Advice for First-Year
College Students from an
Academic Travel Agent
Dr. Drew C. Appleby
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis
Almost one third of all freshmen
enrolled in American colleges and
universities drop out before their
sophomore year, and this figure accounts
for one half of all student attrition in
American higher education.
The causes for this appallingly high rate of
academic casualties have been researched
extensively and appear to fall into basic
categories such as:
1. Poor academic preparation and/or performance
2. Inadequate financial support
3. Lack of campus engagement
4. Low educational and occupational aspirations
However, two other very powerful
challenges for college freshmen are to
1. become aware of and understand the very real and
very important differences that exist between
secondary and higher education
2. and then to change their behaviors, attitudes, and
thought processes so they can adapt successfully to
their new academic environment.
When you travel to another country for
the first time, it is wise to consult with an
experienced travel agent who can make
your trip safe, successful, and satisfying
by helping you understand, prepare for,
and adapt to the new culture, climate,
and living conditions you will encounter
when you arrive at your new destination.
By enrolling in college, you will be
taking a trip to a very different
educational destination. You adapted
successfully to elementary education and
then to secondary education, but you are
now embarking on a journey to a type of
education, whose very name—higher
education—clearly indicates that it will
place new and higher expectations on the
ways you think, learn, and behave.
Forty-one years of college teaching
provided me with an exposure to
thousands successful and unsuccessful
college freshmen. Please allow me to be
your academic travel agent by sharing
this knowledge with you and providing
you with information about your new
educational destination that can help you
experience a safe, successful, and
satisfying first year in college.
A very important fact that you
should become aware of as early
as possible during your high
school career is that
your freshman year
in college will NOT
th
be 13 grade.
I identified seven crucial
differences between high
school and college when I
performed a content analysis
on the answers my freshmen
gave me to the questions on
the following two slides.
Question #1
What are the most important
differences you have
experienced between your
high school classes and your
college classes?
Question #2
What are the most important
differences you have
experienced between your
high school teachers and your
college professors?
The Seven Crucial Differences Between High School and
College I Discovered Were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Academic expectations are much higher.
Student-teacher contact is less frequent and more formal.
The syllabus replaces teachers’ daily reminders.
Homework is done after, not during school.
Students must be more independent and responsible.
Students are treated more like adults than children.
Students must learn to prioritize and manage their time.
The following slides summarize
these seven crucial differences,
and provide support for these
differences in the form of direct
quotations from my students.
Difference #1
Academic
Expectations
In High School . . .
Academic expectations are not always high, and good
grades can often be obtained with minimum effort. This
is especially true for bright students who discover they
don’t have to do much more than attend classes and
remember what their teacher say to earn high grades.
This situation is made even worse by the fact that being
perceived as popular in high school sometimes requires
the ability to project the appearance of not working hard.
In College . . .
Academic expectations are much higher, and minimum
effort usually produces poor grades.
“It was a big adjustment. I had
maybe one paper to write in my
whole high school career. Here,
I had a paper assigned on the
very first day of classes.”
George Hill
George was a star basketball player at IUPUI and was the first
round pick of the San Antonio Spurs in the 2008 NBA draft. He is
now back in Indianapolis playing for the Pacers.
“In high school, I was one of the
‘smart’ people who never had to
read the material before class,
study for a final, or write a paper
well in advance. Here, I have to
spend every free minute preparing
the homework assigned for that
day. If I don’t, I will fall behind,
and if I fall behind now, there is
no catching up.”
“Homework was a big thing in
high school and counted for a
lot of points. In college your
grades are based on tests, not
homework.”
“Even if I didn’t pass the tests
in high school, I could still pass
the class as long as I did my
homework.”
“In high school, you were a
dork if you got good grades
and cared about what was
going on in your classes. In
college, you’re a dork if you
don’t.”
Difference #2
Student-Teacher
Contact
In High School . . .
Teacher-student contact is close and frequent
in classes that usually meet five days a week.
Teachers are very accessible.
In College . . .
Classes meet less often—sometimes only
once a week and sometimes never if they are
online—and faculty are usually available only
during their office hours or by appointment.
“College professors aren’t as
personable as high school
teachers. I could stop into my
high school teachers’ offices
and sit there for 30 minutes to
just hang out.”
“In high school, teachers were
supposed to learn our names and
to get to know us. In college, I
have learned that it is my
responsibility to help my teachers
to get to know me.”
Difference #3
The Syllabus
In High School . . .
The teacher prepares a lesson plan and uses it to tell
students how to prepare for the next class period (e.g.,
“Be sure to read Chapter 3 in your textbook.” or
“Don’t forget to study for tomorrow’s test.”)
In College . . .
The instructor distributes and discusses the syllabus on
the first day of the class and expects students to read
and follow the syllabus without having to be reminded
about what will be done or what assignment is due
during the next class period.
“High school teachers told us
our assignments; college
professors tell us to read the
syllabus.”
“College teachers don’t tell you
what you’re supposed to do.
They just expect you to do it.
High school teachers tell you
about five times what you’re
supposed to do.”
“College teachers expect their
students to read the syllabus
and the classroom is set up to
where it is sink or swim. Do the
work or fail. High school
teachers reminded us about the
deadlines for our projects
everyday and tried to help us if
we were struggling.”
Difference #4
Homework
In High School . . .
Students are assigned daily homework, which teachers
collect and check to insure that assigned work is being
done. For example, a term paper can require many
intermediate steps before the final paper is submitted.
In College . . .
Instructors assume students have learned how to “keep
up” with their assignments in high school and can be
trusted to do course work without being constantly
reminded or assigned “busy work” homework.
“The biggest difference between
high school teachers and college
professors is that you have to
learn by yourself in college.”
“High school teachers go over
all the material. College
teachers expect you to learn it
on your own.”
Difference #5
Independence and
Responsibility
In High School . . .
Parents, teachers, and counselors support, give
advice to, and often make decisions for students.
Students rely on their parents to meet their basic
needs and must abide by their parents’ boundaries
and restrictions.
In College . . .
Students must learn to rely on themselves and begin
to experience the results of their own good and bad
decisions. It is their responsibility to seek advice
when they need it and to set their own restrictions.
“You didn’t have to do reading
assignments in high school
because your teachers taught
you everything you had to know
for tests. In college, if you don’t
do your homework, you have no
crutch to lean on. You are on
your own in college classes.”
“College is learning to do it
yourself.”
Difference #6
The Transition
from Childhood
to Adulthood
In High School . . .
Teachers often contact parents if problems occur.
Parents are expected to help students in times of
crisis.
In College . . .
Students have much more freedom, and must take
responsibility for their own actions. Parents may not
be aware that a crisis has occurred because the
Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) protects their sons’ and daughters’ privacy.
“High school teachers assist you
more. They kind of hold your
hand and make sure you get
everything done.”
“The most important thing I’ve
learned since I have been in
college is that it’s time for me to
step out of the purgatory
between my teenage years and
adulthood and to take some
responsibility for my life.”
Difference #7
Prioritizing and
Time Management
In High School . . .
There are distractions from school work, but
these are at least partially controlled by rules
at school and home (e.g., curfews, dress
codes, and enforced study hours).
In College . . .
Many distractions exist. Time management
and the ability to prioritize become absolutely
essential survival skills for college students.
“We just don’t have as much
time to do assignments as we did
in high school because a lot
more material is covered in a
much shorter amount of time.”
“Even though you may not be in
class as long as in high school,
the amount of time you have to
put in to complete the assigned
work is doubled, even tripled.”
“In high school, things were
over at 4:00 p.m. At IUPUI,
things like studying are just
starting by that time.”
George Hill
A Heads-Up for Bright Students
Some bright students get though high school
successfully by simply showing up. However, they
often reach a point where just showing up stops
working, and they actually have to put forth
serious effort to perform well. If you have never
had to study before, you may not know how to
study. If you suspect this might be true for you,
then I urge you to become familiar with your
school’s support services and to use these services
if and when you need them.
Now that you are aware of the basic
differences between high school and
college, please allow me—in my role as
your academic travel agent—to share the
same three pieces of simple, yet very
powerful advice that I share with my
freshmen to help them adjust successfully
to their new academic destination.
Over 2000 years ago, the Oracle at Delphi,
speaking through the Greek philosopher
Socrates, said . . .
“Know
thyself.”
Centuries later, Shakespeare wrote Hamlet
in which Polonius provided Laertes with
the following piece of valuable advice . . .
“To thine
own self
be true.”
Many years later, Nike (the Greek goddess of
victory), speaking through her 21st century
commercial namesake, says . . .
“Just do it.”
Savvy college students know
themselves when they can accurately
and honestly identify their
• strengths,
• weaknesses,
• values, and
• goals.
Savvy college students are true to
themselves when they
• use their self-knowledge to identify
potential careers in which they can
perform well and enjoy the work that
they do and
• create realistic plans to use both the
curricular and extracurricular
aspects of their undergraduate
educations to prepare for, enter, and
succeed in these careers.
Savvy college students just do
it when they put their
realistic plans into action by
actually engaging in the
behaviors that will enable
them to successfully carry
out their career plans.