Why do so many young people fail in college?
This is something that many parents have wondered about. Nobody wants to fail. Young people don't plan to fail in college. Yet for some reason many parents and former students come here asking me, why do young people fail in school?
I'll do my best to answer this question below in a non-judgmental way...
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“As I said there is nothing wrong with failing. Pick yourself up and try it again. You never are going to know how good you really are until you go out and face failure.” – Henry Kravis.
Before you begin your program I just hope you take a look at the following list of common reasons that young people fail college and try to prevent yourself from making these mistakes. If you know someone that has recently failed in college, then this article should hopefully clear things up for you.
If you feel like you’re about to fail college, don’t worry because you’re not alone. Changing majors or taking time off isn’t the end of the world. Failing in one program may just mean that you were destined for something else.
The main reasons why young people fail in college are…
Working long hours.
Many students are in a difficult position where they must work while in school. This is highly respectable but could lead to you having less time to focus on your studies, and possibly failing in the end. Work gets in the way because you have less time to study and you might come home drained after that late-night shift. Numerous essay writing services differ based on the type of content they can deliver. To get your writings done you can contact various professional writers to do that. Managing work and studies at the same time is hard but rewarding in the long run.
Too much partying.
There’s nothing wrong with having a few beers after an exam but having a few beers on a Monday morning could be a serious problem. Drinking can easily get in the way of school.
If you move away for college, then you’re going to be away from family for the first time and you can easily find yourself partying frequently. As a student, it’s easy to find drink deals on a Wednesday night. One night of partying turns into a four-day bender and now you’re behind on everything. Suddenly you feel overwhelmed.
If the work and night life is too much for you, then you’re going to clearly need to cut back. You may have to ask to cut back on the hours, try to go out less often, or think about decreasing your course load.
Other reasons why young people fail in school are…
Not prepared enough.
Many teenagers are simply not ready for the rigorous schedule that comes along with some higher level programs.
This is why many students take a break after a semester. They weren’t ready. High school was too easy and now college is too stressful.
I personally wasn’t ready for an intense program as a 17-year old. This is why I attended a community college first.
Family problems.
Family support is beneficial while in school. On the other hand issues at home often lead to stress and loss of focus.
Too demanding of a program.
Some programs require many hours on lectures and studying for exams. If you’re not willing to commit to the time requirements then you will not be able to keep up with your fellow students.
Wrong program selected.
When you find yourself not interested with your studies then you’re in the wrong program. There are many programs to choose from, so don’t feel bad if one particular program isn’t working out for you. The best thing that you could do is to switch majors because this is the field that you likely want to work in for the rest of your life. Why would you choose a program that you hate? This is your life and your life only. You can’t always listen to your family and friends. You have to do what’s best for you.
These are the best reasons that I could think of for as to why young people fail in school. Please feel free to check out some of the great comments on why students fail college and add to the discussion.
Yeah, I’ve been there and done that. I dropped out probably for a couple of those reasons too. My main reason was a lack of focus. I’m a very good student (I dropped out with a 3.8 GPA, on academic scholarship might I add), but I lacked any focus on where I was going with my life, and how I would utilize a college degree. This led to my life being pulled in any and every direction away from school. Now I’m a returning student, with all of those lessons under my belt.
I was under the impression that writing services were plagerism, plererism, plaggerism, – should have gotten a writing service to write my comment.
Having to work is one of the biggest reasons many fail in college! I’m a living example of that. Not that I’m failing in college or anything, but it sure makes it tough. I was recently married and am now working full time while going to college almost full-time.
Try to adjust your schedule to where if you are taking a full 12 credits that you’re only working 20 hours a week.
The biggest reason is that our time isn’t spent wisely and we waste a lot of time rather than studying!
I would have to put a contradiction on the work issue, not that it is wrong just there is more. I know that when I had a job while in college some of my time was better defined and I knew that I had to schedule everything and the responsibility level was increased. This meant that I would go to class better because you can not skip work like you can classes and therefore you were already up and ready to go on a Monday or other people would ask why you are there etc. Just some other perspective.
I agree with you, Universities have the student by the balls. Unfortunately, the more prestigious jobs are becoming more and more dependent on higher education. Universities know you need them, and that you’re willing to pay, and if you’re not careful, they can take even more money from you. Textbooks are a great example. For years you could get away with used ones, but now the professors change the book so often that you have to buy new, and when the semester is over you get almost nothing for selling it back, add to that, most of the courses have a required online component for the home work, and you’re in deep shit financially. Remember Universities are Businesses. In college you’re a number not a person.
Hi John,
Actually state law requires that you update your textbook to the latest edition every few years. It’s 5 here in California. It’s hard on professors too if the book changes a lot we have to re-write all our lessons and lesson plans. It’s there to ensure that students are getting relevant up to date material. Expensive yes…
I totally agree! I’m tired of hearing ‘the instructor is hard to understand (foreign accent)’ or ‘I started out good but then I couldn’t keep up’ or ‘my dorm-mate won’t let me sleep’. These are poor excuses. Excuses! Students can flunk on courses the choose in the major they choose. I’m tired of hearing lies and excuses. I want to say to them “Get off your butt and start doing something!” It’s scholarship money, parents money, grants, etc you are wasting. There are a LOT of students who work hard and need that money you are wasting.
I disagree completely! As a current freshman in college, it is completely possible to start out good and then later not be able to keep up. Like the article says, sometimes the persons high school or community college education was not nearly as rigorous as the university they’re attending. While it shouldn’t be an excuse to not try, you can still try your best and not succeed. They have some services to try and help you out when these sort of situations present themselves, (at least at my university) but they’re not always successful.
Actually as someone who pays for their college with money they saved up from working in high school and in college I can tell you I’m not wasting anyone’s money but my own. I also can tell you I have failed some classes. Last semester I was virtually homeless. I slept on park benches or friends couches. I worked late hours and barely slept or ate because I didn’t have the money or time. I had a dorm and my dorm mate made it impossible to go to the room because she was always really loud or having sex. She also drank a lot despite it being a no-alcohol dorm and I couldn’t do anything about it because she was friends with the RA who refused to help especially since I wasn’t around much. This made it very hard to focus on school and so I failed several classes. Not being able to sleep is not an excuse it’s a reason.
I’m almost pissed for you that your roommate didn’t respect your privacy. You really shouldn’t have to sleep on other people’s couches when you your own dorm.
Just to clarify my post… I was agreeing with doctor s comment “I think failing out of college is actually a feat that is very difficult to do. I truly believe that you really have to TRY and put forth effort to fail out of college. People that fail out literally do nothing. They do not go to class, do hw, or miss exams. Most times people fail courses is b/c they miss exams and fail to make them up.” I’m sick of that.
For those of you who truly try and cannot make the A, don’t give up!
I know what worked for me doesn’t work for everyone. I did not have focus on graduating when I enrolled in college after high school. I got a job, got a family and later re-entered college. So for several years I worked really hard to make it to the next step. I finished my BS while working plus being a wife and mother. Then about five years later finished my MS (as a working wife and mother). This has made a major difference in our life. My point is to encourage you to study hard, work hard because so many think they should get the ‘good life’ without putting forth the effort.
My step-son failed one course Spring semester and failed every course this (Fall) semester so right now I’m speaking from hurt and anger. I am SO worried about his future. He would have been Junior at a great university and just blew it.
I have been at it 7 years with a depressive episode in between, transfer, and loss of many credits because of the transfer and i am just 25. This semester will likely be my worst between completing some incomplete, full courses, first time working while in school, illness, and family issues this has been one hell of a semester. I am a very persistent person! i fail not because of those reasons you mentioned but because i don’t know how to give up. I am a two time cancer survivor so i guess it stems from that. Add anxiety, stress, and depression that plague every student and you can see why it was hell.
There is something you are forgetting though, the persons major makes a huge impact on your university life! i am a Chemical Engineering major, prior to this (in my first university) i was a Biomedical and Nanosystems Engineering major. i like to think i am very intelligent or at a minimum very very curious. These majors are not just very demanding they are supremely difficult for students without the added difficulties of work, mental dilemmas, and family issues. They also require ample amount of time and perseverance.
i have contemplated ending my pursuit for a degree and seeking to create the new world with the skills i have already built and build on them via my own terms. Such a task however is extremely difficult especially without credentials. what is unfortunate is that university is the biggest waste of money because there are so many useless courses and requirements designed particularly to target ones wallet. however i don’t like leaving a task unfinished it will bother me (even haunt me) if i don’t complete what i set out to do. My employer is actually amazed at my capacity and ability in the work place because my character is naturally very driven.
long story short: University is not easy and neither is life, but in the end the point of all of this is too seek purpose and happiness in your life. the degree? university? all that is trash when compared to your personal goals, its just a stepping stone. Fulfillment in life should be the objective, cause in the end what is the point of that degree? purpose, right? in the end the point of university is to build gears in society to sustain it.
Thank you for that perspective. I often lose sight of the objective of the degree. To aid in achieving your purpose.
I feel the same, I want my degree in pharmacy to help make a better future, crispr cas9, target drugs and all that, but even though I ace some programs others I think the teachers are pulling my leg, the exams are nothing like the class, and they are proud of how many students they can flunk.
I also see myself as at least someone curious, now I must be driven and relentless until I beat those assholes. Wish one day things could be more humane. Maybe Khan Academy could be a real academy.
I just recently flunked out of a university after my first year there. I went to a community college where I had a 3.0 gpa, but when I got to the university level things seemed… boring. At community college my professors seemed interested in the subject, taught us hands on, and even organized class field trips to see different work places that coincided with our major. I can honestly say that all 8 classes I took at the university level were not like this at all. Every professor I had would stand in front of the class for 3 hours and read aloud the powerpoint presentation they had put together, and that was it. Having a professor read aloud is no way to learn and gain knowledgable experience. Because of this, I got bored, unmotivated, and just stopped going to class, which resulted in me flunking out. If I have to suffer through “story time” classroom settings and memorization tests for 3 years to get a better job, then screw it, I think I’d rather work a mediocre job for the rest of my life.
On a side note… any suggestions on how to tell your parents you flunked out of college? My dad was SO happy when I got accepted to the school he graduated from, he even bought school hats, shirts, and car stickers. He tells me all the time that the most important thing in life is getting a Bachelor’s degree. I already have an Associates degree and plan on going back to community college until I decide if I want to reapply to a university again, but I feel this isn’t good enough for my parents and they’ll kill me when they find out I flunked out. What’s a good way to break it to them?
I would say, “Dad, I did not want this bad enough and I was too lazy to go to class, so I flunked out, I will be happy to get a job and pay you back all the money you spent on me, I am sorry I failed you, and I am sorry I failed my self…..I will work and save the money for college, you don’t have to spend your hard earned money on me, I will try to finish my degree by the time I am 30, so I can get a good job and be able to support myself and a family when I choose, but in the mean time, I will support myself!”
Wow is this ridiculous….Why would he apologize to his father for having “failed you”, when it was HIS university experience? has nothing to do with his family…. he can pay them back if they paid for it, but why does his family have any say in his finishing a degree “by the time I am 30”, his famliy isn’t related to his degree?
My daughter flunked out of university after transferring there from community college. She said nothing and lied about flunking out until she was forced to tell the truth. She failed first semester and did relatively well the 2nd semester but by then it was too late. She wrote a super long text to me and started by saying, “don’t be mad…” then she proceeded to explain how much she was struggling in school and how different it is from cc and how she wasn’t ready for university. As a parent who put both their kids through private school since grade school and had given my daughter everything she needed to be successful, this was like a punch to the gut. She went on to say, she tried to fix it on her own but couldn’t. She asked for my “help” and not my judgement. She knew that would get me…she’s a Communications major and she knows as-long as she tries and is working toward her goals, I will support her. I immediately went to work to fix the situation by moving her back home and having her enroll in jr college near us. She was still able to take classes toward her major at a jr college which I was pleased about since she would need to take a semester off to return to university. Bottom line is this, tell your parents, “you need them. tell them you need their help and not their judgement. Acknowledge what you did wrong and how you can improve. And most of fall do it!” Whatever they ask of you, just do it and work hard at it.
One additional thing that deters graduation is the hardship that students endure just to get through the paperwork, uncaring professors and general administrivia required to get registered or anything else in college. We as US universities, make it just plain difficult to get signed up and attend!! Why is it when more college grads are needed, the Universities themselves contribute the most pain and overhead of the actual learning process.
My college experience was pleasant but I wasn’t well-prepared so I didn’t complete my field of study during the three years I had attended. I have returned to college three times since i still haven’t finished yet I have a desire to study hard and to obtain my degree. It is important to have a college degree because professional jobs have advanced to a high level of technology, state of the art and are innovative. College graduates have to have many highly skilled knowledge and technical abilities to master the high technology careers that are currently in the job market. It’s best to check your statistics prior to entering a field of study to investigate whether it is a “hot” job that is in high demand or if its a job that would lead you down a dead end street. I am older now and like the old adage goes “with age comes wisdom” so I would like to think that I am more well-prepared to have better study habits.
People fail for several reasons….the lack of self discipline being the most common cause. The inability to delay gratification and prioritize what is important based on consequence not immediate fulfillment is what is at the heart of our nations problems. Until individuals can take responsibility for their actions and their lives, they will forever be reaching for the unattainable. Without self-discipline there can be no happiness. Sounds harsh, but it’s true. The undisciplined will continually foul there own future.
I disagree, I guarantee you those who pass have the same issues with lack of discipline as those who fail. However, most students don’t fail due to lack of discipline, some students have that issue, most fail due to having an issue with the curriculum or some other factors, and learning how to balance conflict with their workload. People push ”Work hard” too much. I believe in working smart. Hard work alone is overrated.
All people expect good things or cases for little effort, including you. You are also undisciplined in your own right, but you seem as if you think you headed in the right direction. It comes down working smart. For example, I often failed math in school, tried asking for help didn’t work. Then I gave upon it, stopped putting much effort, as a result, I slipped into a pattern of failure. Got into the last high school I attended, told myself I wouldn’t give up, only to find two of the best math teachers I ever had. I wish I could say I passed because of sheer hard work, it was because they explained it to me where I could understand it. They taught me how to do math in a way that wasn’t about hard work, but smart or understandable. One teacher was constantly teaching us alternative ways to creatively twist math to work for you. The more I understood Math, the more I enjoyed doing it. I started asking for extra credit work, and passed statistics with 112% and Math 118 with 100%. Math wasn’t completely easy, I still had confusing moments, but the teachers could clear it up easily. Good teaching is underrated. I can’t say enough how much I owe to those teachers for the skill. My effort was not the major reason I passed, my teachers ability to help me understand math is what, I believe, helped me succeed.
This doesn’t mean the effort is nothing. It means that hard work alone isn’t as effective as people make it out to be. Another example, was when teachers started teaching us ways to take notes. My note taking was horrible in school, I kept trying to write every word the teacher said thinking it would make me a better student, but I couldn’t keep up. I was working hard, not smart. When I learned to make a more efficient system, I started retaining more of the information. This is another reason a lot of students don’t perform well, more than the lack of effort. One of the most common reasons college students struggle at performing well is lack of college readiness, lack of effort is significantly less, but it is an issue. I usually disagree with anyone saying is either solely the teachers or solely the students. It’s a combination of factors. The most common being lack of readiness or understanding of the material. Which I believe is likely due to students not knowing how to problem solve. What do you do when you’ve asked your teacher, peers, and parents for help and still don’t seem to get the subject? Often times the answer is to accept that you aren’t good at it and stop trying. I made this mistake. I say, start looking for creative ways to understand the material, there are tutoring programs who can help with this. But whatever you do, don’t give up.
It is not just putting the responsibility on the student, I always worked really hard at studying and getting great marks. then the uni I went to had a strike. I was always in class before the strike, I would help the prof pass around the attendance sheet. Fast forward to the end of the strike. We were NEVER informed of the return date by mail (only email). I missed the drop date and left to study else where, the prof, was nasty. NO ACADEMIC WORK HAD EVER BEEN HANDED IN DUE TO STRIKE. Ge wrote on the top of the paper “student was NEVER there” BUT I had been. I contacted him several time to get him to provide me with attendance sheet or make a different comment. He never returned my calls – ignored me. Sometimes it is not the student it is also the professor. I was FAILED outright.
I was suppose to go on and do a PHD with another rival university. Ironically, the university went on and did my research and gave me NO credit for it.
University is all business – there is no real educational value.
I am pretty sure my son failed for none of the above reasons. He is smart, he wasn’t partying and he diidn’t have a job maybe if he did have a job he would have had to manage time better. I did..
I think he just doesn’t get it– but he is going to go to work and maybe after washing dishes for a living he will get it. I found out he failed because I signed myself up to see his grades when his account was open one day. Imagine if I hadn’t..don’t know when he would have told me. and then there was no atoning or responsibility for the failure. I just don’t get that part….
I failed. During high school I had a lot of conflict with a few of my teachers. The conflict resulted in me giving up and blaming the teachers. After I graduated from high school I still hated my old teachers and carried my hate with me into college. I had terrible grades and did not care about anything, I failed 4 classes and got one B in my first semester because I was lazy, irresponsible and selfish. I wasted a years worth of my parents money and respect. Since then I have been working in the service industry for minimum wage and struggling through life slowly gaining selflessness, responsibility and determination. After four and a half years I am ready to go back to school and get the degree I have been suppressing for so long. I will be paying for my tuition and I can’t wait to see the look on my parents faces when I am holding my degree in my cap and gown. I will prove I can face my failure and make it right.
My friend that’s awesome. I saw this in college. One of my closest friends in college was four years older than me. He failed out of school and worked. He made his return and there was nobody more focused than him. Good luck!
Yeah, it looks like my daughter’s going to have to learn the hard way like you did. I’m so pissed & DISGUSTED with her that I CANNOT be around her right now.
Aw that sounds awful, even as a parent I will feel disappointed if ever my kids were to fail. But I’m pretty sure your daughter has felt the shame and disappointment in herself as you do in her it doesn’t make the situation any better. I’m a mother of 3 and just recently just got suspended from my college and my heart just dropped, I transferred from a community college to a university and the environment is so different that it slapped me in the face and failed horribly…I’m going to appeal and since I have a feel of what I have to do to succeed I will hopefully do better, best of luck to everyone.
I am hoping I don’t drive my GPA down because the CPT test was hard and I failed at it. I made As, Bs, and Cs in college and will die if the GPA goes down!
I don’t want to make excuses, but I don’t know why I’m not motivated to study. It breaks my heart seeing my ugly transcript and me having to constantly repeat courses, but I can’t put any sort of effort in school. To make matters worse, I pay for my own school. I just don’t know why I lack the motivation to sit down and study. Even the night before exams, I try my best to avoid studying. I just feel like it’s too late for me to fix my transcript or to give a good story of why my transcript is the way it is. I just want get school over with and start working in my career….if I’m lucky.
I ‘ve got a similar problem bro. I fear my failure has really created serious problem for rest my life. Students accompanying me have moved further. Now I don’t find importance given to me and my knowledge. Everyone ask for scores. What should I do? I feel sick and sorry.
Hi Death by Schools,
I just stumble across you post and was wondering what you are up to these days? You too Akshay? You should know that sometimes school isn’t for everyone. It’s ok. I dropped out of high school my senior year and got married on my 18th birthday. This was in 1973. In 1986, I decided to go back and get my diploma. I went to my local h.s. and worked with a counselor. I needed 3 credits, so I did independent study at home because I had children, husband, house, part-time job. Once I received my diploma, I enrolled in the local community college. Then transferred to the state university and declared my major. High school English teacher! Karma! After graduation, I applied to a prestigious private school to earn my master so in the future I could become an educational leader. While working I earned another masters online through on of the best schools in the country. My degree is called Counseling the College Bound Student. I like it more than being a high school counselor. I just retired this June after being in education for 22 years and I just started another class in Bilingual education. My point is that when it’s right for you it will hit you. Be patient with yourself. And NEVER listen to what others say about you! I was told I would never amount to anything in my life by a lot of educated people. HA!
Good luck to you! Peace
I am currently in a very difficult program. I’m foreign and I study science. It’s not easy at all. Taking a lot of credits cause they required us to do it that way. I never failed college. I passed my first semester but now in my second I’m failing worse. I have a month to finals and if I don’t do well in finals to change my grade to the grade I’ll get on finals I will fail the program. I’m depressed and super stressed. Work has been the biggest issue. I’m serious. I feel like I’m a failure right now 🙁
Motivation usually gets crushed by failing. I’m from South Africa.. I passed every subject very well during my 1st year. Then on my second one I failed a major subject which blocks other subject the following year. That made me lose the interest and focus I had when I first arrived.
Plus I’m not that social, so I find it hard to make new friends. I ended up not attending the class and failing the subject again and not having any progress. Try hard to never fail. Once you fail there’s a huge chance that you might repeat it again.
I think two major causes are not listed here: 1) Relationships/Falling in Love, and 2) Having a wealthy family.
I was not a major party-er, but emotional connections were like the kryptonite. For me and my girlfriend of the time, the intensity of the connection included among other things, a decline in motivation to study or do any kind of work, as we just wanted to be with each other and focus on our love for each other. We weren’t practical. Just emotionally smitten.
But I also confess the second cause was a factor too. Both my gf at that time and I came from family circles that were very well off, but saw it have 2 different types of impacts. In one way, most of the kids who grew up with us actually did very well, sort of following their successful families’ footsteps. But there were a handful among us for whom the family wealth brought complacency, and the subconscious security of inheritance and a comfortable life assured either way. I didn’t plan on being part of that latter group but as my relationship with her deepened, I started discovering these feelings in me. It took time to come to terms with it but as she and I talked about it and realized we share the same weakness, it became too easy to delve further into that spoiled emotion.
While this was our unique situation that both of these causes together applied to us, I have indeed seen each of these two causes affect others in a similar way, bringing them to flunk out as we did that year.
Overall, each and every one of these posts reflect on legitimate reasons for failing out. In addition to the ones posted by the author, I can categorize the posts into groups including:
“Unprepared for the workload” – while “wrong program” is a good reason, being unprepared for the workload means that a person left high school unaware of the dedication needed to persevere and haven’t been taught many valuable skills such as time management, correct study skills, understanding the pace of classes going in, among others. These all add up to an easy path to failure.
“Not knowing themselves” – for many of these posts, people are reflecting on not ‘wanting’ the degree enough. When you hear lack of motivation, no interest in the courses, etc., it shows that either your desire for a degree in a particular field is not for you, or you don’t know what to do with that degree. ‘Wrong program’ is correct – but it’s not just a wrong program, it may be a wrong career path period.
Many students just don’t know ‘what they want to be when they grow up’. Knowing their minds at 18 years of age is absolutely ludicrous. I fell into my first career, after a couple of major changes and an off-hand comment from a prof. telling the class about a company that was hiring (during my last semester), fell into my second career after getting laid off from the first. I then went back for my Master’s after that, which I’m still completing but haven’t had the motivation to because, you guessed it, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the degree. Which leads to my next reason:
‘Not knowing what careers are available’ with a particular degree. I believe high school guidance counselors do a terrible job of informing what’s out there in the way of jobs and careers. If you don’t know yourself, and don’t know what’s out there to work at, you have zero motivation. This lack of motivation I believe is the one major reason students fail – they are going to college because they’re expected to. So money is spent, and wasted. This also ties into:
‘Need a chance to grow up’ before attending college is huge. Gap years are very popular in Europe for a reason. And I can still remember the desire to get out and WORK. At nearly anything, but not menial.
For all these reasons and more, adults and society put such huge pressure on students, and don’t provide the proper skills and support. The smart ones know this up front, others get there through failure and get back to and graduate.
In today’s world, though, it’s far too expensive to just kick around taking classes for no gain. It’s such a huge waste of time and money. Worst part is for many students that never graduate, they end up at the low end of the economic strata and fail to ever attain their potential.
Great Articles… As a BS & MS degrees holder – just stick with it.. and complete it for the sake of completing a task – manage your time FIND the motivation – be a DIGGER or a detective for it – dont assume others will help or find it for you.. Make above FUN… Trust GOD to help you, provided you help yourself. Challenge yourself in resolving any issue – an accomplishment would be so rewarding that it’ll motivate you to do even more next time… to more persevere.. .to more succeed… and make you more MAGICAL than you think you are…
GODSPEED…
I think the big overlooked one is “they don’t really want to be in college but for their entire life were told that if they don’t go to college they will fail at life so they reluctantly went anyway”.
People are waking up now at least, but it’s a little too late.
Excellent comment. Thanks for your insight.
How about the possibility that they are not intelligent enough? It sure explains why the curriculum has been dumbed down and, as a result, a college degree sure isn’t worth much to many employers. The first time I went to the front of a college classroom was in 1968 as a grad assistant, and I have seen since then up to today, up close and about as personal as it can get, the how’s. why’s and wherefor’s of the abysmal decline. And as long as retention trumps results, and as long as we keep seeing students only as customers and not also as products of which we want to be proud, it will only get worse. (PS: it will only get worse, all bleeding heart fluff to the contrary.)
My son was at University today and he studied so hard for his physics midterm, that he went blank writing it. He studied for weeks and went to all the tutorials because the prof couldn’t teach. Going to class day after day and seeing so many problems that the prof couldn’t finish must have been frustrating. Not letting that stand in his way he reached out for other ways to learn the material, causing him to become totally stressed. Basically, he could fail the course now all because he couldn’t relax enough to deal with the stress. The saddest part about the whole ordeal was he knew the material.
I’m sorry to hear Melanie. Is there any way he could speak to the prof about a make up? Is there a student government/union to help out?
I personally failed courses I love because I don’t study. I have never had to study in lower levels of education and honestly I visited this site in search of an answer I already know because I passed my first semester by barely scrapping passed the minimum pass mark and second semester I flunked all my courses. It is difficult to develop a tedious habit like studying if you’ve never needed to especially as a young adult ,because you’re still clinging onto maintaining your lifestyle of going out partying (not that I do) being an outgoing person and casanova or whatever activities you consider fun.
I suppose this article is for people who “fail”, my case was different: I did not finish college because I did not want to go in the first place. It’s a bad system, I felt I could learn more myself, and it felt like a huge waste of time, money, and energy. I thought that we need more people to opt out of this “scam” to get rid of it. Almost no job requires college education to actually do the job, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. – frequently you get “professionals” like this with degrees who do bad jobs and give bad advice and you can look up an answer online from another professional (degreed or not) who gives quality advice. The solution is somewhat political, we have to get rid of these unnecessary regulations that make degrees “necessary” and create this “racket”, which would allow for more freedom to create educational resources and businesses or jobs. Currently society is on the opposite path to creating a massive college bubble which will pop at some point because we did not have enough people working to fix this issue.