10 Differences Between High School BFFs And College BFFs

It’s your freshmen year and you think that your best friend in college will be the same as your best friend from high school. This idea is wrong! College is completely different from high school. The friends you make now will not be the same you made back then. It is a completely different playing field and you need to know the differences. Here are the 10 differences between a college best friend and a high school best friend:

1. With college best friends you do literally everything together

In high school, you could only see your best friend so much. You had less freedom because you were still considered a child. There were curfews and family responsibilities that kept you from your best friend. On the other hand with your college best friend you can be together as much as you want. You will be able to do literally everything with your college best friend. Need to go grocery shopping? Want to just take a nap? Want to grab breakfast? You can drag your college best friend with you to all of these things and so much more. Want to grab a midnight snack at 3 in the morning? That is what a college best friend is for!

2. College best friends are like family

Since you can spend practically every day with your college best friend they soon become family to you. They learn everything about you, even all the flaws you try to hide from them. They see you at your best and worst and still love you. They accept you unconditionally. While in high school your friendship with a best friend could crumble simply because of gossip or because you like the same guy as them.

3. Study dates are a thing

In high school, you and your best friend did not have the need to study as much. You had way more free time to just relax and have fun with them. However, in college time management is a necessity. You will do all nighters for that paper that is due in the morning or your exam that is the next day. In college, you will have to study and do class work a lot. There is way less free time. So you may have a week you do not get to see your best friend because an upcoming exam that you are freaking out over or your professors decided to land an avalanche of work on you that week. You may not have time that week for several hours of relaxation with your best friend so instead, the two of you can go to the library together. Grab a Starbucks coffee and a burger with them and you are set. Maybe even do an all-nighter together to make sure you both stay awake and motivated.

4. In high school, you are forced to see them but in college, you have to make an effort

In high school, you were able to see your best friend five days a week because of school. You were practically forced together. However, in college, the likelihood of having all the same classes as your best friend is very slim. You have to go out of your way and make an effort to see them. This is where time management yet again comes into play. Sometimes you have to choose between that assignment you get done early, that club meeting, or seeing your best friend. In my freshmen year, I at first really struggled with making time for my new friends. I had not learned to efficiently manage my time and spent more time at school. I at first barely made time for my friends. Eventually, they gave up and waited until I made an effort and made time for them.

5. High school best friends go through the awkward adolescence with you, but your college best friend goes through everything with you

In high school, your best friend went through your awkward weird phases of growing up. They saw you go through that weird punk rock phase or goth stage. They were the first to learn about your embarrassing first kiss. They were there for your first awkward dance and first break up. However, in college, your best friend sees you at your best and worst. They are there when you get that A on an exam you were anxious for or you got the internship you were praying for. Your college best friend is with you when everything is going right and even when everything seems to be falling apart. They are there to comfort you when you need a shoulder to cry on or when you are having a panic attack or emotional breakdown because of all the exams you have. When you feel like dropping out they are there to encourage you to not give up.

6. High school best friends see who you are as a young adult but college best friends see who you become

Anyone I have ever talked to who went to college always tells me that it allowed them to become the person they needed to be. Who they were in high school was completely different to who they became in college. In high school, your best friend just gets through the awkwardness of adolescence with you. In college your best friend watches you mature and become an adult. College makes you truly grow as an individual and your college best friend gets to be with you every step of the way as you learn who you are.

7. You become an adult with your college best friend

In high school you and your best friend talked about boys, hair, makeup, and the gossip wheel of your classmates. Your college best friend is someone you can have deep philosophical or meaningful discussions with. They are the ones you get an apartment with and help you land that first job after college. You become an adult with your college best friend. High school best friends are there for the easier time of life when things were more trivial. Your college best friend walks with you on the journey of adulthood and every mile stone that comes with it.

8. Your college best friend has more in common with you

Let’s face it in high school it was easy to have a best friend that was the polar opposite of you because you were pushed together for five days a week in school. In college, you choose your best friend and will typically find your own niche group. You will most likely become best friends with someone with the same values as you and similar hobbies.

9. College best friends are your life long friends

In reality, if you go to a different college than your high school best friend you will most likely drift apart. You can see your college best friend way more because they will live near you. Your best friend in college will be someone you really connect with. You cannot imagine not having them in your life. As mentioned before you do everything together. The people you meet in college will be your lifelong friends. Now, I only ever talk to my high school best friend through social media. You may send a text, tweet, or snap at your high school best friend every once in a while. But your college best friend is the person you sit and talk with for hours. They see you go through everything good and bad which forms an unbreakable bond.

10. College best friends can teach you so much

College best friends can teach you so much because they most likely come from a very different background than you. They can teach you a new perspective on an idea or topic. They can broaden your horizons and make you more open-minded to differing opinions. Maybe they teach you about their religion or ethnic culture? They may be a different major than you so you can learn from that. College brings so much diversity.