When I graduated high school, I was near the top of my graduating class. I had straight A’s, and yet I felt like school was easy. I was really excited to start college in the fall, but boy did I get a rude awakening: I wasn’t at all prepared for my time in college.
I thought I had done everything I could to be ready, and had even read some high school to college transition tips. I had gone to my orientation, met my roommate, and felt ready to go. I even got myself a new laptop to take notes on in class. I felt like I was ready to dominate my first semester at school.
Reality Hurts
But my first year at school really hurt. I felt lost. I was on academic probation my first semester (even though I didn’t fail any classes, I did get two C-‘s and a C+). I was struggling to keep up in my classes, and I wasn’t even enjoying college life because I felt like I couldn’t do anything in school to succeed. What happened in the gap from high school to college? Where did I go wrong? What was I doing different now compared to what I was doing then?
Figuring It Out
I’ve since realized that high school didn’t prepare me for college on a few fronts, and I’m glad the reality-check of my first year of school did. It has helped me to become a better person, especially upon graduation and in working in real life. By my second year, I had made some changes and really figured it out. It took time and it was hard, but here are some things I did to get me through:
- Time Management: For me, I had always been able to multitask and get things done. This just wasn’t working out during school (especially since I worked full time). As a result, I needed to put together a dedicated schedule for myself that set aside time for studying, and time for fun. And when the time came for studying, I made it a point to put myself in a distraction free environment so that I could focus (usually the library).
- Self-Realization: College was also great about helping me figure out what I was good at, and what I was bad at. Part of the reason for my failure was because I simply wasn’t as good as I thought I was when it came to computer science (my original major). I liked computers, and dominated my high school classes, but now, in a room full of people who excelled at computers, I really was in the bottom 10%. But I learned that wasn’t a bad thing. Instead, some of my other classes that I had to take helped me discover things that I enjoyed more, and was a lot better at – which ended up being business and economics. In hindsight, I’m glad I failed at first, because it helped me discover something better.
- The Power of Friends: Finally, I learned that it is so important to have friends and family that can support you. On more than one occasion there was a tear filled phone call home, but I’m glad I was able to do that, get the frustration off my chest, and move forward. That is what friends and family are for.
Did you struggle making the leap from high school to college? What helped you get through?
About Robert
The classes in college weren’t very challenging for me. The reason I struggled was because I couldn’t handle the responsibility of getting to bed on time and getting up for class.
I dropped multiple letter grades in most classes because I simply missed more classes than the teacher allowed (many of my classes stated that they’d drop your grade by 1/3 of a letter grade for every class you miss after the 6th or 7th).
…yep, I was an immature moron back then.
Seems like you had lessons to learn in college as well!
You weren’t the only one. I signed up for 8 am classes thinking I was going to have the same schedule in high school. 8 am was late for me. I was usually at school at 6 am during high school. I was so wrong. Morning classes suck when you are in college. I also made the mistake of having back to back classes.
I agree with you on that one. I setup my classes to all be as close together as possible so I could knock them all out like high school. It worked well, but the morning classes were rough.
Robert I can definitely relate to your struggles. I also took a computer science related program at college thinking I was fairly good with computers. Then you’re suddenly up against all these people who really know their stuff. I think being near the bottom of the class was just something I wasn’t used to and it really limited my motivation to push myself. I kinda wish I had just taken the one computer class instead of a full on computer systems program. Then I would’ve come to that realization a lot easier. The transition to college is fairly tough since it is so different than high school. You can’t just coast and procrastinate and still get top marks.
Right, I feel like in high school most things are spoon fed to you, but then when you get to college, the professor is like, “here you go, figure it out on your own.” It is a very different type of learning, and it is a hard change. Then, once you are in the bottom of your class, it can be de-motivating.
I didn’t go to college for a while after high school. I took a few community college classes, but didn’t care and ended up dropping out. I eventually went and got an AA from an art school, but it was actually challenging. For me, not having to work (part of how I blew thorugh $100k in 3 years) helped tremendously to meet all of the deadlines.
But I agree that it’s good that you realized your weaknesses and that led you to your current major Without that failure, you might be working in a filed you hate, which is much worse than failing.
Not having to work helped, but for me, balancing work and school (once I figured it out) was far more helpful in the real world that I think just going to school full time would have been.
Definitely was not used to studying all the time
I actually did very well. I had to move out at the age of 18 and support myself, and I think the sudden responsibility of having to pay for everything myself with no potential handouts helped.
One thing I did do, was skip a lot of classes, but I still left with a 3.83 GPA. I had to beg a lot of professors to not lower my grades just because I miss classes. I still got A’s, so me skipping classes did not effect what I was learning.
It’s funny – some professors really care if you’re there all the time, and others don’t care at all. I think, in the end, most just put it on the student to pass the tests and turn in the homework. If you do that, you can pass.
My main problem adjusting to college was actually going to class. Since I didn’t have to go to class I often skipped. I got away with that my first semester but it got out of control my second semester and I had to withdraw. Many years later I did get my degree but I missed out on the college experience.
Thanks for sharing your story. Not going to class can be fun, but you highlight the perils of not going too often – you just stop going altogether.
College can be a wake up call if you aren’t ready for the immense responsibility of being on your own. I was in marching band and had a great support structure in college. 400 people who’ve been there helping you out definitely helped me!
That’s cool – I can see how a support structure like marching band can help make the transition. You are on your own, but you have people with you. I can see the same benefit in other programs as well.
I wasn’t ready for my major either. I went to uni for Eco and lasted 1.5 as I found econ really really boring. I transferred to biomed and loved it.
It’s important to find something you enjoy, or else you won’t be successful. Uh oh, I feel a passion vs. persistence post in the future…
I think because I had A LOT of fun in middle school and high school, I wasn’t as crazy a party animal as many of my freshman classmates. As a result, I was more balanced and graduated magna cum laude. I knew I needed to do well to land some jobs that I wanted and the cut off GPA was 3.7 out of 4.0.
If I didn’t party in MS and HS, I probably would have gone way overboard!
Good point on getting it out of your system early. You know what, though, I was still able to be at 3.8 GPA even after my crappy first year. And I graduated 1 semester early. I just really needed to figure it out!
I heard so many horror stories of people partying hard and “screwing up their lives” that I was the model student my freshman year of college. I was terrified of sliding off the deep end, as I’d been sternly warned that so many people do. In hindsight, though, I should have relaxed more. There was no need to put that much pressure on myself — it may have even been counterproductive.
I relaxed sophomore year through senior year, changed majors, joined extracurricular clubs, and managed to graduate magna cum laude while still being a lot more relaxed.
Wow, you went the opposite of what I did – but it seems that either way, there were still lessons on balance to be learned.
College went by very fast (three years). The first year was hard, transitioning, learning my limits, but the second and third went by faster. Classes were harder, but I managed them better. Still graduated with a 3.88 GPA.
Lesson from freshman year: do not take 8 am classes.