The Hidden Differences Between High School and University

Author: Shuyu Geng

To effectively prepare for university, you need to know exactly what you signed up for. In other words, what is university like, and how is it different from high school?

While they are both very important stages of your academic life, university and high school are vastly different in a number of categories. So, before you get started on your university journey, let’s go over a few key differences between the two. Understanding these differences early can help you avoid feeling completely unprepared during your first few weeks.

1. Schedule

Unlike high school, university schedules are very flexible and spread out. There is no longer a designated amount of time each day for classes. Some of your days will be packed with classes, while others will only have a few of them. Or, if you get lucky, you may even have days that are completely free!

There can also be large gaps between some of your classes—you may have an 8:30 class in the morning, with the following class being at 6:00 in the afternoon. And here’s the tricky part: you need to be able to manage your time effectively with your schedule being all over the place. It does take a while to get used to, but eventually, you will get the hang of it.

One helpful way to manage these gaps is to decide in advance how you will use them. For example, you can complete readings, review lecture notes, start an assignment, eat lunch, or attend office hours instead of waiting until you get home to begin your work. Adding your classes, exams, assignments, and personal commitments to one calendar can also help you see what your week actually looks like and prevent deadlines from sneaking up on you.

2. Independence

In university, you may move out of your house, away from your family, hometown, or maybe even your home country. Finally being able to be on your own and make your own choices might give you your first taste of independence. But that’s not all—you will also experience this independence with your classes.

The thing is, in university, you will need to do a lot of learning and studying outside of class. In most classes, you will be given mandatory readings that go alongside your classes and will be expected to review independently after each class. Yes, just going to class isn’t going to be enough anymore. Being independent in this sense means being able to learn and understand content on your own.

This does not mean that you should struggle alone when you do not understand something. Independence also means knowing when to ask for help. Professors, teaching assistants, tutoring services, academic advisors, and classmates can all support you, but you usually need to take the first step and reach out.

It can also help to review your notes shortly after each lecture instead of leaving everything until exam season. Even spending 20 or 30 minutes going over the main ideas can make it easier to remember the material later.

3. Responsibility

As you can probably tell from the first two points, university is going to be a lot more flexible than high school. In other words, you will have a lot of freedom. But with this freedom also comes responsibility.

Unlike your high school teachers, your professors will no longer be running after you asking for your assignments or guiding you through your deadlines. University professors could teach as many as several hundred students at the same time, so naturally, they will not have time to focus on one person. In fact, they may never even know who you are if you don’t reach out to them yourself. Therefore, the responsibility of keeping track of every event and deadline rests on your own shoulders.

A good habit is to read every course syllabus at the beginning of the semester and immediately record all assignment deadlines, exams, quizzes, and important dates. Do not assume that your professor will remind you repeatedly. You should also check your university email and course websites regularly because important announcements, room changes, or deadline updates may be posted there.

If you notice that you are falling behind, try not to wait until the problem becomes overwhelming. Speaking to your professor or teaching assistant early gives you more time to understand what went wrong and create a plan to catch up.

Special Point: Morning Classes

You wake up at 7:00 a.m. every morning in high school to get ready for school, so getting up early for 8:30s in university should be a piece of cake, right? Wrong. 8:30s in university are a whole different entity.

How exactly are they different from waking up early for high school? That is something you’ll have to find out for yourself because, unfortunately, all of us will have at least one 8:30 class in our university career. In most cases, you will have more than only one.

The main challenge is that nobody may be checking whether you attend. It can be tempting to skip class when attendance is not taken, but one missed lecture can quickly turn into several. Preparing your bag, clothes, and breakfast the night before can make morning classes easier.

With all their differences, the sudden change from high school to university may feel overwhelming at the beginning. But as time goes on, and with proper planning, things will settle down, and you will be able to focus on enjoying your fun and exciting university life. Over time, you may even notice an improvement in your organization and time-management skills as a result!

Give yourself time to adjust, pay attention to what works for you, and do not be afraid to ask for help. University becomes much easier once you begin creating your own routine.