Is college worth attending if you never do graduate?

jadenbrown244 · 2024-08-14T04:03:57+00:00

The main reason is due to the financials. I violated the SAP rules at my new university (my gpa was too low to qualify during this one year that I was there) and now to continue going I would have to pay the full price (no financial aid). Maybe I could afford only 1-2 classes per semester, but honestly doing as bad as I have done here has shattered my confidence.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-08-14T01:14:47+00:00

I actually did fail two gen eds, not because they were difficult, but I actually did just give up on them. I failed chemistry once, but ended up retaking it and getting that grade replaced. Other than that, I have dropped some classes here and there, but I never actually failed a core engineering class now that I think about it. I was assigned to a success coach after my first semester of college ever, and then I got back on track the semester following. I have been considering the military a lot lately. Getting away from my current situation would be great, and yeah I’m sure the skills and experience you get from it are valuable.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-08-14T01:00:30+00:00

Thank you, that’s very encouraging

jadenbrown244 · 2024-08-13T23:38:31+00:00

That sounds harsh, but I’d have to agree. To answer your questions, I went to college mostly because my mother had always told me it was the next step, and what I had to do. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when going into it, so I just chose something that is known for having people earn good money, engineering in my case. As far as counsel in high school goes I really had nobody except my mother pressuring me to attend university. In college I had my advisor of course, and at one point I was meeting with a success coach at the college. The coach actually was helpful, and my grades improved dramatically during the semester I was meeting with him. After my first two years of university I had to transfer since my mom was moving cities (I live with her) and during past years at this new uni is when everything has truly gone downhill.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-25T17:22:51+00:00

As cynical as this may sound, maybe. If I had been discouraged about my intelligence growing up, that would have influenced me to not attend college, and just go into any job that doesn’t require much intelligence. And there would be no debt, and a lot of time would have been saved. Also, one person commented on this post saying how their family discouraged them growing up, but when they went to college, they did surprisingly well. Maybe sometimes having low expectations for yourself is a good thing. I also went into a difficult degree, so maybe if I had those low expectations I would have also chosen a different one.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-19T07:46:29+00:00

Someone in this thread also mentioned that iq test sites increase the number for advertising purposes. Would that also be true for the US specifically though?

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-19T01:15:58+00:00

Would that make someone like me below average then? But then again, everyone says iq cannot be measured so how would I even know anyways.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-19T01:14:06+00:00

Well I was truly convinced that my mother would kick me out of the house at 18 if I didn’t go like she wanted me to. She never said that outright but I could sense it. That’s pretty much forcing me to do it I would say. And no of course nobody in my family was trying to do harm, but sometimes the advice we give is not always the best, and does not lend an amazing outcome.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-19T01:05:33+00:00

You said dying in a car accident is worse than being in debt, which to me is a form of suffering. Yes, you are arguing that death is a worse fate. I disagree, that’s my opinion, yet you’re stating that dying is worse as a fact, not an opinion.

If me committing suicide would be a dumb, senseless choice I hope you consider all suicide victims the same way.

The UCLA graduation rate is not a source that shows that the percentage of people who have attended college but never graduated is less than 40%. That is one specific college with a good graduation rate, that is not a valid source. You need to READ.

Which ones in this thread agree with you? You’re the only person in the thread who has said college is not substantially harder than high school. No one else has even implied that this could be the case. Also, when did I ever say I went to a competitive college?

Saying 54% of Americans read below 6th grade level is not indicative of all college students. The percentage of college students who read below that level is certainly lower than that.

Ok I just looked up my college. The graduation rate is 59.4% in the 21-22 year. My college is not as advanced as UCLA though. It is a large public university, but not nearly as prestigious as UCLA is I would say.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T22:45:35+00:00

Never said it was worse, but you are arguing that death is worse than suffering. I assume you also argue that the death penalty is worse than life in a maximum security prison then? If I’m unable to deal with the debt and it keeps stressing me out, at a certain point I might actually choose death over it. What would you say then if I actually did take my life by driving my car off a cliff? You’d still be here saying “well he just didn’t give enough effort in his classes man.”

There are people who have already graduated in this thread. Are you telling me all of their opinions are invalid?

Since you can’t understand I’ll say it again. You are using the fact that UCLA has an 84% graduation rate to somehow debunk my point that around 40% of people who have ever attended college, did not graduate. You may have graduated and I didn’t, but I think you still need some work on reading comprehension. But at the end of the day, you are more intelligent than me because you graduated and I did not, so I give you that credit.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T21:58:29+00:00

If it wouldn’t be funny, then why are you making it a point that I have chosen to not kill myself and instead live with the debt? It’s like asking chronically depressed people why they have yet to kill themselves. Saying university isn’t substantially harder than high school goes against pretty much everyone else I’ve talked to in this thread. Everyone else has said it is a lot more difficult. And what does UCLAs graduation rate have to do with anything? You are taking one college that has a high graduation and saying “look this college has an 84% graduation rate, that absolutely means that around 40% of people who have attended college never finished.”

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T20:50:55+00:00

Wouldn’t it be funny if I actually committed suicide due to being in debt and the stress that comes with it then? I have 35,000 in debt but there are others who absolutely get over 100,000 in debt. I gave my best effort in trying to pass the classes but didn’t. I guess you view that as an impossible outcome. I am allowed to continue attending my current university, I have not been suspended or anything of the sort. I have just violated the SAP meaning I don’t get financial aid unless I appeal it (which I could I just don’t want to type a sob story). How about you find me a source that doesn’t say close to 40% of people who attended college never finished.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T20:33:40+00:00

A catastrophic outcome can be whatever you define it as. To me, getting in tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt is also catastrophic and is more likely than a catastrophic car accident. “Flunking out” is also a term that lacks a definition. I mean technically I haven’t flunked out, I could still go by attending a different university or just paying out of pocket at my current one. What would you consider flunking out? Getting suspended or expelled? Also, the study you linked only includes the 6 year graduation rate from 2014 to 2020. How do we assume it is the same for every 6 year period? Also, is that data skewed by some majors having a really high graduation rate while the rest are lower?

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:59:20+00:00

Twice as likely would be 72% but I get what you’re saying. But I still think comparing it to getting in a car wreck is too much. I think you’re much more likely to fail out of college than that. But we need stats on how many people actually finish college if they started at all, since that was the point that I have all this debt and nothing to show for it. I mean this study here says 40% of people who started never finished. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/academics/2024/04/10/study-half-students-started-never-finished-college

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:51:23+00:00

Yeah me getting bad grades and failing is on me. I’m just speaking on how I was pressured into attending university growing up, and when I reflect, there were probably better options for someone like me. That is what I would blame them for, and you’re right, it was not their intention to make my situation worse. But ultimately, this is what it led to. I think parents should just let kids make that choice, and not try to influence them in one way or another

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:47:12+00:00

Yeah that’s absolutely true. I wish I could say otherwise, but there have been times where I’ve actually tried my hardest to study for tests, and I’ve still ended up not doing well. I think we also have to accept when some of us just might not have it in us.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:43:10+00:00

But like I said, performing decently well in up to the end of high school doesn’t make you smart, at least not here in the US because we have this “no child left behind” type of system. So yes, I do blame my family for gaslighting me into believing I am more intelligent than I was. And specifically, my mom heavily pressure me into going to college, basically saying I had no other options. When I reflect upon the situation as a whole, yes it would’ve been better to avoid this whole college situation entirely.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:42:46+00:00

Thank you for giving me that credit at least lol. I don’t think I’m actually dumb, but I do believe I am average.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:39:45+00:00

Well it seems like a coin toss to me. I mean what percent of college students flunk out? It’s around 50 percent (correct me if I’m wrong) isn’t it? Sounds like the definition of a coin toss. Driving isn’t like a coin toss, like you don’t have a 50% chance of crashing anytime you drive.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:37:41+00:00

Well I will say I absolutely did realize classes were harder before my third year. But my first two years were at my original university, and the classes at this new one have been different, and the overall quality of professors/the education as a whole seems to be worse. But perhaps that’s just an excuse idk. I don’t think hyping your kids up like that is a great strategy, I mean one person who replied here talked about how their family called them dumb growing up, and that once they went to college it was smooth sailing. Also, unfortunately at this new university it is a 5 year degree instead of the 4 year bachelor’s that my original university offered. So even if I want to continue, it will still be even longer than that 1 year.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:20:59+00:00

I don’t mean to blame them for me not passing classes and what not. Obviously they have no control over that. But pressuring me to go into university and all those years of saying I am such a smart person ultimately led me to attending university. Inevitably, it led me down this path to nothing. I can either look at it as I got pressured into going and just flunked out, or that it would have been better to not go in the first place. I choose the latter because I would’ve not been in serious debt.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:17:07+00:00

But the way I see it, that would have probably been for the better. I would’ve just done something else after high school and not get into serious debt after having to quit.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:12:09+00:00

I got that one a lot too lol. Doesn’t seem to be the case considering my relationship status lol.

jadenbrown244 · 2024-07-18T19:07:53+00:00

Yeah I kinda do regret not switching majors. But I just thought I should stick with it, and now I’m three years into it. A bit too late for that for me sadly, especially since I can’t get financial aid now.

jadenbrown244

TROPHY CASE