<p>I think the very biggest difference isn't how hard it is but the way life is structured in college, so different than highschool. Each course credit equates to how many hours you meet for class, or a formula related to that. So, for one course, you might have 3 hours in class (one hour each, 3x per week) but be expected to do much reading in the other hours, but you choose the hours. So you're not sitting in a h.s.building from 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, with snippy little homework assignments each night. </p>
<p>Instead, you might take 4 courses, each meeting only 3 in-class hours each week, and the rest is assignments. Assignments might be articles and books to read, papers to write, all spelled out and handed out at the beginning of the term on the teacher's "syllabus," a roadmap to follow and keep up with all the readings, exams etc. listed; you get it on the first day of class. That puts all the responsibility is on you to structure your time and not get far behind in the work. If you don't hand in something, nobody comes asking you about it, as some might in h.s. In the morning, your alarm rings and you go to class (if you want to do well). If you don't your Mom isn't there to tell you to go; you just kinda flunk the course later if you lose the thread because you don't attend enough. More responsibility on you.</p>
<p>My D's college said that for every in-class hour, figure 3 hours outside of class to do the assigned work. So if you're in class 3 hours per week for lectures on a "3 credit" course, that means 3+9 hours per week of work.
If you take 4 courses, that's 4 x 12 or 48 hours altogether of academics weekly. And I think most would say that's MORE than they really put in at college. Also, some weeks are intense (exam time) and others aren't. </p>
<p>Compare that to a highschool week of 5 days x 6 hours in the school building (=30) plus whatever you're doing for homework (3 hours nightly adds 15 more hours) so now you're up to 45 hours.</p>
<p>The working is MUCh more efficient at college, however, because you're in charge of when you work. So you make blocks of time when you don't actually meet for class, to do assignments and readings from all the classes, in the order you wish. </p>
<p>And here's a sidenote: the typical fulltime job is 40 hours per week. So if you can do that, you can certainly "do" college.</p>
<p>There are other details, like labs. And my numbers above are very general, just to make a point that h.s. and college aren't SO different in total hours. It's easy to tear my numbers apart, but remember that I'm just trying to illustrate something for the OP. My numbers show the college is roughly the SAME amount of work as in high school...only : much more intelligent, deep, you get to to choose most of your courses (after you're through with distribution requirements), you choose a favorite subject area for a major, the courses get deeper the higher up you go in the department. So your time is better spent than in h.s. </p>
<p>They key to not feeling college is too easy or too hard is to make a good list of schools to apply to. If you choose a school where your grades and SAT's match what the school likes to accept, then there's a "rightness of fit" and you'll like the challenge. If you get into a place too hard, it feels badly; if it's too easy, you feel frustrated. So look at colleges where your SAT's and grades are in their median range, for your "match" schools. Also apply to some places that are "reaches" (higher than your statistics) and "safeties" (lower than your stats).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>