Advice for someone failing college?

Mist said:

Companies are hiring more non-college grads today than they have in a while. Especially for generic IT gruntwork roles.

They should pull the ripcord, get an associates degree, and get their foot in the door anywhere, doing anything, before the recession hits, and once it does, just try to be faster than the two slowest gazelles on the team.

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Here's the thing. If the OP said "Dan is struggling to finish his degree. His grades are great but he is just unmotivated to finish", then I would say yeah get the AA and a job. But it sounds like Dan is just unmotivated AND not able to pass classes. Who is to say he is even competent to get an IT job.

Dan needs some min wage job and no extra cash from the 'rents so he can see the joy of being broke and cleaning toilets. He sounds like a spoiled millennial who has never had to take care of himself and he needs a wakeup call.

moonarchia said:

The request was for help. Yes, the guy has to want to improve himself before he will listen, but there is a very low % chance he can be motivated by someone's advice. Job seeking is a checkbox game. Degrees will allow you to access higher paying jobs sooner, but they are not the be all end all. If the guy knows what he wants to do then he can start figuring out what checkboxes he needs to fill to be looked at in that field. Every industry has entry points. Customer service and soft skills are universal. Managerial skills too. Beyond that it's just what you are good at and what you can be passionate about that will fill out the list of career options over time.

Right now he has more than enough credits to just anchor it in an AA. That will put him ahead of everyone without one without any additional work or sunk costs. It should be more than enough to get him in the door doing customer support if nothing else. If he wants to be in any technical field then start as tech support. The company will throw as much information at him as he can handle and more, which if he masters it will open doors within the company to move up. Depending on the industry maybe move up in another company for big $$$. That is definitely how it works in tech and telecomm.

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And I offered my help in the form of advice. The days of college being "hard" are in the rearview mirror with the exception of a handful of degree tracks. Its a participation event at this point for the majority of people. Failing out is a motivation issue. If a student shows up to every class, does every assigned piece of work and extra-credit and visits office hours 2 or 3 times in a semester, they will get a passing grade in the class. Today's college experience is designed that way.

This isnt just college. If an employee is unmotivated they aren't productive. If a husband is unmotivated in a marriage, its going to end in divorce. A motivated student who isn't the sharpest tool in the shed will find a way to graduate college. They will put in the hours, ask for help, and find a way. Quoting Break "He needs 19 credits to graduate... in a field he himself said he's not really interested in anymore, if he ever was." This is the problem. the solution is for someone he will listen to to have a sit-down and ask him what he wants. Really wants. He has taken upwards of 30+ classes so far by my count. Ask him if he enjoyed any of them. I mean enjoyed as in the subject matter. If he has something he is passionate about then a degree change might be the answer.

This kid's family needs to find out what he is passionate about and help him head in that direction. My partner's son was away at school and was miserable. Just didnt want to be there. Came home this summer and got a job repairing marine engines. Makes mediocre money (still learning the job) but loves going to work every single day. He's happy. Truly happy. We both hope at some point he decides to come into the family businesses but for now he is in his early 20's and enjoying his life.

Advice for someone failing college?​

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Sanrith Descartes said:

Here's the thing. If the OP said "Dan is struggling to finish his degree. His grades are great but he is just unmotivated to finish", then I would say yeah get the AA and a job. But it sounds like Dan is just unmotivated AND not able to pass classes. Who is to say he is even competent to get an IT job.

Dan needs some min wage job and no extra cash from the 'rents so he can see the joy of being broke and cleaning toilets. He sounds like a spoiled millennial who has never had to take care of himself and he needs a wakeup call.

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This. Anyone who had to do a run in Fast Food in their life knows how much that shit motivates you to not suck at life. Plus, just about any retard can get into a call center IT role. Those idiots just follow a flowchart script most of the time for larger companies. On the other hand, if he is young it might just be a thing where he needs to be out in the world doing random shit for a while to get his footing. Either way, staying in college and racking up debt for useless shit is a bad move. Like Mist said, the sooner he drops and goes off to be a park ranger/band roadie/ or whatever fucking millennial bullshit dream he is having, the better things will be down the road.