College costs: Test scores make a difference!

[TexasHusker]

My college experience was quite different.

I barely passed high school. But I hated school and never studied. Did enough to pass and that was it. Bare minimum.

When I got in college, I was scared to death and knew full well that I would have to shape up or it would be ugly. So I studied my arse off and made the dean's list in semester one. I realized "this isn't so hard", and the next semester I was loafing again and pulled in a 2.8.

Then I really put it on total cruise control in year 2 and went for Cs all the way. I did get an A in "golf" but that was only 1 hour.

If I had it to do over again, I would make A LOT more effort because I'm still embarrassed as to how poorly I did. But, it didn't affect me in my career or my business. Thankfully.

[disneysteve]

What you explained are a type of distraction. A distraction is just something that causes you to lose focus.

Okay. I misunderstood your use of the word "distraction". I thought you were talking about parties, drinking, cavorting, etc. If being homesick counts as a distraction, among the other things I mentioned, then yes, distractions are a tremendous problem. The dining hall was a "distraction" for me. The food sucked. Everyone talks about gaining the "freshman 10" or "freshman 15". Freshman year I lost 23 pounds. That was certainly a distraction. It was much better 2nd year when I had a car and was able to leave campus to get food. That removed a big distraction for me.

I don't think we adequately prepare kids for college life. They may be prepared academically but college is about far more than academics, especially if you live on campus. An only child like my daughter who has always had her own bedroom and bathroom has to learn to have a roommate and share a community bathroom. Kids who have always had very structured school days have to adapt to irregular schedules with big blocks of free time in the middle of the day. There are so many little things and big things that are entirely different in college that all start out as distractions until you learn how to incorporate them into your routine.

[scfr]

Will he have the option of re-taking the test if he wants to?
Is he also going to take the SAT?