Should I stay in college? - Page 3

**McTahr** · 07-27-2010, 01:15 PM

That's what I'd recommend. The transition to college is too sudden for some people these days, and if you actually try in a community college, and keep up on your homework and reading, it's a good self-disciplinary lesson to get you ready to pull the weight of a B+ student.

Seil · 07-27-2010, 03:31 PM

Dude, here's what I'm doing:

My parents are putting up with me while I work to earn tuition. I can't think of a better arrangement. I don't have to pay rent, and they're not charging me for food or utilities, so I can spend all my time on work so that I can be stress free at the beginning of next September.

Ask your parents about it. If they say sure, then great! If not, then I would talk to an advisor at school and talk about picking up the course at a later date, after you've padded your pockets as a waiter, or a clerk, or a drug dealer or something.

CABAL49 · 07-27-2010, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McTahr

No. Most tech schools auto-pass people, lack real accreditation, and are just as expensive. (And employers scoff at their degrees even more so than CC.)

Community colleges are considered "bad", but at least they tend to have accreditation and are financially feasible.

Community college is what I meant. They kinda overlap here. For example, I took my AP classes at Forsyth Tech Community College.

bluestarultor · 07-27-2010, 09:31 PM

Actually, the Wisconsin Technical College system has agreements with the University of Wisconsin system for credit transfer. I can honestly say that having gone through the Tech system to get my AAS, it's not as bad as McTahr indicates, or at least NTC isn't. All but one of the teachers in the IT program are totally great, really knowledgeable, have tons of experience in the profession and maintain ties inside it. The last one is all but one of the above, because she was hired to teach COBOL and they later pulled it from the curriculum and told her to just grab something else, so she ended up doing Visual Basic and C# the first year I went, neither of which she'd dealt with before. Now they've got her on just VB, and I'm sure she's gotten comfortable with it, because she's teaching everything from beginner to advanced courses.

Mind you, credit transfer is not universal. There are individual agreements with individual colleges. But I came out of the program well-versed and they just updated the curriculum again to keep up with the changing technology.

Azisien · 07-27-2010, 10:40 PM

If you only had one bad teacher in an entire college then dear god that's already better than every university I've ever seen, maybe everyone should just go to college only. Seriously, my university was like a 50/50 split on whether the prof could run a decent class or not.

Maybe that's now biased by my training in education as a field itself, I don't mean half of all profs were tripping over themselves or struggling with the subject matter, but just that they weren't good at teaching as an art/science, despite being good in their areas.

BrandonXRoss · 07-30-2010, 06:42 PM

What you're describing sounds a lot like some of the things I've thought while going to college off-and-on. To make matters worse the longer I "stuck it out" the worse my grades got, and the harder it was to focus on subjects that I even found interesting.
After failing almost all my classes one semester (4 F's and a W) I decided that I couldn't risk having a semester that bad again. Not only would it be hard to explain on my academic record, but it would just diminish my self-confidence even further, which would just make the problem worse.

Try to figure out if there's a good chance you will fail a course next semester. Try not to let the expectations of others effect this. If you think you will, then my suggestion would be to temporarily drop out -- a strategic retreat, basically. Take time off to identify what's holding you back, whether it's ADHD or something else, and spend time working on improving on that instead.

My suggestion would be to get a job and spend the money on a counselor. Don't spend extra on a psychiatrist unless the counselor strongly recommends it, or you have health insurance to cover it. A general physician can also prescribe medication, if you want it, and if they agree with your counselor's assessment.

When you feel ready again, go back part-time and pay attention to your stress levels. Some amount of stress can be healthy, but if it goes from feeling challenging to feeling hopeless, then you need to cut back.
Also, consider that even if you ultimately never work your way up to full-time: Is the money saved from the extra financial aid that you get for being full-time really worth the effect on your academic record?

Anyway, that's my two cents...

07-27-2010, 01:15 PM	#21
McTahr For the right price... Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,268	That's what I'd recommend. The transition to college is too sudden for some people these days, and if you actually try in a community college, and keep up on your homework and reading, it's a good self-disciplinary lesson to get you ready to pull the weight of a B+ student. __________________ Gone.

07-27-2010, 03:31 PM	#22
Seil Super stressed! Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: British Columbia Posts: 8,081	Dude, here's what I'm doing: My parents are putting up with me while I work to earn tuition. I can't think of a better arrangement. I don't have to pay rent, and they're not charging me for food or utilities, so I can spend all my time on work so that I can be stress free at the beginning of next September. Ask your parents about it. If they say sure, then great! If not, then I would talk to an advisor at school and talk about picking up the course at a later date, after you've padded your pockets as a waiter, or a clerk, or a drug dealer or something.

07-27-2010, 10:40 PM	#25
Azisien wat Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7,177	If you only had one bad teacher in an entire college then dear god that's already better than every university I've ever seen, maybe everyone should just go to college only. Seriously, my university was like a 50/50 split on whether the prof could run a decent class or not. Maybe that's now biased by my training in education as a field itself, I don't mean half of all profs were tripping over themselves or struggling with the subject matter, but just that they weren't good at teaching as an art/science, despite being good in their areas.

07-30-2010, 06:42 PM	#26
BrandonXRoss Goomba Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 2	What you're describing sounds a lot like some of the things I've thought while going to college off-and-on. To make matters worse the longer I "stuck it out" the worse my grades got, and the harder it was to focus on subjects that I even found interesting. After failing almost all my classes one semester (4 F's and a W) I decided that I couldn't risk having a semester that bad again. Not only would it be hard to explain on my academic record, but it would just diminish my self-confidence even further, which would just make the problem worse. Try to figure out if there's a good chance you will fail a course next semester. Try not to let the expectations of others effect this. If you think you will, then my suggestion would be to temporarily drop out -- a strategic retreat, basically. Take time off to identify what's holding you back, whether it's ADHD or something else, and spend time working on improving on that instead. My suggestion would be to get a job and spend the money on a counselor. Don't spend extra on a psychiatrist unless the counselor strongly recommends it, or you have health insurance to cover it. A general physician can also prescribe medication, if you want it, and if they agree with your counselor's assessment. When you feel ready again, go back part-time and pay attention to your stress levels. Some amount of stress can be healthy, but if it goes from feeling challenging to feeling hopeless, then you need to cut back. Also, consider that even if you ultimately never work your way up to full-time: Is the money saved from the extra financial aid that you get for being full-time really worth the effect on your academic record? Anyway, that's my two cents...