Transition in workload from high school to college...

<p>Is it really that bad? I've had my fair share (10) of AP classes and even more honors courses, but I'm really afraid that my workload in them has not prepared me at all. I just keep reading about kids staying up for ten billion hours each night doing homework and studying, while I just breeze through all my classes and get straight A's. I've pulled a couple all-nighters and written my fair share of essays and such, but when I stay up past midnight it's simply because of procrastination or massive amounts of EC's. I mean, some of my classes have had good amounts of work, but never all of them at once. I'm just nervous that my techniques of breezing through high school is going to backfire when I actually have to work hard in all my classes in college.</p>

<p>If you are going to a reach school, then the work will be more demanding, but not impossible to handle. The school accepted you because they saw your class load, grades, and test scores and said "this kid will thrive here with hard work". You may not get straight A's 1st semester, because of the adjustment to the increased work, but you can get yourself back up to your standards if it's what you really want. If it's a match or safety school, then you should be okay.</p>

<p>i've taken some community college courses and most of the work is reasonable. as long as you complete it in a timely manner, you will never have to pull all-nighters.</p>

<p>don't procrastinate and just do it. </p>

<p>also, don't overdue your first semester in college. take 12-15 units but not more. and then adjust later on and see if you can handle more course load.</p>

<p>i agree with caliguy. don't overload first semester. i took the very minimum amount of units to get adjusted. to be frank, college will most likely be very hard but definitely not impossible. It's all about time management and working hard. </p>

<p>do a search on this topic because it has been thoroughly discussed in the past.</p>

<p>Hah I'm at my safety school, Michigan, and you have to put in lots of work just to get decent grades and even more to get the A.</p>

<p>You'll have to work hard, safety or not.</p>

<p>I'm actually worried as well, though. Last night of my spring break, it's 2am, and I'm on CC, completely blowing off hw. :-)</p>

<p>It also depends on the classes you take too and how hard the professor is. If in case you didn't get the AP credits for the certain course and u take it again in college for core curriculum or major requirement then it will be a breeze, you can put that aside and focus on the harder courses. Also if it's core curriculum, take the easy ones and focus on your major/minor classes. That's what I do. There's always 1 or 2 classes that I don't have to worry about losing an A and focus on subjects that's more important or challenging.</p>

<p>I didn't mean that you won't have to put any effort at all into getting good grades at a match or safety, but you may find yourself working your ass off to get A's and B's the first semester at a reach school. That's why it was a reach school; because your grades-while I'm sure were good-may be slightly below the grades of most students admitted, signifying that it may be a little tougher for you to do well. Notice I said "may be"; you could find that I'm totally wrong. But when I think of a reach school versus a match or safety school, I think of it as being more challenging. As eva said it has to do with the classes, professors, how hard you are willing to work, and what kind of college prep you are really getting at your HS. No matter what kind of status the school has when matched up against your grades, if any of these things is making the work more difficult then you expected it to be, you'll have to work harder for success. That's all I meant.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the comments! I think I can handle the pressure. I mean, I've done it periodically throughout high school and proven that I can cram, write essays, study obnoxiously, etc. It's just that I was worried since I don't have to work hard too often lol.</p>

<p>I did alot of EC's in high school on a schedule, and I thought that the workload in college is different, but not necesarily harder. Things to remember:</p>

<p>1) If you played sports in high school, you probably arent going to be putting that much time into them in college. If you do, its going to be on your own time, most likely(IE playing pickup basketball or soccer, or weightlifting, running), not at a set time each day.</p>

<p>2) The course work in college is different. Most of the homework is optional, but it all helps you learn the material. There is no busywork like high school. You dont feel like your wasting your time.</p>

<p>3) Getting A's is alot harder in college. Your NOT going to get all A's. Gtting a B in college is more gratifying than an A in high school.</p>

<p>It also depends what your major is, and what classes you AP out of</p>

<p>What if you're a political science major.</p>

<p>You'll go to your political science classes and work as hard as necessary to get the grades you want.</p>

<p>"What if you're a political science major."</p>

<p>Read, and I hope you like doing it.</p>

<p>Depends on the school seriously. I ended up going from a public school to MIT, and the way they structure their freshman year it was 10 times easier than high school. It's Pass/No Record, the classes are all ones you may have taken but not got credit for in high school, it's a delight. I had the most fun freshman year than I've had in my entire life.</p>

<p>As others have mentioned, it depends on the following:
The Highschool
Sub-factors-Teachers, schedules, motivation.
College
Sub-factors-Teachers, courses, motivation.</p>

<p>From what they say, alumnis of my highschool (Brooklyn Tech) say that CUNYs were a breeze for 'em.</p>