[nabs-l] Five reasons why college is better than high school!

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all. For those of you who will be transitioning from high school to
college this fall, or seniors getting ready to apply to college, I
wanted to send along this hopefully-encouraging post regarding why, in
my experience, college was far better and easier than high school.
Disclaimer: This post is mostly opinion (though some of it will
probably apply to most college students). Some of you may disagree
with some of what I say, and if you do, feel free to join the
discussion.

1. You have much more free time in college. Typically, high school
involves five or six hour-long class periods five days a week, plus
lunch. That adds up to 30 plus hours on campus every week. In college,
most students take 12-15 hours of classes per week. Most college
classes (except for language classes) don't meet every day. So you
will have lots of extra time to spend as you want.
2. You get to make your own schedule. Are you a night owl? Sign up for
night classes, or at least don't sign up for any classes before 10
a.m. Want to take Fridays off? Set your schedule so your classes are
all Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday. OK, sometimes that's not a
possibility, but you have far more flexibility when setting your
schedule in college, since most classes are taught multiple times
during the week. Many universities also have online course offerings,
giving you even more schedule flexibility.
3. Less homework! That's right! Yes, you do need to keep up with the
assigned readings, papers and at least look over your notes before
each test. But if your high school experience was anything like mine,
there were probably a lot of "busy work" worksheets and study guides
you had to fill out for a grade (which often weren't available in
Braille on time). In college, they don't care so much how you learn
the material as long as you understand it well enough to pass the
exams and/or write coherent papers. Math classes will have regular
homework, but for most other classes there will only be a few
assignments. Plus, professors are required to give you a schedule of
when everything is due at the beginning of the semester (a "syllabus")
so you can plan ahead. While papers can be a bit overwhelming at
first, the long time you get to complete them means that you can
easily enlist help from tutors and the professor. (see next point).
4. Your teachers are experts in their subject who set up regular times
to help students. Most university professors have to have a doctorate
in their subject in order to teach. That means they've voluntarily
spent 4-7 years studying the subject in depth and then wrote a short
book (dissertation) about that subject. Trust me, nobody would go
through the dissertation process and finish it if they didn't really
really love that subject! Even lower-level instructors (which you may
get for intro classes or community college classes) typically have to
have a master's degree which involves at least 2 years of intense
studies in that subject. While I can't promise that all professors are
good teachers, they will usually be far more knowledgeable than your
high school teachers are about the specific subjects they teach.
Furthermore, college teachers are usually required to hold office
hours, the sole purpose of which is to help students with their
classes on request. Office hours were most likely not available to you
when you were in high school, but in college, it's a wonderful
opportunity to get clarification on something in the lesson, or
feedback on a draft of a paper. In addition to this, most colleges
have other free resources for students like tutoring and writing
assistance.
5. College is a chance for you and your classmates to grow up! One of
the first things I noticed was that in college, I no longer had to
deal with kids crowding me in the halls, jumping on or over my cane,
grabbing me or making rude comments. I enjoyed the freedom of being
treated like an adult by both teachers and peers. Of course, growing
up is bittersweet, but with the myriad of options for social clubs,
communal living, and diversity that you will find on a college campus,
you will find that almost anyone can identify a place where they fit
or a class or extracurricular activity that they love. As you move
through college, you will learn a lot of exciting things about
yourself, what you enjoy and what you want to do in the next phase of
your life.
Best, Arielle