5 Scary Things High School Teachers Told Us Would Happen In College That Never Actually Happened

College can be scary and pretty darn stressful. Especially if you’re not even in college yet and just in high school, waiting for your admissions results to come back. Aside from the stress of admissions and SATs, there’s also a bunch of TV shows and movies warning you about all the social drama and difficult assignments that will happen in college. Brushing these warnings off is super easy though, because entertainment is known to exaggerate so Sydney White having serious drama due to greek life and fretting over a final essay is less likely to scare you into avoiding higher education these days.

What does still give many high schoolers fear though is the advice offered by high school teachers about college? Since they have authority and generally our best interests at heart, the scary warnings they gave about college seemed easy to believe and reliable. Sadly as great as many of our high school’s teacher were, unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, a lot of the warnings they gave about college were actually straight-up lies. Don’t get me wrong there is a lot of advice high school teachers gave you that was actually super helpful and true, however, when it comes to college there was a lot of misinformation given. Here are 5 scary things high school teachers told us would happen in college that didn’t actually happen!

1. If You’re Late, The Professor Will Lock The Doors And You’ll Basically Stuck Outside The Classroom

Teachers tried to fearmonger us out of showing up late in college (and honestly their own classes too probably) by saying that if you show up late the professor will lock the doors. The old tale goes that if you’re even a minute the lecture hall or classroom, will be locked shut and never opened. Basically, you may as well have skipped class. Unlike high school where being late simply gives you a tardy slip, being late in college supposedly dooms you. However, the good news is this is straight up a lie! As you likely will have found out, when you or another classmate showed up late, you were simply able to slide into the lecture hall and sit down. Well, you definitely shouldn’t make of habit of showing up late in college, the idea that professors will lock you out and curse you forever if you’re late is simply false.

2. Professors Won’t Give A Crap About You

You were likely told by high school teachers that unlike them, professors aren’t going to be willing to help you or talk with you about class-related issues. You’re just a number in a classroom, and they could care less about you or your success. Yeah, this is straight-up untrue and actually kind of insulting to professors. Well, it is true you may have to make more of an effort in college to connect with professors, especially if you go to a large university, the idea that most professors could care less about whether you succeed or fail is a lie. Well, there are certainly some professors who really are just there to get a paycheck and go, I would say more than most want you to succeed. Office hours exist for a reason, people! As long as you introduce yourself and let them know if you need help, most are willing to give you a reasonable amount of assistance or advice to help you succeed in the class. 

3. You’ll Have Piles And Piles Of Homework

While I’m pretty sure this was just a way to get us to shut up and stop complaining about our assignments, it was still downright scary at the time. High school teachers filled our minds with stories of never-ending homework and promised us we’d never have time for Netflix or really any fun. Well, you definitely shouldn’t slack off in college, the idea that you’ll have tons of homework is not true. In fact, I actually think I’ve had less homework in college! Typically what you will get more are assignments that are worth more and thus take a little more effort and care. However, the idea that every week will bring never-ending assignments that take hours to complete is not true.

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4. You’ll Need To Dress Like You’re Going To Work At An Office

Yeah, this was straight up laughable. I’m pretty sure even in high school we had doubts about this, still, there was definitely that small amount of fear that for the first time we went to class we’d be the only one in jeans and a graphic tee. Turns out most students dress pretty casual and professors don’t really care what you wear as long as it is appropriate. In fact, some brave students even opt for the pajama look if the class is an 8am. In some grad schools and law schools, it may be required that you do actually dress nice. However, for your undergrad years, you can expect to show up in pretty casual outfits to class unless you’re giving a presentation or debating that day.

5. You’ll Need To Take A Ton Of Notes, Because Professors Won’t Share Any Resources With You To Help

Well, this may have been true once, with the technology we have today most professors are willing to use lecture recordings or upload their powerpoints online.  Most are also pretty chill with you taking a picture of the whiteboard notes too. Some professors will even list out everything that’s important for the test at the beginning of the presentation. Well, you should still take your own notes, you usually don’t have reason to fret if you miss a small part of the professor’s lecture, since usually, they have other resources you can look at after class. Don’t use lecture recordings or online class resources as a reason to skip class though! Many professors are also utilizing technology to make taking attendance and putting in participation grades easier than ever.

Are there any other things teachers warned you about that aren’t true? Let us know in the comments below!

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