21 September 2012

Transitioning into College

For most of their student careers, children are told about the transition from high school to college. When they are in high school, they are inundated with college preparation exams and the college application process. It is so much, but it can often be helpful for high school students to truly understand the transition from high school to college.

Moving up to college changes your entire life. You will experience things you have never experienced before and you will be asked to grow up in the company of other people your age who are also trying to grow up. There are some significant differences between high school and college that will shape a person's life.

Personal Changes

Most high school students decide to dorm on campus when they go off to college. While this can seem like a very exciting time for most college students, it winds up being quite a shock.

The first thing that you realize when your parents have left and you are in your dorm room is that you are now living with people you have never met before in your life. Your entire environment prior to college was spent with people you were familiar and comfortable with. Now you have to suddenly shift to trusting people you have never met.

This change leads many new college students to experience problems with personal relationships. It has been a long time since a high school student has had to make new friends in an uncomfortable setting, and now he has to do it or be an outcast.

As a high school student adjusts to these new relationship changes, he will need someone to confide in and talk to. That is why so many young college students spend so much time calling home after years of trying to avoid talking to their parents.
 

Academic Changes

The intensity of a college education is unlike anything experienced in high school. Your college professors expect you to have a certain educational foundation that you were supposed to get in high school. If you did not get that foundation, then you will start falling behind.

In high school, you could probably get by without a lot of studying or paying attention in class. In college, the density of the material is much thicker than it is in high school. A college curriculum is very focused on specific topics. You will be faced with information you did not know, and you will be asked to apply that information to solve problems.

In college. most classes center around mid-term exams and final exams. In high school, you could spread your grades out over several quizzes, tests and projects. In college, you either pass the exams or you do not pass the class.
 
Environmental Changes

When you live at home and go to high school, you tend to take some things from granted. When you open the refrigerator or cupboards at home, you expect food to be there. When you put your laundry in your hamper as you are told, you expect your laundry to be done for you.

One of the first things that college life teaches you is to learn to rely on yourself or go hungry and wear unwashed clothes. College is where you learn how important it is to juggle a class schedule and do all of the things that used to get done for you at home.

College is a great experience and an important step in your life. But the transition from high school to college can often catch new students off guard. Don’t let that be you!

-This article was written by Karl Stockton for the team at kendall.edu; click here to learn about their culinary arts school degree programs.

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