Is the college experience true/legitimate adulthood?

[sektor]

I was wondering is it?

[MWF]

It depends. If you're like me, and you don't join anything, get a job, or make friends in college, it can be more dull than before.
If you don't waste every second of your time, yeah it can be adulthood.

[Celyn]

I would say that you get out, what you put in. Most movies might portray college as being epic parties and meeting really awesome people, which is entirely possible. Though it also requires hard work and dedication to keep up with classes and workload.

Is it legitimate adulthood? Probably not. You don't have to go to college to enter into 'adulthood' (which is largely a social construct anyway). Though college is different to school, in that it's your responsibility to go to classes and hand in work (no-one is going to chase you up on it) at the same time, it's different to an actual work environment or other responsibilities that being an adult might entail. I think it's a good stepping stone into the adult world, especially if you move out, because you're responsible for rent, bills, cooking and cleaning etc. I guess it's all down to what the individual gets out from the experience.

[Eternal]

I wouldn't say it's legitimate adulthood. Some people get a job and move out right out of high school and I'd say they are entering adulthood. Going to college is sort of an in-between step, in fact I think it's even called the forgotten generation. Sure, you move out and are responsible for taking care of yourself in college but chances are you're going to still be relying on your parents. College is expensive and because you can't work full time, you'll still need co-signers for big purchases, such as when you start renting an apartment. I am in my third year of college and I would not say I am getting the "adulthood" experience right now. Adulthood usually doesn't involve study for tests, working only part time, and usually involves being independent from parents.

[Always *]

I would say yes. Even if you rely on family for money and don't work, if you're like me, you have to make adult decisions by virtue of living in your own no-parent home and make your own decisions. It's your job to get to school, do your homework, feed yourself, exercise, clean your home, have a social life and make sure your bills are paid etc etc. Plus you have to start making decisions about your career, such as volunteering, getting internships, applying to grad school if necessary and so on. Of course, all our experiences are different and i know I could have done things differently but that's what comes with being an adult is making decisions and accepting whatever comes of it.

[Hiraeth]

Depends on the person and their situation. It can either be not really adulthood at all, or some of the most challenging years you'll ever have in your adult life.

Some students still live with their parents, have their parents pay for their entire tuition, not need to work part time at all, and generally don't have to worry about that much more compared to high school, with the exception of increased workload and a slew of new experiences to make sense of.

Others have no support or perhaps even contact with their parents altogether, are forced to take out loans which can range from modest to astronomical depending on the country (or juggle full time work and school simultaneously if the parents refuse to co-sign), at least work enough hours part-time for it to eat into the energy that "should" go to coursework, have tremendous difficulty securing housing without a full time income or a co-signer, etc.

Pretty much everyone falls somewhere along the spectrum between the two extremes. I was very much skewed towards the latter extreme. My full time working life is so much "easier" compared to when I was a poor student caught in legal limbo all alone.

[ladygodoftitsandwine]

No. The college experience is not adulthood. It's about learning how to become an adult. More often than not, becoming an adult is learning from one's mistakes. College is basically just a ton of homework and a lot of binge drinking.