Nine Busted Myths about College

Ah, spring – the impending March month promises flowers, rain showers and lots of high school seniors visiting campus.

If you’re an incoming Chip, stay tuned – these facts are crucial. If you’re a seasoned student, stick around and reminisce on your previous mistakes. It’s been long enough to laugh about it by now, right?

“The freshman 15 isn’t real.”

WRONG. The freshman 15 is most definitely real, but here’s the secret, no one cares. Gaining a few pounds during your first year of college is OK. There are so many new foods to try and with a meal plan, you always have access to it. Everybody will gain some weight, and if you are trying to avoid it, you also have unlimited access to workout equipment!

“I’ll have snow days, occasionally.”

ABSOLUTELY WRONG. Snow days are so high school. College universities do not care whether it is 20 degrees below zero or there is snow up to your knees.

The catch? You can skip class regardless. Don’t feel like going? Too cold? Don’t go. Just remember your grades will take the fall. Professors won’t help your grade out if you have been a consistent skipper.

“I’ll be able to make it to my 8 a.m. class.”

This is laughable. In high school, it was easy (for some) to wake up before 7 a.m. and learn for seven hours a day.

College? No way. You’ll most likely never get used to waking up before 9 a.m. at any point. So don’t take 8 a.m. classes. Just don’t.

“I’ll never stay up all night to finish homework.”

Getting out of assignments or ace-ing a test without studying was a walk in the park during high school years.

College will be full of all-nighters and many cups of coffee. There will be weekends that you close the library down instead of the bar, but that’s OK. Your GPA will thank you for it later, trust me.

“It’s easy to get good grades in college.”

Ha! The grading system and amount of critical professors will rise significantly during the time between your high school and college years.

High school scholars will turn into average college students. This will be a learning experience for second semester to get yourself to the library.

“I won’t need all of those Flex Dollars.”

You will literally use them all and still have a month left of the semester.

Flex Dollars go to Starbucks, laundry, Bosco sticks – everything. This is a lesson in budgeting for next semester (although it will probably happen again).

“I need the unlimited meal plan.”

No, no, no. Please start saving yourself some money and get a 14 or 16 meals-per-week plan.

Plus, you won’t be tempted to go eat when you are bored, therefore, avoiding freshman 15 (see No. 1).

“I need to buy all of my textbooks new from the school bookstore.”

Newsflash: Renting is just as good as buying, if not better!

Amazon allows you to rent books for a semester and provides free shipment on returns for about half the price of buying a new textbook.

Most students (and parents!) will have heart palpitations when looking at the cost for a student’s textbook bundle. Never buy new unless it is enforced (i.e., math access codes used for personal homework).

“I’ll never have the time for extracurricular activities.”

You may be insanely busy in college, but you will always have time to involve yourself. This doesn’t mean you have to join a club and attend weekly meetings, but go out and do something!

There will always be a keynote speaker, open mic night or just something fun to do around campus. Plus, when are you ever going to have this opportunity again?