History Main / CollegeIsHighSchoolPart2

One could argue that the reason why this trope exists is because most college-themed works are aimed at a high school audience (or, perhaps, because [[TheCoconutEffect college students are imagined to]] ''[[TheCoconutEffect look]]'' [[TheCoconutEffect like high-school students]] thanks to DawsonCasting). And, since most people would be uncomfortable watching "naive" high school students (for example) engaging in raunchy/anti-social behavior, writers instead use a college setting, while implementing enough high school tropes that their works will still be relatable to the average high schooler. In other instances, it's simply a matter of [[CriticalResearchFailure not doing the research]]. Sometimes, however, this trope will be justified by depicting the work's respective university as a sub-par school where all the burnouts and slackers go. Some countries, particularly any that have ever been communist, actually do have universities that are like super high schools in that they lack freedom and choice.

One could argue that the reason why this trope exists is because most college-themed works are aimed at a high school audience. And, since most people would be uncomfortable watching "naive" high school students (for example) engaging in raunchy/anti-social behavior, writers instead use a college setting, while implementing enough high school tropes that their works will still be relatable to the average high schooler. In other instances, it's simply a matter of [[CriticalResearchFailure not doing the research]]. Sometimes, however, this trope will be justified by depicting the work's respective university as a sub-par school where all the burnouts and slackers go. Some countries, particularly any that have ever been communist, actually do have universities that are like super high schools in that they lack freedom and choice.

The transition from high school to college is typically one of the biggest transitions you'll make in your entire life. Abruptly gone are things like principal's offices, standardized school scheduling, and forced/required teacher compassion. Similarly, "popular crowds" are mostly relegated to certain dormitories. And bullying becomes PassiveAggressiveKombat if anything. In college, no matter how athletic or smart you are, you're basically a nobody in the midst of a large and culturally-diverse student body. And, unlike in high school, your instructors and parents will not determine your general course of action. Your life plan is now completely up to you. On the plus side, it is easy to make friends by finding groups that match your interests, and thus lifelong outcasts can finally have a place where they belong.

The transition from high school to college is typically one of the biggest transitions you'll make in your entire life. Abruptly gone are things like principal's offices, standardized school scheduling and forced/required teacher compassion. Similarly, "popular crowds" are mostly relegated to certain dormitories. And bullying becomes PassiveAggressiveKombat if anything. In college, no matter how athletic or smart you are, you're basically a nobody in the midst of a large and culturally-diverse student body. And, unlike in high school, your instructors and parents will not determine your general course of action. Your life plan is now completely up to you. On the plus side, it is easy to make friends by finding groups that match your interests, and thus lifelong outcasts can finally have a place where they belong.

Many television and movie writers, however, seem unusually clueless about how different college life really is from high school life. Thus, they'll apply many popular high school tropes to university settings. Sometimes this makes sense, and a few, such as the SadistTeacher, are if anything ''more'' plausible in a college setting. Far more often, however, the opposite is true, because they're either unrealistically below the maturity level of your typical college student, or simply not feasible within the general structure of university life. For example, a team of thuggish [[JerkJock football players]] [[BarbaricBully perpetually bullying a shy/awkward freshman]] is ''highly'' unlikely in a university setting since they will not live in the same building, attend the same classes or have remotely the same schedule. Just as unlikely is a close-knit group of students having the exact same class schedule each semester.

One could argue that the reason why this trope exists is because most college-themed works are aimed at a high school audience. And, since most people would be uncomfortable watching "naive" high school students (for example) engaging in raunchy/anti-social behavior, writers instead use a college setting, while implementing enough high school tropes that their works will still be relatable to the average high schooler. In other instances, it's simply a matter of [[CriticalResearchFailure not doing the research]]. Sometimes, however, this trope will be justified by depicting the work's respective university as a subpar school where all the burnouts and slackers go. Some countries, particularly any that have ever been communist, actually do have universities that are like super high schools in that they lack freedom and choice.

This trope occurs in college-themed comedies a lot. Also, expect to see this in television shows starring a group of high schoolers that go off to [[CaliforniaUniversity college]] mid-series.

* ''Film/{{Accepted}}''
** Actually Justified and enforced, as it is a fake college for people who couldn't get into any real college due to a variety of reasons, mostly personality disorders, and are acting like immature people because that's what they believe college to be like.

** Some tropes are justified, since the Delta Tau Chi fraternity is depicted as the fraternity that all the burnouts and "dumb kids" join.

** Justified in that Bobby makes ForrestGump look normal. The Mud Dogs especially are at the bottom of the pile and they know it, the cross-eyed lineman seems to be a live-action version of [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel]] and they haven't won a game in years. When you are that far off the pace it's good to have someone to look down on, like Depression-era Americans laughing at the hillbillies in Dogpatch

* Homer had this opinion in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E3HomerGoesToCollege Homer Goes to College]]''. He's proven [[SubvertedTrope dead wrong]].

* Averted in "GoodWillHunting". Gus Van Sant took great care in making sure the mathematics used in the movie was both accurate and sufficiently advanced for MIT students.
* "AnimalHouse". College professors don't typically grumble about students not handing in papers. An extension can sometimes be granted, depending on the circumstances and the professor, but in college, no one hounds you for not doing your homework. You just fail.

* ''RevengeOfTheNerds''. Despite having all the standard college stuff (fraternities, dorms, etc.), it feels more like a high school movie with its depiction of students and how they behave. Realistically, in a college setting, the nerds should actually be ''looked up to'' for their intellect rather than ridiculed for it.

* The 2008 sex-comedy ''{{College}}'', which depicts college students as doing nothing more than non-stop drinking and partying (ie. having little concern for their studies, etc.). An attitude that might ''just barely'' get you by in high school but will definitely get you nowhere in college.

* ''TheWaterboy'', in how it depicts both the Cougars and Mud Dogs as constantly picking on Bobby [[ForTheEvulz for no actual reason]] and depicts college campuses as being unusually close-knit.

* Both averted and lampshaded in Creator/StephenKing 's "Literature/HeartsInAtlantis": The first-person narrator of one story comments that he and his friend were wishing college were more like high school without even realizing it. Also, the narrator's sentiment that it is much more difficult to catch up in college once you've fallen behind is a lesson many a freshman has learned the hard way.
* ''I Am Charlotte Simmons'' by Tom Wolfe. The students at the fictional Dupont University are part of a rigid pecking order with jocks at the top and brains at the bottom. Even the graduate students obsess over their place in these high school style cliques.

* ''BoyMeetsWorld'', which even went so far as to have school teacher Mr. Feeny follow Cory and his friends to college.
* ''FamilyMatters'' continued using the same stale "big jocks and snobby girls perpetually pick on scrawny nerd" trope when Laura, Urkel and Eddie went off to college, even though it made almost no sense by that time.

* ''BeverlyHills90210'', for the exact same reasons as SBTB.
* ''{{Undeclared}}'' did a pretty decent job averting many of these conventions. However, the show's main characters seem unusually carefree and unambitious for college students.

* On ''{{Friends}}'', when Ross delivers Girl Scout Cookies to the NYU dorms, they refer to him as "Cookie Dude!"

* ''ThatsMyBush'': The episode "A Poorly Executed Plan" has George's old college buddies come over for a visit. Let alone 50 year olds, these guys act immature even by HIGH SCHOOL standards!
* Averted on the ''FreaksAndGeeks'' episode "Noshing And Moshing." Neal's brother briefly comes home and discusses at the dinner table how different college is from high school (in a good way).

* In {{ComicStrip/Luann}}, [[http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2014/06/15 Luann's father invokes this trope with regard to Luann's future in junior college]].

* Blackwell Academy from LifeIsStrange does its best to blend both college and high school tropes:

** Your first year will require you to take basic coarses which include algebra, biology, chemistry, literature, history, and other classes you probably took or had the option of taking in high school.

** Actually Justified and enforced, as it is a fake college for people who couldn't get into any real college due to a variety of reasons, mostly personality disorders; and are acting like immature people because that's what they believe College to be like.

* Justified in ''AnimalHouse'', since the Delta Tau Chi fraternity is depicted as the fraternity that all the burnouts and "dumb kids" join.

* On ''{{Glee}}'', the fictional NYADA (New York Academy of Dramatic Arts) is this trope to the letter. We see {{Alpha Bitch}}es picking on Rachel, and Kurt feeling just as alienated as before. He even flat-out calls college "High School Part 2." Coupled with the extremely unrealistic admission processes, it makes you wonder if anyone on the creative staff has ever ''been'' to college.

* "AnimalHouse". College professors don't typically grumble about students not handing in papers. An extension can sometimes be granted, depending on the circumstances and the professor, but in college, no one hounds you for not doing your homework. You just fail. Also, in college, bells do not ring when class is over.

* Somewhat literally true for community colleges in the U.S., as many of them offer [=GEDs=] or other kind of high school equivalency testing.

Many television and movie writers, however, seem unusually clueless about how different college life really is from high school life. Thus, they'll apply many popular high school tropes to university settings. Sometimes this makes sense, and a few, such as the SadistTeacher, are if anything ''more'' plausible in a college setting. Far more often, however, the opposite is true, because they're either unrealistically below the maturity level of your typical college student, or simply not feasible within the general structure of university life. For example, a team of thuggish [[JerkJock football player]]s [[BarbaricBully perpetually bullying a shy/awkward freshman]] is ''highly'' unlikely in a university setting since they will not live in the same building, attend the same classes or have remotely the same schedule. Just as unlikely is a close-knit group of students having the exact same class schedule each semester.

* Both averted and lampshaded in Creator/StephenKing 's "Literature/HeartsInAtlantis": The first-person narrator of one story comments that he and his friend were wishing college were more like high school without even realizing it.

* In an old Dell ad, the "Dell Guy" was in a college lecture hall, plugging the latest product and eventually angering the professor. The bell soon rings (what college's have bells?) and the professor has the Dell Guy stay after class to write sentences on the chalk board (a punishment fitting middle school more than even high school).

* ''Literature/ElmerGantry'' hints at an [[UnbuiltTrope unbuilt]] version: Elmer's alma mater, Terwillinger College, is a heavily religious football school which doesn't necessarily resemble either a high school ''or'' a modern college -- but the narration mentions that it has "a standard of scholarship equal to the best high-schools."

-->--{{MST3K}}, ''The Home Economics Story''.

-->-MST3K, ''The Home Economics Story''.

** but justified in that Bobby makes ForrestGump look normal. The Mud Dogs especially are at the bottom of the pile and they know it, the cross-eyed lineman seems to be a live-action version of [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel]] and they haven't won a game in years. When you are that far off the pace it's good to have someone to look down on, like Depression-era Americans laughing at the hillbillies in Dogpatch