The 10 biggest freshman adjustments

Hey, my name is Jeff Martin and I'm a freshman in CSOM. It's been a crazy first month. This post is just gonna tell you about some of the biggest differences (good and bad) between high school and college. If you have any questions feel free to email me at martaau@bc.edu. Here goes:

1. Living with someone else- I've always had my own room until now. Living in a tiny space with another person takes a lot of compromise. Keeping the room neat can be hard, and music choice is definitely an issue in my room. But your roommate will become one of your best friends hopefully. Just hope you don't get a forced triple. Those suck.
2. The down time- High school gives you six hours a day of classes in a row. That doesn't happen in college. You will have more free time then you know what to do with, and managing that time is essential to doing well. And on that note...
3. The Work- Its more than you've ever had before. I don't care how many AP's you took in high school, its nothing compared to college. Its not impossible to get done, but you will have to spend more time working then you would want to.
4. Parties- As a freshman boy, I can personally tell you that you better have the right girl to boy ratio to get in to a party here. At home usually you're partying with your friends, here you'll know maybe five people there. It's a big change, but you get used to it quick.
5. Drinking- Yeah this is different then partying. Noon football games mean pregaming starts at 10. That's early. And if you're used to classy drinks, good luck. No college kid is shelling out any money for anything nice.
6. The hours- Days are a lot longer at college. Rarely people go to bed before one, even if they have an 8 am in the morning. Sleep is at a premium here, so naps are extremely common. You really have to force yourself to get out of bed in the morning, which my roommate sucks at.
7. The unfamiliarity- You show up here knowing nobody, or where buildings are, or pretty much anything else. Good news though, all the other freshman are in the same boat. So its okay because you're not alone.
8. The Teachers- They're smart. they're better for the most part than the teachers you've had before, especially if you're coming from a public school like me. They also expect a lot out of you. Everyone here is smart, and they expect to see that. Participation plays a big part in grades for most classes.
9. Everyone is smart- This was one of the things that immediately struck me. In high school I was in the top 5% and got a 34 on ACTs. That is the norm here. You have to raise your thinking to a whole different level here, which is great. One of my favorite things is when vocab words pop up in a group of kids inane conversations. You don't expect it, and its another reminder of the talent that is around you. (I used inane there to help make my point. You never know when they'll pop up.)
10. Living on your own- biggest difference hands down. You miss your family and home cooked meals and your bed. Definitely your bed. But you adjust. You learn how to budget your time and how neat you like your stuff and all those other little nuances. Its just weird not having mom and dad and the dog around anymore.

Some of these seem a little scary, but I love BC. Its a great place to be that I would recommend to anyone. You have to come see how beautiful the campus is and the people are just as good. College is different, but definitely in a good way. Go Eagles. Peace