I found the article very interesting. Everything is clear in hindsight. The common thread was that their experience didn’t match the expectation although it typically never does. Kids place so many high expectations on their college years and sometimes the experience simply doesn’t match. The same is true in many other aspects of adulthood. It’s a good learning experience.
It seems the biggest regret in those stories is student loan debt. The average 17 year old can’t comprehend what it means to take on tens of thousands of dollars in loans. And I agree that overly high expectations contribute to kids believing that the debt will be worth it. Only later does reality set in.
The author posted the worst case scenarios. There are hundred thousands of college graduates who were very happy with their experiences and choices they made. This is what I tell my mom all the time, “if they didn’t report the outliers there wouldn’t be any news.” This is whenever she told me what she heard on news about how dangerous NYC is.
The first one caught my eye:
That caught my eye too. I think kids - regardless of where they plan to go to school - often gloss over the academic side. Meaning if it is a “good” school or an “elite” school they assume they will have access to all the courses they want/need.
What surprised me about the Skidmore guy was that he mentions this in the context of being in grad school and feeling unprepared. He doesn’t specify what type of grad program he is in. I have a kid in a PhD program (econ) and part of the admission process was definitely reviewing the transcript and that included being asked what textbooks were used in your relevant courses. Part of the admission process definitely included “vetting” your preparation in math. It’s not unusual in the econ PhD context to do a masters first if you lack adequate preparation in math.
That did surprise me a little, as well. His preparation was obviously good enough to be admitted to grad school. My larger point is that specifics, vis a vis academic offerings, are often secondary in the college search. For some (maybe many) majors that may not be a big deal, but for others it may have real impact.
I agree. I think any piece that sets out to ask about “regrets” is by definition asking people to look in the rear view mirror and ask what could’ve been better. And they won’t be interested in people who have something positive to report. They are selecting for the personalities who attribute their present dissatisfaction to past factors or choices.
Take the Skidmore guy as an example. There are tons of people who appy to grad school who realize that they need to shore up their undergrad credentials before they apply. Getting a masters first or taking supplementary undergrad background courses is not unusual, especially if you didn’t realize as a freshman that you wanted to go to grad school. He seems to be blaming Skidmore. But there is a difference between completing the minimum requirements for a bachelor’s degree and doing the courses that set you up for success in grad school.
Skidmore’s upper level math offerings seem to be relatively limited (close to the bare minimum to offer a math major), with many being offered only once every two years. So it is not too surprising that a Skidmore student going on to PhD study in math may feel that there were some gaps.
Obviously, it would have helped if, as a high school senior, the student considered the size and strength of the math department when choosing colleges. But not all high school seniors have firm plans on major and possible graduate school paths, or even know whether certain paths require more attention to choosing an undergraduate college with a more suitable department in the subject.
Potential math majors are sometimes advised against LACs on this basis. A larger university with grad courses already available can be helpful to undergrads who decide to pursue the field.
The debt these grads assumed saddens me. The numbers are too large to attribute to teen age bad judgment. How could parents co-sign for this level of debt and ruin their kids lives?
I was really turned off by the first paragraph about the poor kid that had to move home due to finances and get a degree from Northwestern. Absurd.
I see two messages here. The first is affordability. Parents and kids need to realistically look at the total cost and the total debt they will be getting into. The second is fit. It isn’t rank, or which college your parents like best, that matters. It is the one which matches your needs - socially, academically, culturally, etc.
Quick summaries of the regrets:
- Had to transfer from Oberlin to Northwestern to save money by commuting from home. Also changed major from creative writing to “less risky” journalism (although he does now have a job at the New York Times and wrote this page with the other 10 graduates’ regrets as well as his own).
- Felt Skidmore math major left him unprepared for math graduate school.
- Encountered racism and anti-LGB at CU Boulder.
- $80,000 debt at Chicago is difficult to pay off as a high school teacher.
- Found Virginia Tech to be a “politically dead school”, contrary to expectations.
- $60,000 debt at St. Michael’s is difficult to pay off.
- Felt that some Chicago professors “didn’t value whether I was enjoying the class or learning anything” and transferred to Middlebury.
- Attended BYU as a CJCLDS member, but became disenchanted with “the church’s history of racism and its treatment of L.G.B.T.Q. people”.
- $100,000 debt at Providence is difficult to pay off.
- Forced to attend Seattle University by parent who would not pay otherwise. Was able to transfer to USC.
- Seemed only to regret first year at USAFA but seems happy now with decision.
So it looks like:
- 4 relate to cost or debt.
- 3 relate to non-academic factors.
- 2 relate to academic disappointment.
- 1 relates parentally forced college choice.
- 1 was only a short term regret, but does not appear to regret it now.
When my daughter was working on her college list, we looked at how big her major(s) were at various schools, both in absolute numbers and relative to the size of the undergrad population. This was a quick check that helped her eliminate some schools. Later she looked at course catalogs too.
Same here.
A further note is that academic regrets #2 and #7 (see post 14) are the usual disadvantages of LACs and research universities respectively in arguments about which is better around these forums.
The non-academic regrets #3, #5, and #8 were all political related, and two of them involved bigotry type issues.
Seems like the summary of regrets is not all that different from what is commonly warned about on these forums:
- Keep college costs within affordability and avoid debt.
- Pay attention to academic characteristics of the colleges in context with student goals. What is the best college or type of college (e.g. LAC, research university) for one student may not be the best for another student.
- Social and political environment can matter at residential colleges. Note that even if the student is not that interested in politics, the politics of bigotry can impose itself on the student.
- Parents should avoid forcing college choices after admission results are gotten. Parent restrictions (including cost limits) are best given before the application list is made.
of the Academies, AFA is especially difficult on the First Year’s. It’s a rite of passage by design, to see who really wants to be there.
AFA retention - 93%
Army - 96%
Navy - 98%
The Skidmore guy struck me as someone stretching for inclusion in the opinion piece. Regretting that you didn’t take a heavier course load in some area, years after you’ve graduated and are already pursuing a successful career just isn’t the same order of magnitude as being disappointed in college from the moment you hit campus, based on your expectations. Sounds like Skidmore gave him exactly what he expected, no more and no less.