My Essay:
Starting off with the nature of my classes, because this semester was all online, I didn't know really what to expect. From what I imagined about college classes, I expected them to have a lot fewer assignments, but those assignments would be worth a lot more than standard high school assignments. For most of my classes, this was definitely the case, even for online school. For my math class (Linear Algebra - MATH240), we have weekly quizzes, and about once every 3 weeks or so, we'd have a midterm due, and lastly a final. Compared to math class in high school, there's no daily homework or homework due every week. All the assignments are quizzes/exams that are graded based on accuracy and not completion. This can be challenging, because many students in high school math classes (including me before) relied on the homework to practice the material learned in class, since they were just graded on completion and the stakes were low. In college, however, you might not get that opportunity (depending on which math class/professor you get), so you'd either have to really pay attention in lectures and fully understand the materials there, or practice in your free time. In addition, the fewer assignments also mean their weight towards your total grade in the class is much higher. The midterms in my math class are worth a combined grade of 60%, and the final is 15%, so in total, the exams are 75%. As for the lectures in class, being online, they were exactly as I imagined and very close to high school's. Sadly I cannot give any more insight as all my lectures were online. However, there is an interesting addition to classes that isn't in high school, which are discussions. In discussions (which happen 1-2 times a week depending on how many credits the class is worth), a qualified TA, who is usually a graduate student or a senior in undergrad, goes over material that was talked about in the lectures. Since each discussion is only around 15-30 people, it gives students a much more open opportunity to ask questions about the material. For comparison, the lectures, which can have as low as 20 students to as much as hundreds, are where the professor solely teaches the material, while the discussions are when a TA makes sure everyone understands the material in lectures and when questions can be asked (questions can also be asked in lectures, but it's much more convenient and in depth in discussions).
Talking about SGC specifically, there wasn't really that much that I thought was out of the blue. At the start, I thought it was weird that we talked so much about what science really was, but now, I realize that it was because ultimately, climate change is a part of science, so to fully understand it, understanding science is important. Later on in the semester, we also discussed logical fallacies, which, from learning about logical fallacies in high school english class, I thought was unusual doing in a science class. However, I soon realized it was because when talking about climate change, lots of logical fallacies get thrown around, especially from the people against climate change, so it's valuable to understand them. As for course material, everything (and more) that I expected to be covered was covered, from the history of climate change to why it's a legitimate concern. One thing I wished that we did was field trips, but since everything was online, it was going to be a challenge to pull that off. That was quite disappointing because the field trips that SGC usually gets to go on seem really fun, and it's a big reason why I wanted to take this class. Overall, the structure of the class was quite good. There were weekly lectures to watch, books to read, and a weekly discussion. If I could change something, I'd say to talk more about the lecture videos in the discussions, because we didn't do that a whole lot, but rather mostly about the books we read.
University life is something I would've loved to talk about, but due to the unfortunate events, I didn't really experience much, as I stayed home. However, there are things I could spectuate, knowing how classes are structured. Compared to high school, students get way more time to spend with their classmates and friends. There's also a lot more freedom, as you don't have to tell your parents about where you're going, ect. From my very limited experience, I'd say university life is much more enjoyable than high school life, due to the freedom and extra time with friends.
The biggest advice I can give to new SGC students is to learn how to manage your time. Time management is much harder in college, due to a plethora of reasons. Compared to high school, there are fewer classes per day, so you get more free time. You might think this should make time management easier, but it can work against you. It's easier to get carried away and procrastinate on assignments, as there's so much free time. Bad habits like spending too much time with friends, and therefore saving your work till the last minute, can develop. In addition, because friends are so closeby, it could be harder to get focus on work. That said, it might also be beneficial, because friends can help each other on assignments. Ultimately, you need to know if you're capable of studying efficiently with friends, because for many (including me), productivity will drop drastically with friends nearby. I'd say if you are able to manage your time relatively well in college, you should find college life enjoyable.