There are tons of reasons why college is so different from high school. For starters, you have way more freedom than you ever did in your life. You live with people that aren’t your parents/family, and you have to make your own food, clean your own home and do your own laundry. But college classrooms specifically are so different from high school ones, and honestly, it’s life-changing.
1. There’s no dress code
And there’s no pressure to dress cute either. Gone are the days that you get sent to the office for shorts that are “too short” or tank-top straps that aren’t the width of three of your fingers. Want to go to class in pajamas pants and a tank? Go for it. Want to wear a groufit for an entire week straight? No one’s judging you.
2. You don’t have to raise your hand every time you want to leave the room
Personally, I hate leaving class during a lecture, but sometimes you just really have to pee, or your mom keeps calling you during your night class even though you’ve told her a hundred times that you are in class until 7:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
3. No assigned seating
This is a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because if you have class with your friends, at least you can sit with them and not be stuck in alphabetical order. A curse because once you’ve chosen a seat, you are locked in for the rest of the semester. Don’t you DARE try to move it, you’ll throw off the entire class, trust me.
4. The size of your class
Even if you go to a smaller college or university, you could wind up with 40 or 50 people in your classes, which is way bigger than any high school class. And if you wind up at a bigger school, you could literally be one in 300 students. Honestly, depending on the size of your class, you probably won't even recognize half your class. Talk about a big fish in a small pond.
5. Note taking
Since you probably weren’t allowed to do it in high school, taking notes on your laptop is a whole new world. Yes, the girl in front you is really online shopping right now. Yes, the guy in the back is playing a video game. No, they haven’t listened to a single word the professor has said. Recommended? No. Does it still happen in every class ever? All the time.
6. No reading aloud
Am I the only one that dreaded reading aloud from whatever book we were currently reading in my English class? I would literally cringe listening to my own voice as I struggled over words, only to get to college and realize this will never happen to you again. Hallelujah.
I could go on and on about the ways your high school life is wildly different from your college life, but you get the picture. While college classes still consist of taking notes, taking tests and doing group work, in many ways, it’s much better than your high school classes ever were.
