College Knowledge
College Knowledge
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College advice, coming straight from the Edgewood alumni who have been there
Seniors, college is coming. Fast.
Going off to college may seem like a lifetime away, but it’s actually not so far in the distant future as you might have thought. This time next year, you will be sitting in a classroom with hundreds of other students, listening to a lecture taught by a “professor,” and possibly living away from home.
For some students, this might seem like a joy- no parents and an independent lifestyle- but for others, college is still shrouded in mystery. Knowing what it will be like to go to college, what to expect, and how it is different from high school are all things that every senior questions, and knowing in advance what you are walking into can save you the surprise later.
Edgewood Alumni have their own fair share of knowledge about what this transition feels like. They all have gone off to college, survived, and have lived to tell the tale of their experiences.
They’re Not That Different, Right?
College is very different from high school and changing from one to the other can be like stepping into another world. These differences can be spotted at many colleges and what Alumni have seen will likely be similar to what you will see on your first day. One of the biggest differences between high school and college comes from the courses.
For starters, college classes are substantially larger than those of high school ones. In a class that may seem large to you with just under 30 students in it, the reality is, that would be small in college.
“Generally [classes] are much larger,” said Molly Noah, Class of 2019. “I go to Florida State, so I go to a pretty big school, so I know that there are smaller schools where class sizes are much smaller, but for me, especially a lot of the classes you take your first two years, I am in lecture halls with like two or three hundred people just in one room.”
It’s not just the size of the classes that varies, it is also when they occur.
“High school was very different. It was 7 classes for a whole day, so each class was maybe less than an hour, and it was nice, but then when you go to college you realize that you only have two classes sometimes a day and each one’s an hour so that’s the only thing you really have to worry about,” said Kyle Timonera, Class of 2019.
With college courses taking up a larger chunk of the day as opposed to many of the traditional high school classes, it can be important to get all the necessary information to pass the class. How this information is presented to you is just one more place that these two types of schooling differ.
In high school courses, much of the information that is needed to do well in a class can be found written out on notes and slideshows, but in college, this idea is turned completely upside-down.
“A lot of the time, the quizzes and tests are going to be a lot of what the teacher is saying. On lecture slides, they’re not going to put down everything, just the basic idea of their lecture for that day,” said Stephanie Hernandez, Class of 2020.
Beyond this, another big difference comes from the lifestyle. High school students likely live at home and with their families, but when going to college, many choose to move away and be on their own.
When students move away from home, their entire lifestyle will begin to change. What time you get up, what you eat and when, where you go, and whether you go to class are all things that will become more of your responsibility when you go to college.
As a college student, you will be reliant on yourself to make every little decision, which can be extremely different from the typical “I’ll eat what my parents are making” response. With this life being so different from the one you already know, it is also important to be prepared with how to get through it all.
Knowing How to Navigate It: The Advice Corner
As you would expect, going to college can be a pretty serious change from high school life. Not being able to test-drive college or know what it will be like when you get there may be worrisome, but there are things to know before you go so that way you will be successful.
College can take a huge strain on your high school friendships, especially when you and your closest friends all end up going to a different university from one another. Keeping your high school friends even after moving away can be really tricky, but these friendships are able to last.
“Don’t be afraid of losing your high school friendships and relationships because they can survive. Of course you're going to make new friends, you're going to meet new people, but you can also healthily hold on to the friendships you know are going to last,” said Carolina Mangru, Class of 2020.
Even with some relationships spanning the test of time, there will be others that will not. Some college newbies find that they feel completely alone at their new school because their friends have gone elsewhere or their friendships just couldn’t make it past high school.
Many college students go through this at one point or another, but the good side to it is that you can then take on the challenge of making new friends. Finding your new best friend can be tricky and the best way to do it is to put yourself out there. Doing this as you're first starting out at school can transform your loneliness to happiness.
“Especially the first couple weeks that you’re at school, don’t be afraid to just start talking to people, like people you see in the elevator, people in your classes, because at the end of the day, they’re scared and probably have no friends and that’s also you, so maybe exchange Snapchats, and you’ve got some friends,” said Noah.
When going to college, another piece of advice is to manage your time well. Moving on to a different school may give you the freedom to decide when you are going to do your work and when you are going to goof off, but completing your work is the only way that you will be able to stay there.
The lucky thing for college students is that all the work and assignments are given to you up-front in your classes.
On the first day of class, you will receive a syllabus that will detail all of your assignments for the time that you are in that class along with due dates. It can be really easy to forget about these assignments, but staying on top of them is important.
“They won’t send you reminders and the times that your assignments are due are random, so you need to stay on top of it. There are a lot of assignments and teachers that make sure if you don’t turn it in on time you’re getting a zero for that assignment,” said Danielle Dudley, Class of 2020.
In line with doing your assignments, another piece of advice is to really learn the material that you are being taught in class. College presents its own set of academic standards and you need to be able to apply the knowledge that you are receiving in order to finish your degree.
“In high school I feel like a lot of the classes you could squeeze by just trying to act as though you knew the material, however now in college, a lot of the stuff that you go over, you have to learn it. It’s not just memorizing it for the exam, it’s you have to learn it otherwise you won’t be able to move on to the next chapter,” said Danny Meza, Class of 2020.
A final piece of advice for any soon-to-be college student is to embrace the change. Going off to college will feel both weird and wonderful at the same time, which means you just have to roll with what it brings you. College isn’t all good and all bad, but it is normal to expect a healthy balance of the two when you first arrive.
“The freedom was really nice, I got to set my own class schedule and I got to decide my own work schedule, but being far away from my family was weird because I had less friends, less family background, less of a support system, but it also made me more independent,” said Christina Brown, Class of 2019.
Transitioning to college isn’t easy and with there being so much to learn about this new change, it can take a lot of learning and advice to navigate through it all. Each student is different and will have their own set of experiences when it comes to moving away to college. But even with everyone going their own separate directions, it is important to know that you are ready.
“It’s easier than you think and Edgewood really prepares you for that,” said Timonera.
This is Kaitlyn’s second year on the Edge staff and sixth year at Edgewood. She enjoys creating art, completing community service, and spending tons of time with animals. As a staff writer, she hopes to write diverse stories and prepare for her future career.
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