I recently graduated from Notre Dame High School, a private Catholic college prep school. (Go Irish!) While I went there, I took as many honors and AP courses that I could fit into my schedule. I'd always just assumed Notre Dame was like any other high school. But now that I have been in college for almost a month, I realize that’s not the case. Notre Dame runs in a similar way to how college works, so I was well prepared for the college lifestyle, but it didn't happen that way with most other students I've met. Keep in mind this is based on my view of classes, professors, and friends at Arcadia University.

My high school had block scheduling like college does. Block scheduling is fewer classes in a day (in my high school it was 4-6 classes) that meet for a longer time. Halfway through the school year, you switch classes for 4-6 new ones, which is essentially the same as college. At my high school a class lasts 80 minutes. My classes at Arcadia are anywhere from 65 to 90 minutes so I am used to this time frame.

At my high school, even the “normal” courses are considered accelerated. Each class I had was filled with constant homework and occasional lectures. In order to pass most classes I needed to do the homework and teach myself certain aspects of a chapter. I couldn’t get away with simply reading Sparknotes. Because of the fact that I'm used to classes being so fast-paced, I am putting forth about the same amount of effort I had to in high school. If you want to pass a class in college, you are going to have to teach yourself certain parts of a course, thoroughly do the homework, and get a tutor if you honestly don't understand what's going on. Two of my classes are discussion-based, so if I don’t do the homework, I won't get a great grade since I can't participate.

When I talk to other Arcadia students about this, I find that they are very overwhelmed by how different their high school experiences were from the college lifestyle. After hearing this from so many people, I feel grateful that I chose to graduate from a private college prep school so I don’t have to deal with the added stress of more advanced classes in my new adventure in life.