The first (and most obvious) way college is different from high school is the freedom of choice. Unlike high school, college allows for some leeway. In college, you have the ability to CHOOSE your major. Sometimes you might also be able to choose when you take your classes. For example, you can choose whether you take a class in the morning or at night, depending on your schedule. This is highly unlike high school where your schedule and classes are set-in stone with little wiggle room for compromise.
You're more than likely trying to work around your high school schedule. Whereas in college, you can build your schedule to best fit you.
＜⌒／ヽ-､_＿_ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
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( ･ω･) oh! class starts at 2!
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＜⌒／ヽ-､_＿_ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
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If you're going to a public high school chances are that your education is completely free (aside from some additonal fees or costs; ie. lunch). But in college, most likely, YOU'RE paying for your own education. Because of this, you can't flunk out or get in trouble. Otherwise, you'll find yourself having to pay a lot of tuition fees or penalties because of bad grades or conduct. All in all, college is a CHOICE and a lot riskier should you go. There's a lot more to gain in college, but also a lot more to lose if you mess up.
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Because you can choose your major and the classes you'd like to take, your classes are more specialzed and provide way more opportunities to network with people in the field you'd like to join. College can be a great opportunity to meet professionals already working in your field or to meet fellow students. For example, many in the film/TV industry have met their companions and coworkers in school. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were friends in film school and actually made the original South Park pilot for a school film project. It took an entire summer and hundreds of paper cutouts to make! That's a ton of time and resources that college can provide, yet high school cannot.
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Colleges often have a wider range of on-campus activities and support services available to students. Much unlike public high schools, which may suffer from a lack of activites or resources due to budgetary or logistical issues. Again, there is freedom of choice for what a student can do because of the availability and range of activities or resources provided to them. All-in-all, college is arguably better at encouraging greater personal and professional growth beyond the classroom.
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.'______________________________\|/______________________________`. college textbook ig idk
College requires a greater level of independence and self-reliance. While in high school students are all teenagers, college students are adults, or atleast in the early stages of adulthood. Because of this, expectations for college students are much higher than high school students. College sudents are expected to manage their own schedules, attend classes, and complete assignments without as much supervision. compared to high school. To put it bluntly, in college, there is no handholding. Either you swim or you sink.
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One huge difference between college and high school is dorm rooms. Unless you went to a boarding school, college is unique in that many provide dorm rooms to their students. This might mean that you'll end up sharing a room or living space with another or several other people. For many, this can be a completely new and uncomfortable situation to adjust to, especially if you're going to a school far away from home. And again, with the differences in age groups between college students and high school students, this new scenario can feel totally alien.
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Again, college students are typically older than high school students. Being a young adult in college now means that you'll likely have to take care of yourself. This means cooking your own meals, doing your own laundry, tuning up your own car, etc. etc. There's a lot of little mundane things you'll have to start doing in order to not only be a functional college student, but a functional adult.
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Along with the cost of tuition, getting school supplies for college can be very expensive. From college textbooks that are insanely marked up to highly specific software you'll need to buy on a monthly basis for your special classes, buying school supplies required for college can be very costly. Unlike in high school where you could go to the department store and a buy a pack of pencils for a couple bucks, your specialized college classes may ask you to buy high-quality supplies. All of this can end up putting a serious dent in your bank account if you're not careful.
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You might find socializing in college to be a lot easier than high school. Unlike high school where everyone is the same place because they have to by law go to school, college allows for opportunity to be grouped with like-minded individuals. Finding other students who have the same or similar majors as you can be a great and easy way to find new friends. Many find it easier to make long-lasting friendships in college because of how much less restrictive and specific college courses are.
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ♡⊂ʕ•ᴥ•⊂ʔ <-- they're both film majors :)
College classes can often be structured a lot differently than high school. Because of the wider and more specialized variety of courses, college classes can be structured in specific and odd ways. Many high school graduates unfamiliar with college classes can find long lectures in huge audiotorium like classrooms new and frightening. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some classes might not even have a teacher. Or atleast not a conventional type of teacher which assigns you work. Sometimes college students can take classes which are tiny and give you work to do completely on your own. All of these can be confusing if someone isn't aware of these changes ahead of time.
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