By Cordelia Mosher ’26
Most high school students wonder what college will be like, and how to be successful once they get there. Often, fear of the unknown can overwhelm even the most confident teen. An interview with two successful college students, Hannah Lorincz and Josh Cronin of Towson University, answered some looming questions.
College brings many changes to people’s lives, and, with those changes, come many choices. At seventeen or eighteen years old, deciding which college to attend can be a struggle. Hannah suggests finding a college that has student activities and clubs that sound appealing, as well as majors that align with your interests and goals. “You don’t want to do something for the rest of your life that you hate, so look into colleges that really support things that make you happy,” she says. Choosing a major can be just as difficult as choosing a college. However, if you do not know what you want to major in, Josh recommends staying undecided and waiting for something to pique your interest. If something does interest you, take another course on it, and if you decide you want to declare your major, go for it. “And if you don’t like it, you can always switch, you are never trapped in a major you don’t like,” Josh says.
College offers much more freedom and choices than high school. However, with that freedom comes a lot more responsibility. You will not have someone hovering over your shoulder to make sure you do your work; and attendance, while recommended, is not mandatory. But this means you must learn to manage and regulate your own time. Josh reflects that his transition from high school to college was particularly difficult because of the difference between high school and college lectures. “It is not like the one-on-one type of teaching you get in high school,” he says. This is because the class size is so much larger than in high school and the lectures are only 50 minutes once or twice a week rather than every day which really limits how much time can be spent on each topic. With this, learning how to take quick and effective notes is crucial.
The added freedom and different teaching style of college creates a different workload for students. The college workload differs somewhat from high school since you essentially create it for yourself. The normal course load is between 4 to 6 classes per semester, and they usually meet once or twice a week, in comparison to high school classes that meet every day. The number of classes you take in addition to the level of the course are the main things that affect the workload. “The workload is what you make it,” Hannah summarizes. Josh notes that class time consists of lectures but no classwork. Independent weekly assignments, long-term papers, or quizzes round out the workload. Being in the honors college also raises the expectations. Some schools such as Towson require an honors thesis, but Josh assures that it is worth the extra effort. “With the honors college, you get priority enrollment,” he says, “So, I have never had trouble getting into a course I want or getting the professor I want. And that allows me to have better time management and more time for myself.” The honors college also features smaller class sizes, so it is similar to the one-on-one experience of high school.
Learning good study skills also improves the odds of success in college. Both Hannah and Josh reflected that they did not have to study in high school to get good grades. However, after quickly realizing that this strategy was not going to work in college, they both developed valuable study techniques to continue their success in school. Hannah says that the key to studying is to stay engaged in class, which makes studying at home easier. Josh likes to use flashcards and write definitions in his own words or use real-world examples on the back to ensure total understanding. He also recommends studying with another person because, “When you study with someone else and explain something to them in simpler terms, it helps you fully understand it.” Studying with another person can also shorten the overall time spent studying.
To maximize time management, Josh’s number one tip is to use a calendar or planner. “At the start of every semester, you get a syllabus which has a list of all the big assignments that are due. Spend two hours at the start of every semester putting everything in a calendar,” he says. This helps keep you on track with your assignments and reduces the chance of forgetting them. In addition, Josh says that getting enough sleep and taking time for yourself are also important to success in school. “Going to bed at a reasonable hour is important,” he says, because “This will increase your focus in class, and you will be less likely to miss your morning classes.” Find balance between school and play time. “Spending every waking hour stressing about school will just make you perform worse,” Josh remarks.
Hannah and Josh each offered a closing piece of advice for high schoolers as they face the transition to college. “You only get to experience high school once. Savor those little, tiny things, those things that you don’t think will ever be your last because they might be,” Hannah reflects. And Josh recommends keeping this in perspective, “College is important, but everyone adjusts in their own time, so don’t overstress. It really isn’t that bad.”
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