# College is so hard?



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

I'll admit that I'm always a last minute person and a heavy procrastinator. In high school, this was no big deal, even though I was super lazy and did things last minute, I still got top grades and got through fine.

But college is an entirely different animal. I don't procrastinate anymore. I can't procrastinate. I heard many stories about how people manage to get so much free time in their college years, but I've never experienced this. I literally have no free time at all. I spend the whole day working on assignments, and I still feel so behind all the time. And for the times that I feel caught up, the professors throw in more problem sets that are due a week after. 

Also in high school, the teachers actually care. They tell you to come to tutoring or can be really generous about their policies. But in college, you have to approach them if you need any help. There is just so much things to keep track of that I feel like losing my sanity. I turned into a worry wort in just a few weeks of school, but I don't really blame myself for being constantly worried since my gpa is getting fu**ed up.

Have any of you guys experienced any of this? Any extremely procrastinators here? How much free time did you get in university?


----------



## Lostintheshuffle (Sep 13, 2015)

I feel like I'm always working on things for college too. Even if I spend hours studying, I still feel like I'm behind. I have a lot of obligation and responsibility outside of college as well that takes up a lot of my day and leaves me feeling even more hopeless and behind. We have our first set of exams for the semester coming up after this next week and I'm freaking out. My biology professor doesn't ever pull questions from the book or her lecture. It's all trick question type stuff. Which makes it so hard to even know WHAT to study other than try to remember every freaking word of what was discussed. I feel totally overwhelmed too. High school was a breeze. I never studied. Never did my honeowkr until the morning it was due or on the bus on the way to school. I got through AP classes and was an honor roll student all four years. Now, I'm not able to cruise through like that. I feel so stupid and worthless. Even after devoting hours to studies.


----------



## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

Depends on how many classes you are taking, your teachers, your major, if you're working, and what grades you are trying to get. I could probably never go to class or study and pass all my classes. I study just cuz it's fun for me and I want to brag about getting the highest grade on all the tests. I still have ample amounts of free time. I study like 10 hours a week and go to class 15 hours. And the only reason I study that much is because I am aiming for 100s on everything. I could do a 3rd of that and still get mostly A's probably. If there is something I want to do (which is rare cuz I have no friends), I always put it before studying cuz at the end of the day no one cares about your GPA.

Academically college has not been stressful for me (although I have an easy major). Socially it has destroyed me and made me feel worthless.

If you're reading the book, I suggest you don't (unless you have interest in the subject). More often than not it's extra information that you will not be tested on and it's a huge time sink.

Also I do not procrastinate. I cannot handle stress and I know that, so I make sure to get started on stuff early. Like for papers, I will make sure I have at least 1day/per page to do it.


----------



## Twelve Keyz (Aug 28, 2011)

Imbored21 said:


> Depends on how many classes you are taking, your teachers, your major, if you're working, and what grades you are trying to get. I could probably never go to class or study and pass all my classes. I study just cuz it's fun for me and I want to brag about getting the highest grade on all the tests. I still have ample amounts of free time. I study like 10 hours a week and go to class 15 hours. And the only reason I study that much is because I am aiming for 100s on everything. I could do a 3rd of that and still get mostly A's probably. If there is something I want to do (which is rare cuz I have no friends), I always put it before studying cuz at the end of the day no one cares about your GPA.
> 
> Academically college has not been stressful for me (although I have an easy major). Socially it has destroyed me and made me feel worthless.
> 
> ...


what's your major?


----------



## flyingMint (Aug 31, 2015)

I'm currently taking my basics so College is not that difficult for me at the moment, however I'm counting my lucky stars because I'm sure it will get worse as time progresses, currently I'm balancing most of my schoolwork pretty well, things get turned in on time its also mostly consists of readings and short quizzes.


----------



## versikk (Nov 25, 2013)

My experience is that if the subject isn't interesting and fun, it will be really hard, since you need to read at least 200 pages to grasp the subject.

Couldn't handle legal studies so i dropped out.


----------



## lostinlife (Jun 2, 2010)

Lostintheshuffle said:


> I feel like I'm always working on things for college too. Even if I spend hours studying, I still feel like I'm behind. I have a lot of obligation and responsibility outside of college as well that takes up a lot of my day and leaves me feeling even more hopeless and behind. We have our first set of exams for the semester coming up after this next week and I'm freaking out. My biology professor doesn't ever pull questions from the book or her lecture. It's all trick question type stuff. Which makes it so hard to even know WHAT to study other than try to remember every freaking word of what was discussed. I feel totally overwhelmed too. High school was a breeze. I never studied. Never did my honeowkr until the morning it was due or on the bus on the way to school. I got through AP classes and was an honor roll student all four years. Now, I'm not able to cruise through like that. I feel so stupid and worthless. Even after devoting hours to studies.


My college biology professors did the "trick question" stuff all the time too. The multiple choice questions would always only sort-of be related to the class lectures. No matter how much you read the book or went over the lecture notes, there was just no good way to prepare for those types of questions because they were "application" type questions where you had to read in between the lines from all that information. I also had this biology professor whose test had essay questions where you could only answer with the examples from his lectures, not the textbook. If you didn't remember very obscure details from his lectures, you could never get above a B on his tests and you could fail whole essay questions because you used "non-approved" examples from other biology classes or from the textbook.

That's one of the reasons I chose not to major in biology. Every test was only maybe 10-20 questions and if you missed a few, it would drastically drop your grade. I just didn't see how that made you a better scientist or prepared you for an advanced science degree. I expect science to be hard, but the way the system was set up made it seem like they were setting you up to fail, even if you reached out and tried to get help during office hours.


----------



## Lostintheshuffle (Sep 13, 2015)

lostinlife said:


> My college biology professors did the "trick question" stuff all the time too. The multiple choice questions would always only sort-of be related to the class lectures. No matter how much you read the book or went over the lecture notes, there was just no good way to prepare for those types of questions because they were "application" type questions where you had to read in between the lines from all that information. I also had this biology professor whose test had essay questions where you could only answer with the examples from his lectures, not the textbook. If you didn't remember very obscure details from his lectures, you could never get above a B on his tests and you could fail whole essay questions because you used "non-approved" examples from other biology classes or from the textbook.
> 
> That's one of the reasons I chose not to major in biology. Every test was only maybe 10-20 questions and if you missed a few, it would drastically drop your grade. I just didn't see how that made you a better scientist or prepared you for an advanced science degree. I expect science to be hard, but the way the system was set up made it seem like they were setting you up to fail, even if you reached out and tried to get help during office hours.


Blegh, I completely feel like you're describing my class to a T. *Thunks head against wall*


----------



## lostinlife (Jun 2, 2010)

Lostintheshuffle said:


> Blegh, I completely feel like you're describing my class to a T. *Thunks head against wall*


I think the only way people got As in classes like that was if they were in study groups. You have to split up the work. I think it's humanly impossible for one person to handle that workload and all the information you need to know. There was just too much and on top of that, most people were involved in extracurricular activities and had jobs. Just reading the "required reading" for one of those biology classes took up the whole week and was a drastically inefficient use of your time.

I'm also pretty sure there was a cheating ring in most of those classes. Not like in a "sneak answers into an exam" kind of cheating, but I know that a lot of these kids had siblings or upperclassman friends that would share old test answers and exams so they were definitely at an advantage over students like me who honestly tried their best to do the work. There was just no other way to guarantee success in those classes without bending the rules.


----------



## Lostintheshuffle (Sep 13, 2015)

lostinlife said:


> I think the only way people got As in classes like that was if they were in study groups. You have to split up the work. I think it's humanly impossible for one person to handle that workload and all the information you need to know. There was just too much. Just reading the "required reading" for one of those biology classes took up the whole week and was a drastically inefficient use of your time.
> 
> I'm also pretty sure there was a cheating ring in most of those classes. Not like in a "sneak answers into an exam" kind of cheating, but I know that a lot of these kids had siblings or upperclassman friends that would share old test answers and exams so they were definitely at an advantage over students like me who honestly tried their best to do the work. There was just no other way to guarantee success in those classes without bending the rules.


I was happy when I saw they had 3 study sessions weekly, hosted by the TA, but it's all led my the students attending the session. Not the TA. No thank you. I dont need other confused kids trying to teach me things. UGH. we have our midterm coming up on the 28th. I havent been able to get higher than a B on our weekly quizzes so far. Not to mention, her lecture is so sleep inducing... it's virtually impossible to even pay attention. FML


----------



## lostinlife (Jun 2, 2010)

Lostintheshuffle said:


> I was happy when I saw they had 3 study sessions weekly, hosted by the TA, but it's all led my the students attending the session. Not the TA. No thank you. I dont need other confused kids trying to teach me things. UGH. we have our midterm coming up on the 28th. I havent been able to get higher than a B on our weekly quizzes so far. Not to mention, her lecture is so sleep inducing... it's virtually impossible to even pay attention. FML


I've had good TAs and bad TAs. A lot of students didn't attend regular office hours after the first couple of weeks so it can be helpful to get one-on-one time. I also hated those ones when the TA doesn't have a lesson plan in mind and just asks, "What questions do you guys have?" Those sessions generally lacked direction and weren't very helpful. For those, you have to be prepared and go in with exactly what you want to ask. You also have to be prepared to talk over other people to make sure your questions get answered and not be shy about being the first to ask a question. This is one place where I was never shy because my passion for learning generally overrides my social anxiety.

Man, I've sat through some boring biology lectures. You know what's a good investment? An audio recorder. Record your lessons in case you fall asleep so you don't miss anything.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

Thanks for the replies!

I guess the professor is the most important source of getting to decide whether to make the class easy or hard. He may be a horrible lecturer, gives too much assignments, or decide to not curve a test. Basically he makes or break your GPA. It also kinda sucks that this is how things work because other students might have a better teacher and their lives are easier. ratemyprofessors.com holds many truths and could save your life.

I have midterms coming up this week too, and I feel so unprepared for them. One is due for this Friday and I think that I have to read the entire book over again to know what I need to know. Midterms are those things where you not only have to do well on, but hope that other people do worse so the curve would be to your advantage. Hunger games much? The stress is so real. 

I have no extracurricular activities and two free days per week (excluding weekends) devoid of any classes, and I still cannot manage to grab any free time. So I wonder why do professors give students way too much work? Do they not know that we have other classes too? And besides the work counts as only a small percentage of your final grade anyways.

TL;DR I hate school. i didn't choose the college lyfe. the college lyfe chose me.


----------



## CaliBaller (Sep 21, 2015)

yeah im a freshman in college also the thing is some classes are harder than others

plus they give you more time imo than other groups, so for me its easier actually


----------



## LadyApathy (Dec 2, 2014)

College is way too *****ing hard!!!!! Djdjeknfndjdjdjdndjjddjdjdj fml Aaaahhhhhh garhhhhhh I'm having a breakdown :'(


----------



## Ominous Indeed (Sep 6, 2015)

Imbored21 said:


> Depends on how many classes you are taking, your teachers, your major, if you're working, and what grades you are trying to get. I could probably never go to class or study and pass all my classes. I study just cuz it's fun for me and I want to brag about getting the highest grade on all the tests. I still have ample amounts of free time. I study like 10 hours a week and go to class 15 hours. And the only reason I study that much is because I am aiming for 100s on everything. I could do a 3rd of that and still get mostly A's probably. If there is something I want to do (which is rare cuz I have no friends), I always put it before studying cuz at the end of the day no one cares about your GPA.
> 
> Academically college has not been stressful for me (although I have an easy major). Socially it has destroyed me and made me feel worthless.
> 
> ...


10 hours is barely anything :/

For my major an average C (F to A -scoring system) is 50 hours of studying per week. There is a 50% dropout rate as well


----------



## nothing else (Oct 27, 2013)

Yeah post secondary is not easy. Profs usually just throw everything at you and you're expected to do it on your own. If you don't, they don't care. It's up to you to get it done. In my undergrad I basically studied 24/7....barely got free time. But that was just me.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

Honestly, I would like to attend college for social reasons rather than academic reasons (Like for example networking and internships). I can't say that I'm studying all the time, but there is so much course work that takes up all of my time.


----------



## acidicwithpanic (May 14, 2014)

How many credits are you taking? I made the mistake of taking 16+ credits per semester my freshman year and I didn't have any time for fun. It was intense and it did bad things to my mental health.


----------



## Twelve Keyz (Aug 28, 2011)

yeah I want out of this hellhole but I might be here for an eternity. I don't have any free time and I don't get any sleep... which means I can't focus in class... which means I have to give up more free time and sleep to catch up. It's an endless cycle. Keep in mind I've been in college for a while and still haven't adapted to the system.

My advice to anyone just starting college: figure out what you want to major in and push through it as quickly as possible. Don't stress too much about getting a high GPA unless it's absolutely necessary for your career path. The goal is to survive. You don't want to be here longer than 4 years.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

acidicwithpanic said:


> How many credits are you taking? I made the mistake of taking 16+ credits per semester my freshman year and I didn't have any time for fun. It was intense and it did bad things to my mental health.


I'm taking 4 classes this semester. I'm not sure how that would translate into credit hours.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

Twelve Keyz said:


> yeah I want out of this hellhole but I might be here for an eternity. I don't have any free time and I don't get any sleep... which means I can't focus in class... which means I have to give up more free time and sleep to catch up. It's an endless cycle. Keep in mind I've been in college for a while and still haven't adapted to the system.
> 
> My advice to anyone just starting college: figure out what you want to major in and push through it as quickly as possible. Don't stress too much about getting a high GPA unless it's absolutely necessary for your career path. The goal is to survive. You don't want to be here longer than 4 years.


It takes hardwork and a lot of tears to do well in school. :c


----------



## acidicwithpanic (May 14, 2014)

Lovecrushed said:


> I'm taking 4 classes this semester. I'm not sure how that would translate into credit hours.


Sounds like at least 12. Assuming each class is 3 or more credits. Being a full-time student like that robs you of a life really.


----------



## 2Milk (Oct 29, 2014)

I procrastinate all of the time. Then i just do like a 15-20 hour marathon of completing/reading assignments. Except for math, i get that stuff done asap. I start at like 10pm Thursday and go to sleep at like 3pm Friday. I actually enjoy this better because i actually feel motivated to complete my assignments for some reason.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

acidicwithpanic said:


> Sounds like at least 12. Assuming each class is 3 or more credits. Being a full-time student like that robs you of a life really.


Welp. I just found out from my adviser that each class is 3.75 credits making 15 total. I'm such a lazy person so I don't know why I brought it upon myself to take all of these classes.

From my experience so far, I'm taking 3 hard classes and 1 easy-medium class. I remember the dean telling everyone at the beginning of the year to not go overboard when choosing your classes. I underestimated the amount of coursework in college and now I'm working my butt off to finish the first semester.

Second semester though, I'm considering taking easier classes.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

Lostintheshuffle said:


> I feel like I'm always working on things for college too. Even if I spend hours studying, I still feel like I'm behind. I have a lot of obligation and responsibility outside of college as well that takes up a lot of my day and leaves me feeling even more hopeless and behind. We have our first set of exams for the semester coming up after this next week and I'm freaking out. My biology professor doesn't ever pull questions from the book or her lecture. It's all trick question type stuff. Which makes it so hard to even know WHAT to study other than try to remember every freaking word of what was discussed. I feel totally overwhelmed too. High school was a breeze. I never studied. Never did my honeowkr until the morning it was due or on the bus on the way to school. I got through AP classes and was an honor roll student all four years. Now, I'm not able to cruise through like that. I feel so stupid and worthless. Even after devoting hours to studies.


Yeah, when I finish an assignment, I'm like yay I'm ahead, but then the next day, my professor lectures about a completely different topic and assign a bunch more homework, so I get super lost. I just took my first midterm last week and it was pretty hard, so I gotta work even harder for the next one.

High school tests were more about what the teacher covered in class, while college tests you on stuff you were supposed to read on your own and learn about. This by itself stresses me out so much because I don't know what we're even supposed to know and what's completely unnecessary.

Haha. Yeah high school bring back so many memories. It was pretty fun and I did pretty well. AP classes were pretty chill too. Teachers were nice (for the most part) and I actually knew everybody in the class for once. Now people are like, "who is this person sitting in my unassigned seat"

Good luck on your studies! This makes the 2 of us who feel hopeless.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

.


----------



## thetown (Aug 16, 2014)

I know this thread is more than a year old, but i have some venting I need to do.

So I'm almost done with the first semester of my second year, and college isn't getting any easier for me...

I don't know what is wrong with me, and I just need to vent here. 

I'm taking harder classes, and my grades are getting worse by the day. Also second years have much more responsibility than first years. For example, so many people are a part of clubs and extracurriculars and making very good grades, but I am a part of no clubs or anything and my gpa is terrible. It's also the time when people are applying to so many internships. It's so ridiculous... I feel like there's no way I can juggle all of these classes and responsibilities at the same time. 

It's so miserable. Everyone is so competitive at this school I can't even catch up. 

My social anxiety is part of the reason why I suck at college. I'm unable to ask for help when I need it. I can't make friends or form study groups with people. I'm just stuck in this university with nobody to talk to. I'm also pretty sure that I have some form of ADHD. How can I talk to a doctor about my disorders? I'm too scared to find one and talk to them.

It's also so incredibly frustrating because I have no one to talk about my problems to. Even if I did, I'm not very comfortable talking about myself because I'm so insecure. I can't even talk to my family about it. As far as I know, they still think their child is killing it at college getting good grades and is happy.


----------

