What To Expect In Your First Year Of College

Here’s what incoming college students can expect during their freshman year, the good, the bad… and what’s to be determined.

You’ve got more freedom.

Now that you’re in college, there’s more room to breathe. You handle your own schedule and if you have no uniforms, you get to express yourself more freely through your sartorial choices. There’s a newfound sense of independence (and responsibility, of course)—which is one of the best things about college.

New school, new routines, new friends.

You will no longer be staying in the same room for an entire day. You’d have to move out of your 8 a.m. classroom and rush to your next lesson. Your M-W-F schedule may also vary from your T-Th one, which means socializing with different friend groups more often. There’s a lot of adjustment in terms of the schedule and routines, but you’ll get used to it eventually.

Change in diet.

If you've talked to upperclassmen from your college about what to expect, some might have warned you about the Freshman 15. Despite a lack of scientific evidence, what it basically suggests is that freshmen--due to being immersed in an unfamiliar culture and being shaken up by a sudden change in schedules--will gain weight (about 15 pounds, hence the term) by the end of the year, most likely due to stress eating and the freedom to eat out more. Again, this isn’t a scientific fact, but the bottomline is that college students believe that freshmen tend to experience a change in weight upon entering college. TBH, it varies for students. Some do gain weight while others lose it. As long as you stay healthy enough, it's not something to fuss over. It makes for a good college anecdote, though!

You suddenly or sometimes won’t feel so smart anymore.

You might notice that the atmosphere is more competitive compared to when you were in high school, and after constant exposure to other college students who seem to always do better than you, it’s normal to feel like you aren’t as intelligent and skilled as you once thought you were. 

This particular fact will hit you hard in freshman year, but as you go along your college journey, you’ll realize that it’s a normal experience among your fellow students. It's a hard-hitting realization about the real world—that we aren't as good as we originally thought—but it doesn't mean that it's completely true. You are smart enough, good enough, and skilled enough in your own way. You just need to find your place in the real world, and the college experiences ahead of you will help you realize them.