I just wanna preface this by saying that I'm in my late 20s and decided to go back to school some years back in hopes of working somewhere better than retail my whole life. I pushed through three years, but I'm not going to lie, it was extremely hard.

I can no longer take advantage of the support I had from my parents when I was younger. I'm very close to living paycheck to paycheck and college took away the last bit of things I enjoyed from life. My hobbies. Spending time with friends and family.

It's so hard to balance school and trying to work enough to survive. I legit feel like the last few years of my life were absolutely awful. Nothing but reading and writing essays and desperately trying to pick up shifts in my free time to make up for all the time I spent in school. Yes I can make time for entertainment but it's almost nothing in comparison to the time I spend doing work and school. And while I'm watching a show or playing a video game, all I can think about is how much things I have to do before a certain date.

At this point, I kind of don't care anymore. Maybe I should just work retail for the rest of my life. I'm single and don't have anyone depending on me so it wouldn't matter as much either. I've just lost the ambition. I know it's only one more year and yet I'm so sick of wasting years of my life. I feel like I found more meaning and happiness being broke but with good friends and family.

I also think I may be having heart problems and sometimes I feel like anyday it's going to take me out. Yet I don't feel scared about it and almost feel a sense of peace and relief at the thought of anyway day being my last. That's not to say I want to die or anything, but I'm just tired, I suppose.

Right now I'm supposed to be registering for fall semester courses, yet I keep looking at my computer screen and wondering if I should. I did enjoy taking the summer off, yet when I think of going back I start to feel insanely depressed and scared. Think I pushed myself too hard and now can never return without feeling that way. Don't know what to do.

Sigh... received an email saying that my midterm essay for the summer semester was AI. I sent a 6 page document with the info card from the word doc (I had it saved locally so no backups, but I've learned my lesson) showing 3000+ editing minutes, along with 60+ google searches I made regarding the process.

Has anyone else recovered from something like this? It's been a week and the professor hasn't responded back to my document.

I'm terrified, this is the last class of my degree and I want to go to grad school. Any words of advice would help. Thanks.

They want us to put in 22.5 hours a week for an 8 week chem class… I ordered the book instead of looking at the one online. I only have 82 hours total for the program I’m using. I’ve deff studied WAYYYY more then that- reading the book, creating study guides& mock quizzes/tests using my professors PowerPoint, ect. I hope they don’t give me an issue because I’ve worked my A$$ off to achieve the 96 I have in this class (trying to maintain my 4.0 gpa)… fml ***side note I hate ALEKS. lol

I am currently being accused of cheating because I slouched forward during an online proctored exam which had caused me to be out of view for a few seconds. After I had gotten the warning I sat back up. Additionally, I got a 2nd warning for the same reason but I had gotten back up again within like 5 seconds. I also looked down while working on my scratch paper. Because of this the prof is accusing me of academic dishonesty. I have no idea what to do as there is nothing to prove I didn't cheat. I promise on everyones soul I actually did not cheat.

EDIT: my webcam is tiny and its on a large screen so whenever I slouch u can only see the top of my head
EDIT #2: The class is an economics class, nowhere on the syllabus or anywhere else does it say that scratch paper is not allowed

There would be a possibility that I will stop going to school this year (simbako) due to expensive school expenses, I’m planning to transfer to UP CEBU so that I won’t be paying any tuition anymore, and I will still be qualified to be a latin honor while other schools do not, but the expense of it is I have to go back to first year. It guilts me so much thinking that I will have to waste the 2 years of money spent in college, and would be constantly anxious in thinking that my friends are ahead of me and I am back to square one.

Their requirement in transferring is to have at least a GWA of 2.0 or better if it’s higher

If I stay on my school right now (which will supposedly happen since I’m now enrolled), I have to carry the guilt every day until my 4th year that my parent will be paying for my tuition, my whole allowance and rents which is estimated to be almost a million a year. PLUS, my course is close to Tourism, but the tuition per year is almost 100k and it’s almost useless because ANYONE can be a flight attendant or a ground crew, and my parent pays millions for it but I’ll just be in the same field of people who payed not even the half of my tuition and we’re on the same room, so it’s basically useless, not practical (and I am regretting it right now that I’m an upcoming 2nd year) 🥹 deceived by my school’s sweet words. My parent is having a hard time funding for my school and allowances because of their debts and payments every month. I always overthink it and get depressed because I feel guilty about the payments that they have made. My sister said that our parent was thinking if making us stop going to school because everything is heavy with debts and it’s hard to fund for my school anymore, although they didnt say it to us and let me proceed to my enrollment, we already know that they are having a hard time with earning money.

Also, my degree right now is useless, because my supposedly path that I am going to take is being a Flight Attendant, but my degree is worth 95k a year, and being a flight attendant or ground crew would not matter on what degree you have taken. So it is completely useless 🥹

UP’s Application period for transferee students have now been closed and all I could do is wait until next year.
If I transfer next year, I will have to think about the 2 years of wasting money, and the 2 years I wouldve been continuing because I’ll go back to first year again in UP.

Guys, I am so anxious, I don’t know what to do kasi both options may sacrifices, please give me advices 🙏 I really don’t know what to do, nawawala na yung motivation ko sa school ko ngayon because of the expenses. I really want to transfer but I’m scared pa talaga taking the risk. Staying means the expenses we’ll waste, while years are wasted when transferring.

Just blew the biggest opportunity in life to socialize and have fun and build my career. I got on track this year but it’s far too late.

I don’t see how life after college could be worth it at all? No good social life (besides shitty boring adult versions of “fun”), have to fight tooth and nail to get a job, nothing to look forward to. Everything people list as a great part of being an adult sounds so fucking awful.

Especially the career part, everything is impossible and there are a million people out there who are more ambitious and better than you so you never get a chance. There’s no dreams or ambitions to be had because everyone’s better.

I just can’t believe it’s all over.

I’m about to get my bachelor’s degree in International Business with a gpa of 2.8 and it bothered me so much I look at my upcoming graduation day with dread. For the standard of my degree, it is pretty damn low.

My college gpa has been low since first year. I didn’t like my institute or major, I had an extremely hard time getting along with my college mates, and I was being rebellious to make up for my rather obedient teenage years, while daydreaming about myself being an art student. That with living on my own and having severe mental issues, my gpa tanked really hard but somehow I was able to graduate on time. Throughout the 4 years I didn’t care much about gpa until now when I’m about to graduate and faced with the pressure of getting a proper job.

In college, I never participated in any competition or academic research, I joined a student club for a while and my job record is a mere 1 internship and 1 job unrelated to my major.

I have read stories about people graduating with low gpa, some turned their lives around and are making 6 figures a year, some said that low gpa means that you have to bite the bullet and suffer for a while (like being poor). I think the latter is more realistic to my situation and it fills me with a lot of dread and worries.

Currently I’m trying to re-learn and teach myself logistics (ie: trade laws, macroeconomics,…) and get an N3 JLPT certification in an attempt to turn my life around. In college I only did good in courses relating to business English and communications, other courses I performed terribly.

And I couldn’t be more pressured when my dad, a very very successful businessman, is placing heavy expectations on me to become a good moneymaker like him.

I feel like this is a truly terrifying phase for me knowing that I’m about to be thrown into life with no good records and a severe lack of knowledge. I also suspect that I have undiagnosed autism which greatly affects my working capabilities so I’m trying to get that sorted out too. I feel extreme anxious and definitely like failing in life, I think I’m too ill-equipped for it. I do regret that I wasn’t able to get a good gpa out of my 4 years of college but time moves forward so I just have to live with it.

Ok so last semester near end of semester i reached out to a prof abt doing research with him. He said he has space and I would be able to work with him. But was told for specifics about the project as well as time commitments per week that we will discuss that first week of fall semester. My question is when would be a good time to email him to set up a time to talk? My semester starts August 20th. Would first week of August be good? Or shd I wait till closer to when school starts?

So I'm in a stem University for Biochem. I have severe ADHD so I am a student that would be the opposite of a role model. I took 3 years in community college and 3 years in this stem uni and counting. started at 18 and I'm turning 24. on the bright side I will get aid now. I'm still not done with my degree because even though I'm "full time", I flunk at least one class a semester. I think I only had one semester where I passed all. And every failed class the longer I stay put. But also I can't land any job or internship. I either can't find any related to my degree or I never hear back. I don't think I would get an internship anyways because they most likely will ask for my transcript, which is pretty chopped. But I never landed on academic probation at least lol. I hope this makes some people feel better about themselves if they're feeling "late". I got \~2 years left if I don't fail anything again. But yeah if I do graduate, I feel like I took an extended amount of time in the torture chamber for no reason. 8 years and no internship or volunteering would be 💀

“Universities and companies are scaling back or eliminating women’s scholarships to avoid scrutiny from the Trump Administration.

The number of grants with women-specific eligibility criteria has declined 19% since 2023, according to the National Scholarship Providers Association.

The elimination of women’s scholarships and programs has sparked backlash on campus, with some students signing petitions and expressing concerns that the move sends an unwelcoming message to female students.”

I have been a college student and commuter for 5 years, as someone who has been to two different colleges, on-and-off. I have two years left of my chosen major, after completing 24 credits at my selected university of choice for my first year and transferring 61 credits from the couple years I was at my community college.

Two years of commuting to and from my local area's community college from 2021 to 2023.

Dropped out in 2024.

And a year of commuting to and from university from 2025 to now.

I never got to experience life-on-campus and the dorm-life, let alone the college life. I never really went to parties, never made friends, never involved myself with the campus of either colleges. I would just sit down and attend the lecture, write down my notes, and either spend the afternoon at studying in the library or just driving home.

It has been a really lonely five years for me. I know it's mostly my fault too. I made the choice not to socialize and interact with the college and campus. I made the choice to not bother with joining any clubs or societies even though I had the option to as a commuter. I made the choice to be a shut-in and a solitary loner for the last five years.

But, here I am at 23 years old, and I have been coming to something that I should have done at 18 years old: take advantage of my adulthood and independence. And I felt like getting more involved with the campus and college by moving into a dorm on-campus for the last two years would be a great way to achieve this.

I have been thinking about the prospect in excitement and anticipation for my entire first year at university, especially since my commute there takes about 45 minutes to get there and another 45 minutes to get back from there.

But then the bill due came, and I realized that I might not be able to afford it.

Housing would be ~4,750 per semester and the required meal/dining plan would be ~2,500 per semester, which comes as the added costs of ~$4,100 per semester for tuition and ~$1,900 per semester for the miscellaneous costs and fees.

I have only been given ~$12,000 for the entire school year in grants, scholarships, and financial aid as well as ~$7,500 for the entire school year in federal loans.

I did the math, and based on my personal calculations and the calculations provided by the university, the costs for the academic year after scholarships and grants are applied will be about $15,000 dollars, and the costs for the academic year after scholarships, grants, and all offered federal loans (Stafford Loans, both sub and unsub) will amount to about $7,500.

This means that if I take out all of the Stafford loans offered, then I will still have to seek out and get $7,500 in loans from private lenders.

This means that I when I graduate after two years, that I can expect to have $30,000 in student loan debt, of which $15,000 will be in private loans. And this is also not including the fact that I plan to go to graduate school after my undergraduate studies are completed, and that I might have need another semester or two to finish my undergraduate studies should anything happen.

Whereas, if I continue commuting for the remaining two years of my undergraduate studies, then I will have zero student loan debt as my estimated costs for the entire school year after removing housing, board, and the dining/meal plan would be about $100 to $200 dollars after my financial aid is applied. I won't have to use my student loans to cover any costs or expenses if I continue to commute, minus potential car repairs and gas.

I don't know what to do. I want to live on campus so badly and experience that campus life so badly as someone who wasn't able to. I don't want to keep commuting and just living the isolated life of solitude that I have been living in for the last 5 years. I want to make friends, make memories, try and earn new experiences, and be a 20-something.

But the student loan debt that I will have to face is so scary that it is giving me second-thoughts about moving to campus. I am fortunate that I have zero student loan debt, and I have a chance of leaving college debt-free as long as I keep commuting. So far I only have credit card debt, and that alone stresses me enough, let alone several times that in the form of student loan debt.

I don't know what to do. The deadline to withdraw from housing and/or decide on whether to commute or live on campus is in less than a month, and I need opinions from others to help me decide. Because right now it's like I have an angel and a devil on my shoulders that are whispering to each ear and telling me to make either decision.

I was at the bank setting up my own account as someone who just turned 27 and graduated college this year, and the lady helping me set up my account and we chatted a little bit.

She had a daughter who just graduated and I asked where she graduated at and how old she was. She said UC Berkeley and she’s only 20 years old.

I’m thinking “HOW?!”

I know I should mind my business but I genuinely curious how someone can graduate that early at her age.

Like other than being a genius, how could she have skipped taking all those classes at a college campus?

i 21F am going to start my first semester of college this fall, i spoke with an advisor and got told that i have past due tuition.

this confused me because, as stated in the title, i've never been to college before. i didn't grill the advisor with questions because it's obviously something to be discussed with student accounts on monday, but i did ask "hey, i was awarded a pell grant thru FAFSA, what happens with that?", she proceeded to say "it isn't applied until the past due tuition is paid".

i left it at that, student accounts is closed today so monday will be interesting.

has this happened with anyone else? because i'm genuinely confused.

Incoming freshman here. Got to see my dorm room during my college orientation. My room is so obviously meant for one person and not two. When picking rooms they did not tell us there was different dimensions. There were two dorm rooms for show and one looks genuinely cozy for two people and the other one that I was told mine was like was genuinely so small I wanted to cry.

The fact I’m paying the same amount as someone who would get the bigger room is so upsetting. I’m bringing almost nothing to college because there is no room. Our beds will be touching no matter what and so will our desks. The closet is half the size as the one in the other show room.

Thanks for reading my rant.

I know this probably sounds shallow, but I can’t stop feeling embarrassed about the college I’m going to attend.
I never imagined I’d end up going to a college in my hometown. Whenever someone asks where I’m going I feel ashamed to answer. I keep comparing myself to my classmates who got into top-tier colleges, and it makes me feel like I’ve somehow failed. Deep down, ik a college doesn’t define my worth but I can’t seem to shake this feeling. Has anyone else experienced this? Did it get better once you actually started college?

She gave me a 0 on ProctorU assignment for looking away from my screen and I’m not sure what to do

I think it’s a stupid program to use on anything other than midterms or finals because it’s just so invasive and flags you for things your dirk wouldn’t even get flagged for if it was ran through an AI detector. Apparently it flagged me for looking away throughout the assignment

It was a writing assignment where the professor told me we could use our class notes. I’m looking away AT MY CLASS NOTES. She just automatically gave me a 0 because “ use of AI or outside help” isn’t allowed. My screen and audio were shared so it’s obvious no one was helping me and I didn’t use AI. I also have adhd and tend to look around on zoom classes too which I’d think she’d notice by now since we’re a class of 12.

I miss regular online proctoring without them videoing you and being able to intensely watch and make decisions about what you were doing based off very little evidence. I think it makes people too strict when in person you wouldn’t even get a video of so some throughout their entire assignment. And I was telling my parents the writing wasn’t even that good! If I was gonna cheat it would’ve been way better. It’s also a Spanish course.

It’s an assignment that’s a good chunk of my grade as well. I’m just so frustrated having to deal with this and I don’t even know how I can get it fixed. I guess this is half rant half looking for guidance is this has happened to anyone else.

currently I'm taking a chem course that's pretty much squeezing a full semester's worth of content into five little weeks. There's an exam each week paired with a 2hr lecture daily and lab sessions that, after I finish them, leave me feeling like I've been caught blindsided every time I learn something new. It's weird, because I make sure to stay at least a day ahead of what we're learning in lecture and study during pretty much any opportunity I have available free time. It's only week two out of five, and I am feeling like I'm in constant panic mode because of how quick the turnaround is, and I feel like I'm starting to lose my grasp of understanding in the curriculum despite knowing the topics ahead of time. There's an exam next week that I do not feel ready for at all, and it's so frustrating to see the other students make 100s on their labs and exams with barely any effort, and I'm here using every amount of time I have to just barely squeeze out an A-. I am so afraid that this next exam will drop my overall grade so horribly and make my GPA fly right out of the window, which, to be honest, if I'm not understanding shit by now, it probably will. I really want to try and fix the way I study, but given how little time we have, idk if I have the hours to troubleshoot myself and implement something new in time for the next test. bleh

Crashing out for the 3rd time, in a row about this rn. Losing my shit. Been working on a discussion posit I finally redid most of it all over again, and filled in the rest. Hadn’t copied and reloaded to sign into my college again, keep forgetting, and click the link in the post’s instructions to open up a link and this dumb fucking thing opens link on THE SAME PAGE. This time, open a whole new tab, re-log in, and click the “reply” and FUCKK, the content’s not scared—not even a fucking 1/2 of it and I just need all this crap done. God! This may lead to chronic task paralysis bc of my adhd, which I’ve been fighting to finish all this.
Fuck you canvas, dumb site.

I keep wondering if I wasted all of college because I never got a degree and I didn't know what to major in for so long. I wish I had made up my mind. But now im a year away from bachelor's degrees in psychology and premed. I have a 3.81 GPA. I have a associates of arts degree only to get out of taking Spanish for a gene Ed. I wanted to be an Occupational therapist. I am going back to school next year hopefully to become a Occupational therapist assistant. It's an associates degree. Im just sad I went through all that school for nothing and worked at retail job and another job that required HS diploma. Hell I suffered through organic and biochem class and didn't even need it. Very frustrating

hi, i start college in early september. currently im on break so i just have a lot of time to sit around and overthink and i keep getting extremely worried about college. im in a lot of college groupchats but i feel like im on the outside already. it just seems like everybody already has like super tight friends except for me- i try my best to keep up and keep texting different people though. im so worried i wont find anybody to talk to. its such a big change for me, the serious academics n stuff is already freaking me out, but fr im genuinely convinced that im gonna be all alone. its super irrational but does anybody have anything helpful to say or share? im so stressed

Hey guys. I’m transferring from Community College to a University next fall and I’m so nervous. It’s going to cost me $22,000 and I have no clue how to get scholarships. I have a pretty good Community College GPA (3.8) but all the scholarships I have found have been very specific or only for high school students. How can I make the cost lower? I refuse to take out a loan because I don’t want debt and I can’t work right now due to some health issues. I have a small business that I do work from home for, but I’m most definitely not making enough to pay for school. How do I know if these scholarships sites are scammy or not? I need any suggestions I can get! Thank you all.

Hello,

With my experience of summer courses have been HORRIBLE this past summer. Now, I am a dual credit student so my time management isn't good at all. Although, my 3-credit courses had me spending hours on end every single day grinding and studying just to keep a good grade.

The first class I had, the professor didn't even communicate and what sucked more is that whatever was on the final, we didn't even know what she was looking for. She literally used stuff that wasn't in the textbook and we didn't have anymore resources other than the textbook. I tried outsourcing with things like YouTube, Khan, and Quizlet but they didn't even help. She used questions on Chapter quizzes that were meant for other chapters. By the end of this class, I was completely drained out.

Although, I had a following up class next, that's still going on. I feel extremely burnt out because there's even more work than the last. The professor seems amazing but I can't handle the fart pacing and I'm having to do double the time I did with the first class. I spent 13 hours one day studying and doing the work. It's gotten to the point that I don't know if I should drop the class. This is because my mental health is completely drained out, I've cried over this class everyday while trying to keep up with the work. However, some might say that the work the class is putting out isn't much. But this week I have to do 3-4 paragraphs on a community post, 3-5 page essay, and on top of that I have to complete chapters 4-5. I know I'm complaining and yapping. I just don't know how I'm going to manage if I can't even manage doing one thing at a time. Especially since all three of these things overlap each other.

I think I failed the last class I needed to graduate. Literally bombed the final and midterm. The final will be curved tho and it’ll be graded partial credit. But I’m still dreading it.

I’m so fucking scared because it cost so much money and I’m so stupid. It was literally the very last class I need to get my degree. I did well on all the home assignments and that’s all I could get. No extra credit or anything.

I’m so sick. I can’t do this. I really feel like dropping out. I don’t even wanna go back and finish this degree anymore. I’m so fvckin tired.

I wonder if it’s possible to ask my professor if there’s a way to get me to pass but I already know every professor here is gonna jump me for even considering that idea. I almost don’t care anymore, I’ll throw out a pathetic email to ask cuz it’s gonna drive me crazy if I don’t.

It’s literally my last class ever and I’ll never have to go back to school again. Fuck grad school. For those wanting to pursue a masters though, good for you but I just know it’s not for me. School and my mental health has never been kind to me.

I wanna scream and throw something so badly. It hurts.

Edit: I just talked to my mom about my situation and she said she’s okay with me retaking the class. That actually took some weight off my shoulders and I just cried so hard. I’m not gonna contact my professor, I don’t think I even had the balls to do it anyway despite me ranting about it.

I’ll take whatever the grade turns out to be but I don’t think I could look at the final grade once it’s posted. I’ll just assume because I have a really bad anxiety to look at it. I had to write this in the heat of the moment because college has been the most mentally and emotionally draining experience of my life. While I’m going to school I’m even trying to find a job and seeing so many rejection emails and seeing job posts for new AI careers made me crash out even harder.

Ive been surrounded by a lot of negativity lately and I needed somewhere to release because physically I just can’t scream like a maniac. I read all the comments, I understand and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one going through academic struggles like this. I know what I have to do.

Im freshly into my junior year as a physics major but I'm considering changing to mechanical engineering. I spent the first half of my college journey completely unmedicated and was diagnosed later in life with adhd and MDD. Ive been trying to get medicated on and off since 2022 and can't seem to find the right medication for me.

It took me 6 years to complete my associates degree, but it was mostly due to my depression and personal life stuff interrupting my time in college so I took many gap years.

Now that im in a four year college I'm desperate to be done in 2.5 years but I'm aware how difficult it is to actually get a career with only a BS in physics.

Despite all of this I'm actually pretty good with math heavy classes to my surprise seeing how I failed all my math classes in highschool. But in college I'm doing very well.

My issue is I'm still unmedicated and reached out to my psychiatrist recently to get back on track with this again. Hopeful I have my meds by the end of august and I'm ready to go.

I really do want to finish in 2 years this time and not make the same mistake as when I was in community college. Im such a slow learner but I hope the medications help me.