Research on the contrasts between High-School and College (academic goals / education)

Comparison of High-School and College

The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast three characteristics of high school and college. The three aforementioned characteristics consist of the academic goals of the students, the difficultly level of courses, and study habits. Each of these three topics will be presented in turn with respect to each of these two types of educational institutions. This paper will conclude with a brief discussion of how these comparisons and contrasts can be used by students to enhance their educational experience.

One significant contrast between high school and college is the nature of the academic goals of the students. While students within these two types of educational institutions strive to graduate with a diploma, the meaning associated with a high school diploma differs from the meaning placed upon a college diploma. Furthermore, college diplomas can be divided into three categories (associate's degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree, and more advanced degrees such as a Ph.D. or M.D.). Each of these degrees is typically associated with a particular major which will hopefully be identical with the career choice of students. In contrast, while a graduating high school student may have taken courses within a particular elective field such as biology or political science, a high school diploma is probably better thought of as signifying that the graduating student has satisfactorily completed coursework relevant to a number of skills that they may require throughout their lifetime irrespective of the nature of their future career. Because of this contrast between the academic objectives of high school students and the academic goals of college students, an individual who decides to graduate from high school and not to attend college has a much more limited career choice then those individuals graduating from college.

The above contrast between the academic goals of high school and college students is closely related to the level of difficultly of the courses found within these two types of educational institutions. To be more specific, the difficultly level of courses found in college is often much greater than the difficultly level of courses find within high school because the former courses are often designed to prepare college students for a career within one or more particular fields. In fact, some high school courses may serve as preparation for "entry level" college courses related to a particular major such as psychology or physics. In turn, the aforementioned entry level college courses may provide the prerequisite knowledge needed to take even more advanced courses.

Finally, study habits are important in both high school and college. Both high school and college students should include studying as part of their routine and make sure that they devote a sufficient amount of time to this activity. However, there might be a contrast in the study goals of high school and college students. The study objective of college students is probably to simply learn that material presented within their classes. In comparison and contrast, the study objective of high school students should be to learn course material while simultaneously learning the skills that there will need later in college to possess those study habits which will allow them to succeed in college.

Finally, the discussion presented within this essay implicitly suggests considerations and steps that students may use to exceed within their education. For example, high school students may wish to consider their future objectives. If these future objectives involve a career which requires a college degree, then they may want to lay an "educational foundation" within high school which makes it easier to transfer into the entry level college courses relevant to the major in which they are interested. Another thing high school students may wish to make a priority is to develop those excellent study habits which will allow them to succeed in both high school and college. By taking these steps, students will be more likely to succeed in college and, therefore, their chosen future career.