Attention High-Schoolers: College is Actually Hard.

After we start to figure out high school, we also start to realize how badly it can suck, and how we can’t wait to leave for college. The idea of being away from home and free to do as you please sounds like Heaven to any angsty teenager still stuck in their hometown. Well, I hate to break it to you, but college isn’t the sparkling wonderland that you’ve been convinced it is. College is hard.

1. It’s not just 24/7 parties.

Let me elaborate. Yes, there are 10x as many parties and day- drinks in college as there are in high school. This may seem like a huge perk, but after syllabus week ends and you start having actual work, all these parties do is create a huge distraction from your studies.

2. If you don’t do well, it’s money down the drain.

I know we all took our free, public high school education very seriously, right? But college is the Big Leagues. If you decide to skip class everyday because your parents aren’t there to force you to go, guess what? You fail, and thus waste thousands of your – usually, parent’s – dollars on a class that you’ll just have to retake for the same price next semester.

3. They’re not kidding when they say you’ll live off ramen noodles.

Besides the fact that you won’t have a kitchen to cook any actual food in, unless you commute from home, you’re also going to be too busy or too lazy to walk to the dining hall every time you’re hungry. The solution? Any 99 cent packaged food item that you can add water to and microwave for a meal.

4. The Freshman 15 is such an understatement.

Remember the ramen noodles I just mentioned? It turns out they’re not exactly the equivalent of a salad. You seriously need to work your butt off and watch what you eat and drink: Beware the beer belly! Otherwise before you’re even home for Winter Break you’ll be unable to squeeze into anything besides sweatpants.

5. You’ll probably be poor.

Even with a job, coupons and anything that includes the word “free” will become your two new favorite things.

6. You will pull at least one all-nighter.

Whether you’re an avid procrastinator such as myself or you begin studying weeks in advance, you will be forced to pull an all nighter at some point. You’re not alone though, because especially during finals week, you’ll be living in the library with a 6-pack of Red Bull alongside the rest of the sleep-deprived student body.

7. You will have a class at some point that’s based off of one or two grades the whole semester.

Again coming back to the all-nighter scenario, an entire semester’s worth of information jammed into less than 100 questions on one final exam is enough to stress anybody out.

8. You will have to actually study.

Do you remember that one kid in high school who said they never once picked up a book and still managed to ace every test they took? Well that person doesn’t exist in college. You need to use all those study tips you learned to use or you won’t even find yourself with a C-. If you were that person who never needed to study? You’d better start learning.

While I’ll admit college is better than high school in almost all aspects, it does have its downsides. You’ll probably have at least one mental breakdown per semester, and at least three if it’s your freshman year. You’ll have to learn how to deal with homesickness and making new friends, and you’ll have to learn how to be independent. While it is hard, it isn’t all bad. I mean, who doesn’t love a good day-drink?

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