ON YOUR MIND?

Going Back to College

by Alex Hutchins

Over half of the students who enter College right out of High School drop-out within the first two years: 60%.  It is an amazing statistic but true.  There are many reasons but the top ones are:

• Money
• Motivation
• Difficulty

About 12% of every of undergraduates are returning students or those who are over 25 years of age. 

Many of these returning College students find this to be quite a challenge as they sit in classes and mingle with students, more often than not, who are half their age; however, it is the returning students who actually are the better students.  And, this is not because these returning students are smarter, it is simply because they think they want the College education now.

Often adults who are returning to school after years of not being in a classroom are apprehensive about not fitting in (for example, being thrust into a classroom with 18 to 25 year olds), taking good notes, studying, and doing well on tests. The admissions and financial aid process can be a confusing and frustrating experience. 

And, because they think they want it now, these returning College students return for all the wrong reasons and typically find the experience less than satisfactory, making comments like:  There are no activities for older students or there are no photographs of older students on the college online portal.  All of which may be true but irrelevant to why they have returned.

In 1968, I dropped out of College and joined the military, only to find shortly thereafter that I had made a bad decision and returned to College in 1972, four years older and much more mature than before.  I personally, did not care whether I became friends with these younger students or not, and I did not care if there were any activities for older students or not because when I was not in class, I worked at a local company (even though I received monies from the GI Bill) or I was studying or spending time with my wife and daughter.

Education, for me, had a “means to an end” and that was to receive a “white collar” job, never again returning to the ranks of “blue collar” employment, regardless of how my income I could generate in some “blue collar” arenas.  I just did not want to work like that for the rest of my life.

For those of you who are returning, if you return within 7-10 years (in some cases) you can repeat courses in which you received low grades, counting the new grade while in other cases the two grades are averaged, but either way your GPA (Grade Point Average) is improved.

You can change your major and while those low grades stay on your transcript and impact your overall GPA, you can also achieve a “high” GPA in your major area of study which may impact your first job.  And, I say first job because very few, if any, employers look at your GPA when deciding to employ you; they only care about receiving an official transcript to verify that you have a valid College degree.

So often do college students make the mistake that they must receive “A’s” or “B’s” in order to secure that “all important” job, when it is so easy to lose that “all important” job because very little knowledge was transferred to you, even though you attained a high grade.

Employers only care about one thing and one thing only and that is: 

CAN YOU ADD VALUE? 

If it is perceived by HR (Human Resources) and your Manager that you can add value, you will be hired; and, on the day that it is perceived by your Manager that you can no longer add value, you will be terminated, especially in those States who have “employment at will” laws; in those States, employees can be terminated without showing just cause.

Therefore, the older student has the advantage over the younger student because they understand better the concept of “adding value.”