[SebNag_]

> I deliberately selected a college where I knew I would be pushed hard.

Learning a lot in a short period of time is strongly coupled with coping strategies and discipline due to time pressure and the high requirements. After this process you probably have gained some insights about yourself and further, confidence to have capabilities to read and learn through whatever comes your way. At least to a certain degree.

> It depends on what you want. I didn't want to waste time in college. I wanted to get all I could out of the 4 years.

However, I think there's still a lot of space for improvement. Especially towards technical or math expertise. A lot of students even lack of the bare basics just a few months after the exams are over. And even more importantly, problem solving skills and critical thinking are, at least in my experience, neglected. One of the main reasons therefore is the lack of time. Thinking and solving a problem _yourself_ instead of looking up the solution or being able to reproduce a solution at your exams are two different things. With the former being the critical point at which universities currently fail the most.