Will anything drastically change after going to college after high school years? In fact, it depends on the type of college that students will choose. Indeed, one will definitely find many differences between these types of studying. The most remarkable change will happen if a student applies to a high-ranked college in the US or UK. In addition to the fact that college life brings more freedom and independence, the study there is focused on the more practical implementation of acquired knowledge.
Life on a college campus means the increased time spent among coursemates who have more similar interests and aims than classmates in school. First of all, the majority of life in college takes place in close connection with students’ colleagues. The numerous campus parties, time spent together in the library, joint group projects make college different from high school. In contrast, students in high school usually live with their parents at home. Besides, because the study subjects are individually chosen, there is more chance to find like-minded people. For example, students of social science study with peers interested in social sciences too, not in natural or computer science.
Another development in the way the studying process is organized is the close attention to the practical tasks. High school is more oriented toward achieving basic knowledge on a broad range of subjects. For example, the study process in high school is more connected to theoretical knowledge from textbooks and teachers’ lectures. It usually requires reading standardized materials that are almost the same in all schools. At the same time, professors from colleges prefer implementing the knowledge in practice through numerous essays, empirical research, and fieldwork (Vargas et al., 2017). The reason is that high school prepares students for successful completion of exams, while colleges give skills for successful professional expertise in the future career.
To sum up, high school and college are related to quite different types of education. Education in college, in contrast, requires having skills of practical use of knowledge to prepare for some particular job or position. Finally, life on a college campus differs from high school in the level of communication between mates.
Reference
Vargas, J., Hooker, S., & Gerwin, C. (2017). Blending high school and college can sharpen the focus of each. Phi Delta Kappan, 99(3), 13-18.