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Are college English classes like high school english?

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Melanie’s Answer

Hi Henry!

They are similar, but can be more writing intensive. Many classes will mix discussion with writing assignments and reflections. This make it all the more important to understand and do well in English classes even if it is not your major as even in fields like engineering, a technical writing class will be required.
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Katherine’s Answer

I agree with Melanie! Additionally, the readings are a bit more robust and mature. I really enjoyed my college English classes and was able to apply the skills learned from those across multiple subject areas.
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Richard’s Answer

The answer to this depends significantly on which college and which English course you sign up for. Some introductory college courses are very similar to what you may have experienced in high school - reading several novels and completing essays. They are meant to be broad overviews of different topics. However, many upper-level English courses focus on very specific aspects and themes, which many people do not experience in high school.
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Megan’s Answer

At my university your general elective english classes were extremely different based on the professor you had so if that's the case at your school I really recommend checking out rate my professor first. My friend's class was about mystery novels and had a lot of papers while mine was about memes (keep in mind this was almost 8 years ago). Both classes were the same level and same amount of credits but the workload and the focus were clearly very different.
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Sergio’s Answer

Hello Henry,
My advice is a little non-standard, but I feel it is relevant to your question. I performed well in High School English, and passed the college placement exam. However, I did not particularly enjoy the subject and didn’t want to take a whole year of it in college. I studied and took the English CLEP which is a test you can take to show that you currently meet all requirements. If your school gives credit for this exam, you can test out of it in hours instead of months. The test was $75 and if for some reason you do not pass, there is no grade recorded or reflected on your GPA. It is really a win/win because the upside is 6 credits and completing your college English requirements.

This is not for everyone, but I found it to be a great way for me to get quick credit and complete college in less than 4yrs. If you are interested, there are several more you can take. I cut almost a year off my course load by taking various subjects. As a byproduct, I also saved a lot of money. Something to consider.

Good luck in school!

Sergio recommends the following next steps:

Visit the CLEP website https://clep.collegeboard.org/exams
Verify that your college accepts this exam
Study for your exam so you pass the first time
Take the test and walk out knowing your grade
If you like it, target another course
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Riley’s Answer

In most states around the country, there will be a basic guide for all the English classes in public high schools. This means that out of the 4 years, each year will have a specific focus and specific books that the students are required to read; for example, all of the 10th grade English classes at my high school were generally focused on poetry and most of our reading and writing had to do with that. This is completely different when you get to college, though, because it depends much more on the professor that you have. In my Composition 1 and 2 classes, we focused mostly on writing papers that the professor would design and we had to read one book in each of the classes. Compared to what my friends took, I would say there was much less consistency between professors.
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Blake’s Answer

Hey Henry,

They are similar in the approach to learn, but they will have deeper discussions than high school classes.

Thanks,
Blake
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Macy’s Answer

At Clemson University I took English 101 and English 102. These courses are similar to high school English courses through the material taught. You can expect to read books and write papers and be able to articulate a strong Introduction, thesis, Body, and conclusion. There was also topics discussed covering correct grammar usage. The level of difficulty highly depends on your professor.

Macy recommends the following next steps:

I would suggest researching different professors.
Check out rate my professor to check out if your learning styles match the professors teaching methods.
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Estelle’s Answer

My experience with my kids and college English classes it that they are expected to write papers that require more contemplation and express their own ideas more than what the are taught in the classes themselves. Some AP English classes are very close to college level. The professors just expect a deeper understanding of material in college and more effort in original thought processes.
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