lf you are a high school senior applying for colleges, here are some MAJOR lifestyle differences to expect when you unpack your bags in August first.
1. Wearing sweatpants to class every day
No, we're not talking yoga pants from Victoria's Secret. College sweatpants are loose and have a myriad of mysterious stains, and your college's name on them instead of "Juicy." They almost never come off: wear them to class, wear them to your all-nighter at the library, wear them to bed under the library desk, wear them while you to run to class the next morning... repeat this four to five days in a row. Besides, it'll save you precious laundry money.
2. Not having a car
On many college campuses, everything is so close that you wouldn't even need a car, especially if you're living in the dorms. With parking passes costing hundreds of dollars and very limited parking spaces available, you're better off leaving your mom's old Subaru at home.
3. Sitting in the front row of class
Lecture halls can be HUGE, and not all professors use a microphone. Why risk failing a class you paid thousands of dollars for just because you don't want to look like a dweeb in the front seat? Besides, you have a better chance of getting to know your professors when you sit in the front, which could save you if you need to ask for help or are between grades and the end of the semester.
4. Binge watching cartoons from your childhood
When people first go away to school, they have a tendency to become nostalgic for home, even if they're having the time of their lives. One of my best memories in college was waking up late with my roommate and eating junk food while binge-watching "Spongebob." Part of being mature is enjoying childish things without shame.
5. Not wearing makeup
Everyone tries the first week or two of the semester, especially if they're a freshman, to look their best. It's only natural. But all it takes is one major test or project to turn every girl in the class into the sweatpants maniac described in #10. When you're running late to class, and you have to choose between looking cute and grabbing a coffee, you know which one is the more practical choice.
6. Getting your clothes from the thrift store
When college students want to look their best, but only have their leftover laundry money from wearing the same sweatpants five days in a row to spend, local thrift stores are heaven. Whether its clothes for going out over the weekend or an outfit for a job interview, check out the local thrift store before you go to the mall and drop your grocery money on an outfit.
The best part is when your friends ask you where you got your awesome outfit, you can beam with pride and say, "Goodwill, FIVE BUCKS!" And they'll be totally jealous because you look awesome AND can afford to eat something other than ramen for the next month.
7. Spending a weekend at home with your family
Back in high school, my friends would've thought I was some homebody for hanging out with my family all weekend instead of going out. But in college, all my friends get jealous when I go home: unlike them, I will be feasting on a meal that isn't cafeteria food, from the microwave or take out. I will have my own room, with a bed that's larger than an XL twin, my own bathroom too! Besides, you miss your family when it's been a couple months, trust me.
8. Being the smart kid
In high school, if you got all A's, you would be made fun of relentlessly. But in college, when everyone else is struggling to keep up in a class except for you, you become a LEGEND. People in class will swarm you to ask for help, to work with you on group projects, to study with you. Kinda makes you feel like a rockstar.
9. Being the kid who asks for help
In high school, it was also frowned upon to ask for help from the teacher, no matter how much you were struggling. If you were going to fail, you at least wanted to look like it was on purpose, because you were such a rebel or whatever. In college, retaking a class costs THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. You don't look cool for failing a class, you look like a broke, immature idiot. College is HARD. I don't care how smart you think you are--there will come a class where you just can't understand the material. Everyone faces that. Have the balls to ask for help, don't pay thousands of dollars because you're just so cool.
10. Taking naps
Sleep is a rare, divine indulgence in college that few have the opportunity to enjoy. If you cancel plans to hang out with friends in order to have a chance to take part in such a blissful experience, they will understand. They might even ask to join you.
