First-years hit with more work, rigor than high school

In high school, Mackenzie O’Brien went to school at 7 a.m., walked home at 3 p.m., ate dinner, played sports and other extracurriculars, studied, then went to bed at midnight.

But her daily routine didn’t hold up with the unstructured college lifestyle.

Thomas Freeman, a professor in the biochemistry and biophysics department, said he notices first-years come in with a “high school mentality.”

“(First-year students) think (professors) are simply going to ask them to memorize a lot of things,” Freeman said. “They come in with certain expectations that the exams are going to be identical to practice materials that we give them and so they don’t bother to learn the process of problem solving. That’s not how it works.”

Graduate student Euna Chavis, who majored in psychology as an undergraduate at UNC, said high school didn’t prepare her for college.

“It was more memorization for the moment of a test or an exam,” she said. “Then, as soon as it was over and I wasn’t applying the concepts anymore, it went out the window of my brain. As an undergraduate student, that absolutely did not work.”

Buck Goldstein, an economics professor who teaches a first-year seminar, said high school students usually get the results they want through putting in time and effort.

“In college, you may put in the effort and the time and actually care and like the class, but still don’t get the same result,” he said. “There are many students who have never gotten a B before they get to Carolina. They’re very likely going to get a B or even a C — and the first time is often very traumatic.”

O’Brien, a 2017 graduate and women’s and gender studies and sociology double major, said she should have gone to office hours and made a study schedule as a first-year.

“Spend a lot of time making a lot of mistakes with your studying,” O’Brien said. “That’s ultimately how you’re going figure out what you need to be doing to study.”

There are resources like the Learning Center and Writing Center on campus which coordinate study planning, peer tutoring and writing consultations for students. Vicki Behrens, an assistant director of the Writing Center, said students coming straight out of high school aren’t familiar with writing in a variety of academic styles.

“One week they may have a chemistry lab report, philosophy paper and a formal analysis for their art history class that’s all due at the same time,” she said. “Talking with someone on how to approach a new writing situation is really valuable for first-year students.”

Jessica Tanner, an assistant French professor, agrees.

“I see a lot of the very typical American style five-paragraph essay structure, triangle-square-triangle,” Tanner said. “I’m always looking for a deeper, critical reflection and for their own voice instead of just recapitulating things.”

Goldstein said that college is a big transition.

“(Incoming students) need to trust themselves and their ability,” Goldstein said. “They need to follow their passions and interests and not worry so much what either other people think or what they’re supposed to do. This is a unique opportunity to figure out who you are and to take advantage of it.”

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