Hey @j.brunner, that’s a great question, but it’s also a really difficult question. The main difference is that you’re legally an adult in college, while in high school, you’re entirely dependent on your parents. While I can’t summarize all the differences in a single post, I’ll tell you about the main differences I noticed when I first got to college.

The first thing that struck me is how I was constantly meeting new people. In high school, you see the same faces again and again. When you’re in college you’re suddenly a part of a much larger community (or at least I was), so I was constantly meeting new people. I loved it! It made me a much more outgoing person.

Another huge difference is that you have way less class time. In high school I had classes from 8am-3pm every weekday. In college I only had two or three, maybe four classes every day. In other words, I was only in class for three to five hours. Now this is not to say you have more down-time at university. You just have way more to keep you engaged outside of the classroom.

Lastly, one more key difference which really stuck me was the fact that I was not living under the same roof as my parents (this doesn’t apply to kids who went to boarding school). Your nuclear family is replaced by dorm-mates, and home-cooked meals are replaced with cafeteria food. All in all this can be quite jarring at first. But don’t worry, there are also some pluses that come with living away from your parents

I hope you’ll find some of this helpful!