<p>It depends on what you study and how motivated a student you are. Lazy people will always say college is hard period. If you have a good work ethic you will probably find that it is not as difficult as people say it is. If you study a major with emphasis on math, the hard sciences, or engineering, you will probably find that college is hard, even if you work and study hard because the material is just plain difficult. So I would not say that it is exaggerated, it just depends on individual experience.</p>