<p>I am currently applying to colleges, and I think I have a pretty good variety...few matches, some sure safeties, and only one reach, an Ivy. I worry a lot about just how difficult each college would be (course-wise), and I am curious if there is truly a big difference among them. It seems like students at all levels of schools complain about workloads and stress. If most colleges offer basically the same courses, how can the course be soo much harder at one school over another? How might a school with more competitive students be a bad thing? I've always worked well under pressure, but I am afraid I won't know when the stress is too much to continue doing well and will start to fall behind. It's a huge thing to consider and I really won't know what any college is like until I am there. Not going to lie, some of these posts about how depressed and miserable people are and how they want to drop out freak me out a little. All opinions/info relating to the topic from current/past students welcome. </p>
<p>There are tons of variables that play into one’s college experience.</p>
<p>Major is a huge part of how “difficult” college can be; Petroleum Engineering is generally considerably more difficult than English or Political Science. Similarly, the number of credits one takes in any given semester (part time or full time; bare minimum full time, standard full time, or upper limit full time) also adds to the difficulty. (Taking 4 intro-100 level gen ed courses is gonna be a cakewalk compared to 6 upper division STEM courses with labs.) Time commitments, such as whether or not a student is holding a part time job, multiple part time jobs, has to commute, has family obligations at home, all factor in as well. Personal health and wellbeing have a part too; whether or not a student is ill and has to take time off, seek counseling, etc. Individual responsibility and work ethic; whether or not a student can juggle the new difficulties of college varies student to student. Atmosphere and culture (is the student body more laid back or more cutthroat?*) also need to be considered. </p>
<p>*This is also dependent on major; certain disciplines are far more competitive when it comes to post-grad employment. </p>
<p>The school can make a HUGE difference. I did two years at CC, then transferred to Berkeley (my reach school).</p>
<p>At my first two schools classes were fairly easy, many students were unmotivated and that meant there wasn’t much competition. Sure, there are subjects I’m just awful at so I didn’t have a 4.0, but generally speaking I’d say it was about the same difficulty as highschool classes. I was usually taking 16-20 credits, and most semesters that wasn’t too bad.</p>
<p>Then I transferred, it was like being hit by a train. Suddenly everyone is just as smart, and motivated, and pouring tons of time and effort into all their classes. It was scary for me, I was used to being near the top of the class, and after transferring I was only average. The professors expected a lot more from students, the classes moved 3x faster, and the assignments were designed to challenge us. And the curve meant you were competing against amazing students. I ended up taking 14-16 credits most semesters so it’d be more manageable. The good news is that in reality, if you’re trying to do well you won’t fail, most students end up with a B, F’s are pretty much reserved for those that didn’t do the work and never went to lecture. Overall it was a very different environment, but I really enjoyed it. It pushed me to do well, and having so many smart people there meant everyone learned a lot.</p>
<p>And I have friends in the same major who went to more in-the-middle schools. Not super easy, but not amazing either. For them it was a good fit, the classes were small and moved slower, which let them spend more time mastering the material.</p>
<p>So yes, the school you’re at makes a big difference. So do the other factors, like your major, how many credits you take, and even your professors. But don’t let reach schools scare you, that’s my best advice for you. If you’re accepted, that means someone thinks you’re a good fit and that you’re just as good as all the other students they accepted. If you think the school is a good fit, go for it :)</p>
<p>Also, side note: Yes, there’s a lot of miserable people on here who aren’t having a good time yet, but remember that it’s a biased sample. The ones who have problems are posting, looking for solutions. The students who are happy are off enjoying themselves, they don’t have much reason to be posting on here. So it’s pretty lopsided in terms of what gets posted.</p>
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<p>The material might not be harder, but the expectations might me. Calculus is calculus, no matter what college you go to, but if you take calculus at a community college, for example, the exams or the grading curve might be a little more straightforward than if you took calculus at a top 4 year university. Organic chemistry will always be organic chemistry but one class might gloss over certain topics, while other classes might go in depth into certain topics. It also varies from professor to professor. One professor might expect really high level thinking, while another professor might only expect you to regurgitate information. I’ve TA-ed the same course with multiple different professors, and there were definitely some that were much more rigorous and difficult than others. Students can have very different experiences even at the same school.</p>
<p>Also, if there are a lot of competitive students at your school, the curve might be higher or the professors might make their tests more difficult so that you can spread out the grade distribution.</p>
<p>But what you consider hard is really going to depend on you. Some people find organic chemistry really difficult, while other people breeze through it. I was a biochemistry major but some of the most stressful classes I took in college were history and music classes, just because I was always much better at science and math. It just depends on what you like, what you’re good at, and what past preparation you’ve had. If you went to a rigorous high school (and did well), you might very well breeze through college. If you went to a less rigorous high school, then you might find college a huge step up and extremely challenging. It just depends.</p>
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<p>Most of the people who post are going to be the ones who have problems–making friends, keeping up with the schoolwork, etc. All of the students who are doing just fine aren’t going to post here about it. Think of how many students go to college and succeed. Relax. It’s going to be fine.</p>
<p>I think it does vary a lot by college. Calculus may be calculus, but if you are at a school where calc is covered in one quarter vs. a semester (while you are still taking 4 other classes), like it is at my kid’s school, you are going to work harder. And when everyone is super smart (high SAT scores are one place to look), your competition is going to be stiffer and the bar is going to be higher. And as suggested above, your major DOES make a difference. Some majors are just more time intensive than others.</p>
<p>There are certainly schools that have a reputation for huge workloads. A few that come to mind are U of Chicago, Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins, and Harvey Mudd. You need to be ready to work flat out all the time at those places, and still be middle of the pack at at least some things. But you will work hard at any “top” school, I think.</p>
<p>Once you get your acceptances, plan to go back for accepted student visits to your top 2-3 schools if you can. One of the things you should really dig into during your time on campus is this issue of workload and whether it feels like a fit for you.</p>