While high school is just a taste of freedom, college provides the first true opportunity for students to live on their own. While away at college, though counselors and other adults are there for guidance, sometimes the advice of fellow students is the most helpful. High school students inquiring about the college student lifestyle can also learn plenty from their fellow peers. Five college freshmen from WJ’s 2011 graduating class share insight about their experiences thus far: Dana Marks at Wellesley College, Simone Lavine at Pitzer College, Kuo-Kai Chin at Harvard University, Robin Banerji at Haverford College and Eva Morgun at University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP).

A large proportion of a given high school graduating class typically pursues higher education, depending on the surrounding area and socio-economic status. According to the College and Career Information Coordinator Gayle Evans, 93 percent of WJ’s 2011 graduating class attended a two- or four-year college. Current college students looking back at high school said that both their junior and senior years were devoted to college preparations, applications and building up transcripts in order to be competitive applicants. Once at college, students face a variety of new changes both in their surroundings and academics.

The shift to college may be a difficult transition for some. But Marks and Lavine agreed that it didn’t take them long to get adjusted. Marks likened the situation to sleep-away camp. Having attended camp growing up, she was used to being independent.

“I moved into a new place and automatically got in to a new routine that seemed to stick for the whole semester,” she said.

Lavine agreed, saying it only took a few days to adjust and that the transition to college life was quite natural.

“I made incredible friends and became so much more mature and responsible almost instantly,” said Lavine. “It’s really a life-changing experience of self discovery.”

However, Chin and Banerji disagree. According to Chin, it took him a couple of months to adjust to college. Even now, he continues to adjust his daily schedule to become more efficient and effective.

“You learn lots of things about living on your own,” said Chin. “There hasn’t really been a magical moment where I just felt that I figured it out.”

Banerji saw the transition in a different light. Within a few weeks, Banerji was meeting friends, becoming comfortable with college life and establishing a routine of classes. However, Banerji said he was not good at managing his time during the first semester. He advised students to limit themselves to only getting involved with a few things outside of classes.

“Something I think WJ graduates in particular would want to do is trying everything out at once,” he said. “From experience, I know this is a bad idea.”

Going into college, many students already know the major differences between high school and their new college or university, namely living independently. This plethora of newfound independence, however, may not always be positive. Chin explained that in college, no one plays the parent role and monitors daily student activities such as exercise, meals and studying, perhaps aspects of high school life that some take for granted.

“It’s also tempting to skip meals around tests and that’s never a good idea,” said Chin. “It’s also easy to become a library hermit, and you don’t really want that either.”

Marks said that since students generally take fewer classes than in high school, they have more free time to explore other parts of college life.

“At Wellesley you only take four classes per semester, so there is a lot of down-time during the day even with practice and/or club commitments,” said Marks, explaining that in high school, students spend the majority of the day at school, with sports and clubs afterwards.

Morgun discussed another important aspect of college life: roommates. Though Morgun is good friends with her roommate, she said that others aren’t so lucky.

“Living with a roommate is about being respectful and considerate,” she said. “Try to get to know them and figure out what really bothers them and don’t do it. Also make sure they also know what bothers you.”

For Marks, the biggest difference between high school and college was the fact that Wellesley is a women’s college.

“Many people have a negative reaction when I tell them that I go to a women’s college, but it is not that big of a deal,” she said.

Though it took getting used to, Marks said not having any male students around is not so bad. Others have told her that it gets rid of some pressure and stress in the college atmosphere.

Lavine looked at differences from an academic standpoint. She believes that in college there is a much lower emphasis on grades. At WJ, she explained, each assignment has a rubric that tells students how to get an ‘A.’ In college, she said that assignments are less about rules and more about students demonstrating their skills or understanding of concepts.

“If you take an interest in what you’re studying, the professor really only cares that you’ve learned something, or that you’ve come up with a new and creative perspective, presented a cohesive argument, or in some other way demonstrated that you understood the purpose of the assignment,” she said. “[In high school] I often forgot that I was supposed to be learning and growing from the curriculum, which is something that for me, is very different from college.”

Morgun added that in college, there is a larger sense of responsibility. Every assignment counts toward a student’s final grade, leading many students to become more committed.

“No one is going to nag you if you didn’t do your homework or didn’t pick up a worksheet,” she said, adding that this aspect has definitely hurt many students. “But it’s not as scary as I am making it sound, I am confident anyone who sincerely cares about his/her grade can be successful.”

Some students heading off to college may be concerned or anxious about the anticipated course work. Lavine said that she expected college work to be harder than work in high school, but so far it hasn’t been. While at WJ, Lavine chose to take many Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which prepared her for college-level work. Additionally, she said that the large amount of homework, in addition to frequent tests and quizzes that were difficult to manage in high school, taught her important study habits that she utilizes in college.

“WJ itself can’t help prepare you for college, but if you challenge yourself with honors and AP classes and learn how to do well, you can influence how prepared you are for college life,” said Lavine.

She added that the college schedule, which involves class only two or three times weekly, made completing work and getting to class easier and with reduced stress.

“The work itself and the subject matter is probably more challenging in college, the lifestyle of college makes it seem easier,” she said.

Morgun agreed with Lavine; having taken AP Language and Composition in addition to AP Literature and Composition during her time at WJ, she described the honors English course she took her first semester as a breeze. Morgun also felt prepared for college work in other subjects.

“The introductory chemistry was almost a joke,” she said. “I feel like a semester of honors chemistry with Mr. Safford was worth a lot more than a semester with [my] college professor.”

However, Morgun warned students to take college seriously, and keep their limits in mind.

“There are some difficult classes out there, so don’t jump into something you don’t think you can handle,” she said. “But know that you [as WJ students] are much better off than other students out there.”

According to Chin, college classes are much different than high school classes, in the way that there are fewer assignments. However, these assignments count for a higher percentage of a student’s grade. For example, Chin said that in a writing class, there only may be three papers that determine a student’s grade. There is also more pressure regarding final exams, as they are frequently worth over 50 percent of the final grade. This prompts students to prepare for exams throughout the semester, rather than the week or so leading up to the final, as people do in high school.

But an aspect of college that some incoming freshman may or may not anticipate is the drug and alcohol use. According to a 2008 National Institute On Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) report under the National Institutes of Health (NIH), nearly four-fifths of college students drink.

“It’s hardly shocking, but it’s something incoming college students should be prepared for, either to partake in carefully or to avoid,” said Banerji. “It’s easy both to avoid those scenes and to join those scenes, depending on what you want.”

Lavine explained that although she thought drugs and alcohol were prevalent at WJ, college brought the use of these products to a new level.

“Weed and alcohol and sometimes other drugs are almost always readily available,” said Lavine, who added that many of her friends got into trouble during their first semester due to the distractions that came with dorm life (namely drugs, alcohol and constantly being surrounded by friends). “If you’re not careful, it can become a serious problem.”

But not all college students turn to substance use. Chin said that while there are some students who go wild and party all the time, there is also a number of students that would just prefer to hang out and play cards or watch a movie.

“Drinking is definitely not that big of a deal, at least at [Harvard],” said Chin. “There are lots of kids interested in alternatives.”

After students have completed the application process during high school, and received acceptance letters, they must decide which school is going to be the best fit.

For Chin, the decision to attend Harvard University was based on the merit of the students, in addition to the easy access to Boston, a “great college town.” Chin described the college application process as “nerve-wracking,” since he applied to many schools but didn’t find out his college options until April of his senior year.

Like Chin, Marks chose to attend college near Boston. She selected Wellesley College for its field hockey program in addition to its academics. Currently, she is exploring math and French as potential majors, but is not yet certain, taking a variety of classes and keeping her mind open before she opts to make her final decision.

In contrast, Lavine chose to attend Pitzer College, near Los Angeles. During her senior year, Lavine looked at different school statistics including graduation rates and explored the dorms and programs to study abroad. But in the end, the deciding factor was how she felt upon arriving on campus.

“When I spent the night at Pitzer, I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” said Lavine, explaining that the students she met and the campus activities she experienced were just a few of things that made her feel like she fit into the school community. Lavine said she enjoys the school atmosphere.

“Pitzer is a great place for people who know they want to make a difference in the world, but have no idea how,” she added, “Social justice is inherent in the atmosphere, the core values of the school, and in the academic requirements and classes.”

Banerji, now attending Haverford College located outside of Philadelphia, narrowed down his list of colleges based on a few requirements he set. These requirements entailed that the school be a small liberal arts college with strong academics and a cold climate. These three factors helped narrow down his potential college list from the start.

Although many students choose to use college as an opportunity to explore other areas, other students aren’t so keen on leaving home and instead decide to enroll at a local school. For Morgun, UMCP was a definite option. Morgun, a biology major, said that the college application process was simply “hell,” and was something that took commitment and time.

“What really threw me off was probably the many little details that you had to keep track for every university, making sure you filled out every part of the application,” she said. “Looking back, I wished I had made some sort of spreadsheet to keep track of it all.”

In the end, Morgun narrowed it down to two universities. She made her final decision based on finances.

“Each person has their own circumstances and should make their own decision,” Morgun said. “It’s the time to have serious conversations with your parents.”

While WJ seniors have the rest of second semester to pan out their options, these college freshmen offered up some general advice for next year.

Marks advised students to become familiar with any public transportation systems in their college’s area. She also said that students should bring along friends the first few times they explore their new surrounding town or city.

“I go to school outside of Boston, and I was unfamiliar with how the T and the Commuter Rail worked before I got to school,” she said. “I’ve had to learn from experience what stops get out where and how to navigate the city through trial and error.”

Morgun said that while choosing a school, it’s important to keep things in perspective, especially when it comes to tuition costs.

“Location and cost are important factors you don’t want to miss,” she said. “You want to chase your dream, but be realistic about it, most parents can’t afford a 40 thousand [dollar] tuition per year.”

She also cautioned prospective students to find out about a potential school’s general culture.

“It’s possible to find friends anywhere, but you don’t want to be alienated by the way other students behave,” she explained.

Lavine recommended that students make their first semester schedule easy, as to keep up their GPAs and to smoothly transition into college life. She explained that at the start of the school year, people are busy forming connections and meeting new people.

“If you have a huge workload, you’re either going to miss out on the bonding and mess up your social life by not making the close connections with people that others are making,” said Lavine, “or your grades are going to suffer and you’ll wind up with a low GPA that will haunt you for the next 3.5 years.”

Despite the drawbacks that college life may bring, these particular students are satisfied with their choices.

“I have no regrets about where I ended up,” said Marks. “If I were to do it all over, I would do the exact same thing.”