You’ve probably already wondered what university will be like. Will it be like your high school experience? Will you be able to handle it? Will it be fun and exciting? Will it be scary and terrifying? Well, hopefully, a glimpse at a day in the life of a university student will help sort some things out!

Your university experience is the most enjoyable period of any person’s life. This is where students discover themselves and are given the opportunity to explore knowledge. Even if you don’t know any university students personally, you probably have some inkling of what a typical day on campus is like: attend classes, do some homework, spend time in the library and maybe go to a party if it’s the weekend. Of course, that’s just the beginning.

The university schedule is very different than the high school schedule. Typically, there is a lot more flexibility with your classes. In high school, you were probably told that you had to take particular electives, which were offered every day at a particular time. In university, you’ll probably need to take a class but you could have more choices, which would be offered on different days, different times and for different durations.

The other interesting thing about university is that you usually have more opportunities to explore your interests and passions. For example, you will be picking a major that will determine the types of classes you will specialize in. In high school, you have a set curriculum of classes you have to take across the year, you’ll take more general education classes and a few classes in your major. But when you get to level 300 and 400 (junior and senior level), you’ll take fewer general education classes and more classes in your major.

Another big difference you should be aware of is the time structure. Right now, you’re probably in school from about 8:00 am–3:30 pm, Monday through Friday. This will not be the case in university, where you usually take four or five classes at different times throughout the week. You might have a Mathematics class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:10–11:40 am. Perhaps you’ll have a Literature class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:10–2:40 pm. Maybe on Mondays, you’ll have three classes, and on Tuesdays, you’ll have two classes. There will always be some courses that are only offered on certain days at certain times, but for the most part, there are a lot of options to think about! If you’re a morning person, you might want to schedule your classes to be done by noon. If you’re more of a night owl, having that first class start in the afternoon might be the best thing to ever happen to you. And you definitely won’t be in class for the most part of your day.

However, the university is like high school in that you will have the opportunity to get involved by joining different clubs and organisations. Most schools have hundreds of extracurricular activities, and it is pretty easy to start one as well. So, as you can imagine, your schedule can get crazy with club meetings, work study, sports practice amongst others.