History Main / CollegeIsHighSchoolPart2

* In ''Film/IllBeHomeForChristmas'', the lead goes to a CaliforniaUniversity, yet everyone still uses hallway lockers to hold their belongings and jocks still stuff the nerds in said lockers.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': In "Rebel Without a Glove", Daffy ends up teaching a political science course at the local college. Bells ring to mark the start of classes, and Porky acts likes a typical high school TeachersPet.

* While the difference between High School and College may vary more or less in the above way description for the ''students'', the difference is likely to be significantly more dramatic for the instructors at most schools. Most Professors who teach are also expected to conduct research and publish material (this is where the saying "publish or perish" comes from), and in most cases the professors are expected to put a ''lower'' value on teaching than their research. [[https://jakeseliger.com/2010/09/26/how-universities-work-or-what-i-wish-id-known-freshman-year-a-guide-to-american-university-life-for-the-uninitiated/ Here]] is a good article explaining some of the significant differences that may not be apparent to anyone who hasn't entered Grad School.

* While the difference between High School and College may vary more or less in the above way description for the ''students'', the difference is likely to be significantly more dramatic for the instructors at most schools. Many PhDs who teach are also expected to conduct research and publish material (this is where the saying "publish or perish" comes from), and in most cases the professors are expected to put a ''lower'' value on teaching than their research. [[https://jakeseliger.com/2010/09/26/how-universities-work-or-what-i-wish-id-known-freshman-year-a-guide-to-american-university-life-for-the-uninitiated/ Here]] is a good article explaining some of the significant differences that may not be apparent to anyone who hasn't entered Grad School.

->'''Title Card''': ''This is an Iowa State College production.''\\
'''Tom Servo''': Iowa State College, the high school ''after'' high school.
-->-- ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', "[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S03E17VikingWomenAndTheSeaSerpent The Home Economics Story]]".

As with many tropes, this one runs a spectrum. In some cases, it's just a way of showing that people don't grow up ''that'' much the minute they turn into independent adults, or even explicitly describes college antics as something these guys had ''wanted'' to do all through high school but couldn't because of high school's authority figures. This is particularly common in "frat comedies" like ''Film/AnimalHouse''. But on the other end of the spectrum, the authority figures are just as active in college as they are in high school, leading to such insanity as professors putting college students in detention for texting in class.

* VisualNovel/MonsterProm: Implied. The setting is referred to as a high school, yet the youngest character, Miranda, is 19. The rest are in their twenties (or [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld even older]], in the case of Liam and Zoe). Miranda, Damien, Vera [[spoiler:and her sister Valerie]], and Scott and his Wolfpack cousins are also the only characters in the game who make any reference to living with their parents (or grandparents, in the wolves' case), with the first two coming specifically from high-profile royal families; and students are allowed to drink alcohol in the cafeteria, even if they're under the legal drinking age. All of this is eventually “[[VoodooShark explained]]” in Monster Roadtrip: monster society’s understanding of what high school is was based largely on sitcoms and the DawsonCasting was just accepted as fact.

* MonsterHigh: Implied. The setting is referred to as a high school, yet the youngest character, Miranda, is 19. The rest are in their twenties (or [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld even older]], in the case of Liam and Zoe). Miranda, Damien, Vera [[spoiler:and her sister Valerie]], and Scott and his Wolfpack cousins are also the only characters in the game who make any reference to living with their parents (or grandparents, in the wolves' case), with the first two coming specifically from high-profile royal families; and students are allowed to drink alcohol in the cafeteria, even if they're under the legal drinking age. All of this is eventually “[[VoodooShark explained]]” in Monster Roadtrip: monster society’s understanding of what high school is was based largely on sitcoms and the DawsonCasting was just accepted as fact.

* In ''VisualNovel/MonsterProm'', it's left ''very'' vague whether the school is a high school or college. The prom event, the look of the classrooms and cafeteria, and the general social situation are reminiscent of high school. But most of the love interests are in their early 20s, there's barely any mention of parents, and everyone freely goes around drinking, doing drugs, and [[EverybodyHasLotsOfSex screwing each other]] in a way that seems much more like college.
** No, it's outright stated to be a high school as the school is named 'Spooky High'. Also there are several secret endings that show the majority of the love interests still live with their parents or legal guardians, the age thing can be explained away as being either to accommodate for monsters who take longer to reach adolescence due to biological differences or the school system being structured differently in the monster world or both, and the various illicit activities are meant to satirize the typical high school hijinks by [[ExaggeratedTrope blowing them far out of proportion.]]

[[folder:Film]]

* It's true in some sense in the UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem, but only [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage semantically]], as "college" in Britain often implies what is effectively a form of high school. What Americans call "college" is what Britons would call "university"; what Britons call "sixth-form college", Americans would call "12th grade". There are exceptions to this, though, such as "colleges" that are institutions within a university (most notably Oxford and Cambridge, among others), further education colleges (similar to American "community colleges") that run adult education programmes, and the like.

There are so many HighSchool tropes that if a work relies on them, it's got real trouble once its characters graduate. To prevent them from [[GraduateFromTheStory graduating out of the story]], the story follows them to college, but they still want to use the same tropes, hence why college seems to be exactly like high school. You've still got a stuck-up principal, only this time he's called the "dean" (and he might have fancier glasses). You've still got characters seeking a WildTeenParty, only now they're part of WackyFratboyHijinx. The students are still the same types of characters; you've still got {{Jerk Jock}}s, {{Valley Girl}}s, and {{Nerd}}s, and you've still got [[HormoneAddledTeenager youth-induced relationship drama]]. You've still got [[StuffedIntoALocker lockers into which to stuff the nerds]], and you've still got bells and hall monitors to tell you when class is supposed to start.

* While not shown on screen, ''Film/CantHardlyWait'' averts this in its WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. Former BigManOnCampus Trip even warns JerkJock Mike, who is expecting college to be a non stop orgy with girls throwing themselves at him like they would have in high school, that college is not what he expected and that he's pretty unhappy. Mike apparently fails to heed this warning and ends up losing his football scholarship due to drinking too much and can't even hold down a job at a car wash. On the opposite end of the popularity scale, {{Nerd}} William becomes one of the most popular students at Harvard, starts a tech company and ends up dating a supermodel.

* [[AcademyOfAdventure Beacon Academy]] in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' starts taking students seventeen and above (Ruby, at fifteen, is a GradeSkipper), holds lectures in halls, and is staffed with professors like a college. But students wear uniforms and have lockers like a high school.

* ''Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'': Episodes taking place at Omnia Academy are like this. This includes school plays, detentions, clubs and a student president election. Given that head writer Luke is a self-admitted high school dropout who never attended college, it makes some sense that his knowledge of how college works would be rather limited.

* It's true in some sense in the UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem, but only [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage semantically]], as "college" in Britain often implies what is effectively a form of high school. What Americans call "college" is what Britons would call "university"; what Britons call "sixth-form college", Americans would call "12th grade". There are exceptions to this, though, such as "colleges" that are institutions within a university (most notably Oxford and Cambridge, among others), further education colleges that run adult education programmes, and the like.

-->-- [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]], ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S03E17VikingWomenAndTheSeaSerpent The Home Economics Story]]''.

* ''Series/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.

* The 2008 sex comedy ''Film/{{College}}'' depicts college students doing nothing more than [[WildTeenParty nonstop drinking and partying]], with little concern for their studies. In high school, you ''might'' get away with an attitude like that by the skin of your teeth, but if you do that in college, you'll wash out before you know it. Parties among people who ''stay'' in college tend to be more the "unwind after a week of work and classes" deal.

* Many American community colleges (also called junior colleges) can be effectively called "High School Part 2" and are sometimes derisively referred to as the "13th grade". They often offer high school-level courses like math and English to adults who otherwise lack college-level academic skills, and many will offer [=GEDs=] or other high school equivalency testing for adults who never finished high school. This leads to a lot of structural similarities, including keeping track of attendance and the "feel" of the instruction, as well as an "institutional" look of campus buildings. Most community colleges are "commuter colleges" and don't have students living on campus. On the other hand, there's no dress code, no set schedule, and the instructors aren't usually ''as'' insistent on showing up as they would be in high school; stereotypes aside, students at community college typically want to make ''some'' effort to learn something.
** Comedian Creator/AdamCarolla has often joked about junior colleges as this, calling them "high schools with ashtrays."

* ''Literature/ElmerGantry'' hints at an [[UnbuiltTrope unbuilt]] version: Elmer's alma mater, Terwillinger College, is a heavily religious football school which adheres to the ''in loco parentis'' model, so it doesn't quite 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."

* Many American community colleges (also called junior colleges) can be effectively called "High School Part 2" and are sometimes derisively referred to as the "13th grade". They often offer high school-level courses like math and English to adults who otherwise lack college-level academic skills, and many will offer [=GEDs=] or other high school equivalency testing for adults who never finished high school. This leads to a lot of structural similarities, including keeping track of attendance and the "feel" of the instruction, as well as an "institutional" look of campus buildings. More often than not, community colleges are "commuter colleges" and don't have students living on campus. On the other hand, there's no dress code, no set schedule, and the instructors aren't usually ''as'' insistent on showing up as they would be in high school; stereotypes aside, students at community college typically want to make ''some'' effort to learn something.

* Many American community colleges can be effectively called "High School Part 2" and are sometimes derisively referred to as the "13th grade". They often offer high school-level courses like math and English to adults who otherwise lack college-level academic skills, and many will offer [=GEDs=] or other high school equivalency testing for adults who never finished high school. This leads to a lot of structural similarities, including keeping track of attendance and the "feel" of the instruction, as well as an "institutional" look of campus buildings. On the other hand, there's no dress code, no set schedule, and the instructors aren't usually ''as'' insistent on showing up as they would be in high school; stereotypes aside, students at community college typically want to make ''some'' effort to learn something.

* It's true in some sense in the UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem, but only [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage semantically]], as "college" in Britain is effectively a form of high school. What Americans call "college" is what Britons would call "university"; what Britons call "sixth-form college", Americans would call "12th grade".

There are so many HighSchool tropes that if a work relies on them, it's got real trouble once its characters graduate. To prevent them from [[GraduateFromTheStory graduating out of the story]], the story follows them to college, but they still want to use the same tropes, hence why college seems to be exactly like high school. You've still got a stuck-up principal, only this time he's called the "dean" (and he might have fancier glasses). You've still got characters seeking a WildTeenParty, only now they're part of WackyFratboyHijinx. The students are still the same types of characters; you've still got {{Jerk Jock}}s, {{Valley Girl}}s, and {{Hollywood Nerd}}s, and you've still got [[HormoneAddledTeenager youth-induced relationship drama]]. You've still got [[StuffedIntoALocker lockers into which to stuff the nerds]], and you've still got bells and hall monitors to tell you when class is supposed to start.

* While not shown on screen, ''Film/CantHardlyWait'' averts this in its WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue. Former BigManOnCampus Trip even warns JerkJock Mike, who is expecting college to be a non stop orgy with girls throwing themselves at him like they would have in high school, that college is not what he expected and that he's pretty unhappy. Mike apparently fails to heed this warning and ends up losing his football scholarship due to drinking too much and can't even hold down a job at a car wash. On the opposite end of the popularity scale, HollywoodNerd William becomes one of the most popular students at Harvard, starts a tech company and ends up dating a supermodel.