DS says he doesn’t want to go to college

[Anonymous]

DS is a junior in HS taking a tough load this year. He is saying he doesn’t want to go to college, it’s not worth it, etc. Says he can make $ trading stocks, going into a trade, or some other way. I fear this is a combo on burnout and TikTok influence. I would be fine with him going into a trade but he has never shown the slightest interest in any of them. Daytrading doesn’t seem like a sustainable strategy. Thoughts? Similar experiences? Clearly, a summer job is in order so he gets what it is to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior in HS taking a tough load this year. He is saying he doesn’t want to go to college, it’s not worth it, etc. Says he can make $ trading stocks, going into a trade, or some other way. I fear this is a combo on burnout and TikTok influence. I would be fine with him going into a trade but he has never shown the slightest interest in any of them. Daytrading doesn’t seem like a sustainable strategy. Thoughts? Similar experiences? Clearly, a summer job is in order so he gets what it is to work.

Your DS is right. Unfortunately, upwardly mobile parents can’t stand to not have their kids go to college, even if it’s not in their kid’s best interests.

[Anonymous]

Don't give him any money to day trade with.

Explain to him how much he'll owe you if he starts work instead of college since he's earning money, he'll probably be paying rent?

Get him a job related to whatever trade he's interested in. If this is real, he'll figure it out

[Anonymous]

A year in an entry level job in a trade would be a great experience before either continuing or deciding to go to college. I always planned to go to college but after spending the summer after HS graduation working in a warehouse I was especially motivated.

[Anonymous]

I would require him to apply to college, but then defer and spend a year doing what he thinks he wants to do. Then he can see if it's as good as he thinks it will be.

[Anonymous]

Does he have a job? Have him work the summer in landscaping or Walmart. He will learn to appreciate the options a college degree gives him. He can still work as a brick layer after college but at least as more options if he doesn't want to after two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior in HS taking a tough load this year. He is saying he doesn’t want to go to college, it’s not worth it, etc. Says he can make $ trading stocks, going into a trade, or some other way. I fear this is a combo on burnout and TikTok influence. I would be fine with him going into a trade but he has never shown the slightest interest in any of them. Daytrading doesn’t seem like a sustainable strategy. Thoughts? Similar experiences? Clearly, a summer job is in order so he gets what it is to work.

Has he made any money trading stocks? if your family has money, I really don't see the point of going to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does he have a job? Have him work the summer in landscaping or Walmart. He will learn to appreciate the options a college degree gives him. He can still work as a brick layer after college but at least as more options if he doesn't want to after two years.

anyone looking to make 'easy' money from trading stocks probably won't look into wallmart/landscaping.

[Anonymous]

Tell him not going to college is even harder than going to college, and that you'll need to see incredible drive and motivation from him in order to allow that to happen. You want to see a business plan for the next 10 years, with financial estimates on how he's planning to support himself and what sector of activity he's going to work/invest in, with what incremental goals for what incremental timeframes.

That should shut him up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would require him to apply to college, but then defer and spend a year doing what he thinks he wants to do. Then he can see if it's as good as he thinks it will be.

Sounds advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell him not going to college is even harder than going to college, and that you'll need to see incredible drive and motivation from him in order to allow that to happen. You want to see a business plan for the next 10 years, with financial estimates on how he's planning to support himself and what sector of activity he's going to work/invest in, with what incremental goals for what incremental timeframes.

That should shut him up.

lol

[Anonymous]

I didn’t want to go to college but I did and pretty much failed out within 2 years. I left school then and my parents told me they loved me but their financial support was done since I wasn’t in school.

So I worked. Hard. At a lot of different kinds of jobs - some good, some bad. Eventually I figured out college and more predictable work with greater earning potential (and health insurance!) was a better plan so I went back to school. I overachieved, went to law school (T50, not T20 but still very respectable), and am doing just fine as a GS15 fed lawyer.

Looking back, I wonder what would have happened if I went to community college part time and worked whatever random jobs I could find instead of going to a big state college after HS. Or, like a PP suggested, applied and then deferred for a year. I just know that I was totally uninterested in and totally unprepared for college when I was 18, despite being a merit scholar in HS. It was a very expensive and distressing mistake for me to go then.

[Anonymous]

Going into a trade: okay reason to skip college (although I’d impress on your child that not having a degree will close some doors, especially if he wants to progress to management in a trade or if he decides he doesn’t want to work in a trade anymore).

Day trading, bitcoin, etc: not an acceptable reason to skip college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does he have a job? Have him work the summer in landscaping or Walmart. He will learn to appreciate the options a college degree gives him. He can still work as a brick layer after college but at least as more options if he doesn't want to after two years.

+1
My DS worked at Meadows Farms as a laborer and also as a pizza deliverer. Both jobs served as excellent motivation for getting a college degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a junior in HS taking a tough load this year. He is saying he doesn’t want to go to college, it’s not worth it, etc. Says he can make $ trading stocks, going into a trade, or some other way. I fear this is a combo on burnout and TikTok influence. I would be fine with him going into a trade but he has never shown the slightest interest in any of them. Daytrading doesn’t seem like a sustainable strategy. Thoughts? Similar experiences? Clearly, a summer job is in order so he gets what it is to work.

Tell him to go into crypto like Trump.