Most students who are about to graduate from high school often wonder what college is like. When they finally reach college, most of them realize that there are some major differences between their college lives and their previous high school lives.

First of all, in college, you pick your classes according to what you want to major in. In high school, you can pick your elective classes, but most of the classes are already picked out for you as part of the curriculum. You can take as many classes as you want in college. Rather than having an eight-period day for four years, you can choose to earn your degree in as little time as possible.

In high school, the time of your classes are picked out for you, one class is right after the other. In college, you can pick the days and the times you want to take each class, this way it’s easier for you to establish a work schedule that won’t interfere with school. If you would rather work in the morning and take classes in the evening, it is possible.

Some of the other things that are different are the rules. In high school, you have to go to class or else you will be written up for a cut. College doesn’t have cuts. When you are there, they treat you like you are an adult. The administrators figure that you are only hurting yourself if you choose not to go to class. You still have to pay them even if you do not go, so why should the school care if you go or not. Basically, they leave the responsibility up to you, so if you fail to succeed, it is your problem.

Furthermore, college students cannot stay back, as they can in high school. In college you just take the classes required for your major until you pass them all. But, in all colleges, you are put you on academic probation if you start to get bad grades. This means that if you do not improve your grades by the next semester, you will be expelled. A problem like this occurs to students who attend some of the more advanced schools.

The final difference I noticed between high school and college was the way the students lived. Students in high school usually live at home with their parents. They come home from school and go out with their friends or catch up on some homework until it is time to go to bed. In college, if you choose to, you can live on campus with friends. This is where most parties take place on any day of the week, but it is also where students are expected to do their work. College is also a place where students can experience what is it like to live on their own and to take responsibility for their own actions.

Thinking of all the differences between high school and college I realize that they really have nothing much in common. Besides the fact that they are both forms of education, they have completely different environments; high school prepares you for the hard work ahead in college, and college prepares you for new challenges as an adult.

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