The lies high schoolers are told about college
Submitted by Rollie Hawk on Sun, 10/09/2005 - 19:45.
I've been thinking a lot lately about this since I've been talking to some future CS and IT majors. There is a lot of garbage you hear about college while you are in high school that just isn't true. Here are some of the ones that bug me the most.
10. You have to be able to teach yourself in college.
Well, it certainly helps, but it isn't required. It's a miracle if you can walk ten feet on campus without passing offers for free tutoring all over the place. There are people all over the pace getting paid to help people -- you just have to swallow your pride and go.
9. Most people graduate in 4 years.
Not very often. Do the math an you'll see why. If you figure it's about 120 credit hours to get a bachelors degree, divide that into 4 years of 2 semsters each. That works out to 15 hours a semester, which assumes you pass all the classes, they are all available, they all transfer with you, you don't change majors, and so on. So if you plan on graduating in 4 years, you'd better take summer classes at every chance -- including before your first fall semester and earlier if possible.
8. You'll need to have a major picked out very soon.
If you know whether you are going for a science degree or an arts degree, you will be doing yourself a big favor. But you may not know. That's still okay because a lot of programs offer both degrees (my college even offered a bachelor of arts degree in computer science of all things). But most people end up changing majors anyway and on the average around 4-5 times before graduating. Don't feel bad when it happens -- it's much better than finding out you hate something after you graduate.
7. You will need 3 hours for homework and study for every 1 hour of class.
Some will have even more. Most will have much less. Not all majors are the same so don't let anyone kid you. I had math classes where we would be assigned 5-10 major proofs to complete a week and it took me countles notepads of trying different things to get something that was close to working. Programming, chemisty, and physics were tough too, but nothing came close to the math. My education classes were all a joke, but that's mainly because they let total morons into the education program and had to cater to them.
6. Good grades in high school means good grades in college.
Not by a long shot. There really isn't much correlation at all. Most high school teachers are giving grades away. If you got straight As, don't kid yourself -- some of those were given to you because of who your parents are, what sport you played, or because the teacher didn't want to be known as the one who "ruined" your perfect average. But anyway, I had around a 3.7 GPA in high school. At junior college, it was closer to a 3.9 GPA. At my university it was more like a 2.9 GPA. Don't sweat that stuff -- you have to really deserve an A most of the time in college and in some of your classes, no amount of studying will ever get you to that point because it just isn't your expertiese.
5. You need good grades to get into college.
This is total nonsense. Want to go to a prestigious school? Yeah, you'll need really good grades. You'll also need good SAT or ACT scores (and those will matter to them even more). But for most of us, if you can get by with a B average, you can get into college.
4. If you get an associates degree, your core curriculum is taken care of.
This is true in the way it's worded, but that isn't to say your core curriculum is not going to come back to get you. The university may not care at that point, but any entity that certifies you in something probably will. Don't get burned like I did by taking PE instead of health, government instead of history, and so on without checking with the people certifying you.
3. You will be treated like an adult in college and will be responsible for yourself.
I really wish this was true. Unfortunately, just about any college you go to will still take attendance at the start of class. They give a lot of reasons for this, but don't kid yourself -- it's about funding.
2. College professors focus too much on research.
Some do, some don't. It depends on where your college gets its funding. But don't knock the professors who focus on research -- they may be lousy in the classroom but they can expose you to more cutting-edge stuff than the ones that focus on teaching.
1. College is expensive.
No, college is expensive for some people. As long as you are unemployed and your parents are unemployed, you can usually go to college for free. Maybe not Harvard, but you can go for free somewhere.
10. You have to be able to teach yourself in college.
Well, it certainly helps, but it isn't required. It's a miracle if you can walk ten feet on campus without passing offers for free tutoring all over the place. There are people all over the pace getting paid to help people -- you just have to swallow your pride and go.
9. Most people graduate in 4 years.
Not very often. Do the math an you'll see why. If you figure it's about 120 credit hours to get a bachelors degree, divide that into 4 years of 2 semsters each. That works out to 15 hours a semester, which assumes you pass all the classes, they are all available, they all transfer with you, you don't change majors, and so on. So if you plan on graduating in 4 years, you'd better take summer classes at every chance -- including before your first fall semester and earlier if possible.
8. You'll need to have a major picked out very soon.
If you know whether you are going for a science degree or an arts degree, you will be doing yourself a big favor. But you may not know. That's still okay because a lot of programs offer both degrees (my college even offered a bachelor of arts degree in computer science of all things). But most people end up changing majors anyway and on the average around 4-5 times before graduating. Don't feel bad when it happens -- it's much better than finding out you hate something after you graduate.
7. You will need 3 hours for homework and study for every 1 hour of class.
Some will have even more. Most will have much less. Not all majors are the same so don't let anyone kid you. I had math classes where we would be assigned 5-10 major proofs to complete a week and it took me countles notepads of trying different things to get something that was close to working. Programming, chemisty, and physics were tough too, but nothing came close to the math. My education classes were all a joke, but that's mainly because they let total morons into the education program and had to cater to them.
6. Good grades in high school means good grades in college.
Not by a long shot. There really isn't much correlation at all. Most high school teachers are giving grades away. If you got straight As, don't kid yourself -- some of those were given to you because of who your parents are, what sport you played, or because the teacher didn't want to be known as the one who "ruined" your perfect average. But anyway, I had around a 3.7 GPA in high school. At junior college, it was closer to a 3.9 GPA. At my university it was more like a 2.9 GPA. Don't sweat that stuff -- you have to really deserve an A most of the time in college and in some of your classes, no amount of studying will ever get you to that point because it just isn't your expertiese.
5. You need good grades to get into college.
This is total nonsense. Want to go to a prestigious school? Yeah, you'll need really good grades. You'll also need good SAT or ACT scores (and those will matter to them even more). But for most of us, if you can get by with a B average, you can get into college.
4. If you get an associates degree, your core curriculum is taken care of.
This is true in the way it's worded, but that isn't to say your core curriculum is not going to come back to get you. The university may not care at that point, but any entity that certifies you in something probably will. Don't get burned like I did by taking PE instead of health, government instead of history, and so on without checking with the people certifying you.
3. You will be treated like an adult in college and will be responsible for yourself.
I really wish this was true. Unfortunately, just about any college you go to will still take attendance at the start of class. They give a lot of reasons for this, but don't kid yourself -- it's about funding.
2. College professors focus too much on research.
Some do, some don't. It depends on where your college gets its funding. But don't knock the professors who focus on research -- they may be lousy in the classroom but they can expose you to more cutting-edge stuff than the ones that focus on teaching.
1. College is expensive.
No, college is expensive for some people. As long as you are unemployed and your parents are unemployed, you can usually go to college for free. Maybe not Harvard, but you can go for free somewhere.