Top 10 Most Annoying Things About College

In high school, your parents breathe down your neck about every assignment and your teachers expect you to show your work and prove that you’re making progress on your studies. In college however, you’re totally on your own (probably for the first time ever) and you have to decide just how much time you’re going to spend on your schoolwork every day. Assignments and exams are worth more, and there are no little check-in quizzes to prep you for them. You’ll have to learn pretty fast that while freedom may feel good, you’ve got to master some time management skills – and quick!

Nowadays, slogging away and getting your college degree just isn’t enough to make it in the competitive job market. You also need to have proven work experience in your field even before being offered an entry level position. In many industries, this translates to an internship. And if you’re in the arts, it most definitely means an unpaid internship. If you think busting your butt for a company that isn’t paying you seems unfair, that’s because it is. In fact, internships seem to flout any workers’ rights laws that our society has managed to establish over the last century. But such is the modern world we live in!

Considering all the time you’re going to be spending studying (or partying), you may not have a ton of time to focus on your nutrition when you start college. The Freshman 15 – the idea that new students pack on about 15 pounds - is a trope for a reason. Believe us, it’s very much a reality, although most don’t gain a full 15 pounds. Dining hall meals can lack the simple healthy elements that your mom has been serving up to you for the last 18 years of your life. And you’ll probably end up choosing pizza and fries over whatever mystery meat is on special that day.

If you’ve seen any Hollywood movies about college, you know exactly what to expect. Even if you feel lonely and intimidated at first, everyone finds their clique before long and begins a string of epic parties, drunken hookups and making lifelong friends with seemingly no effort. Yeah there may be some exams you forget to study for and nights where you drink way too much, but in the end they’re all fond memories to look back on. The reality is that there’s a lot of hard work involved, not to mention social challenges and more than a little stress. Somehow, those Hollywood movies don’t get it quite right.

Lots of people come to college convinced that living with someone new is going to be a blast. It will be exciting to get new points of views and learn all about somebody new who will undoubtedly become their lifelong pal. Yeah, it doesn’t always work out that way. One thing that Hollywood does get right about college is how totally insane your freshman roommate can end up being. When you’re placed in a tiny room with a complete stranger, any number of things can go wrong. There’s no guarantee that you’ll have anything in common, and their “quirks” may get tiring pretty quickly.

You may have had visions of flipping (or scrolling) through your college’s course calendar and just leisurely picking out all the classes that seemed interesting to you. “Psychology of Game of Thrones”? That sounds amazing! But it’s likely that many classes that strike your interest may call for a little something called a prerequisite- which basically means another class you have to take before you can take the class you’re actually interested in. So until you finish up Psych 101, you won’t be able to psychoanalyse Cersei and Jaime's relationship. Sorry!

You may not believe us now, because before you leave for college you probably think you’ll do anything to get away from your hometown. But once you’ve spent a couple of months in a new setting, you’ll probably start remembering your friends and family with rose-colored glasses. Being at college is hard for a million reasons, but without the support system you’ve been used to for your entire life, everything can seem even tougher. Not to mention the fact that you’re no longer having someone do your laundry for you.

Whether you decide to spend your college years working your butt off, partying every night, or a combination of the two, it’s all going to catch up to you eventually. While in the first year or so you learn to get used to bouncing back after pulling an all-nighter, by your sophomore year you may find yourself moving a little more slowly. Sleep is important, guys, and if you don’t get enough of it, your body will inevitably show signs of exhaustion. So every now and then, skip that kegger and get a good night's rest!

There are no two ways about it - college is going to be a stressful time. You’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life while spending thousands of dollars on tuition, books, etc. Not to mention managing to keep your grades up and balance internships to ensure you get decent job offers after graduation. Keeping your stress in check is important, so take advantage of whatever mental health services your school offers on campus. It’s a great idea to ensure you don’t end up experiencing total burnout.

If you’re living in the States, we probably don’t have to remind you just how expensive college is. Tuition has become prohibitively pricey for many prospective students, so whether you’re dealing with scholarships, student loans or help from your family, the pressures of performing well and getting the most for your money can be seriously overwhelming. Especially since the job market is getting increasingly tough for college graduates, we can bet you’ll have more than a few moments of wondering if accruing this crippling debt is even worth it.