How is it like studying in a University?

I plan to start learning in a university next year and i wonder how is it like? Is it like high-school? When you go every day from 8AM to 16PM (or so) or it is shorter? I know it depends on what you are studying but i mean in general.

You'll probably have 3-4 hours of class a day on average excluding stuff like labs. The teacher half the time isn't very useful. You're mostly going to be learning from yourself and other classmates.

Well, it depends on the major and the university of course. If you manage to get into a decent university that you did adequate research on, it will be one of the most rewarding, personality enriching, and memorable experiences you'll have in life. Otherwise it will most likely prove itself from the onset to be a stagnant and a waste of time clusterfuck and you'll soon find yourself incapable of waiting for it to be over. The major plays a big role too. Aside from the fact that you have to pick a major that you have enough interest and passion for to be able to picture yourself doing it everyday for the rest of your life without loathing yourself every morning you go to work, you also need to assess the job market of that major and your own ability to succeed in the major and its job market alike.

Forgot to add that classes and schedules worth shit in university generally speaking. You'll be doing most of the actual studying yourself and you'll soon come to the conclusion that classes offer little to no value at all. With that said, its hard to take the concept of having a schedule seriously in college because its usually all over the place and it soon gets destroyed by heaps and heaps of work and studying which are hard to fit to a routine.

You could ask a member of "OT's Jew crew" for advice as they all most likely finished their undergraduate studies already and probably in decent universities too. This statement is largely a poor excuse to use the term "OT's Jew crew" and the credit goes to chessmaster for mentioning it in the OTcar's nomination topic rofl

The biggest difference compared to High School is that you actually learn stuff.

I'd say so, but the amount of actual learning is considerably disproportionate to the effort and resources you put into college in most cases.

I agree. And also that you can finally focus on a particular field of study rather than put all kinds of crap in your head. I find it quite more freedom-like(meaning sometimes I opt to skip some classes if I'm busy or w/e) and the hours are not that many either, like 4/a day on average. Of course it's' not the same for every school in every university. The experience can also vary depending on the teachers and their way of conveying knowledge. That can make sth really appealing to probe into or completely drain your mood. Overall, it's a very worthwhile experience IMO.

Considering the weight of core curriculum in most universities, in addition to the core curriculum of the major itself (specific, departmental core curriculum), I find that statement not to be the case at all.

Like I said, it depends on the school, university and country. I will have to agree with you that in many cases they deviate too much from the core of the field but compared to high-school it is a considerable change, at least in my experience. From what I've seen in my uni, the more semesters you put behind you the more substantial classes are included in the curriculum.

It is awesome!

Hell, you may have days when you don't have class. You'll also have days when you won't have a class until the afternoon, depending on how you schedule it. You'll spend more time studying at the library than you will in class.

Your biggest initial challenge will be balancing your social life with your academic life. You'll have considerably more freedom than you did in high school which can be a double-edged sword. Nobody calls mom and dad if you skip class...frankly your professors won't give a damn if you're there or not. You'll have to apply a lot more self-discipline to get through college than you did before.

The effort could in a way be a reward in itself though. But I see your point

High school is like: 5% Math. 95% Useless stuff.

It's a lot more flexible, as far as the schedule goes. Because of the bigger school, there are more classes to choose from. Evening classes for example. This is what I like.

What I don't like are all the core classes that are required, which makes it feel like high school still, at least here in California that's what it's like. It's a mix of classes you want to take, and ones you don't.

it's better than high school

Imagine school, but with teachers who actually treat you like a person instead of a number, and you actually learn things that will benefit you in later life.

The phsyics class I took in high school was basically the same as the basic physics classes in college. They just didn't accept the credits because we used algebra instead of calculus. Math was useful. Chemistry was useful, I'm bad at it and would've been lost without my prior knowledge from high school. I also took a few other classes like drafting and CAD in high school. I'd say a lot of what I did in high school was useful.

Lolno.

It's nothing like high school. You are going to have to relearn how to learn most likely. Most people do.

@Hiddai:

If you're going like full time it's kinda like high school (assuming you're getting your associates), except for that fact you're bombarded with more reading.

It's more chill, but when I was doing my AA it was annoying as I had a test every week, and had to neglect certain classes to help increase my grade in another.

Nah, college isn't that bad on work (depending on what classes you're taking). I'd say you should expect 10-20 hours of class a week and 10-20 hours of work outside of class.

This too.

Some professors might be qualified in their field, but sure as hell aren't qualified to teach.

Typically you have either one of two schedules: MWF (shorter classes, but more days) or T TH (longer classes, less days). The time you actually spend in class is usually quite short. First two years are pretty useless as you'll be primarily doing gen-ed classes.

Don't worry though. University is pretty dam easy for the most part. The hardest thing is just managing not to get sucked too far in to the partying culture; always get your shit done before you party. Don't save it until the end.

It's not like high school, but it definitely depends on what university you go to and what major you choose. It was really enjoyable being able to learn the things I wanted to learn (for me, writing and literature). And I actually learned a lot in the subjects of my interest, unlike in worthless high school. Socializing was better without many of the social cliques that I saw in high school, but I made the huge mistake of going to a non-traditional university and had to run into a lot of those problems regardless. The graduate school I went to was actually kinder to me in that regard than my undergrad. Friends that went to traditional universities had way more fun than me. So make sure to study up on a university before you commit to it.

I concur. One of the very few virtues of my college experience was how it significantly contributed to my self-consciousness of the extent of my potential and my ability to take things into my own hands. It also taught me forbearance and the concept of having infinite patience.

it is fun......