@sheeiinewrites Ooooh yes!!! XD

I'd say the biggest cliches in college au stories is love triangles or "accidental roommates" like no, how on earth does a female end up with a male roommate XD

I actually love it too! Honestly, all the dramas and who's-dating-who are best left for high school AUs. I feel like in college people would mature more to grow somewhat impervious to the whole dating thing and wouldn't be a big deal because who doesn't do it again? The casual attitude towards partying and are the best parts of college AUs.
But one thing I don't like is how music students have their own high tech equipment and how dance students get their own bigass studios because they're prodigies and stuff? And I haven't seen many that show the pressure during exam times, or assignments and stuff. Most of the time, professors aren't even there. I dislike it when college is shown as a hang out place where you just chill without seeing the other side of the coin.
But I have to admit, I've read some top notch college AUs as well.

As someone who is writing a college!AU, I can't exactly give dos and don'ts - but one of my pet peeves is when people say, "This is so unrealistic, why are they never in class if they are in college?" The point I have to make about that is, we don't WANT to write about all the classes and homework. Yeah, we'll reference something vaguely, like, "He had been studying for 5 hours before his roommate came home and asked if he wanted to go out for a drink, but all he wanted to do was sleep and eat like a human being. Drinking was out of the question for tonight." But personally, I am in school all the time, so when I get the chance to write, I don't want to write just about school. Lol, readers, USE YOUR IMAGINATION! In between kisses and hugs and friends and drinking, they could be doing homework and going to class and stuff!

I explicitly state when my characters are going to class or when they are doing homework and stuff, but I never go into detail because that takes away from the point of the story. I'm not trying to narrate how classes are going; I'm trying to navigate the relationships outside of classes. People have differing opinions about this though.

Hmm, I have a thing for major conflicts and internal storms during college!AUs. As I said above, we can't always write about college classes and stuff, but in reality, we genuinely have to learn to balance school work with our personal lives. I feel like everyone knows what it's like to go through hell during school, which is why writers like to focus on the personal end of the characters' lives. I like showing the struggle characters have with balancing school, extracurriculars, and love.

Also, like you, I always enjoy it when the is not a big deal, but when with the right person, it means the world. It's even better when finding the right person happens a little later in the story because that shows growth in characters. With college!AUs, it's kind of a hit or miss with making the two protagonists (hypothetically, they'll be in love) roommates, and it depends on how you go about it.

As long as you tie up loose ends and know where you are going with this character, this problem, that scene, and so on, I don't believe there are necessarily any "don'ts" in writing. You just have to know how not to sound dumb when writing something and portray it carefully. For example, refrain from romanticizing serious issues, and I won't have to yell at you. Lol, but these are just my thoughts!

@Armyster Hahaha, true, there's always an inconsistency there. xD

I hate it how they get all best grades but they never study? Like no, you don't hang out with your boyfriend every single day and go spontaneous road trips with your friends if you have all A's no matter how smart you are :'D that's just impossible

Also how they always get good grades and are beautiful and have 18469 best friends

I agree with that. I always saw it like the difference between high school and college for AUs. Like when I read an high school AU I feel that the is more like "I need this it's extremely important for status among my friends" but in college AUs it's like "Meh you're hot" or "Sure let's do it" you know. I think if it has a more relaxed feel in college it feels a bit more realistic to me but that might be just me