growing up!
Don’t get me wrong, the rigor of academics has reached a whole new level, but high school ACTUALLY prepared me for that. Learning how to be a grown adult and maintaining your car, doing your taxes, scheduling your own doctors appointment, doing your laundry without ruining them, and just attempting not to go broke… now, that is something else.
Academics would be the most challenging one depending on the difficulty of your classes.
Although growing up can be a transition for some people, it all depends on how you were raised. For me, I was raised by a good mom who had expectations that she expected me to meet. Now at 19 years old, (will be 20 by the end of the month), I’m not afraid to live by myself or with a roommate(s). While some college students still feel attached to their parents as in wanting to live with them until they feel comfortable living on their own, they probably aren’t ready to start an independent life mentally and financially. But, I will still live with my mom after college until I get on my feet.
Sometimes, the more “outgoing” social life which includes partying/drinking can be hard for some people to deal with. Partying/drinking every Friday and Saturday night can cause you to miss out on doing other things while in college.
On an extra note, I believe that it also depends on a person’s motivation and hobbies while in college.
Motivation = studying and getting your work done
Hobbies: doing things that you enjoy
As a new college kid who is a month into my experience, the social life has been hardest. Academics, for me, have come down to just doing the work. The social scene is a lot more complicated.
Academics have been hard. Also meeting people and getting out there takes some getting used to, but once you do it, it gets easier
Agree with the bad roommate post. They can really cause a lot of anxiety.
Learning to live with people who are so completely different than you. I read stories on this site about nightmare roommates and I wonder, “Is this person from a family dynamic that encouraged this type of behavior, or was the behavior tolerated just enough so he/she could get through high school and into college?” Because there are some kids out there who managed to get admitted to the same school you did and yet seem like they come from a different planet altogether in terms of their interactions with other people.
Academics, no question.
What I thought would be hardest for my son, living with a roommate turned into a total non-issue. I worried about him spending more time on social than academics, nope. Doing without his long-term girlfriend, nope. He got a girlfriend week 2, found his group of friends week 3, got a 4.0 for the year. Hardest for him was developing a good study schedule and the number of hours he had to study.
Does anyone know what schools have the best gender-related initiatives out there? In particular, I am limiting my college search to those applications that identify at least 10 genders in the application form.
I’m concerned about ending up on a college campus that does not respect our freedoms and does not allow us the space to be shielded from hate speech. Thank you.