How You Got Through College, Based on Your Personality Type

Whatever your personality type, there was probably a point where you mildly considered dropping out of college.

It might have been when you stared bitterly at your roommate’s passive-aggressive Post-it note. Or maybe it was when your professor gave you an 89 instead of a 90, depriving you of an A. Or was it when you opened an exam booklet and realized that, oh wow, you knew absolutely nothing on the test?

Well, whatever it was, you were able to make it. You made it through years of exams, social awkwardness, and too many firsts to count. And, hopefully, you’re walking away with the opportunity to pursue the life you want.

One question on your mind may be, “What comes next?” But before you move on to tackling that great big question, how about taking the time to pat yourself on the back?

C’mon. You deserve it.

Why?

Because university is a difficult beast to tame, friends. Be proud of yourself for coming so far.

So, let’s give some credit to you, the person who got yourself through all those years of hard work. Also, let’s point out some of the chuckle-worthy tools and methods you might’ve used, based on your personality type.

(Note: We mean all of this in good fun. Mostly.)

What about you?

Free

Only 10 minutes to get a “freakishly accurate” description of who you are and why you do things the way you do.

Take the Test

Architect: Finished university out of sheer spite. Likely thought, “Wow, this is a waste of time, I hate this,” at least once during their college career.
Logician: Survived through unhinged creativity and desperate motivation two hours before their assignment was due, including going down multiple research rabbit holes and racking up a questionable YouTube viewing history.
Commander: Joined several organizations and, unsurprisingly, did well. Kept afloat by their unassailable sense of self-confidence and the desire to crush others beneath their heel.
Debater: Didn’t survive so much as ricochet off the walls, but somehow managed to graduate. Favorite tools of choice? Red Bull and an unsettling ability to stay up for three days straight.
Advocate: Probably double majored. Sought out wholesome friendships to keep them afloat while simultaneously googling “How to recover from burnout as soon as possible.”
Mediator: Cried. And then pulled a Hail Mary and realized, “Hey, I’m actually pretty capable” – until they promptly forgot everything the next day.
Protagonist: Super excited about all the opportunities available to them, but also worried about whether they’d be able to find purpose and be paid well in the future. Survived by packing those existential worries deep, deep down and enjoying their time in college instead.
Campaigner: THE LOUDEST PERSON IN THE LIBRARY. Loved to be an emotional life jacket for their friends, and survived by finding several communities of friends with whom they could commiserate. “Do you understand this? I don’t understand this. No? Well, at least we can fail together.”
Logistician: On the surface, survived through choosing a practical course of study with a manageable course load. Deep down, loved to perturb their peers through their uncanny competence.
Defender: Surviving? Who had time to think about surviving? They put one foot in front of the other and did what had to be done.
Executive: Made an, ahem, executive decision that sleep was for the weak and that they would be the best students and the best partiers, so help them God.
Consul: Really, really wanted to be known as a well-adapted adult, and didn’t think that dropping out of college would fit that narrative.
Virtuoso: Survived by sitting at the back of the class and thinking about things they could build in their spare time.
Adventurer: Dedicated much of their time to cultivating an “aesthetic.” Survived through the satisfaction of being the best-dressed person in class and having the best taste.
Entrepreneur: They didn’t survive university. University survived them.
Entertainer: They partied, of course. Likely ended up with a tattoo and/or piercing by the end of their college career. But mostly survived because they were part of an organization or program or major that required them to do well or be kicked out.

Now that you’ve graduated from college, take some time to relax. Celebrate. And wait at least a week before you think about signing up for a graduate program.

Okay, we’ve had a little fun with each personality, but now we’d love to hear from you. How did you get through college – and what advice would you give to students with your personality type? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

My experience was more like INFJ and ISFJ. I developed some weird stomach issues where I could only eat saltine crackers and lentil soup during finals week, but otherwise I was an academic overachiever who never partied and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a double major in English and History. Classes rarely made me cry; I loved them. I loved being able to take classes with subject matter I was interested in. It was the people I met in college who made me cry. They reinforced my belief that some people are just toxic, even evil. I won’t mention what they did, but let’s just say that I could have taken two of them to court for their actions.

Anonymous

Key phrase: "on the surface." Beneath the surface I was an anxiety-ridden wreck. In class, I was usually the quietest, the least talkative. Sat in the back and listened. Preferred to write out my ideas. People would say incredibly nice things about me, including my penchant for in-depth analysis, my writing abilities, and my approachability (grad school is full of inflated egos). Those comments always made me feel good, but they weren't enough to suppress the relentless self-doubt and self-criticism that are hardwired into my being. I made it through college with a calm demeanor, but here's the evidentiary truth: I went into grad school with a head of black hair and exited grad school with nothing but grey.

Anonymous

I hear you. Turbulence is a powerful thing indeed.

Anonymous

Wow your situation is very similar to my although Im still just in high shool. Do you have some advices how to get through college? That would be helpful

Anonymous

That’s a good idea. In fact, is there already an article about how each type can get through college? For example, for me procrastination usually worked well because looming deadlines forced me to be less inhibited and more creative when writing papers. But that wouldn’t work well at all for other types.

Anonymous

Khada Jhin, [PART 1] Unable to cobble together anything looking like direct advice, I decided to provide you with a short narrative about some of my experiences. I find that storytelling accomplishes much when other forms aren't readily at hand. I didn't particularly enjoy high school, partly because I lacked confidence, which in turn gave rise to a great deal of shyness. Ordinarily, high school is not a friendly environment for shy people who lack confidence; still, because I could draw cartoons and make people laugh in one-on-one conversations, I managed to find a niche for myself and spent most of my social time hanging out with computer nerds. Also, by the time I was a junior (grade 11) I was bored of the classes available to me. So, at age 17, I audited a night class at the local community college. The topic was business administration, which didn't hold my interest very long, but it was new and different than the course offerings at high school. Following my graduation from high school, I waited barely two months before enrolling in college. The biggest disappointment was having to slog my way through the institution's prerequisite coursework. This included familiar topics from high school like history and literature—taught by uninspiring faculty—in addition to the now-ubiquitous professional grievance coursework designed to turn students into round-the-clock bellyachers rather than scholars: “Race and Racism,” “Latinx Studies in Social Iniquity,” and so on. (If it matters, I say this as a second-generation American of Hispanic/Indian descent.) It wasn't until I attended a class on political philosophy that I finally felt like a real college student. Not only was the material mentally stimulating, and presented in the liberal arts tradition, but two of my professors were genuinely committed to the ideal of virtue, or excellence, in both its personal and professional manifestations. Retaining some of my high school shyness and not having had any intimate relations with women, I found joy in immersing myself in the Great Books and, apart from visiting with friends, lived a quasi-monastic life at my parents' home. Several years passed before I enrolled in graduate school. By then I'd met and proposed to my future wife. I had also learned to speak publicly without having either my voice or body tremble. To this day, I am at heart a nervous sort of individual. I remain extraordinarily cautious, am somewhat reclusive, and very self-critical. But with the help of friends and colleagues, and some good old-fashioned self-determination, I now rarely find myself paralyzed by my inner demons. That said, grad school was no walk in the park, for two reasons. First, because I'm not an aggressive person I didn't know how to take ownership of my graduate program. I kept waiting for someone to tell me what to do. Years went by before I finally realized, accepted, and actually [i]did[/i] begin blazing my own trail. And guess what? No one batted an eyelash, because that's simply what's expected of graduate students at a large R1 research university like the one I attended. I only wish I'd caught on earlier. Second, unless you are a sociable person for whom networking comes easily, grad school quickly becomes a lonely and distressing experience. The work, the responsibilities, and, of course, the stakes are much, much higher than when you're an undergraduate. The only thing that diminishes is your free time and your income. Without a support network of friends and faculty, and unless you have a deep well of vibrant self-motivation, you might find anxiety and depression lingering nearby. I certainly did. But much of this faded once I took charge of my program and, with that, acquired enough confidence to realize that I didn't need to be perfect to be talented and successful. (The chair of my dissertation committee deserves a great deal of credit for pounding this lesson into my thick head.)

Anonymous

[PART 2] Now, having written that, do I have any advice? Hmm. How 'bout this? Don't worry about trying to change who you are, fundamentally. On the other hand, don't view your hardships and trials as merely unpleasant experiences that need to be quickly forgotten. Be self-reflective when you find yourself in a quiet place. (Self-reflection doesn't come easily to me, but I can do it when I put my mind to it.) Learn and grow. Make a conscious effort to do so. But be humble, too. No one knows everything, including you. And you will never know everything. In addition to becoming “smart,” aim to become wise. Cherish your true friends—the confidants, the oathkeepers, the sympathetic ears. The Great Books are indeed great, but, to quote a figure I admire, simply being in the presence of a virtuous man is itself a liberal arts education. Such people are hard to find, but if you can find one, listen to him and speak with him. Emulate him but use his example to someday become your own man. Lastly, if you ever decide to have a family—something that wasn't on my “bucket list” but happened anyway—you will find yourself on a path of maturity that is significantly different from that of those who remain unmarried and childless: you will learn, in a way that is far more primordial than just about anything else, including self-serving fear, what it means to live for someone else. I suppose that last bit wandered away from the topic of college life, but keep it in mind anyway.

Nadie

Architect (INTJ-T)

When I am in college I ussually feel that I don't (or can't) have a life balance. I love to make art and university stealed all the time that I had for that. And I wanted to make something more meaningful, so I quitted. Still, I am struggling with the consecuences.

Nadie

Architect (INTJ-T)

When I was*.

Anonymous

Architect (INTJ-A)

Architect: Finished university out of sheer spite. Likely thought, “Wow, this is a waste of time, I hate this,” at least once during their college career. I would never say university is a waste of my time.

How You Got Through College, Based on Your Personality Type

What about you?

Further Reading

Full understanding is just a click away…

Comments