I used to be so excited for college. I’d think about all the cool stuff there was to do and all the friends that I would make. But now I feel deflated whenever I think about college. I’m not worried about making friends or living in a dorm or anything but I am worried about academics. I got a pretty good SAT score and got A’s and B+'s in high school, but honestly the classes were very easy and so I don’t feel prepared for college. I just don’t think I’m smart enough to go to college. I’m not one of those kids who took 10 AP classes while working 20 hours a week and doing medical research, you know?
Now I know people are going to write "well just go to office hours and actually study instead of partying every night " but I feel that this oversimplifies the issue of the crushing workload of college life. I feel like I’m going to be the kid who studies hard and goes to extra help and then still fails.
I already enrolled in college and registered for classes and everything. I want to be more excited for it, but I know I’ll have to spend almost all my free time getting tutoring, or studying just to get a 2.0 and potentially pass.
Dude, I’m that person who also works hard. I rarely go to parties but I still have fun in college. If you want to have fun in college major in liberal arts or humanities. I’m a STEM major and I get jealous as to why my other friends have so many off time and I rarely see them do homework.
Imposter syndrome — look it up. You will likely be fine. A couple tips:
Don’t overload your 1st semester. Try to take at least a couple classes in areas you consider to be strengths.
Try to head straight to the library after dinner at least a few nights a week. It is easy to get caught up with friends if you go back to the dorm. Also plan to study a fair amount most weekends.
Stay organized. Take each syllabus and enter all the assignments, tests, etc in one calendar. Work backward on how far ahead you would want to start things.
Pay attention during orientation and in class to any mentions of resources that can help. Campus writing center, free tutoring, office hours, etc. And make yourself use them.
Trade phone #s the 1st week of class with a few people so you have someone to get info from if you miss class, etc.
Watch the drop/add date. If you are REALLY in trouble and know it in time, you have the option to drop. But you need to be careful to maintain your full time status as a student, and it could get you off track for graduating in 4 years.
You would not have been admitted if the college did not think you were capable of success at the next level. @intparent has given you excellent advice. You will be fine.
When my S was a bit nervous about going to his reach college his HS guidance counselor told him in no uncertain terms that college admissions officers do a fantastic job of accepting students who are capable of doing the work at that college. It is always scary to go into a new situation with new and higher expectations but since you got in, you should fee confident that you can succeed there. (And yes, if need be take advantage of the supports at the school such as the math center, writing center, office hours etc.)
You don’t have to be a genius – I think that poster is pulling your leg. I just finished an engineering degree and am in no way a genius. Just a hard worker.
Com Sci is not hard, but they try to weed out students by putting Calculus even though you probably wont need it much.
Thats the only real hurdle for a com sci major. If I had to give advice to someone to pass Calculus I would say get
Chegg so that you have access to the solutions in the book step by step. That way when you get a problem wrong you can find where you made mistakes.
Also sometimes teachers assign stupid problems that take a long time to complete and will not be on the test (these are usually in the begnning or the end of the problem set). Skip these problems and do the main bulk of the problems instead. Its not just about smarts, its about time mangement.
Sometimes reading the theory and examples helps, and sometimes it does not. Play it by ear.
Lmao all these people complaining about how hard STEM is. I would much rather be doing problem sets than writing papers or memorizing history facts, it’s all relative to your strengths and interests.
I agree you don’t have to be a genius. The formula is like this
Success = (Intelligence) times (Hard Work)
if you lack one you can make up for it with the other.
The only way to know if you will succeed is to actually try it though, and look for tricks to make your life easier. That means asking other students what they are doing to succeed.
You can just keep retaking classes you fail, so anybody can pretty much get a bachelors in anything regardless of intelligence by combinign hard work and persistence. Theres usually only a couple of subjects that are very tough.
I find myself not agreeing with this for many reasons, including that it would require unlimited funds to succeed with this approach - which most students don’t have.
@jerseygirl188 - I was once where you are. High school was so easy. Then I got to college, and I felt like a phony - I was there on an academic scholarship, but I felt like everyone around me was smarter. Turns out they weren’t - but one thing that was crucial to my success was learning time management and study skills. I never needed those in high school, since I rarely had to study. A bunch of us in the same major formed a study group that was a lifeline for me.
Realize there are resources on campus to help you - but they won’t find you, you need to find them. Oftentimes there are people on campus who can help you with time management and study skills. There’s usually a writing center where trained students will help you with issues you’re having writing papers. There are tutors who can help as well. Professors have office hours - if you have questions, set up an appointment and ask. Professors are usually happy to help students who are making an effort.
Many of the students who don’t succeed are those who don’t ask for help when they start struggling - and end up sinking deeper and deeper, when asking for help early on could have made all the difference. Don’t let yourself drown. Ask for help. Drop a class if you can’t turn it around. You won’t know what you can achieve until you are challenged - and you weren’t in high school. Don’t let that intimidate you - embrace it!
People drop out for financial reasons, family reasons, health reasons, because they decide it isn’t worth the work, etc.
You may very well bump into students in intro CS classes who are already proficient in the language you are learning, too. Don’t get too discouraged by that. A few classes into the sequence, you will be caught up. And don’t let coder bros discourage you! They often don’t know as much as they think they do, and sometimes have bad habits that you won’t already have.
You are pre-stressing! I noticed you have two other threads along these lines. @InigoMontoya offered some great advice, and I would add that you should try to see a counselor this summer to come up with strategies for dealing with these feelings. I think sometimes it’s referred to as “imposter syndrome” where you don’t think you are worthy of being at your college or job. It is very common, but in your case seems like it could be debilitating. You WILL be challenged in college and a huge factor in your success will be the resiliency to keep plugging away even when you feel like giving up.
If you see a counselor and are honest with your family, and still aren’t excited about going to college please consider taking a gap year. At the very least insist that your parents take out tuition insurance.
@jmek15 We don’t have money for a gap year program, so I’d probably just work in retail. I think it’s more productive for me to go to college, and I want to make friends and experience college life and start a pathway to a career.
I am an engineer (now retired) and went to a very tough engineering school. The secret to success in college is time management and don’t go it alone. Become a member of a study group for all (most?) of your classes.
The best semesters I had were the ones in which I was most busy. I played varsity sports, was active in my fraternity and did other things (like backpacking, skiing, etc.) . Being busy forced one to manage one’s time. I decided to “take it easy” one semester and instead of improving my grades, they dropped. I’d put stuff off thinking I had all this extra time when I really didn’t.
Relax, you’ll do fine and enjoy your college experience.
I wouldn’t lose your excitement. Be excited! College is awesome! You’ll meet so many new people and really begin to find out who you really are as a person. It’s gonna be scary, but also one of the best times of your life.
Also, don’t worry about work load going into college. I was like you before starting my Freshman year with how hard college seemed. Wherever I read I heard horror stories about how much work college was, how hard the classes were, and how people would struggle just to pass a class. However, when I started taking classes, I realized that college isn’t actually that hard. Just go to class, pay attention in class (don’t online shop or browse facebook), take notes, and study the material. A lot of the people who complain about college being insanely hard either go to incredibly competitive schools and get over involved with research/ec’s or they get drunk every other night and don’t go to class.
Don’t worry about it and get excited for one of the most exciting times of your life so far. Personally, I was underwhelmed when I arrived my Freshman year.
I agree about the study group recommendations. My kid who was a physics major in a tough program really benefitted from her study groups. They would hang around and do problem sets in the same room sometimes. Have a little fun, too. CS is a challenging major, so you really need to keep on top of it and go for help if you struggle, but you can do this.
" but I feel that this oversimplifies the issue of the crushing workload of college life. I feel like I’m going to be the kid who studies hard and goes to extra help and then still fails.