Hailey- Compare and Contrast Essay

High School and College Education

Every high school student believes that the change in education from high school to college is very similar. They think that everything will stay the same; however, it doesn’t stay the same. Some things that stay the same are classrooms and supplies, but the teachers, workload, and test all change. Education in high school is similar to an education in college, but they are different at the same time.

Most colleges are very different from high schools. The biggest difference is the teachers and professors. A majority of the time, high school teachers remind students about due dates, make- up work, and even work that they didn’t finish. So, as students we are very blessed to have them remind us about everything. The only problem is that in college it is the complete opposite. The professors usually don’t remind students of what work is due. According to an article from Live science, Professors do not track down students to get their missing work or to remind them to finish assignments (“How Is College Different from High School” SMU). Which, is exactly what should be expected since they are basically an adult. However, students don’t realize it, and they expect their college professors to do exactly what teachers in high school do. This leads to the students struggling throughout their first semester of school; however, that isn’t their only problem.

The biggest problem for students going to college is the learning environment. It is a huge change for the students that were babied. In high school, if a student missed a day the teachers would give the student the notes or they would give that student a copy of someone else's. Although it was helpful and appreciated, they were only causing us to become more handicapped. As students, we get so use to being babied and relying on the teachers to help us get caught up, when we go to college we don’t have that.  The article “How College Is Different from High School” said that college professors expect their students to get the notes from a classmate and not come to them. That same article also said that professors expect students to take their own notes, they do not post the slideshow or notes that they took themselves for students to use to study (“How College Is Different from High School”). This causes a problem for the students because they get use to teachers giving them the notes to study instead of them having to listen and decide what is important for their notes and what isn’t. The learning environment changes drastically, and that causes some dilemmas for shy people.

Students that are shy will have to overcome that issue. In college, students are expected to participate in discussions and voice their opinions. According to Livescience, shyness is a problem for college students, because some college professors will grade students on their participation in class and how well the students can present or voice their opinions (“How College Is Different from High School”). This is a hard transition for shy students because majority of high schools allow students to be shy. They do not force them to present, talk in front of the class, or answer questions out loud. At my high school, if the teachers knew a certain student didn’t like talking in front of everyone they looked over that student when asking questions or they would simply skip that student. This was a complete blessing for students that were shy and didn’t want to talk; however, it was hurting them. They need to develop those skills to be able to participate and talk in college, but they never learned the skills. So, now they are a college freshman trying to figure out how to overcome their shyness. This is a minor setback for college students, and trust me they have bigger issues they need to focus on.

One of the bigger issues they have to focus on is the difficult of assignments. The difficulty of assignments is a huge difference. In high school, most teachers give their students very little homework, and they give students work that can be completed within class period. According to an article published by SMU, high school teachers discuss the assignments or at least the information needed to complete the assignment in class (“How Is College Different from High School” SMU). Also, the information in high school is easy to understand, usually students do not have to study a whole lot to be able to pass a test. However, everything changes when they go to college. The same article stated that college professors will usually give their students a large amount of assignments at once and they very rarely discuss them (“How Is College Difference from High School” SMU). They might discuss the information needed to complete it, but they will not come out and say the answer to the question. They want their students to figure out the answer on their own, and usually professors don’t have enough time in class to explain every assignment and still have time to teach the students the new information. Also, most students have to study in college, they do not understand the information the first time they see it. The information isn’t anywhere close to being as easy as high school, if the students don’t study, they will fail the test and they may even fail the class. College students struggle a lot throughout their freshman year, and the difficulty of assignments is one reason; however, there are more.

The difference of grading between high school and college is another reason high school students struggle their first year of college. An article from SMU stated that the main issue is that test and papers have a higher percentage of their grade in college (“How Is College Different from High School” SMU). Instead of everything being at the same level and averaging together, the test, homework, and assignments will have their own special section and their grade will be those sections being averaged together. So, all of their test will be averaged together and that average will be added to find the students overall grade. That article also stated that everything is not graded in college (“How Is College Different from High School” SMU). In high school, almost everything that is assigned is worth a grade, but that isn’t how it works in college. The professors might give out a reading quiz that students are expected to take, but the grade will not be put into the grade book. So, your work may be calculated in your grade or it may not be.However, there are bigger problems that students face when going into college.

The difference in test is probably the biggest change that students hate. In high school, most students take a huge amount of test. They will usually take a test for each section or at least for each chapter. That is not how it works in college. In “How Is College Different from High School”, it said that college students take a very little test over large amounts of information (“How Is College Different from High School” SMU). If a student misses one of the test, they are expected to make it up on their own time. They are also expected to inform their professor that they will be gone. In that same article, it said that if the professor isn’t informed, they can refuse to give students a make up test (“How Is College Different from High School” SMU). That is the biggest change in test, because in high school students can make up their test whenever they like. They also don’t have to inform their teachers. So, a majority of college freshman struggle with the test.

Students struggle with the large amount of differences between high school and college; however, college isn’t that bad. The two different parts of education have some similarities. One of those is the classrooms. Most high schools have rooms with either desks or tables and chairs. They range from 35 student or less depending on how big the student’s high school was. In college, some classes have 100 students, but they are the more general classes. According to the article “High School vs College: Classes and Instructors”, when students get down to their specific classes towards their degree, the students will have classes with 20 or less students (“High School vs College: Classes and Instructors”). The amount of students mainly depends on how big the college is. Most students do not struggle with that change, but if they do, they usually adjust quite easily.

Another similarity with high school and college is the supplies for school. Most college students need the same supplies as high schoolers. Usually, the only difference in college is that some students need books and a computer. According to an article on “ECampusTours.com”, college students still need paper, pencils, binders, backpack, index cards, and maybe highlighters (“ECampusTours.com”). So, a majority of the supplies are needed for both college and high school, which is good because the students don’t have to worry about finding new supplies.

There is an enormous change from high school to college. The classrooms and supplies stay the same, but the learning environment, test, difficulty of assignments, and teachers change. Both of these educations have huge effects on students lives, and they will never forget the differences between.