Actual scenario in my school (not representative of the entire college population *ahem*)
Myth 1: One would be reading books as thick as the encyclopedia, in Hogwarts-like libraries
Fact: Readings assigned in some classes, but not required. Some libraries are old and grand with sky-high ceilings while some are very modern and packed with chatty college students discussing group projects with the rest of library visitors.
Myth 2: Or doing scientific (images of colorful beakers/test tubes) experiments in huge labs with long glass windows.
Fact: Only lab classes involve scientific experiments. Labs are dark dungeon-like buildings with safety apparatus (where one can wash their eyes in emergency chemical accidents) that looks like a torture device set up in every 1.5 meter of the hallways.
Myth 3: talking to wise, old, bearded professors
Fact: Bearded professors do exist, but very very rarely. I had one that is a Santa Clause with a black beard, giving out energy bars/candies in every single probability class.
Professors here one of their own kind. Some are avid cyclists with killer exams and knife-sharp explanations, some make talking in a foreign language a least awkward practice, some make the lecture hall look like a 5 star hotel, some gives the students the opportunity to better utilize class time...elsewhere, while some makes you doubt your choice of major/mental capabilities, while some gives you the lens to look at the world in an entire different light, and some trains you to comprehend accents from different corners of the globe.
Myth 4:having intelligent conversations with students of diverse backgrounds (where many are diligent part-time students who had to work to pay for tuition), meeting Americans who are always warm and caring, while some Mean-girls drama would happen in the background.
Fact: Students here are very diverse, indeed. And a few of them actually do work to pay their own tuition (but no intl student can do that since no financial aid is available and out of state tuition too expensive for that option). Intelligent conversations, yup, about sh*t, s*x, life, dreams, where to eat, with my gang. "Intelligent" conversations about the latest brands were common among the well-privileged (as in able to afford $18K a semester). Warm and caring Americans I met, distant, foreigners-allergic ones I've seen too. Mean-girls are exaggerated, people here are a lot more matured for these dramas. Nevertheless, drama is always around where female beings are, but my radar are usually oblivious to those.
Myth 5: The campus will be as beautiful as an ancient castle-like structure with large gardens/forests surrounding it.
Fact: Different schools have different landscape. Some city schools are too small for any greenery. Castle-like colleges I've haven't seen. But a sprawling school it is, my beloved U of M. Nope, no forbidden forest, just an arboretum (small forest/with plains) near campus.
