Compair and Contrast High School vs. College

High School and college are alike in numerous ways, but they are also very different. Freedom is the main difference between high school, and college, but classes, teachers, social aspects, and cost are other major ways that college differs from high school. High school is mandatory by the state, and usually free if you go to a public school. College is usually completely voluntary, and very expensive. In high school, your teachers tell you what to do, and how to act in school. Your parents generally made sure that you did your homework and studied for tests. Your time was pretty much managed for you. In college you are pretty much on your own. You have to manage your own time and study and do homework because you know that is needs to be done to pass the class, not because your mom is standing over you making sure that it is done. In high school, you are reminded of things that need to be done, and events you must attend. In college it is your responsibility to remember, and you must make all of your choices. Classes are another thing that is different. In high school you have a full day of classes right after one another. In college, you may only have one class per day, or large gaps of time between your classes. High school is twenty-six weeks long, with usually the same core classes for both semesters. College courses run for fourteen weeks and then a new semester with new classes starts. In high school, you have no choice of when you want to attend class; you cannot pick to go to class at night a few days a week like in college, and your attendance is monitored. College classes can have as few as around ten people a class, or as many as one hundred and fifty. High school classes average about twenty-five per class. Most high schools provide textbooks at no cost to the student. Colleges require their students to buy textbooks that can end up at several hundred dollars a year. Teachers are different in high school and college also. In high school, if you are given an assignment, you can be pretty sure that it will be handed in for a grade. In college, the professor may give an assignment but not collect it, and assume that everyone has done it and that those questions are fair game on a test. High school teachers will usually come to you if they think that you need extra help and will offer the help to you, or tell you how to get extra help. College professors will expect you to go to them and ask for help. If you are absent from class, college professors expect you to get the information from a classmate, while high school teachers will give you the make up work. A key difference in high school teachers and college professors is that high school teachers write down everything that should be in your notes. If it isn't written somewhere, chances are that you don't need it. College professors usually lecture for an hour and a half, and expect you to write don't the important information. Tests and studying are different between college and high school also. In high school you are told what you should be getting out of reading assignments, and you are told what to study. In college you are supposed to figure out for yourself what the material says and means, and what to study. High school teachers give short reading assignments, while college professors may give you two, three, four, or more chapters at a time to read. Tests in high school usually cover small amounts of material and may be every week or so. In college tests are generally covering a lot of material, and there may be only one or two tests per class. Tests in high school can be made up whenever you return to class. College classes rarely have makeup tests. Grading is another huge difference. In high school teachers gave you a good grade if you at least made an effort to do the work. In college if you do a good job you get a good grade, you get the grade if you produce results, not if you just try. If you bomb a test in high school, but you do all of the homework, you will usually pull through with an ok grade. In college tests and papers are a majority of your grade, so failing one will hurt your final grade a lot. Although college and high school are very different they are also similar. In both facilities you are expected to go to class, you still have to take tests, and the teacher still stands in the front of the room and gives some kind of lecture in both places. Studying is an important part of getting good grades in both places, although college requires more studying. Having friends, and being a part of the school outside of class makes it fun to go to either type of school. Both facilities also have some type of extracurricular activities that you can be a part of, whether you are interested in a club, or a sport.
While college and high school can be similar they are two completely different types of facilities where freedom seems to be the major difference where you can go to too get an education.