Should I try going back to college in the future or not bother?

I just turned 22. I graduated high school in 2016. My high school grades and SAT scores weren’t that great. That fall, I went to my local community college as a business major and I didn’t do that well. The next semester I switched to Individual Studies with a plan to go into engineering and got way better grades (I don’t remember exactly). Some family issues came up and I decided to drop out to save myself from digging into failure. Last fall, I decided to attend again. I stayed on campus. I was very happy to leave a job I was unhappy at. I took 16 credit hours. I had my first engineering class. After a few weeks, I realized, I didn’t like engineering. I had a hard time understanding it. Being I already had a few failed classes, I began to lose hope. My plan was to do well at the community college, transfer to UCLA or UCSB and get my Master’s in mechanical engineering. I wanted to be part of the engineering and design team for a car company. I was miserable. I had lost hope because of previous failure. The advisers and counselors weren’t very helpful and never really answered any questions I had. I was always leaving because I’d get called to work on a car and I had a car payment to make. On top of that, not many of the other students were very social (not that I was there for that reason). I couldn’t start over unless I went to a different community college. I dropped out yet again. The job I was working before was over an hour away. They found out I dropped out and I got my job back (didn’t have much choice). A month later, I got a new job at the local Ford dealer. I like it but, I don’t want to work on cars forever. My family thinks I should go to trade school. I’m not really interested in that. I have very good paying career opportunities in California. I don’t know if that’s what I want. I don’t feel it’s a good choice for me to attend college and not know why I’m there. I feel as if I’m wasting valuable time and money that way. I don’t want to be doing what I’m doing now for the next 15 years either. I’m planning on a trip to California next year. I was originally going to look at schools. Should I still bother looking at schools? Maybe meet students and check out particular classes/majors. Should I bother doing that? What would be the best way to figure out what I want to do? If I were to continue, I’d go to an online school because it would currently fit my schedule the best. How do I find out what I truly want to do? Can I transfer from online courses to an actual university (I’ll worry about exactly where later). I really want to make a plan by the time I’m 24.

There is so much to sort out in there, and so much about you that nobody here on CC can know. But, without even knowing what career, much less what opportunities, I am pretty sure that there are flaws in this theory:

So, a couple of observations:

  • doing classroom work is like using any muscle- you have to build it up. Nobody runs a marathon the first time they take up running (that's why there are things like 'couch to 5K!), and people who are used to running suddenly discover 'new' muscles when they take up cycling. So to go from 0 to 90- from no classroom work to 16 credits- may have been overdoing it for you. It doesn't make you a failure- just says that you- like all humans- have limits as to how much you can do how fast.
  • you don't seem to love classroom work, but you do seem to be good at the practical application of that work.

*your parents love you and know you and they may have a point about a more vocational (an old-fashioned word) approach. Have you considered an apprenticeship? it is a mix of classroom and on-the-job that gets you a credential in the field you are interested in.

If you go to apprenticeship.gov, you will get a good intro as to how it works. If you search for ‘engineering’ you will find nearly 700 apprenticeships scattered around the country, most of which don’t require more than a high school degree (but many of which like some other elements, such as basic computer skills). Look at some of them and see if they look interesting to you. Look at what the most common ‘extra’ requirements are, and check out places locally where you can get them (for example, if you aren’t familiar with excel there are a lot of online resources where you can learn excel, and when the world opens back up there are local classes). Put together an application CV, and get ready to apply to a LOT of places. While you are applying, keep working on the things that you can do to add to your credentials. Warning! you may have to make dozens of applications, and many- even most-of them may reply slowly or not at all, so don’t get discouraged! It’s not a sign that you are not a good candidate, just that they are slow and inefficient. And of course, everything is wierd right now because of covid!

That is one path forward.

Another is to look again at your CC programs. In NC, for example, they have have a number of programs that are a mix of practical and coursework, and have been designed to help students qualify for jobs that are hiring in the area.

For all of life, it helps to start with where you are strong, and build on that- and to recognize what is hard for you and find ways to compensate. You say that you hate your job- but you must be pretty good at it, because they took you back. From that you know 2 things: that you are good at the things your job requires (identifying problems? problem solving? understanding how different things relate to each other? spatial reasoning?) and you prefer a different working environment (more autonomy? more collaboration?).

Finally, rather than trying to come up with a grand scheme, try taking one step at a time. Planning a trip to CA sounds (from here) like the plan to go to Australia in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

My old job just couldn’t keep anyone in my position. I had (and still have) a car payment to make so I went back to that job. On the side, I detail cars. But I like the art of auto detail and not the business aspect. Working for others doing that, is an entry level lower paying job. I honestly don’t want to own/run a business. As far as going to California, I’d only be going for a week or 2 initially. My friend really wants me to come visit LA and see all it has to offer. I’m thinking, if I’m there, I might as well check out a couple schools and programs while I’m there, since I’d be nearby. I could probably get a better look at programs, students pursuing those paths, and possibly those careers. And yeah, I’m known to try to get it all together at once and look too far into the future. Ultimately, I think it can contribute to what messes me up later on because I think it ends up overwhelming me and driving me crazy. As far as the engineering path, I’m no longer interested in engineering after those classes. The 16 credit hours was from when I went back. I just didn’t want to spend 4 years at the community college and would rather just start over at another community college or online (which actually might work even better). Regardless of what I do, I think I’d rather take a look at everything first before actually committing to it.

Coming to California to check out the schools would be okay. One crucial factor to consider, however, would be your non-residency.
The California public schools are funded by the State of California’s taxpayers. Anyone who comes from out of state, for the schools, will be paying out of state fees-and they’re not cheap. The UC’s and CSU’s (California State Universities) are public schools. They do not provide one dime for education of non-residents. That means full fees to nonresidents, which, per year, are:
$42k for CSU’s
$65k for UC’s
You might qualify for federal funds, but those are a drop in the bucket to what the fees are.

Rents in Southern California are ridiculously expensive. Costs are a huge hurdle for many OOS students.
Oh, and a big thing, for future reference, age does not matter. People of all ages attend colleges and universities. In California it’s huge.

@“aunt bea” I know there are people of any age at college. When I was at my local community college, I met people from 17-50 years old. Age aside as it doesn’t matter, I just want to make a decision in the next few years as I want to get away from working at dealerships and auto shops. I originally wanted to design cars but after working with cars, I no longer wanted to work in the auto industry. I don’t know why I had tried to continue with college for that. And I’m not interested in trades. I can do some of those things however, I don’t really want to do it for a career. I never asked about money, nor do I care about it. Most schools around me are similar in costs. The sole purpose of my plan to take a trip was to look at college while I was there. Now, I don’t really know why I’m going. I was thinking maybe look anyway as it could be a chance to explore paths, maybe connect with people to get ideas of what I want to do. To explore what they do. A couple good friends of mine live near LA. They didn’t go to college. Not sure what they do though. Is it possible to maybe start over at an online college and transfer into an actual university like UCLA, UCSB, UCI, UCR, or UCSD? I’m trying to pay off my car and build up a little bit of savings first.

You are an OOS student- and will have that status for a while (the rules on getting residency are online- and they make it hard to do if you are planning to go to college in CA). OOS tuition (not including room & board) is ~$45K/year. Instate is ~$15K (+ room & board).

Much more importantly, though, is that you don’t have a goal yet, and without that there is no point investing in another classroom experience. The plus of being a ‘mature’ student is that you know what you want / where you are going. Take online classes, by all means. Try out different jobs. Try an apprenticeship. Find your focus. THEN look at universities.