You spent your high school experience taking countless classes you were told would show you what you wanted to do with your life. You spent hours listening to lectures, taking tedious notes because that’s how it was in college, right? You filled your free time with extra curriculars and service projects because without those on your applications, you wouldn’t get scholarships.
Or so you thought.
From a college sophomore - I can personally tell you that there are many myths that have been told to high schoolers about college.
1-“Professors won’t give you handouts in college” – False. In fact, I think I’ve received more paper handouts throughout college than I ever did. In addition, in multiple classes I have been given outlines for study guides and notes.
2- “You won’t have extra time to walk to classes in college” – Absolutely inaccurate. In high school, I had four minutes to get to class and I could barely make it. In college, I get ten minutes to go to class and I am able to go to my room, get a snack, and still make it back to class.
3- “You won’t be able to pick your partners in college” –Slightly untrue. Some professors will take the time to set up groups, or to number you off. Most of the time however, professors don’t care as long as the work gets done.
4- “You won’t be able to turn in homework late” –Again, slightly untrue. You will have those professors who will say “due by 11:59pm and if it is a minute late it is a 0” and trust me you will use every second leading up to 11:59 to perfect that assignment. However, you will also have those professors that say “the chances I grade this in the next week are slim, turn it in before then”. You win some, you lose some.
5- “You are going to have to read everything in college” – There are loopholes. First of all, when a professors say you have to read 300 pages in two days, you begin to learn what they are actually looking for. Although you are technically supposed to read the entire thing, its not as scary as your teacher makes it seem.
6- "You can’t eat in class at college, so you can’t eat here” – Again, false. In fact, you’ll see plenty of professors eating in class. People are people, we all have to eat.
7- “Professors won’t tell you what’s on the test in college” – Inaccurate. Professors will you give a general idea of what will be on the test. In fact, they might even give you an in depth study guide or set up a study session the day before. Professors want to see you succeed, so don’t let high school teachers scare you.
8- “You will have 6 hours of homework each night” – Depends. Some weeks you will have more than this, some weeks you will have so much free time that you can take multiple naps in one day. When teachers give you piles of homework to prepare you for college, just know it isn’t actually like that all the time.
There are plenty of myths handed out in high school about what college is like. Ultimately, it won’t be what you expect because everyone reacts differently. What you should understand is that college is harder, and you should never take high school classes for granted. However, you don’t need to be scared by the constant terrifying advice teachers hand out.
