High School vs. College - Essay Example

High School vs. College Introduction It is commonly believed that in order to live a positive future and a life of high quality, one need to attend high school level education and after its completion they should even continue studying for the higher level in college. Students as well as instructors and other stakeholders of the educational system assert that there is tremendous amount of difference between high school and college, even though both share the purpose of educating individuals. There is even ample amount of difference between the purpose of attending high school and colleges.

Those who attend these levels of education are of the idea that both high school and college are as different from each other as humans living on the planet earth and individuals living in other planets. This writing will focus on various differences between high school level education and college level education in the context of: classes, criteria of grading and differences in teaching styles. Body There is huge difference in the classes of high school level and college level. In the case of high school, students are made aware about the starting time of the class and the ending time of the class through a bell or any other alerting system.

In Colleges students are expected to manage their time on their own and are expected to remain updated regarding the ending and the starting timings of the class. In high school all students follow the same course schedule and in the case of college there are both mandatory and student selected courses. In case of high school, teachers are assigned with the responsibility of ensuring that students are attending classes and for this purpose teachers maintain an attendance schedule. At the college level instructors are not required to ensure whether students have attending a class or not.

The effect of the attendance on the grades of the students and criteria for required minimum attendance is set by the instructor. There is even ample amount of difference in the grading criteria at the high school level and the college education level. In case of high school, all the work that is assigned by the teacher is graded by the teacher and the total grade of the student is determined by the grades students have attained in both assignments as well as examination. In the case of college, the work assigned to students is for the students own benefit and whether to add the grades of the assignments in the final grade or not is decided by the teacher.

In case of high school, teachers even provide extra credit assignments to assist students in getting better grades, but in high school instructors rarely use extra credit system. In high school if a student fails to attain passing or better grades in the examination session, they have a shot at the passing grade by performing better in the assignments. In colleges lower importance is given to assignment grades as compared to examination grades. The method that is used by the teachers to teach is quite different at the high school level as compared to the method used by professors at the college level (Sherfield 15).

Professors rarely assist and accommodate students at the college level, while at the high school level teacher’s assistance are of higher degree. At the high school level, teaching is considered as up close and personal task and due to this teacher remembers the name of most of the students and they even record their traits. Teachers at the high school level ensure that student is performing well, attending classes and if the student lacks behind, the teacher may report these findings to the parents of the students to ensure that students start working hard.

College level professors do not take interest in whether a student is passing or failing or even attending classes or have the required notes as students at this level are expected to manage everything on their own. Conclusion Students experience a completely different world at the high school level and the college level of education and that is mainly because students at the college level are expected to be independent and manage their activities on their own as compared to students at the high school level.

At the high school level class attendance is taken by teachers while ignored at the college level, grades at the high school level includes the combination of grades obtained through assignments and exams and at the college level, grades are based on exams only and at the high school level teachers are expected to be up close and personal to the students. Works Cited Sherfield, Robert M., and Rhonda J. Montgomery. Cornerstone: developing Soft Skills. 4th ed. New Delhi: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.