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Souldreamer

- 2 years ago

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How do you know if the path you are taking is right?

Do you think school rankings have anything to do with success in life or is it just a ploy to have ambitious students go to a specific school? I take education seriously and at my school, I feel that the class work is stimulating and exhilarating but is that really worth an out-of-state tuition and to be not as happy overall? When does it end? At grad school? When I get a job? I don't feel that this school has made me especially happy and I miss my state but what makes it worth it?

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haha thanks guys I really appreciate it. I think I've finally made a decision. I really don't enjoy the path I'm on right now and I have secretly all along wanted to go to this other college (that is still ranked high and is well known but not quite as good as the school I'm currently at). My parents don't like it because it's in my hometown and they think that I will be "stuck" in my old life but I know it would truly make me happy. They have a program there that I am really interested in that's completely different from the classes that I have been taking at my current school... and they don't offer that major at the school I'm at now so I think it's a great opportunity. I know I'll be happier there and I"ll be saving about 20K on tuition. Thanks so much for all of your advice though, I really appreciate it!

If you are going to the kind of school that will look so good on your resume that the tuition you are paying could be considered a great investment, then suck it up, because it's only four years of your life. And by the way, congratulations for being accepted into said highly ranked school! If you want to be a public school teacher, a physician that works for doctors without borders, a social worker, a legal aid attorney, etc... then you may want to think about how you will pay those loans back...

My ex's brother went to Harvard and paid back all of his loans with his first bonus. (bachelor's degree)

When does it all end? That depends on how ambitious you are and what your priorities are. If climbing the ladder and achieving material wealth are important to you, then maybe it never ends. If you are concerned about achieving financial stability, saving for retirement, sending your kids to good colleges, then go to a good graduate school or work really hard and display competence at your job or both. Where I work (I'm in finance) you do not need an MBA to get promoted. Competence is valued much more highly than the MBA. You'll be regretful if you can't give your kids an advantage because you were lazy.

For someone like me, I am happy with my low-ranked state college education and working at my crappy-paying corporate job, living in a small, cheap apartment. But I don't want to have kids and owning a home is not important to me at all and I get to leave a smaller footprint this way.Some might consider me unambitious. :) I agree!

And it depends on your personality too. Some people hate school, climbing the ladder, working overtime, etc. Others thrive on the competition and the challenges. You have to work out a balance for yourself that you can live with. There is nothing inherently wrong with any choice that you would make but rather a series of trade offs that will affect you in different ways... So number one, decide what is most important to you.

Good luck and it is wise to be asking questions like this. Keep that up and you will be just fine my friend!

I don't know about Ultimate Right and Wrong, but you can tap into your personal Conscience by using this trick: sit back, relax, tune into your body, and then say a big fat lie out loud. Then tell the truth. And feel the difference. If you do this enough times, you can tell, just by speaking out loud, when you don't really believe a thing you are saying, because it feels like a lie. That's all I got.

Unfortunately you don't know if you're on the right path until you realize that you might be on the wrong path. I wake up everyday wondering if I made the right choices in life. I think when you're unhappy & nothing seems to work out... There's your sign that you're on the wrong path. If you're waiting for someone to tell you that you're on the right path, you're going to be waiting a long time so you need to just pick a path and go with it until you fail or desire something else. Winston Churchill once said that the only way to succeed in life is to have failures.

I can only hope that I'm doing what I'm suppose to do and now is the time when I'm suppose to do it. No one knows for sure.

You are on the right path if it's the path you are on, you are exactly where you are supposed to be at this moment. ENJOY IT! You can always change your mind :)

I did my post grad - change of career - degree at 32, and have been happy with that decision since it led to a great life and love

you are in a typical young worry situation - (I remember it from my first time around)

relax!

no one knows 100% - but over time, instincts and good fortune will guide you where you need to go...

all shall be well...

@silvinajm I'm less than 2 months away from finishing up my first year at college. I can't really pinpoint why it doesn't feel like home...maybe because I have met a lot of people and most people don't really seem that inclusive, it's pretty cliquey.

It might be the new location, I don't know. I guess I'm just comparing my experience with my twin who is SO HAPPY at her college and I'm wondering why I don't really feel like I am?

And yes I have been to a college visit that has felt like home but it was quite a long time ago. I just feel like I need somewhere smaller and more out in the woods...I'm not a huge city person but I'm plucked right down into a small city. I just don't know if it's worth it to switch.

@silvinajm they think that I haven't given it long enough at my school or that the second I don't like something I shouldn't try and switch it. They think that the school I am going to is the perfect school for me and therefore under no circumstances do they want me to leave. I don't know if it's my mindset or if this just isn't the best environment for me. It has a lot of resources but I just feel like a place you live at for 9 months of the year should feel more like home.

I really do appreciate the fact that I can afford school, really I do. It's amazing what my parents have given up and the amount of hours I have also worked to be able to afford out-of-state tuition and for that I am truly thankful. I love academics and very much enjoy learning, and I have learned so much here! I guess I just don't know how to tell my parents that I want to go to a school with a different social scene that has just as high academics. Everytime I have tried saying that they get upset with me. Any suggestions on how to pose the topic?

You should be glad you can actually afford, by whatever means, to attend school full time.

I have had this same question. I too did enjoy school. I am posed with the question of if I go on to complete my bachelors or not. What I do know is school makes me unhappy, and life is too short to be unhappy and stressed out. I think being happy is a state of mind though, it can be found when staying positive. I myself have a hard time staying positive in those situations. My path now is to enjoy life to the fullest, do the best job I can at work, and just be me. School can be so constricting, and quite frankly a college degree is now like have toiliet paper. It is now becoming more common that an employer wants a graduate degree. It also depends on how important money is to you, and what type of job you want.

I think it depends on what you want to do. In some areas "school ranking" may indeed have a slight impact on the specific field. If, say for example, you wanted to be a veterinarrean (?) Texas A&M University in College Station (often referred to as "Big A&M") is "ranked" as #1 veterenary school. It is, by far and away not THE ONLY school, but it is probably the best in that field, and would probably get you more dollars on your investment.

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How do you know if the path you are taking is right?

I can only hope that I'm doing what I'm suppose to do and now is the time when I'm suppose to do it. No one knows for sure.

You are on the right path if it's the path you are on, you are exactly where you are supposed to be at this moment. ENJOY IT! You can always change your mind :)

You should be glad you can actually afford, by whatever means, to attend school full time.

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