Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
placeholder article
placeholder article

3 Reasons Why College is Completely Different than High School

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

1. Popularity is a thing of the past.

Nearly everybody saw it in high school. A select group of students were viewed as royalty; they were the “popular kids.” Everybody knew who they were and everybody wanted to be them. Sound familiar? 

Well, what if I told you that this phenomenon ends the minute you are handed your high school diploma? That’s right. In college, the student body is simply too large for a select few to rule the school. Not to mention most people are too busy worrying about their own lives to care so much about social status. Awesome, right?

2. Your mentors either care too much or not at all .

Overall, you will find that your college professors want you to succeed academically. They want you to use them as a resource, so much so that they set aside weekly office hours to help students. You will find that your professors do care about your academic success, but only if you take the initiative to improve your learning experience.

Chances are, your professors will not care about the excuses that you try to use to get out of turning in assignments. They also may not care if you show up to class, or if you leave half way through a lecture. Your academic future is now in your hands, and what your make of it will determine how much help your professors can offer you.

3. If you dont give it your all, youre going to have a bad time.

Many incoming freshman think that because procrastinating on every assignment and cramming for tests worked for them in high school, they can continue these habits in college. Bad idea.

In college, time management is EVERYTHING. Procrastinate, and your grades will suffer. The material that you study in college is far more detailed than what you studied in high school. Also, your courses move very quickly. It seems that the second you begin to get the hang of how your classes work, you have midterms to study for and then final exams. Don’t let these tests sneak up on you! Manage your time and try your hardest in every class. You won’t be sorry. 

It’s a new time for you, collegiette, make the most of it!

Hannah is a sophomore at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA. Besides writing, she loves running, Thai food and making ridiculously unaffordable collections on Wanelo. Hannah is obsessed with The Walking Dead, old Disney movies, Ed Sheeran and wasting time on Photoshop. She'd like to point out that she can't sing or dance, but will, because that's when it's the most fun, especially when the songs are from "Les Miserables." Follow her on Twitter @joslin_hannah and Instagram @hannahmichele8