What is college like for aspies

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The first year was pretty hard: getting used to the increased pace of the classes compared to high school, boring lectures, and dealing with having roommates and dorm life. Dorm life was the toughest. My roommates were actually okay people, but having strangers in my space was uncomfortable, and one roommate was very social with a lot of people wandering in and out. I once bit a guy on the arm because he and a friend were playing a prank on my roommate (I thought they were going to rape her, oops, my bad ). Everyone thought i was nuts after that, and I got a bit of a reputation. I started getting depressed and anxious, and got some counseling. That helped a lot.

After the first year, it got much better. The classes were smaller, and were discussions with the professor and fellow students about subjects that interested me. I could yak about my interests without people rolling their eyes, what a treat! I started making friends more than I did the first year and did more social things (not a lot, but some).

My advice: don't take on too much. Try to include one class on a subject that you're really interested in every semester, if you think that would be a treat. Try a little socializing if you want to get to know how it works, but don't let it stress you out if you're not ready. There are lots of groups and clubs for special interests. I found that there was a lot less bullying (except for Bitten Arm Guy, and that was a one-time occurrence), so the social dynamic is different from high school. If you can, don't take on work as well as school.

Academically, I only liked my art classes. I was an art major. I didn't care about all my other classes and pretty much ignored them and passed with a C. Socially, it was a godsend. Parties organized themselves at the slightest whim, and there was always plenty of booze and stuff to overcome social awkwardness. Living away from my parents was the best. Money was a problem. It was occasionally hard when many students went home for the weekend and I didn't. Of course, it was the 90's and things were awesome generally.

Now I hate parties.

My experiences are similar to nerdygirl, with the exception of wanting to drop out.

Even thinking of dropping out was not allowed in my parents house.

Going to classes, taking notes, going back home.....
And taking exams.

And that's it. I have no friends there (yes, three years and made no new friends there despite all the "chances" I had), just a small group of acquaintances and I don't talk to them much.
For me it's not only impairment, sometimes I feel like I'm not interested in making friends. Sometimes I want to or want to try but can't get myself to. It'd be overwhelming for me to initiate conversation or something like that.

I was lucky to live with two friends in an apartment so no strangers in my personal space. This helped me a lot.

For me, it was much more enjoyable than high school. For one, all you have to do is go to class and then leave. You are not stuck with the same people eight hours a day having to go to the same classes back to back for an entire year. Also, if you don't feel like talking or making friends, you don't have to. I too got sucked in to the idea that college was going to be so much fun that I really tried hard to make friends at the beginning, but just like in high school, I did not get the aspects of social communication and people really did not take to me all the well. I also lived on campus for one year and while that sounded like a good idea at the beginning, I really needed my privacy and quiet- so living in a small dorm room with two other girls was just not going to cut it for me. Luckily, my college was not too far from home and I just lived at home for the remaining three years and commuted.

Did I miss a lot? I'm sure I did. However, I'm sure the things that I missed are the things I could not care less to partake in. I am not a drinker, so the parties didn't not reel me in. Also, I found the girls and guys to be really strange and superficial- almost like they were drinking the college "Kool-Aid" of how college kids were supposed to behave.

My advice is to do your own thing and be comfortable. This is your first step into adulthood and into finding out who you are and what you want to be in the world. If you are not comfortable with something you can always opt out. There is always a study group or on campus organization you can join pertaining to your special interest!

I returned to school again this fall, the social aspect of it is incredibly stressful and it's hard not to feel more isolated and depressed when I see all the "normal" people my age with everything going for them while I have nothing and will likely always have nothing. I am still trying to get use to it, medication has helped but I worry about tolerance and them cutting me off. I think it is probably unlikely I finish this degree, I dunno what is going to happen. Academically, stuff hasn't been too hard but I haven't taken math yet and I basically have to take every remedial course since I scored so low on my placement test.

This is my 4th year at university, and although I'm a bit frustrated at times, I like it. It is much better than high school in a sense that you study mostly what you are interested in, and the classes are much more thought-provoking and enjoyable. I'm just a bit bored with it because this is my extra year (I'm in a 3-year program), and I really need some fresh air now, so to speak.

As for the social life, it is your choice. I tried to be social in my first year, went to parties and everything, but didn't enjoy them. I took on the habit of leaving without a word when the party got really hard. And people tended to call me for drinks way too often, and I soon realized that it wasn't in my comfort zone at all, so I just didn't go. Now they don't call me at all, and I'm perfectly happy for that. Not that I don't like them, but I don't need their companies. We don't even stay in contact, mostly because a lot of them already graduated last semester.

I live in a dorm with a friend of mine as my roommate. This is totally enough social life for me. I'm in an academic study group from this semester, I wonder how it will turn out with my social anxiety and all.

Non-existent. In the first few weeks it became pretty evident my class mates weren't accepting me and were trying to avoid me. I stopped going to lectures and just read the data files, e-mailed the assignment and read the books back to back. Easily passed my university exams with minimal effort.

I went to two colleges. The first one was hell. The second one was hell x2. I was always such a deeply suicidal person who simply thought he wasn't going to live a long time.

Reading through these replies, I realize that for some, college was great (although challenging in one way or another) and for others, it was misery.

If you go, maximize your outcomes by selecting things that stack the deck for you. I had to get away from home, but some people would rather still live at home. You can select how much time and energy you want to spend on social life. If you know you're a good student, select a hard college; if that has been an issue for you, select an easy one. I like the advice of an earlier comment to always take at least one course you like.

Selecting a school that is the right match for you will most likely improve your social outcome. If it's the intellectual school of your part of the world, and you're intellectual, then you're likely to find people you like there. If it's an easy school but you like to do lots of extracurriculars, or would like to try some, that might be the pick for you.

Fitting in with peers for the first time in your life can have a marvelous effect on your self-esteem. That in itself is a good reason to make a careful choice of school.

Hell

But not because of the social aspect at all. Mainly because I was expected to go. No one ever asked me if I wanted to do something else. When I suggested something else like working with my hands, my dad said that was akin to pumping gas(no self-service back then). When I got out of college, I went straight into the trades.

In fantasy, I like to think I could have been a civil engineer and designed electro-mechanical devices or bridges...whatever. I can't preach enough that it's important to back your kids in what they think they're gifted in....whether it's a bust or not.

R

It's not bad for me.
I studied in a rather small college, so I end up with a rather small number of classmates.
The course itself was one of the courses I want to study, although I still want more and with others but I couldn't due to (those damned) financial issues...
No one cares if I have a social life or not, which I'm satisfied. Even I get attention, (for what so ever reason) at least it's barely something to do with the intent of harassment. Or maybe people are just lenient around me. Regardless, they didn't treat me as equally as which I'm glad I'm done studying with them.

Note: The college school year I went hasn't caught up with K to 12 system. Hence majority of the students that I encountered that time are at ages of 15-19.

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As someone diagnosed with HFA, college has been pretty hard, but it's gotten much better, especially this year. I joined the band, like I did in high school, and made friends through there. The only friends I have are in band, or my group of awesome artsy friends that I met because my friend told me she liked my glow in the dark vans at an orientation activity.

My freshman year was really, really rough. I am now a sophomore. Last year, I had three roommates. Yes, THREE. The first one thought I was weird, and didn't like me because I wasn't just like her, the second one was very nice, but absolutely disgusting (I'm talking leaving out food for days and not showering and stuff like that) and she was on the opposite side of campus from all of my friends. The third roommate was a huge partier and complained about EVERYTHING I did, even though she would do gross stuff like come home drunk and throw up in the room and just leave it there and generally be annoying. See, at my school, we get random roommates freshman year. This is why I got a single this year.

In September of my freshman year, very close to this time last year or maybe a little later, my mom got really worried about me because I was really depressed due to having roommate issues and not many friends and struggling with undiagnosed ADHD and autism... so my parents called someone to come check on me because I wasn't picking up my phone because I was sleeping (this was a huge misunderstanding. I told my mom I would be asleep until 10, and she started calling at 8:30), and the school sent University Police, which was kind of traumatizing. They took me to Student Health and I had to wait there until my parents got to school and tried to bring me home for the rest of the semester. I only went home for a week, and then came back and was diagnosed with ADD, which later turned out to be ADHD, combined inattentive/hyperactive type. Once I started medication, it was like the world opened up to me. I had previously been drowning in work and things I'd forget and all of that. I struggled with severe depression most of that year and into the summer, but this year is so much better.

This year, I found a boyfriend, who is an absolutely amazing person and very sweet and cares about me so much. He is not autistic at all, but we have the same personality type (INTJ) and we get along very well. I was not officially diagnosed with high-functioning autism until last week, actually, but although my diagnosis was relieving, my boyfriend also helped me get through the devastation that also came with it, because now I know I can never change.

Anyone, please feel free to message me if you have any questions about college, from applying to going to college to being successful there.

I'm a freshman as well, although I go to a pretty big college (my freshman class is 3000 alone). It's been a lot of fun so far, actually! My school has lots of activities to keep me occupied, and a lot of people who share my interests. I go to a "nerd school," so pretty much everyone has at least something in common with one another. I live on a floor for people of similar majors, and I've found that I've made friends fairly easy and that everyone gets along very well. Of course, this probably has to do with the environment as well.

As for work- it's tough, it's difficult to keep up with, but I've been managing. It's not nearly as hard as high school. The atmosphere is almost stress-free compared to high school, to be honest.

Good luck in school! Here's to the both of us doing our best!