College is a great time for those that can find their way into the prestigious halls of knowledge where they’ll hopefully be able to apply their skills to procure what they need to move on to the next phase of their lives. But when it comes to movies and how they portray college, there is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of issues since to be fair, a lot of it is meant to be comedic and even dramatic. In this light, it’s easy to be forgiving to a lot of movies since otherwise, it would be a horrible way to present college to any and all generations that watch these movies. So long as kids know that going to college isn’t going to be a non-stop party unless they want to get kicked out of school, then they should be okay. There’s plenty of time to have fun in college if you learn to prioritize and spend your days and weeks wisely, but for those that think that college is going to be a thrill ride as it looks in the movies, well, get ready for a short run of hell since colleges have changed quite a bit over the years, and some of the stuff that we’ve seen, and still see in the movies, just isn’t the way things go.

Here are a few things that the movies get wrong about college.

5. Bad behavior in any sense can be forgiven. Wrong.

It doesn’t matter what it is really since if your behavior is that bad, meaning you don’t follow the rules, you actively seek to harm or deceive people with ill intent, or you’re just a general jerk to everyone, you’re going to suffer the consequences. This can range from getting stomped by a bigger individual somewhere on campus where there are no cameras to meeting with the disciplinary board of your school to discuss why you’re being sent packing. From treating others with respect to following every rule as closely as you can, colleges can be as strict as they want when it comes to their rules, and of course so long as it doesn’t break any particular law. So playing nice and not getting caught for anything is definitely a good way to go.

4. You’ll still have the same friends you had in high school. Think again.

Some of your friends might decide to skip college and head out into the world armed with their high school education, while others might head off to trade schools considering that they have a greater chance of making better money. Even those that do go to college might go out of state or to another school that’s too far to commute to. By the time high school is over, it’s time to face the facts, there’s a good chance that you won’t be seeing your friends again until they remember you exist or at the next high school reunion, if then. Once you’ve graduated it’s time to think about finding new friends if you want someone to hang out with on a regular basis.

3. Teachers invest heavily in their students. Yeah, right.

You’ll be lucky if your teacher even knows your name after the first semester. There are colleges where teachers still care, but on average the class size at bigger colleges will be so great that your teacher will only know who you are if you do something extraordinary that they happen to be invested in already from a shared interest. Otherwise, you’re bound to be just another name, another number, and another possible face that they’ll forget by the time the term is over. It sounds horrible, I get it, but college teachers are paid to be there and aren’t expected to be heavily invested in their students.

2. Getting into an ivy league school is easy. Just start planning early, like 2nd grade.

Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme, but before getting into high school you should probably be of the mind that an ivy league school is where you want to go since otherwise, those that have been planning to attend said schools will have one hell of a jump on you. Getting into these big-name schools isn’t hard if you know how to keep your grades up and earn your way or apply for every scholarship and grant you can find from the time you hit your freshman year until graduation. And in order to even stand out one had better consider padding their resume with four years worth of extracurriculars. Unlike what Elle Woods tried to teach people, getting into Harvard IS hard.

1. If your roommate commits suicide you’ll be given all A’s.

Just don’t do this, don’t plan for it, and don’t push your roommate to the edge no matter if you believe this or not. Dead Man on Campus was kind of a garbage movie that earned a few healthy laughs, but it’s in no way a good example of what should be aspired to when it comes to college. Not only would the actions of the actors bring criminal charges at some point, but thinking that a school is going to roll over and say ‘you poor soul, here’s your straight-A transcript’ means you probably shouldn’t be in college in the first place.

Watch the movies and enjoy them, but don’t use them as a ‘how-to’ guide.