<p>has going to college ruined coming home for summer for anyone? i never thought i’d be at a point where i CAN’T WAIT to get back to college. people back home are less interesting, and i miss my social atmosphere and freedom…i feel really depressed to be home from time to time. anyone else got this?</p>
<p>Hah, that was my entire last summer, punkdudeus. I fortunately are living in my college town this summer.</p>
<p>I don’t hate being at home, because I like having my own room, a clean bathroom, better food, and my HS friends (when we all aren’t working, which is rare). However, I don’t like my mom coming in my room whenever she feels like it, I don’t like having to report on where I’m going and when I’ll be back, and I hate my part-time job(but like the money). I wish I could be back at school just hanging with friends.</p>
<p>Did you feel prepared after taking all of those AP classes?
My high school certainly wouldn’t stack up to some of the ones a lot of the folks here went to, so our APs didn’t prepare me as much as I would have liked for them to…but I definitely was much better off for taking them than I would have been if I hadn’t. The only one I’d say was truly helpful was AP Calculus…but I was still pretty irritated to see how much better prepared others were from their AP Calculus classes.</p>
<p>Is your GPA drastically different from what it was in high school?
I had a 4.0 in high school without too much effort and a 3.6something currently…and I’m MUCH more proud of my 3.6 than I ever thought about being about my 4.0. I started in Engineering and pulled a little over a 3.3 and had a 3.4something at the end of the second quarter when I switched majors…so yeah, my GPA may be lower in college than it was in high school, but it means a heck of a lot more to me.</p>
<p>Are you still working at the same pace?
I never had to do much in high school for grades, so I defintiely work a lot harder in college. I’m just glad I adjusted so well to studying since I had no idea how to last September.</p>
<p>Are you still highly involved in ECs?
Not nearly as much. I was in my university’s wind ensemble for the Winter and Spring quarters and that was really about it. Oh, but I did intramural volleyball for my dorm…but had to drop it because of the workload in engineering.</p>
<p>What things have changed between high school and college?
I actually have to study, am interested in my classes, am much happier with all my freedom, don’t have nearly as many commitments for activities, I don’t have to miss class all the time so I don’t have to constantly play catch-up, and have finally realized just how social I actually am. I always joked in high school about never doing anything, but now I realize I never really felt like going out because I was so busy with the million different activities I had. </p>
<p>Is college as difficult as you thought it would be?
Pretty much what I expected.</p>
<p>What are some surprises?
How well I dealt with having a roommate and having to share such a small space with a total stranger.</p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now.
I was an officer in almost every club…and like I said before, had a 4.0…and did very well in band (all state multiple times) and debate (nationals).</p>
<p>Also, feel free to brag about your accomplishments this year.
Personally, I’d rather brag about my lack of constant chaos. I was over-involved in high school and was always trying to decide which activity or club I’d do each weekend…and averaged one free weekend a month with at least two things to choose from every other weekend…bleh.</p>
<p>But I am kinda proud of doing the intercollegiate honor band and making the President’s list for the Spring quarter. Mostly the President’s list thing…that was really important to me.</p>
<p>I WANT TO GO BACK! I love being busy. And I love my friends. And I love school.</p>
<p>Did you feel prepared after taking all of those AP classes? Hmmm I didn’t take that many AP courses nor IB in my senior year 
Is your GPA drastically different from what it was in high school? YES for the better i had a 3.6 
Are you still working at the same pace? hmm yes working hard like always 
Are you still highly involved in ECs? YES definatly I’m definatly in the mix!
What things have changed between high school and college? I’m much more spunkier meaning I don’t take crap from anyone! I LOVE my school and I have great friends (not the superficial friends in high school). Our sports are great esp. our basketball team. I care about what I learn and plan on using it later on in life! More parties and the independence is soo nice!
Is college as difficult as you thought it would be? hmm it’s alright not too hard not too easy
What are some surprises? competing in a pageant, actually loving my school UNLV because I thought I was going to hate since I worked hard not to go there but *college rejections suck!, I have a boyfriend ( I vowed to not have one till’ after grad. school, but oops I have one now), it’s long distance but been together for about 8 months and still going strong, I actually care about the clubs that I’m in, the amount of parties, the lack of school spirit that people have sadly 
, the people (they’re pretty friendly )</p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now. </p>
<p>I was a bit of an overachiever but I’m a bigger one now :D</p>
<p>Add any other information. </p>
<p>Also, feel free to brag about your accomplishments this year
In my pageant I was Miss Congeniality and Miss Black 3rd place in Miss Black and Gold, and I play a recovering alcholic in my first indie movie which is coming out on dvd and going to the viewing party on friday yay!!</p>
<p>Ah, I hope my thread is alleviating any concerns that 2011ers might have about their first year of college…</p>
<p>Update: My first year is over and a lot has changed over the past quarter - </p>
<p>Are you still working at the same pace? No. I concentrate most of my work around mditerms and final exams and due dates 1.5 weeks in advance. It’s working for me. I used to just work unnecessarily hard during high school doing *****work for points.
Are you still highly involved in ECs? Not really. I’m still shopping around and trying to find my place.
What things have changed between high school and college? I’m a lot more open to new experiences and some experimentation.
What are some surprises? How much I’ve changed over the summer before college… during college… and most drastically during spriing quarter… academically and personally. </p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now. Still a bit of a grade-whore when I need it… I’m enjoying school a lot more now since I’m actually taking things I WANT to take. It’s awesome. I wish I could stay here forever if only to exhaust the curriculum. (IMPOSSIBLE~!) </p>
<p>Also, feel free to brag about your accomplishments this year. My GPA shot up this past quarter which is awesome. I’ve continuted to improve over the year with less work. I’m learning how to learn and I know it’s only going to get better even though my coursework and stuff will get heavier.</p>
<p>great thread,btw i’ma 2011’er</p>
<p>Did you feel prepared after taking all of those AP classes? I only took one AP class in HS, so I can’t really say, although I was able to help some people who were taking the same class (Psychology) in college</p>
<p>Is your GPA drastically different from what it was in high school?
Very much so. I was a BIG slacker my first 2 and a half years in HS, and my GPA shows it (2.65). However, I realized the error of my ways, and did much better in college (3.25 first semester, 3.2 spring semester)</p>
<p>Are you still working at the same pace?
No, working much harder. This is because I realized how much slacking in HS hurt me. However, in retrospect, I probably could have not worked quite as hard, had a little more fun, and still gotten the same GPA</p>
<p>Are you still highly involved in ECs?
I wasnt really invovled in non-sports EC’s in HS until Junior Year. I was involved in DECA, School Newspaper, and School TV station in addition to crew team, and track team (not all at the same time). In college, I was involved with the school newspaper and radio station throughout the whole year, and the school TV station for the first semester. I was also in Russian club second semester, so I guess I was somewhat involved. </p>
<p>What things have changed between high school and college?
A couple of things. For one I realized that I wasn’t going to accomplish anything in life if I had the determination(or lack of) in high school, so my study skills improved by 200 percent. Also, I think that I became much more independent and self assured during my first year of college. Part of this is because of the fact that I went to school 6 hours away from home, where I knew nobody, so I had to adjust to a new place. </p>
<p>Is college as difficult as you thought it would be
No, but this may because of two factors. One, I went to one of the best public high schools in NYS, and secondly, my college was a tier III university.</p>
<p>What are some surprises?
How well my High School prepared me for college. There were times in a class where I had learned the stuff in HS so it was easy for me, while other people were saying how hard it was.</p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now. Not an overachiever at all in HS, but some people in college have said I am an overachiever</p>
<p>Add any other information.
After fall semester, I began to realize that my school wasn’t the right fit for me both academically and socially, So I ended up applying to 5 different schools, and ended up getting into my top choice, which was a school that ?I had no shot of getting into out of HS, so im pretty pleased about that.
Also, another thing im proud of was that I went through a tough breakup with my HS girlfriend second semester, yet I was still able to not let it effect my academics.
Also, feel free to brag about your accomplishments this year.</p>
<p>Ok, I wrote a big old thing, and CC decided to go berserk and kill it. So here’s it extremely condensed.</p>
<p>Well, here’s one story of an unsuccessful first year.</p>
<p>Background:
I applied to 19 school, was rejected and waitlisted to most. Rejected at my #1 (Wellesley), waitlisted at #2 (Emory). Decided to just go to UCSD because (1) saves money, (2) close to home, (3) I got in. Makes me HONESTLY wish I had tried waitlisting for the Emory, or for my other waitlisted schools.
Went in with a “not-good-enough for me” attitude, got my royal behind kicked hard, realized that there are smart kids here and school is actually pretty good. Made (too) many friends, my grades are horrendous, and I’m spiraling into anxiety and depression from it right now.</p>
<p>Did you feel prepared after taking all of those AP classes?
AP credits helped, the AP classes not as much. I know things that other students didn’t know, yet they still score higher than me. I took IB and IB actually hurt me because as IBers know, IB lures you into BS. And BS in college doesn’t work.</p>
<p>Is your GPA drastically different from what it was in high school?
No. My HS GPA wasn’t the greatest, but my GPA now is a world apart. In a terribly bad way.</p>
<p>Are you still working at the same pace?
No. I worked much harder in high school. But can’t really compare because HS and college works differently. In HS, everyone’s basically on the same pace, basically same classes, etc. In college, everyone’s on their own thing. This week, I may be in hell week, swamped with midterms and essays. But at the same time, it may be lax week for my roommate, who’s sitting in our room eating ice cream and watching TV all day.</p>
<p>Are you still highly involved in ECs?
Too many ECs in high school for me. Learned from that, and in college, I just do the things that I REALLY want to do, and can handle. I try to limit it to 2-3 things, no more.</p>
<p>What things have changed between high school and college?
Finances. You realize you never have enough money.
YOU are in control of EVERYTHING of your life now. You can’t blame anyone now, but yourself. YOU are responsible for getting off your ass and doing things.</p>
<p>Is college as difficult as you thought it would be?
Like I said, I saw my college as “too easy” for me. Haha, yea right. It’s a huge public school, there are incredibly smart kids here (kids who got into Yale but didn’t go because they got into the medical program here, kids who got into Berkeley but didn’t go because it was too far, kids who got into so-and-so schools but came here instead). There’s a surprising number of valedictorians here, and everyone’s used to A’s, so with 200-500 people in a class, it’s killer competition.
I can hardly see the professors often, I feel that professors feel annoyed to talk to students, and I loathe all that. </p>
<p>What are some surprises?
College is hard. I didn’t adjust to college life as fast or easy as I thought, and I feel like I stepped into a pit of quicksand now. I need to get out, but I feel that the more I try, the more I’m sinking.</p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now.
I was a bit of an overachiever, taking all the AP classes I could, finishing IB, juggling being on the varsity tennis team with being a school newspaper editor with being on the cabinet of various clubs. Unfortunately, my grades were not the highest or most competitive, but I blamed my severe bout of depression in sophomore year for that.
Now, I just feel the unseen, unknown top layer of kids who are just smarter and performing better than me in class. And I just feel stupid from that. It’s a harsh world in these classes of 200-300 kids, and it’s a bit hard to see that so many kids are just BETTER than me.</p>
<p>Add any other information.
I have thought about the possibility of transferring to a private school, as I always have, but I never really looked into it, out of apology to my parents who pay the money, out of self-disgust that I’m trying to blame the problem as the public school, and out of fear of change again.</p>
<p>syneria: lol, same school as me, and probably in the same situation.</p>
<p>i like to rant a bit on this subject, some school are very competative and it’s hard to get good grades. I regret going to this school, not only it looks bad on a resume with a crappy GPA, it’s alot more work than i should put in to get those crappy grades.</p>
<p>Did you feel prepared after taking all of those AP classes?
I took 2 AP classes, because the HS system was not up to par compare to the other school, pass 1 of them (AP cal) and failed the other one (AP bio). Ironicly the one i passed was teach by the worst AP teacher, and the one i failed was teach by the best AP teacher of the school, that shows, i can’t be teach lol.</p>
<p>Is your GPA drastically different from what it was in high school?
3.9+ down to 2.3+, yes it’s alot different, and i can’t stand it.</p>
<p>Are you still working at the same pace?
Yes, probably why the GPA drop like a rock, if anything i probably worked less because there’s no one to push my ass around.</p>
<p>Are you still highly involved in ECs?
Nope, i spent my free time sleeping, can’t seems to get in the “social world” of college people.</p>
<p>What things have changed between high school and college?
college is boring, nothing interests me, hense why i just come to a stop, highschool was more interesting. This is probably the opposite of everyone, but personally i think this is the wrong college for me and i can’t quite fit in right. But i’m having more freedom, it’s a 2 edge knife. more fun = digging bigger hole in grades.</p>
<p>Is college as difficult as you thought it would be?
no, it’s more on the matter of “interesting”, all my proffesors are quite boring (i had art class where the proffesor straight up reading from her written notes, and did nothing else, that was the highlight for a class that was suppose to promote “creativity”). ridiculous. I never learned crap, all i learned was how to pass a class without actually learning anything. If someone put a gun to my head and force me to study, i’m almost certain i can get very good grades.</p>
<p>What are some surprises?
nothing, i’m very hard to be surprise, lol, same old same old, i don’t think i ever got the “initial shock” when i go to college, same old lazy me.</p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now.
I was never an overachiever, for some reason I constantly was getting good grades without much work in HS, in college it’s a whole different game, if i do the same amount of work in HS, i drop a grade from my HS grade, take for example me taking econometric, i show up @ class about 1/2 of the time, while in class i don’t take note, i just play on my laptop, I do the HW at the last minute (and i mean last minute like right before i have to go to class), I get a B at the end, the pattern is that if i get lucky i get B or B+, if i don’t i’ll get C or C-. Oppose to when i was in HS, i would get As, and if i’m really really not lucky i get a B+. There was 1 quarter that i had all Bs, that was very very lucky considering my work ethic. And most of my classes are average to hard in the standards of classes due to my major.</p>
<p>syneria: if i was you, i would try to take a summer class @ the school u plan to go to, see if it fits you, personally i won’t change school because in my case i can cope with it, I don’t like the school but not to the point that i can’t keep up with it. If you already work hard and can’t deal with it, then i would change the school because it’s not working out for you. If you’re lazy like me, and want good grades in UCSD, it’s dam near impossible.</p>
<p>bored at work, thought i would respond</p>
<p>background
hmm applied to 9 schools, accepted at all. Had to turn down first choice Bowdoin, cause i recieved no financial aid. came down to emory, rochester, and tcnj. emory dropped when I visited the campus and didn’t like the atmosphere. was going to attend tcnj but switched last minute to rochester. it was as if it were destiny, because my first year at rochester has been divine. I am pursuing the random double major of computer sciencea and english.</p>
<p>Did you feel prepared after taking all of those AP classes?
From all two of them, not really.</p>
<p>Is your GPA drastically different from what it was in high school?
Classes aren’t weighted so no more 4.0 but its respectable. Wonder how long it’ll stay like that though.</p>
<p>Are you still working at the same pace?
Yep, insane as ever.</p>
<p>Are you still highly involved in ECs?
also insane as ever, though new ones i never though i’d be doing. policy debate is sweet. get to travel the country for free.</p>
<p>What things have changed between high school and college?
nothing, things worked out they way they should have. only thing though, wish i studied harder for the sats so i couldn’t applied for better scholarships. need to workd twice as hard to close the gap on my immense debt. immense</p>
<p>Is college as difficult as you thought it would be?
it was challenging, but not impossible. I loved it though, better that acing classes in highschool by cramming 5 minutes before the test. you end up being more challenged and actually learn to think.</p>
<p>What are some surprises?
hmm roomates, terrible terrible stories. </p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now.
hehe, not an overachiever in highschool moreso of a lucky ■■■■■■ who had things work out magically. now have to work for everything, but its worth it.</p>
<p>Add any other information.
It was an amazing year, intellectually and socially. All the professors I had were life changing and each class offered a new insight that I had not seen before. In the end became a dirty hippy but it was a sweet transformation.</p>
<p>Yea, slightly similar story to me. My GPA is now a meager 2.8-2.9 (need to check update). How embarrassing. While I’m not lazy, I could’ve studied harder during certain times and certain quarters. However, on the other hand, I DID study my ass off for my Chem 6C class with Hoeger this spring quarter, but I received the worst grade in the class. That grade is giving me panic attacks and anxiety.</p>
<p>Sometimes, I have a hard time saying “no” to my friends who want to hang out or play when I need to study; in HS, I didn’t really have the problem because we all had the same exams at the same time, so that’s one skill I need to learn.</p>
<p>But you’re right, warlock110. The professors here are a BORE, and I don’t really LEARN in the classes. You would’ve thought once you come to college, you LEARN instead of doing the crapwork like in HS. Nope, it’s worse in college (at UCSD anyways). Especially in math (UCSD’s math department is HORRENDOUS), I don’t actually LEARN anymore; it just feels like regurgitation of crap stuffed in 5-7 weeks, and the end. In no way whatsoever do I feel intellectually challenged. Hell, I felt more intellectually challenged in my IB TOK class than in any (or all) of my college classes this year.</p>
<p>I’m actually taking summer classes at UCSD. Poor me. Don’t know why I decided to do that, except to give myself a break during the year. I’m going to take 3 classes/quarter from here on out. I have enough credits to do that and still graduate in 4 years or less.</p>
<p>It’s not so much that I can’t cope with the school; it’s that the school is not bringing out the best in me. You know how there are certain people who bring out the worst in you? That’s like my relationship with UCSD; brings out the bad in me.</p>
<p>I’m going to try to stick it out, but don’t know how I’m going to do damage control of my first year. And I may just try sticking my head in the sand and just studying hard (cross fingers that it actually happens) and see how my life goes from there.</p>
<p>Kind of depresses me to see all these happy stories and I’m … not.</p>
<p>Haha, UCSD does have a way of being rough on its students (it is a public school after all). I know that for a fact since I’m a student there as well.</p>
<p>By the way, syneria, do you frequent the sduncensored boards a lot? I think you might be the ‘Hearts’ alias, am I right?</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Yea. Weird to meet someone crossboards.</p>
<p>I took chem 6A and 6B (for no reason, i was undeclare at the time), funny enough i was taught by Hoeger, his test is hard but he’s a good teacher, unfortuately i didn’t show up for class (my reason: no way in hell i’m walking to york, a particularly bad reason lol). Ended up with C’s on both classes.</p>
<p>I’m a math/econ joint major, and i know what you mean about the math classes. I think UCSD has some of the smartest professor that can’t teach, teaching and being smart is completely different, i never have a doubt that my professor is not smart, most of them are geniuses, however alot of them can’t teach.</p>
<p>I took summer classes last year, and i found out that i can’t last a whole year studying, so i’m just gonna not do anything this summer.</p>
<p>My grades are pretty bad, this quarter grade just came out, i’m up to 2.5+ but i still have 2’Ds that i have to make up (stupid freshman year, walked into an upper division art class that had me writing 16 page paper, i still have nightmare about that class)</p>
<p>If you’re taking chem 6C i think you have to be some sort of science major (bio/chem). That particular major i don’t think it’s that bad, however i’ve had friends who dislike organic chem, and some dislike physical chem. I was never a science person, but there’s quite a big population in UCSD who are some sort of science major.</p>
<p>Ohh, I like these types of threads. </p>
<p>Did you feel prepared after taking all of those AP classes?
I took two college prep classes and they might have helped. Slightly. </p>
<p>Is your GPA drastically different from what it was in high school?
Slightly, but for good reasons. </p>
<p>Are you still working at the same pace?
I feel as if I’m lazier, but I’ve encompassed more about life than just academics, so my work pace is acceptable.</p>
<p>Are you still highly involved in ECs?
I was barely involved back in HS, but I was explosive in college. </p>
<p>What things have changed between high school and college?
I’m free to be myself and it feels great because you meet people everyday and learn something new. You have control over your life on campus, so whatever happens, it’s all on you. I went a year without alcohol and I certainly don’t regret it because I know I can have fun without it. Hell, I can have fun in any way I want - and it helps to remember it. The social atmosphere was great because I started fresh and took advantage of that. I let go of high school past and embraced present.
Dorms are mad nasty. And if they aren’t, the people can make up for it. </p>
<p>Is college as difficult as you thought it would be?
I molded it to be the way I wanted it to be, so it’s only difficult if I make it difficult. For classes that were hard, it’s my fault for not working my butt off like I should have. I made a number of bad choices in college, but I gained more than I lost in the process. </p>
<p>What are some surprises?
The crazy things some people do in college is worth seeing.
Having intelligent conversations everyday is like a breath of fresh air.</p>
<p>Note how much of an overachiever you were in high school and where you are now.
I wasn’t an overachiever. I had time for classes (but not socially) and that’s why my GPA was higher than some. Now that I’m in college, I could be seen as an overachiever on campus life and social activities - not academics per se. Either way, I’m balanced. </p>
<p>Also, feel free to brag about your accomplishments this year.
It feels good to be open, period. :]</p>
<p>Keep em’ coming.</p>
<p>I wasn’t an overachiever in high school. If anything I was an underachiever. I simply knew what I needed to do to reach my goals, and didn’t mess around with all the busy work and sucking up that was unnecessary. My guidance counselor told me I wouldn’t get into my college of choice, but I did because I was proactive enough to do my research and know what I needed to do and didn’t need to do. For example, I didn’t need the BS math class my high school told me I did. And since you said said brag, I have thrived in college and have better grades in college than I did in high school.</p>
<p>I didn’t take “all those” AP classes. I took two. I wish I had taken more because you don’t realize until you go to college how worthless gen ed classes are, and a waste of time and money compared to AP in high school.</p>
<p>My high school GPA was abysmal but my ECs and ACT score carried me so I didn’t worry about it. Now my GPA is a high priority because I have to have above a 3.25 for my program. So I have a higher GPA now than in high school. Every college and every class is different in terms of how hard you have to work to get a decent grade, but even when there were stressful times I generally didn’t find it hard to get Bs. But that’s because I was in freshman level classes. </p>
<p>I’m not really sure what you mean by “working at the same pace”. At college I had more work on my plate than in high school. But I prefer that. I’m an independent learner and instead of doing things the teacher’s way, I like to be able to study when and how I want to and need to. There is a lot more outside work as far as studying that is just expected of you in college. The professors assume that you will study your textbook and review your notes and their exams are written with that in mind. But at least for me, and I am not at an “elite” school, it was not a challenge. I still had plenty of time for other things.</p>
<p>I was much more involved in ECs in high school than I was in college. This year, I felt like it was just as easy to get to know people through the dorm and parties and friends of friends, and clubs weren’t necessary for college applications anymore. I do want to start volunteering next year. Its important to keep a well rounded life but do it for the right reasons.</p>
<p>A lot changed between high school and college. College was not as difficult as I thought it would be at all. And it was relatively easy to make friends, more so than I thought. I have always had an independent personality and college really allowed me to learn at my own pace and with my own style, so I really enjoyed that. College is a lot of fun! Being a grown up when you graduate isn’t going to be as fun, especially if you are success driven like most of the kids on here. So take the time once you are in college to slow down, kick back and enjoy your life. Getting a degree is a marathon, not a sprint, so going 100 mph is just going to tire you out, not get you there any faster.</p>