perhaps it's because I am an optimist. Who knows, but these are my initial observations.</p>
<p>OP is taking very basic courses. His major is probably something simple, too.</p>
<p>If you have a real major like biology or engineering, you'd feel the pain. Basically, you should be shot for making such assumptions early on. Start preparing for the worst.</p>
<p>"-College relies more on thinking with concepts than details" What a stupid remark. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about and you aren't ready for the following semesters. Doubt yourself now so as not to stay in college longer than you're able to. Your optimism is just ignorance.</p>
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College has less assignments so there is more time to study what is important, and if there is homework, it is usually composed of just 5 difficult problems.
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<p>Obviously,you haven't seen real difficult problem by far.</p>
<p>First year is supposed to be easy. For many people, it's easier than high school. My chem/bio friends are doing assignments that are easy as hell. Don't get too cocky now, because you never know what will happen next.</p>
<p>For all of you offended by my post, I apologize. If you look at the timestamp of my post, it was pretty late, and I wasn't in the best cognitive state when writing the post.</p>
<p>I think most people got offended because I made so many assumptions (stupid of me, those who think scientifically have to view the picture in it's entirety), but I was speaking off my experiences and I (stupidly) assumed it was true for all high schools and universities. For those who don't know me (it's an internet forum, nobody will know my true self), I am willing to lock myself up in the library for as long as it takes until I understand something. No, it's not because I am Asian, it's because I never like to leave concepts unfinished. I do not think I am a genius, I believe I am determined, and I love solving problems.</p>
<p>Philosophy is probably not a joke major, the valedictorian of my school's father is a P major and he makes 6 figures + and he is super intelligent. That is because he could apply philosophy to other fields, like mathematics and computer science (see mme-lin's post). A joke major would be something like English or East Asian studies. Although they have academic merit and renaissance men should have at least a cursory understanding of each, the opportunity cost of majoring in each deters many career-bound college students like myself. If only we could live forever to learn forever.</p>
<p>And in case you are wondering, my high school was pretty ******* hard. I know that our class had 1 Yale, 5+ Cornells, 1 Duke (3 got in), 2 Wash U's (6 got in), 5+ Northwesterns, etc. Average SAT score for top 10 was 2300.</p>
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But after the weekend was over, I got really really depressed because a lot of the kids I met were going off to other schools like Stanford, Harvard, etc. I know it's silly, but I couldn't get over the fact that many of the funniest, brightest, and most unique individuals I met my entire life I will probably never see again (Sorry for my incoherent grammar, I didn't get any sleep last night).</p>
<p>And to make it worse, when I got back my parents told me they wanted me to stay in state. After the whole Va Tech shooting, my parents got really mad at me and thought I was insane (Because I like video games and guns) and they wanted me to stay in state so they can have a close leash on me. I really have no idea where I belong now, and I feel like my idea of a dream school is being ruined.
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Is making 6 figures really important at this point? personally I don't judge a person and his academic achievement/intelligency by his income.</p>
<p>if you only care about money,philosophy is not for you.
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<p>And how did you get that assumption from what I said? There are probably other benefits from a philosophy major, how could me mentioning a few conclusively prove that I only care about money/intellect?</p>
<p>And I stand firm in my beliefs, these subjects have their virtues, but only for those lucky enough to not worry about career prospects. Although I enjoy reading the works of great minds, I do not have the liberty to major in the humanities. I have far too many responsibilities, and I just enjoy the natural sciences more.</p>
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A joke major would be something like English or East Asian studies.
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<p>East Asia is home to 1.5 billion people and some of the most powerful economies in the world. This region is crucial to global integration and it is important to understand as best as possible how the region functions.</p>
<p>Obviously a joke though. I'm sure you could write a splendid analysis of how China's pegged exchange rate has impacted the global market, and the US trade deficit. Or you could explain why the tiny island nation of Japan has become a major player in the world market after being destroyed in a war 60 years ago, while countries that were mostly free of the war like those in South America and Sub-Saharan Africa are still struggling mightily, with some finding more success than others.</p>
<p>but with your outlook, you should probably stick to your benzene.</p>
<p>... i'm not an East Asian Studies major... but I'm just sayin'</p>