One factor? Not the only factor, but one factor that helps actually really make the experience happen? People are familiar with school in general, and with the

One factor? Not the only factor, but one factor that helps actually really make the experience happen? People are familiar with school in general, and with the university experience and lifestyle specifically. The "Real World™" is where you start paying off loans, pay rent, report to a desk job, and the like. If you're taking a step into this strange new world, where you abandon your status and the lifestyle you know, there's a real psychological barrier there, and it's only stronger for many of the people who excel in academics and know it. Far easier to stay in the realm of the familiar. As a CS student, I took multiple internships, had some idea of what "real work" would be like, made a reasonable amount of money during the summers, and had a job offer in hand before I graduated. A few students of the humanities might be this lucky; most won't be.