College is a weird and wonderful time where you’ll make memories to treasure (and maybe regret) for life. It’s such a full-on experience that college kids have become their own special breed of uni student.

It can be hard to understand why college students do some of the things they do, but they’re certainly unique. Here are five things college students do that day students simply wouldn’t.

#1 Roll Out Of Bed Five Minutes Before Class

The phrase “I just got out of bed” can be translated differently depending on who said it. When day students say this what they really mean is, “I got out of bed, put on appropriate clothes for going outside, walked to the bus, took a 15 minute bus ride, and walked from the bus stop to class”.

When a college student says they just got out of bed, they literally mean they woke up 10 minutes ago and walked to class in whatever state they were in when they fell asleep. It’s unlikely that a day student will rock up to class with messy bed hair. That’s normally left to the college students.

#2 Only Wearing College Merchandise 

Colleges have so much merchandise that is worn by everyone who lives there. Some colleges have a worse colour scheme than others, but people don’t think twice about parading their merch with pride around campus.

There’s so much college merchandise available that it’s pretty easy for college students to wear only college merchandise for a week or more. Some day students will walk around campus in club merchandise, but probably not for more than a few days at most.

#3 Go To Way Too Many Parties

We all know uni students party, but college students are the wildest party animals on campus. It’s common for college students to think to themselves, “Oh my god it’s been so long since I’ve been drunk!” When in reality it’s only been a week.

There’s at least two college social events organised for every week of the semester on top of weekly nights out on the town, so it’s very easy for college students to accidentally pull a four-day bender. A day student may have one or two intense weeks of partying per semester, but any more than that is risky business.

#4 Drink At Ridiculous Hours Of The Morning

We’re not talking about the parties that continue into the early hours of the morning, but parties that start as soon as you finish breakfast. There’s so many college parties to attend, so some change it up by starting a little earlier than usual.

Some college parties can start as early as 10am, and if the party starts early, the pre-drinks start even earlier. As much as day students love a good day drinking session, they probably can’t justify doing shots at 7am.

#5 Have College-Specific Tunes And Choreographed Dances

Whether it’s 2000s pop, country or classic rock, each college usually has their own specific jams that get passed on through the years. It’s also a common tradition to have a “fresher dance” every year that they’re expected to perform whenever the song starts playing.

Sure, day students will sing along to their favourite songs at the top of their lungs in the club. It’s unlikely, however, they’ll bust out a perfectly choreographed routine right in the middle of the dancefloor for hundreds of spectators without some sort of incentive.

Emily Steinhardt is currently studying Journalism and Communications at University of Queensland. She’s a Disney enthusiast who enjoys going out for brunch, taking photos of dogs and a good G&T. 

(Lead image: 21 and Over/Relativity Media)