You’re in college now. Whatever your expectations, I bet you’ll find it different from what you expected. Sometimes the differences are great. But others… not so much. Here are some of the hardest things about being in college.

It’s all on you now.

In high school you still had parents constantly telling you what to do — not that you listened!  But in college… you’re on your own, to make great strides, or to screw up royally.

You have to manage your own time.

Time management is one of the hardest things to get used to. You have such freedom in college that it’s easy to let your time get away from you. Don’t let that happen to you. You really are there to get an education. Really.

The classes are a whole lot different.

High school classes aren’t like college classes. You don’t have a parent to go to bat for you if your teacher docked you a letter grade for being three weeks late on an assignment. The classes are harder, they require you to do more independent work, and you may not be quite ready to cope with the academic challenge of the classes.

It’s lonelier.

Even if you’re socially adept, most colleges are  a lot larger world than high school. It’s really easy to find even the biggest high school fish finding themselves quite “small” in the larger world of a college campus. And if you’re not all that social, a college campus can be terrifying.

It’s too free.

Since no one is going to tell you what to do, it’s really easy to blow off the stuff that really matters. Remember you (or someone) is paying big bucks to keep you in college and not pounding the pavement to get a job. Try to appreciate that, and use your freedom wisely.

You have a roomie.

If you’ve never shared a room before, this can be hardest of all.

It’s expensive.

In college you probably no longer have someone covering all your daily expenses automatically. And you have to buy your books. And they’re enormously expensive. You have to pay for all your meals. The charges just keep adding up… and up… and up…