University courses are certainly different from highschool courses. The courses aren't always harder, but they're less guided and put all the responsibility on the student. Most of my classes didn’t have much homework, but had brutal exams. The classes expect you to do practice problems and watch lectures on your own time (online classes). The classes that took me by surprise the most were my math classes. This semester I took Differential Equations, and the tests cover several topics that are extremely difficult and take forever to learn. This class however, has been my favorite this semester. I don’t do well in classes I already partially understand because studying feels redundant, but then I don't have practice. Diff Eq however was completely new and learning so much new information was super exciting, especially because it was difficult.
With online school, it was more difficult to develop relationships with faculty members, but still doable. Although most professors don't always seem friendly, don’t be afraid to stay after class, go to office hours or ask them a question. Most professors love students who are engaged in their class. I haven’t been able to build strong relationships with my professors, but I have had some good conversations with them which helped me stay interested in the classes. To reinforce what's already been said: don't be afraid to go to office hours or stay after class to talk about the content of the course even if you already understand it.
College is full of people just like you. Especially in scholars where you live with people who take similar classes. Having friends isn't just fun, but often the people you meet can be pretty smart and more than willing to help you with any troubles, school or personal. Sometimes it's hard to be friends with someone who doesn't share any classes or interests with you. To get around this obstacle, just invite them to play football or something where you can get to know each other without first talking about something you both share interest in. To best use your connections with peers, first you have to make friends. Remember that everyone else is also terrified of their first couple days at college, so they’ll be happy to hangout. Once you have friends you can study with them or they can show you resources they used to learn class material. In terms of academic life, I was not prepared for taking on the responsibility of watching lectures. I will gladly go to class and listen for over an hour, but if I have to sit there and watch video every week on my own time it's not happening. I ended up watching all my lectures a day or so before tests. Unlike high school, the university won’t help you if you aren't passing your classes. The responsibility is all on you to get the work in and learn the material.