Many incoming college first-year students share insecurities and worries entering their first year of college. Whether it be sharing a room with a complete stranger or experimenting at parties, most college first-yeah students venture into this new world with similar fears. The popular online site www.collegehumor.com recently completed a survey after interviewing over 20,000 post-first year students nationwide about their experiences during their freshmen years. Questions mainly pertained to skipping class, partying and sex.
According to the survey, more than 44 percent of college first-year students drank on the first night of college. Males were 49 percent more likely to engage in drinking on that night than females were. Additionally, out of those who drank in high school, 80 percent of those students continued to drink at least twice a week during their freshmen year. When it comes to scoring alcohol, males are more likely to obtain a fake ID than women. Only 19 percent of freshmen girls obtained a fake ID as opposed to 26 percent of males.
Partying and experimenting with drugs seems to go along with the territory of attending college. Statistics show that more than half of college freshmen do indeed use illegal drugs. The survey showed 51 percent of college freshmen admitted to using marijuana, 12 percent used hallucinogenic mushrooms and nine percent used cocaine.
Thirteen percent of college freshmen have said that they have abused the prescription drug Adderall. Adderall is a prescribed drug to treat Attention Deficit Disorder. College students generally abuse this drug to help them focus on studying or long hours doing school work. This drug has been gaining in popularity within colleges and universities nationwide.
With all this drinking and drug use occurring, one would have to assume that the education and grades would suffer. And if a person assumed this, s/he would be correct. Only 29 percent of college first-year students did not skip class, while a staggering 71 percent did. Males were 41 percent more likely to skip class than females. Sequentially, missing class will affect a student’s GPA adversely. Missing one class a week will lower one’s GPA six percent, and missing four or more classes will lower it 19 percent, dropping a 3.6 GPA to lower than 3.0.
Concerning sexual activity, the stereotype associates college with frequent sexual activity. According to collegehumor’s survey, 46 percent of incoming first-year students are virgins when entering college. Thirty-eight percent of those students then become secually active during their first year. The number of students who enter their second year as virgins is dramatically lower at 28 percent.
Not all first-year students are promiscuous with their sexual endeavors. Only 34 percent of college first-year students will have sexual intercourse with two or more people. Many college first-year students come into the year with their high school sweethearts. 37 percent of incoming freshmen start off having a significant other, and 56 percent of them maintain the relationship for at least one year. Only 18 percent of students end up losing contact and never speaking to the significant other again.
This survey tends to side with most of the stereotypes that the general public has about college life. Most first-year students will drink alcohol, experiment with illegal drugs and have sexual encounters. Classes will be missed after a night of heavy drinking, and their GPA’s will be affected by it. But as long as a healthy balance is maintained, success can still be achieved during this tumultuous time in students’ lives.