How was your college experience?

PukeSter · 01/30/2018, 07:11 PM

I'm definitely one of the younger guys here, could use some advice/hear some other perspectives.

Currently a Sophomore, life is okay, though our dog died from leukemia last month. I have a small group of friends but not much outside of that. One of my best friends last year transferred. Last year was a bit more exciting, especially since I was getting used to the campus. I also had a girlfriend for several months so life was good. Now, I realize how small it is, and it's starting to get old. My schedule this semester is definitely better but I cannot wait to stop having to do a language class every day, and my afternoon physics class is a drag.

My brother is a freshman at my school, so we hang on weekends usually. I know what I want to major in, though I don't necessarily know what I would end up in. My overall grades are very good, though I hope to improve a bit in my major. Trying to get a job for the summer, so I'm not bored at home.

crazydean · 01/30/2018, 08:47 PM

Hmm. I'm not sure what you're really asking about. Do you want to know if college should be boring? What to focus on?

Alls I can say is that if your physics class is boring, you are doing college wrong.

bartre · 01/30/2018, 09:36 PM

I dunno what to tell you.
I graduated last December, and I honestly didn't want anything to do with most of the people on campus.
course, I'm like 4-5 years older than most of them, soooooo

SignOfZeta · 01/30/2018, 09:39 PM

If you live on campus from year one you're living a life %99.9 of humanity will never know. You should be giving us advice. You've clearly got it made.

I waited a decade to go to 2.5 years of community college for exactly what I knew I wanted to learn and now I make at least as much as most of the people I know, work 40 hour weeks, have a month plus holidays off every year, and I never borrowed a cent. My advice for most kids would be to not throw a hundred grand away on a "college experience" and instead learn how to grow the fuck up on your own. To me meeting friends "in college" was never a thing. Some of my friends were in my college, some weren't. We all had jobs and drove our shitty cars 35 miles to class. We had no clue what any part of the school looked like except where our classes were. I have no "old school ties" but then we also had no hazing deaths. For every Carl Sagan there is a Toshio Okada. Fuck top dollar education, IMHO, at least when it comes to the vast majority of people.

Unless you're some dynastic richie in which case you should absolutely go to school to meet all the other richies you'll be interacting with once you take over GE or receive your peerage or whatever.

crazydean · 01/30/2018, 10:18 PM

I agree with Zeta to an extent. If you really know what you want to do in life, then the money isn't a problem. However, college shouldn't be "that thing you do after high school". If you don't have a passion for something that requires a particular degree, do something else. It certainly isn't worth going into 6-figure debt over.

I only recently graduated with a physics BS through use of the GI Bill. I never would have bothered if I had to pay for it myself. If you're racking up debt and on the fence, find something else to do. Learn a skill that you can take anywhere like electrician, HVAC tech, or plumber. There are plenty of rewarding careers which do not require a four year degree.

turboswimbz · 01/30/2018, 11:28 PM

Quote from: PukeSter on 01/30/2018, 07:11 PMI'm definitely one of the younger guys here, could use some advice/hear some other perspectives.

Currently a Sophomore, life is okay, though our dog died from leukemia last month. I have a small group of friends but not much outside of that. One of my best friends last year transferred. Last year was a bit more exciting, especially since I was getting used to the campus. I also had a girlfriend for several months so life was good. Now, I realize how small it is, and it's starting to get old. My schedule this semester is definitely better but I cannot wait to stop having to do a language class every day, and my afternoon physics class is a drag.

My brother is a freshman at my school, so we hang on weekends usually. I know what I want to major in, though I don't necessarily know what I would end up in. My overall grades are very good, though I hope to improve a bit in my major. Trying to get a job for the summer, so I'm not bored at home.

"it all comes out in the wash" <- one of the best pieces of advice I ever got. My sophomore year I had no clue what I wanted to do, ending up taking some classes and finding out what I liked and turned that into grad school. Now less than 4 years from starting in the field I'm running the same things that people with 3X my experience are. If your smart and stay with it, you'll figure it out. Enjoy being in a world where you can get away with a ton of crap you'll never be able to again, and take every day as an opportunity to learn more about yourself as well as the world.

The younger generation is under some idea you have to have your life figured out before your 25, and there is some magical point it becomes "easy" life isn't a lazy river, it's an ocean of currents, tides, and tsunamis. but you know that when I look at it's still damn beautiful. Get your degree and the rest will fall into place, don't worry about the debt you'll figure that out, worry about you. worry about going out and enjoying life. walk around the dorms, meet people, road trip, play lots of video games, whatever makes you happy. Hell if you find yourself not enjoying by the end of the year visit and transfer to PSU or temple or any other bigger school.

The take away I'm trying to get at is it is just a bump in the road man, it'll pass. there will be new exciting classes/internships/projects and other girls and friends to meet.

NecroPhile · 01/31/2018, 09:56 AM

Don't sweat it, man. Some classes suck (either the subject matter or the person teaching it), but it's just one semester and will be over in a couple months, so you can stick it out. If it's not boring or hard, you're probably having too much fun fucking off anyway, risking ending up being one of those bronads that drop out, take eight years to get a degree, or end up with a nigh useless degree in art history.

If you run out of general courses to take (stuff that'll count towards most any major) and still don't know what you want a degree in, don't be afraid to take time off to think about it and shop around. If you're on the fence, get some first hand experience by getting a part time job, volunteering, or shadowing someone in the field.

Pfloydguy2 · 01/31/2018, 12:56 PM

I know there are tons of people who go into college not knowing what they want to major in or what they want to do for a career. That might work for some of them, but I don't think it's a wise choice when you're paying through the teeth for tuition.

I absolutely loved college, but I knew what I wanted to study and chose my school based on that. I made my classes my priority, and when my school work was done I spent my time hanging with friends, gaming, lifting weights, hiking, biking, etc.

If you're not sure what you want to study and you're not enjoying college, can you take a semester or two off to gain focus on your skills and interests, and re-evaluate your choice of schools if necessary? If you didn't know what you wanted to study, what made you choose your school over other schools? At the end of the day, college is a very expensive experience that will (or at least should) shape the rest of your life. If you aren't sure why you're there, then you're quite possibly throwing your money away.

If and when you do choose a major, it would be a good idea to research what that major can be used for. I have a friend who got a bachelor degree and a master degree and now works at Target unloading trucks, because he can't use his degrees for anything. He's not the only one. Plenty of schools offer majors that are altogether worthless in the work force, and it's on you to make sure what you're studying has potential in your future.

PukeSter · 01/31/2018, 01:07 PM

Thanks guys, though I'm not planning on dropping out. I guess I'm just musing a bit.

I'm undeclared, but will declare Chemistry soon. My friends are doing Econ and Computer Science. All of my gen ed requirements are done, except I need three more gym classes/clubs (required here).

The school I'm going to has a good reputation and excellent networking opportunities, but is very expensive ($50k+10k room/board). The beauty of liberal arts. I have an academic scholarship for $10k but that only goes so far. We have a good financial situation though so debt should've be a massive issue, and my brother's tuition is significantly lower than mine.

esteban · 01/31/2018, 04:16 PM

I wrote a response, but let me just offer you positive support.

pressed · 02/04/2018, 05:47 AM

I did 2 years of community college then transferred to the big state school, University of Maryland College park. I graduated a semester late because they only took some of my credits from the CC. I had to take summer and winter classes to catch up and I was working part time at Bank of America. The sucky thing was the job was 40 minutes from school which limited my class selection because I had to be able to get on the road early enough to be on time. I mainly had the job to pay for my partying and my black trans am. I had a ton of friends in college and I thought I was king shit. I had a great time overall, I still did pretty well despite being out a lot after I turned 21. I wrecked the trans am in my senior year driving to work (not my fault, axel came out bc the mechanic was an imbecile). I was unharmed thanks to the airbags, and I quit the job to focus on school after that. It was for the best. If you can go through college without having to have a job, that helps a lot. But it was nice to have money, this was the mid 2000s, I got lots of my TG16 games for cheap on ebay back then for nothing with that money I made at my job.

If you have friends, and a direction, college is great. Just plan for what you will do after. I wanted to go to law school but I did bad on the LSAT. When I did not get into the law school that I wanted (found out on graduation night) I felt like I wasted the last four years getting a Bachelor of Arts since a Bachelor of Science would have made it easier to do something else. Luckily, I live in the DC area and there were plenty of government contract jobs and I landed one a few months after college. That led to a better contract job with another agency which led to me getting a real federal job and now I am in management after less than 10 years. It's all about opportunities and what you make of them.

For now enjoy it and do the best you can. Also that second language class will be a huge boost for you so stick with it. And chemistry is a fantastic major. Good luck to you!