When I made the jump from high school to college, it was not a smooth transition. At first, I feared the life change that I was about to make. While my fellow classmates were eager to receive their admissions responses, I was unexcited about them.

I didn’t think that I wanted to go to college because of the challenge that it posed. I had lived in my hometown since birth, and had never been away for my family for an extended period before. The first few weeks at college were an emotional challenge.

After some time at college, I grew acclimated to the new situation and embraced my newfound freedom.

During the rest of my freshman year I learned even more about people, especially myself.

When you live and study with a new group of people, you learn an incredible amount. While this knowledge occasionally comes from a stress-laden screaming match, it mainly comes in innocuous situations.

Sharing a box of pizza rolls at 2 in the morning, or taking a late-night trip to 7-Eleven creates a strong bond between people. In situations like these, people are more open with their feelings about each other and themselves.

The challenge to find out your true feelings and identity is one that we face our entire lives. College is a great chance to soul-search and learn from otherwise perfect strangers.

Let us not forget about that other challenge in college: academics.

During high school, I had little difficulty in getting A’s and most of the time I expended minimal effort to get those grades.

In college, I started my freshman year with a similar work ethic as high school.  (Note: Not a good idea). After receiving C’s on my first two college papers, I knew that I had to make a change.

On a whim, I took a Comparative Literature class, and ended up in the most difficult class of my life.  However, it was also the best class of my life.

How so, you say?

I had an outstanding professor; she knew all of her students by name and pressed us each to do better. She did not push us for the sake of getting better grades, but for the sake of bettering ourselves intellectually.  And it worked.

I began holding myself to a higher standard, and it showed in all of my academic results.

All of these situations occurred during my freshman year, but the lessons apply anytime. The challenges that I faced helped me grow tremendously; I became more mature, more self-aware, and more motivated to achieve success.

“Why Col­lege?” is a series of op-ed arti­cles writ­ten by Bet­ter Grads staff and guest con­trib­u­tors about why we chose to con­tinue educa­tion after high school, how we got there, and glimpses into what we learned. To begin at Part 1 in the series, click here.

As Elizabeth mentioned, February is a month filled with opportunities for budding relationships (college acceptance letters) and heartbreak. (sigh…rejection letters).

In some cases, these same letters may force some soon-to-be graduating high schools seniors to revisit a question they once confidently answered months before penning rough draft personal statements. What’s more, the answer to this question may not arrive after one discussion.

The question is simple: “What’s the value of a college degree?” Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, Wall Street Journal columnist Sue Shellenbarger attempted to answer that question. Below you will find excerpts from her December 2009 article as well as some great BetterGrads-inspired commentary.

Finding work you love. College degrees can guide students’ career choices in subtler ways. Jason Wotman, 24, loves his work as a co-founder of Tailwaiters, a Great Neck, N.Y., startup that runs tailgate parties for clients at sporting events and concerts. “It’s mine, it’s my baby. Every step, every ounce of progress, feels good,” he says.

His degree in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt University helped launch him as an entrepreneur, he says. His courses in marketing, human-resource management and leadership equipped him well to size up opportunities and run a startup. “Taking it from an idea to an actual business, I felt like I had the tools,” he says.

BG comments: Jason’s story illustrates how college is an incubator for great ideas. On a similar note, coursework, research grants, and volunteer opportunities prepared our own Kevin Adler to run Bettergrads.

Preparing for a rich, well-rounded life: To Megan DeLamar Schroeder, Texarkana, Texas, planning the college experience based entirely on future income demeans its true value. “The intangible benefits … cannot be reduced to some kind of short-term cost benefit-analysis, as though one is purchasing a piece of property or an expensive sports car,” she says.

She borrowed $40,000 to earn an economics degree from Stanford University in the 1980s, which landed her only an entry-level job at a bank upon graduation. She spent 10 years paying off her student loans. But the experience was worth every penny, she says. The opportunity “to ‘marinate’ for four years in an amazing environment” served as a “springboard to lifelong learning and inquisitiveness,” she says. She will encourage her 10-year-old twin daughters to hew to similar values when they start their college search, she says.

BG comments: What’s the value of “experience” and “intangible benefits?” As Chris Anderson, author of Free: The Future of a Radical Price notes, “Tuition buys direct proximity to ask questions, share ideas, and solicit feedback from academics like [UC Berkeley Physics Professor Richard] Muller. It’s access to the network of other students and the idea exchange, help, and relationships this provides.” That sounds like value to me.

Click here to read the full article and feel free to share your thoughts below.

Once upon time, Pell Grants, federal loans from the government, were a great asset to help students pay for their college education. However, Kevin Carey, a policy director at Education Sector, a D.C.-based think tank argues that this is no longer the case. In a recent article, he claims Pell Grants are not as beneficial today, given the rising costs of tuition and the lack of any objective, universal statistics to evaluate how well colleges educate students.

He explains that experts in the Education world approve of President Obama’s proposal to transfer more than $40 billion in banking industry subsidies to Pell Grants, as this would provide more opportunities for low-income students to obtain the necessary aid making the epic quest of attending college a little more realistic. However, adding more money to the Pell Grant budget does not resolve the issue of tuition hikes. And that’s a minor issue when compared to this observation by Carey:

“The biggest culprit is the lack of objective, publicly available information about how well colleges teach and how much college students learn. Nobody knows which colleges really do the best job of taking the students they enroll and helping them learn over the course of four years.”

Taking Carey’s comments into consideration, what’s at stake for colleges if they were to participate in a national exam evaluating their ability to educate students? Brand Equity. Hypothetically speaking, let’s say College A is a famous, large research university, who has received many accolades. College A, along with many other similar schools, decides to participate in a national assessment measuring its ability to educate students across majors. One year later, College A receives their exam results and the administration learns that College A can do a much better job of educating its students. With its reputation tarnished, College A sees lower enrollment numbers, and as a result lower revenue. While this example is a bit extreme, it shows why colleges would be apprehensive to subjecting themselves to said testing.

On the other hand, one might question the effectiveness of such testing. Obviously, there are different types of learning that extend beyond the classroom. For example, how could such an exam go about evaluating what a student has learned via an internship or research opportunity?

So, should colleges be evaluated on their ability to educate students? Feel free to share your two cents in the comment section below.

I caught this “13 Things Students Love to Hate About College” article on the excellent Professors’ Guide page on USNews.com. They pick up on several common complaints that students have in college and I thought I’d offer my two cents on a few that resonated the most with me.

3. My professor is unbelievably boring. What you can do: Drop the course and find another one with a better professor. Every college has its duds, but there’s no reason why you have to get stuck with one. Even if the professor is the only person teaching a required course, there are always possibilities of getting the adviser or the department chair to authorize a substitution for a requirement. Or just wait until the course is next offered, ideally with an instructor who at least makes a minimal effort to keep you awake.

Okay, now this is a bit extreme…I didn’t necessarily click with every professor I had in college (or even like them all, let’s be honest) but to write a professor off as a “dud” before even trying to make it work would be a mistake. This is where I really see office hours being useful–stop by, ask a question or maybe additional feedback on an assignment. Office hours are a great way for professors to get to know you–and for you to get to them as well.

6. I hate writing papers. What you can do: Think about a paper as simple communication. Can you think up five reasons why the cop shouldn’t give you a ticket when you were going 77 mph in a 25 mph zone? If this were a paper, the claim that you don’t deserve a ticket would be your thesis statement, and your five reasons would be the ways you prove your thesis. Now apply this to your history paper assignment.

I agree that the art of a clear thesis is often overlooked. Also, I can’t emphasize enough how beneficial peer writing centers/advisories can be. Working with juniors and seniors on my own writing allowed me to communicate candidly and sharpen my writing skills. And honestly, these things are not remedial…even after I worked in my college’s writing center, I still exchanged drafts with other tutors! Different colleges may operate such services in distinct ways, but they are generally extremely useful, especially for students who aren’t too keen on writing.

13. This college is nothing like what I expected it to be. It can happen, especially when you’ve paid too much attention to the YouTube-style videos on the college website put out by the admissions office. What you can do: Seek out those places and activities at the college that attracted you in the first place. Going to a few fun activities—and meeting a few fun people—can change your perspective about the school 100 percent.

I feel like we spend so much time and energy on college admissions these days that we forget about what happens once that hurdle is passed and it’s time to, well, live life at college. I think my first year or two of college reflected some of the most intense highs and lows I’ve ever experienced–it’s normal. I agree that seeking out new activities is a good way to combat this issue, and it doesn’t even have to be a big commitment; colleges host tons of speakers and workshops that are worth checking out as well.

As this is my first post-college Thanksgiving, I thought I’d take a quick gander at what I’m most thankful for regarding the past four years. Today, I’m thankful…

…for rigorous coursework (most of the time).
It wasn’t until I got to graduate school that I realized how hard my professors pushed me—they set high standards for the depth of our critical thinking and the quality of our writing. This may have resulted in some frustrating grades and more than a few lonely late nights in the library, but it made me a better student in the long run. It’s tempting to scope out the “easy” classes or professors, and I definitely did my share of that as well, but I don’t regret taking introductory economics with hardest professor in the department. I may wish I could change that C on my transcript, but I don’t regret the class because I learned the most I possibly could from it.

…that my roommate turned out to be an incredible friend.
Going into sophomore year, my social situation was in flux, room draw was fast approaching, and I needed a roommate. Enter Caroline, the good friend of my freshman year neighbor. We barely knew each other but decided to give it a shot—something that turned out to be one of the best decisions of my college career. As it turned out, we shared a similarly quirky sense of humor, love of romantic comedies on DVD, and frozen yogurt. We fell asleep some nights talking about our families, friends, and every neurotic worry under the sun. The girl that started out as an answer to a simple problem turned out to be one of my best friends, something that I never could have predicted or planned.

…for Easy Mac and cereal.
I don’t care how good the food is on campus (or not). Sometimes, a college student must fend for herself, and that’s when macaroni and cheese in under three minutes becomes an indispensable facet of college life. And cereal? Cereal could have its own restaurant, it’s that versatile. Cheerios for breakfast, Cinnamon Life for lunch, Lucky Charms for dinner, and Reese’s puffs for dessert. What’s not to love?

…for free career counseling, workshops, and preparation.
I think that career counseling resources are some of the most underused and under-appreciated at universities today—take advantage! I met with a career counselor my freshman year just to learn more about their services and my options. Later, I had my resume critiqued many times, received cover letter revisions, and even did a mock interview for an internship application (which I got, thanks in part to my career center’s help). I also met with recruiters from Teach for America and the Peace Corps, attended a public interest law panel, and mingled with alumni from a variety of fields during multiple alumni-student professional networking events. In this economy, every bit of help is valuable, and I’m so glad that I didn’t ignore the career counseling resources available on campus.

Well, it’s time for some tryptophan and cranberry sauce—Happy Thanksgiving to all!