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10 Types of College Students in Class

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CMU chapter.

Everyone has most likely experienced at least one of these types of people during their college careers, and who knows, we might have even been one of them.

1. The Noisy One: Everyone knows when the lecture’s over not because of the time but because The Noisy One has been fidgeting around in their chair, putting on their jacket, and shoving all their books into their backpack for the past five minutes. This person manages to disturb the entire class without even trying from the second they enter the room till the moment they leave.

2.  The Sniffler: When you’re lying in bed coughing, trying to scratch that itch at the back your throat, the only person you want to blame is The Sniffler. This person is constantly sick, constantly coughing, constantly blowing their nose, to the point where you expect to hear a noise from them after the professor’s every sentence.

3. The Fashionista: I’m all about looking nice for class and I love it when people come up with unique outfits that show off their fashion sense, but the last time I checked the steps going through the middle of the lecture hall were not a runway. The Fashionista is the person who regularly comes to class fifteen minutes late decked out from head to toe, with a bag that probably couldn’t even carry one notebook, just to show off their outfit.

4. The Know-It-All: We all know The Know-It-All because since the first day of class this person has raised their hand to answer every single question. Not only do they insist on asserting their dominance over the rest of the class, they approach every question as an opportunity to one-up the professor. Why come to class when you clearly already know everything?

5. The Web Surfer: Let’s be honest, we’re all guilty of pulling out our phones in class every now and then, but The Web Surfer does it better then rest of us. This is the person who is watching  YouTube videos of video games online, or the person who is constantly online shopping, or the person who is silently laughing to themselves about some random GIF on Tumblr. 

6. The Chit-Chatter: We may not know what the professor is taking about, but we do know what The Chit-Chatter did over the weekend, what time they woke up (aka how little they slept that night), what they ate for lunch, and we know a little too much about that annoying person in their Calc class. Instead of blaming this person for talking too much we should probably blame ourselves for not channeling all of our keen listening skills into the actual lecture.

7. The Snorer: We all wonder why this person bothers coming to class when they really could be sleeping in the comfort of their own beds. The Snorer walks into class, drops their backpack and immediately falls asleep, probably hoping that at least being in class might help them magically understand the material.

8. The Question-Box: We have a lot-hate relationship with The Question-Box. On the one hand, the more pointless questions they ask the more time we waste, but at the same time after every question they ask , the professor, the student and the rest of the class seem to lose more brain cells. Don’t get me wrong I think its admirable, even brave, when people ask questions in class, but this person takes it just a bit too far.

9. The Try-Hard: When we’re on our phones wondering why nothing has changed on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat since one minute ago, we look over at The Try-Hard  and feel guilty, but then we go right back to swiping up on our phones. This person takes way too many notes, and is as invested in the lecture as we all wish we were, but when exam time roles around they are just as confused the rest of us.

10.  The Ghost: My personal favorite – The Ghost. We all know the feeling when you walk into an exam and see someone you’ve never seen before, and you wonder if you’re in the right room. This person never shows up to class and magically appears on exam day, and you quietly think to yourself how someone could possibly take an exam without ever coming to class, when you clearly still have no idea what’s going on after going to class for an entire semester.