7 Ways the Movies Portray College Are Wrong ...

One of the biggest ways the movies portray college wrongly is when it shows stereotypical cliques. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely clear-cut groups of friends, but groups such as jocks, nerds, and the other stereotypical cliques you associate with high school, don’t really have a presence on campus. And there sure is no social hierarchy that dictates who is cool and who isn’t.

When you think of the stereotypical college in a movie, it's a giant green quad with people playing Frisbee and studying between classes. While this may happen at some schools, not every school is centered around a giant lawn where students can play sports. This is one of the many examples where movies fail to take variety of campuses into account.

I have never once read a book in class or learned a lesson that I could apply to whatever situation I was dealing with at home. Don’t get me wrong, the lessons they teach in college are very valuable, but they don’t necessary relate to real life. You are lucky if you get textbook knowledge and real-life knowledge all in the same class.

I am always so envious of the dorm rooms in movies. They are so spacious, have tons of room for all of your clothes, and allow roommates at least an ounce of personal space. While every school offers a different dorm set-up, I personally lived in a shoebox. You might want to take that into account before planning on living like a queen when you get to campus.

In almost every movie about college, there are tons of girls just willing to take their tops off and hook up with any guy they meet. There will always be some girls who think this is the way to act in college, but this is by no means the status quo for school. This is definitely one of the ways movie portray colleges that you should not believe when entering to college.

If only you could just disregard the copious amounts of homework and studying you have to do and go out every night of the week. It always seems that students in college movies forget they are actually students and party all night. That could not be further from the truth and most students unfortunately don’t realize that when they first get to college. Don’t fall into this trap of thinking college is all about social life and partying, and make sure to place a big emphasis on your academics.

I would love to one day see a movie about college that doesn’t revolve around Greek life and massive frat parties. I know tons of people in Greek life who love the social aspect of their fraternity or sorority, but that does not mean that you have to be in Greek life to have a social life.

Everyone’s college experience is different, so some people may have these be a part of their college life. But these movie portrayals of college are by no means the status quo for life at college. Don’t let the movies give you too many expectations of a school. Do you think the ways movies portray colleges are wrong? What are some other misconceptions about college that the movies portray? Were any of these an aspect in your college experience?