Some advice for those of you thinking about college...

When I graduated from high school and went to college, my brother and I took full advantage of the freedom, and cut class, partied, etc. We were fortunate enough to have parents that paid our tuition, and we wasted their money for the first two years. Our grades got worse and worse each semester, and though our GPAs were never low enough to get us on academic probation, they were pretty pathetic. One day, after our first couple years, our dad sat us down and told us if we weren't going to take it seriously, then drop out and go back when we will. From that point on, we took things seriously, and we both finished with fairly strong GPAs, but it took those final couple of years to get out of the hole we had created for ourselves. Fortunately, I got my GPA high enough that I can go back and get my master's without having to crush the GMAT.

So, my first piece of advice: Take school seriously. Education is important. I know when you're young, the whole "C's get degrees" way of thinking is cool to you, and all you want to do is party and hang out with your friends, but you really need to make it a priority. I'm 27 now, and a lot of my friends who took school seriously are finishing med school now or are on paths to much better careers than me. Some went right into the master's program while I was off fucking around with my friends. At the time, you look at these guys and you criticize them for doing nothing but going to school all the time, but I promise you will reach a point where you wish you would have done the same. If you can go right into a master's program, do it. Don't waste any time. I have wasted several years now that I can't get back, and I have very little to show for them. Set yourself apart from the rest, and continue to get an education.

My second piece of advice: Do something with your life. Make money. To quote the movie Boiler Room, "Anybody who tells you money is the root of all evil doesn't fucking have any." Honestly, I went through the whole phase where I thought making a lot of money was dumb and had the whole "I just want to be happy mannnn fuck money" phase, but you know what? being broke sucks dick. I know a bunch of hipster kids who think $10/hr. is all they need to be happy, but it isn't. One of my best friends got himself in a situation where him and his girlfriend have a baby now and have to rent a house, and they are dead broke. Guess what? they aren't happy. He's miserable and depressed, and he complains about it constantly. I know a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck, and it's not fun. There is nothing charming about being broke, so get off that whole idea as fast as you can. Go make something of yourself, you'll be happy you did in the long run.

Don't be one of those guys that says they can't afford to go to college either, that's bullshit. There are so many loans available, that anyone can go to college if they want to. If you say you can't afford it, that means you're too lazy to look for help. Start at a community college if you have to, get your undergrad work done and get good grades, and transfer to a good university. From there, you can do anything you want. A typical response to this will be "Bill Gates didn't finish college...", but go down the Forbes 400 richest Americans list (www.forbes.com/wealth/forbes-400), look up each guy, and see how many didn't go to college. Chances are, you will never be the guy who didn't go and end up on that list. You probably won't ever be the guy who did go and end up on that list either, but you'll definitely be improving your chances.

To sum things up, take school seriously. There is plenty of time to party and hang out with your friends, but make school your top priority. There is nothing uncool about doing well in school, and you'll be glad you did in the end. Take full advantage of everything your school has to offer, join clubs, volunteer, go to games, etc. I avoided all that like the plague and I regret it. Go out and make something of yourself, and don't be embarrassed to earn some money. I know too many people who are broke and miserable to ever believe that not having any will make you happy.

I'm sure this thread will be trolled all to hell, but hopefully some of you can learn from my mistakes and get started on a better path.

Thats funny becuase when I graduated from high school and went to college...
lol
I think its fairly ignorant to criticise those who cant afford to go seeing as your parents paid it for you. In America going to college/uni is reserved for the rich.

I didn't criticize anyone, I simply said not to use that as an excuse, because there is tons of help out there. My mom works at a high school where a majority of the students are underprivileged, and she helps them find the money for college all the time. Saying you can't afford it isn't a legitimate excuse, in my opinion, because I know for a fact that there is practically an unlimited amount of sources for student loans.

thanks brah brah i actually read that. im lowkey scared of what my life will become after high school/college, the shit in high school is difficult for me so i always think i won't be able to hang in college

You'll do fine, just commit yourself to studying. My friend just graduated from UC San Diego Medical School, and he wasn't an all-star student in high school by any means, but he put the time in to doing well. Study on your own, find a group from class to study with, go to the learning center at your school for free tutoring. There are always people out there who are willing to help you do better in school. If you're willing to put the time in, you'll do fine. Some people have to work harder than others, but there's no reason you can't do just as well as the others if you try.

i started off great in college. first year was on the dean's list and all that. fucked around my second year and now i'm trying to make up for all the wrong i've done. commuting also sucks a fat dick . I would take it all back in a heartbeat.

You can change things, just work at it. Don't get discouraged. I was making dean's list near the end of my time in college, and it's because I changed my attitude significantly and started putting the time in. If you really want to do well and change things for yourself, you'll do it. Good luck!

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Bullshit.
I've got family who had came for Jamaica and had absolutely nothing and still went through university. Dude wasn't even that smart or anything, he just worked his ass off. You think you poor? You ain't seen third world poor. If you're really concerned about your future and making a better life for yourself you'll work as hard as it takes to get there.

That's definitely true. A lot of the students my mom deals with have parents who brought them here from Mexico, and these kids are working really hard to have a better life for themselves, and provide a better life for their family. If you really want to go to college, you can. There is absolutely nothing stopping you, not even money. It all comes down to how bad you want it.

Has it occured to you that getting loans easily is what put the US and other countries in the reccession and now banks are probably extremely reluctant to give out loans willy nilly, yes I know theres other ways of getting money but what may cause people to avoid going is the debt they put themselves in with no real promise of a career at the end, its the debt they may not be able to afford.
My parents want me to go to uni in countries like Holland or Denmark where the fees are cheaper, theres better standard of living and its all taught in English.

I really don't care to go back and forth with you on this, I stated my opinion and people are free to read it and take what they want from it. And defaults on student loans didn't trigger our recession, defaults on subprime mortgages did when the housing market collapsed. You can educate yourself about it here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_financial_crisis

My friend spent $10,000 applying to medical schools and is at least a couple hundred thousand dollars in debt after paying for his time there, but that's what you have to do to become a doctor. Debt is a major part of education for most people, but if it helps you achieve your goals, it really shouldn't be an issue.

In America going to college/uni is reserved for the rich.

You clearly know nothing about our education system here. What's with all the March 2011 members trolling this thread?

honestly the piece of paper degree is as worthless as the american money we so worship, but the achievment of finishing is priceless to the person, whteher it is an associates' or bachelors', but use college for networking, that is really how u get a job and find a place to intern and get experience, the job market is thin as hell and employers' are not checking for u without experience and a bachelors' holds no weight like it use to, doctorates and masters but even them mofos' can't find jobs, so network like there is no tomorrow, even though i have a ba in business, i want to go back for my masters' but working for the gov. makes it hard,even though i make good change for mindless work(post office), i still would like achievement of a masters', good luck

Just to add to this, Master's programs are great ways to network because a lot of people in class will be well established in their career already and just want to take the next step. When I met with the MBA program manager at our school, he told me that a lot of executives in the MBA program hire other students from class, because they get to know them personally and can see first hand that they work hard and are serious. If you can go right into a Master's program, do it. It's a great degree to have, it's a great way to network, and you will either find a job while you're in it or have a good chance of being recruited when you finish it.