They say when you’re in High School they are the longest four years of your life. And when you’re in College they are the best four years of your life. Everyone knows that once they’ve fully settled into the High School life, College is not so far away. Throughout the four years of hell-I mean High School, we as students have so many expectations and here are just a few of them.

1) Friends

In High School, you pretty much know everyone in your class and you probably know half the school too.

But in College, you’d be lucky if you even know one person’s name. Even after you befriended them they’ll still be saved in your contacts as “Dude from psychology class” or “The annoying person I’m stuck in a group project with” or even my personal fave that I use quite often, “The only person in class that knows what the hell is going on”

2) Books

In High School, we all grew accustomed to having our teachers give us the reading materials we need. But in College, you have to supply yourself with the reading material, and chances are it won’t be cheap.

If you’re unlucky and your life sucks you’ll get stuck with a professor who will insist you purchase six books for their class. You’ll go on amazon and add every book to the shopping cart..and well…..you’ll end up like this

3) Classes

In high school, you had a grade advisor and a schedule already laid out for you to follow. Your biggest worry was getting the same lunch periods as your friends and a avoiding a gym class with the teacher who acted like a drill sergeant. Of course, most of us probably hated our schedule and would do anything to get it changed. But in the end you had to face the facts, you were stuck with a terrible schedule.

You fantasized about college and making a schedule that is everything you want it to be. Classes that didn’t start before the sun comes up and being able to spend breaks chilling with your friends. But little did our naive selves know the stress and trauma it takes to make those schedules. The crying, the yelling, the FREAKING WEBSITE GLITCHING. Not being able to get into one of your required classes and of course, the best one of them all is a class you oh so desperately need is full…..

When the time comes for you to actually enroll in classes it becomes the hunger games where you fight to the death to get into those classes. Registration day on campus be like:

4) Attendance

You see in high school attendance was a mess. Attendance was probably taken every single class and tardiness was always marked. And oh let’s not forget about that one class period where your attendance mark counts for the whole day. So here’s a scenario for ya, you just got out of gym class and so you’re changing out of your gym clothes as fast as you can because well the bell already rang and you have three minutes to get to your next class before that ugly late bell rings. But of course, the late bell goes off and you just left the locker room so now you have to run to your next class. But alas, you were marked late. And that’s the class period that marks down your attendance for the day. So if you were A- late to class your house is getting a phone call home telling your parents that their child was late to school. Or B- absent, if you were absent (or cut class) then you were marked absent for that school day. Either way, you were screwed.

Now before you jump to conclusions and think that Professors don’t take attendance. I’ll just stop you right now. Because in all honestly there are quite a few professors that take attendance for every single class the moment class starts. So if the class starts 8:30 you best believe it is time for roll call. And oh yeah if you happen to walk into class just as roll call is being taken but your name was already called and you weren’t there to say ‘present’ you’d be lucky if the professor asks for your name to mark you down. Because most of them will make you wait until the end of class and it’s your responsibility to let them know you were in class. And then you get marked late.

5) Evaluations

There’s nothing like criticism. Constructive criticism of course (yeah right). When you’re in high school you get to know in advance who is teaching what class since it says it right there on your schedule. Chances are you have heard some things about this teacher, but nonetheless, you’re still in that class. But if you haven’t heard from that teacher then you can always head on over to the internet and use RateMyTeachers. You may or may not find your teacher, but if you do, lucky you because now you get an insight on how your teacher is from his/her, former students so you can be prepared on what to expect. In most cases, you’re not going to like what you read. But that certainly sucks for you because you’re stuck with them. And throughout the term, I can already tell you’re mentally cursing them out in your head every time they speak or walk by. Or you're mumbling it. Either way, your voice against that teacher won’t do anything.

But in college, since you are in control of making your own schedule you have the power (some). While you are going course shopping, depending on the time most of the classes will have the name of the Professor next to it. And here's where the trusty RateMyProfessors.com comes in. When I tell you that this website will save your ass….. It will save your ass! No joke. RateMyProfessor can potentially save you from having a semester of hell with a professor that probably doesn’t know the first thing about teaching. The reason why this can come in handy is because then you can avoid this professor at all costs and see who else is teaching that course. Chances are there are at least three other professors teaching that same course. You just have to find the best one.

Now say, for example, there is a course you need to take and there is only one professor that teaches it and their rating on RMP is awful, but you have no choice but to take it. Suck it up and wait until the end of the semester comes for those professor evaluations. This is where you literally evaluate your professor on everything. And it’s normally through your school. So have at it and say everything you have to say about this professor.

6) Friends

In high school, everyone was eager to get with the most popular group of friends. You wanted the cool and funny group of kids in school to chill with. Those entire four years of high school revolved around what they thought of you and how much time you can spend with them. Getting the same lunch period as them would make your entire semester great and if you didn’t have a class with them (and if you were a little rebel) you would cut class without a care in the world to chill with them. High school revolved around your squad.

As you settled into college your high school squad may or may not have burned to ashes. You probably outgrew them, it’s normal. If you’re like me and still are friends with people you went to high school with on facebook, you probably look at newsfeed with disgust. So new campus, new squad. It’s scary territory to find a way to make new friends but you manage. You find a decent set of friends and get lunch with them on your 2-hour breaks and cry together about exams and satan-like professors. You debate who’s major is the hardest and whose professors are more like Voldemort. There still might be days where you convince each other to ditch class for the day and chill in the student lounge but that doesn’t occur during midterm and finals week. That’s when the squad goes ghost and will occasionally text each other “So should we all just drop out?”