We all heard it said at least once in our high school careers, “This is going to prepare you for college.”
Whether it’s the dreaded process of midterms and finals, or even just taking AP courses, we’ve all been fed this idea that high school prepares us for undergraduate life. Unfortunately, there are a few things that we were definitely not prepared for.
1. Time Management
Not once in high school did we take a class on time management. Honestly, it is probably one of the most important aspects of surviving college. Not only do we need to make time for homework and studying, but we also have to balance friends, sleeping, partying (just admit it), staying healthy, and everything else that goes with being a college student.
Instead of wasting time memorizing vocabulary words that none of us use, it would have been better to take a class that introduced methods for dealing with all of the responsibilities we now face.
2. Different kinds of tests & how to study for them.
Depending on your major, there may be a specific kind of exam that you are forced to take. For example, many liberal arts students tend to have essays, while those with STEM majors have multiple choice and problem-sets.
I don’t know about you, but I was unprepared for essay-based exams when I came to UMass. I had no idea how to study for them. High school teachers always say “make sure you study!” Does that mean just staring at our notes, desperately hoping that information will magically stick in our memory? Maybe if we had more guidance about how to study and were introduced to different exam formats, college would be a whole lot easier.
3. Job Interviews:
Hold Up. You mean we actually need to know how to get a job? How do I write a cover letter? How do I prepare for an interview? Should I negotiate my salary? Also, what the heck is LinkedIn?
These are all questions that have popped into our heads as Collegiettes. We are stuck having to Google all of these answers. Believe it or not, it’s not quite as good as learning from a person who has experience with all of this.
4. How to manage finances.
This is one thing that high school definitely should have prepared us for. Most of us did not have credit or debit cards during high school, so we never felt the need to worry about finances. Now that we are either trying to save money or earn an income, we need to know the best ways to budget.
Loans are also a huge part of financing our college careers. For those of us who need to keep track of our loan payments, high school sure let us down. How did they neglect to mention anything about them?
One thing is certain, there are so many aspects of college life that high school failed to prepare us for. Instead of worrying about making sure we knew trigonometry, maybe a little more time should have been spent on the everyday how-to’s.