Barry Jive's "freed from the leash" phenomenon is pretty common. Given the huge number of distractions and the amount of free time, I don't think you need a disorder to screw up. We're talking about 18 year olds. I've commonly seen athletes do far better academically when their in season than off season for that reason.

Colleges and high schools and parents probably need to think more about the transition from what are increasingly regimented high school environments to more or less sink or swim college environments. When I was in high school in the early 80s, I think we had a lot more freedom than you'll find today. And in the 70s, high schools were even less structured--open campuses (you could come and go as you please) weren't uncommon. The transition to college, especially a small school where your absence from class was noted wasn't such a huge deal.

I think a lot of students would benefit with a year off between high school and college.

Wouldn't a year off be even more even more sink or swim? Plus you'd have the added challenge of being a bit rusty mentally once you got back to school.

Obviously some people can handle college better than I did, but I can't help but wonder if things would be better if there weren't such a stigma attached to community colleges and branch campuses. After I bottomed out at Penn State, I came back home for a year, got a part-time job at UPS and crushed it when I took classes part-time at Penn State Abington. Then I went back to full-time in the fall and it was back to the norm. In retrospect I probably could have used some time taking classes FT while living at home and not working before I went away to school in the first place. Then again, maybe I could have just commuted to Temple or Drexel or something.

Barry Jive wrote:Wouldn't a year off be even more even more sink or swim? Plus you'd have the added challenge of being a bit rusty mentally once you got back to school.

Obviously some people can handle college better than I did, but I can't help but wonder if things would be better if there weren't such a stigma attached to community colleges and branch campuses. After I bottomed out at Penn State, I came back home for a year, got a part-time job at UPS and crushed it when I took classes part-time at Penn State Abington. Then I went back to full-time in the fall and it was back to the norm. In retrospect I probably could have used some time taking classes FT while living at home and not working before I went away to school in the first place. Then again, maybe I could have just commuted to Temple or Drexel or something.

I think it's one thing to sink while not paying tuition and room and board, and maybe even making a bit of money. That is, assuming you avoid jail or death or HIV (none of which college is going to prevent) "sinking" during your year off might be just the thing that motivates you to take on college with a bit more maturity. I know that after I spent a summer killing bugs (I worked as an exterminator) I was motivated to do well in my classes.

Of course, everyone is different. Some people would probably be better off commuting, some people can manage the distractions of college life.

However, I think that one huge problem is that except for a very few highly motivated and self-disciplined students going to a big school like Penn St is probably not a great fit. The large research university, though it depends on lots of students paying lots of tuition, is generally ill equipped to give them the structure and support they need to succeed academically. They do provide other opportunities that smaller schools lack, but far too few undergrads really take advantage of them. So, I agree that there's a real problem with the stigma associated with branch campuses and community colleges.

What high school students and their families need to understand is there isn't really any such thing as a "good college" that is good for everyone. People need to think about fit more than anything else.

I failed a class and had like a 2.0 GPA my first semester at PSU Delco. So I'm pretty sure University Park would have been a disaster for me at that juncture. But I got my shit together and thrived (throve?) once I did get there.

Everyone's different, but I tend to think more people should play it that way. Both for financial reasons and because it takes students so much longer these days to figure out what they want.

One F and a 2.0 in your first semester isn't a major fuck up. It's a baby fuck up.

TenuredVulture wrote:One F and a 2.0 in your first semester isn't a major $#@! up. It's a baby $#@! up.

I dunno man -- it took me a while to dig out from under that, even with a couple 4.0 semesters. And it pretty much took me out of the running for top law schools. (A blessing, in hindsight.)

Seriously though if Grote dog is a lawyer I'll jump in front Tuesday's 3:30 Acela Express

Woody wrote:Seriously though if Grote dog is a lawyer I'll jump in front Tuesday's 3:30 Acela Express

No need

Community Colleges get a really bad rap.

from high school i spent a year in a dorm at a terrible college. biggest mistake of my life.

i took a year off then took some classes at CC. still wasn't feeling it. i spent ~4 years working in a pizza shop till it finally clicked and i was motivated enough to go back to school.

took me 7 years but i finally graduated community and i'm better for it. motivation isn't something that i have a lot of and being able to take 2 classes here and there was a good thing for me without going into debt. my last year of school i took 27 credits and breezed through it.


i think it would be more beneficial for a lot of people to take a year(s) off and figure out what they really want to do and what they're really interested in. way to easy to get caught up in a degree that you thought you enjoyed but all you have to show is 100k of debt and no ambition to go on with that field. after i figured out that Mech Eng. was the thing for me all of the classes were super enjoyable and doing the work was a pleasure and not a chore.

the first few years really are a bitch and a grind

I think Paul is right as well. I had no business going away to college at 18, but since that's what people do when they graduate high school now, I wasn't given much of a choice by my parents. Needless to say, it was a disaster. If I had taken a crappy full time job instead, I definitely would have been motivated to work hard to never have a shit job again.

Christina Hendricks is (smoking hot) on the cover of this month's Esquire. And I open up and there's one fucking picture of her inside the entire goddamned magazine.

Barry Jive wrote:Christina Hendricks is (smoking hot) on the cover of this month's Esquire. And I open up and there's one $#@! picture of her inside the entire goddamned magazine.

thanks for the tip, barry. cover can be seen here

Although the official interview has yet to been published online, it seems that Hendricks’s wit matches her beauty. She offered some advice to her male fans: "No man should be on Facebook.”

Although the official interview has yet to been published online, it seems that Hendricks’s wit matches her beauty. She offered some advice to her male fans: "No man should be on Facebook.”

Witty!

now we know jeff23wfw2's real identity

yea how is that funny or witty? no men should like baseball! see i can say things too and not explain them.

guys, please. she knows her men.

Anyone have any experience buying (legal) stuff off of Craigslist? I just want to buy an Xbox game. I have never used Craigslist before -- aside from the human trafficking -- and I'm wondering if I should even bother.

Baha at Vox's kid being excited about Earth Day

td11 wrote:guys, please. she knows her men.

I loved that guy in Moonlighting and Revenge of the Nerds.

jerseyhoya wrote:Baha at Vox's kid being excited about Earth Day

This really freaked me out, until I checked FB. Although maybe I should check Vox's friend list, to make you REALLY don't have a bug in my kitchen...