Typically, most college freshmen are required to take a number of required core classes before they’re able to dive into their major related courses. As a result, many freshman are often frustrated when they spend their first year at college taking what can seriously just feel like a fifth year of high school, instead of classes they want to take in the subjects they want to study. Although core classes are a necessity, at some colleges freshman sometimes also feel like they have too much free time on their hands and are using their additional time unproductively. In fact, having spoken with other freshman at Becker College, the school in which I attend, both this year and last when I was a first year student, many agree that freshman have too much time on their hands which could alternatively be spent in major related courses.

A common misconception, at Becker anyways, is that students don’t really start taking major related courses until their junior and senior years, whereas we often actually start as early as the second semester of our freshmen year and most of the time by at least our sophomore year. Not all students assume this, however, many first semester freshmen have mentioned it to me in the past that they’re anxious to start their major related studies and don’t like the idea of waiting two years before really getting into it. If you’re a freshmen at Becker, or at any other college for that matter and feel like you have too much free time on your hands, know that you’ll likely start delving into your major sooner than you might realize.

Although many students are often mistaken about just how soon you can actually get started in major related studies, why do so many freshmen feel like they have so much free time on their hands? A lot of the time, colleges intentionally give freshmen the opportunity to pursue a less hectic schedule to ensure that students aren’t overwhelmed by the transition from high school to college. Colleges also don’t want students dropping out because the workload the first few months of college was too overbearing. Students are prompted to do well and the smoother the transition from high school to college, the more likely students are to succeed.

If you’re currently a freshmen in college and you felt as though your first semester felt no different than high school, whether you’re attending Becker College or another school, rest assured that you’ll likely be diving into major related courses before you know it and that you’re not alone in being anxious to getting to the classes you’re in college in the first place to take.