Help Me! - Questions about College Life

<p>Hello, hello, cc'ers! I'm a senior planning on attending college in the fall.
I haven't chosen my school just yet, but I'd still like to ask a few general
questions just to relieve a bit of worry.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Do people tend to look down on students who party? Not all the time,
of course - just a bit on the weekends.</p></li>
<li><p>Are there many seventeen year-old freshman, or is this abnormal?</p></li>
<li><p>How much, on average, do students study for an individual class,
assuming that the class isn't in basket weaving or something insanely
difficult (ie. organic chemistry)?</p></li>
<li><p>Should I get a job freshman year, or should I wait until I settle into
the college lifestyle? I love having money to spare and hate relying on
my parents, but I'm afraid that I'll be too overwhelmed.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I'm a total anxious mess when it comes to most things,
so I may be coming back here just to address a few more
issues. uvu Hope that's ok!</p>

<ul>
<li>Concerned Senior xo</li>
</ul>

<ol>
<li><p>Nope. So long as you’re not drinking yourself sick every weekend, I doubt anyone will care. Of course, that might be different across friend groups, but most shouldn’t judge too much.</p></li>
<li><p>Pretty normal.</p></li>
<li><p>Take the number of credit hours and multiply by 3 is the usual rule, I think. This’ll depend on what you’re taking and which school you attend, though.</p></li>
<li><p>That’s up to you. I would suggest settling in first, make sure you’re handling classes okay and stuff first. Then figure out if you’ve got the time and energy for a job, and what’ll fit into your schedule, etc.</p></li>
</ol>

<ol>
<li><p>As long as the partying doesn’t interfere with your academic performance, no one will care (unless you tend to make a fool of yourself every weekend).</p></li>
<li><p>No one will know you’re 17. The only difference might be that your parents still need to sign some paperwork or something.</p></li>
<li><p>The number I have heard is that people should study 3 hours for every hour in class. I’m pretty sure my students don’t do that, but then again, I don’t teach in engineering or STEM.</p></li>
<li><p>A “small” job like an 8-10 hour a week work study job is probably do-able. I’d hold off on anything more intense. (And sometimes work study jobs are such that you can actually do homework while you’re at work.)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>And remember…everyone’s as anxious as you are about starting a new phase of life!</p>

<p>Is that 3 hours per week? Because I know my DS won’t study 3 hours a day for one class. :)</p>