All the staff/counselors said that university would be different from high school: that the tests wouldn't be stupid, that the smart would love it, that it was

All the staff/counselors said that university would be different from high school: that the tests wouldn't be stupid, that the smart would love it, that it was all about merit and ideas and intellectual curiosity. It wasn't. Its a place where you pay money and show you're willing to waste a few years of your life for a piece of paper that lets you pass a certain firewall in societal hiring practices, shows you largely fit in to corporate and societal norms, and depending on where you went, lets you network with others while excluding those who don't jump through the hoops. Because of that, don't stress about what you're studying. Just get the piece of paper, or network, its what you're there for. And don't get me wrong, the piece of paper does let you earn more money and opens doors. Mines financially paid itself off by now, but I resent the process and society that means I had to get it.