To add to what @DigitalDad is saying my daughter finds the academics so much more interesting than in high school since she’s studying things she wants to study rather than things she has to study. A couple months in she still seems stunned that she actually finds the class readings interesting. She also ended up picking a more academically challenging college (at least on paper, not sure how true in reality) than some of her other choices. On the other hand she did rule out a bunch of schools - including all Ivy types (which she probably wasn’t particularly competitive for anyway) upfront because she didn’t want a pressure cooker atmosphere. She’s very happy where she landed though - intellectual and interesting and challenging but not pressure cooker or overly competitive.