Why do college students left out of bar-hopping get sympathy, but not college students left out of graduation?

[Anonymous]

My kid turned 21 junior year and doesn't go to bars. He will graduate in 5 years with a masters. He doesn't want or need your sympathy, OP.

[Anonymous]

Your kid is graduating from college and you want him to get sympathy?

THis is weird. What is the scenario here:
son: grandma, I'm graduating in May
Grandma: I'm so sorry you didn't graduate last year

That makes no sense.

I think, statistically speaking, the majority of kids do not graduate in 4 years. 41% of college students graduate in 4 years, according to various sites with various references (I just googled).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why did it take 5 years? Too much bar hopping?

This was common at my big state school—the massive partiers that too 5-6 years to graduate. So much so- my dad in the late 80s used to shout how he only was paying for 4 years—no constantly switching majors either…out in 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sympathy? Who cares about this? Is OP's DS worried about either grad school admission or job prospects because his transcripts look bad? How is he left out of graduation? Will he not still graduate? This doesn't make any sense at all.

I graduated in 4.5 years, which means in the winter. This happened because I took a "gap semester" or sorts and went to an immersion language school overseas for a semester. I got some credit for it but not full credit. My choice. No one cares.

Actually "all kids" do not have fake ids. In my first kids college town, the police were known for cracking down at the real bars (almost everyday weekend) so many kids decided not worth the risk. Especially if you are going into a field where an arrest will harm you (anything medical)

You drink on campus/at off campus parties but not at the bars until you are 21

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sympathy? Who cares about this? Is OP's DS worried about either grad school admission or job prospects because his transcripts look bad? How is he left out of graduation? Will he not still graduate? This doesn't make any sense at all.

I graduated in 4.5 years, which means in the winter. This happened because I took a "gap semester" or sorts and went to an immersion language school overseas for a semester. I got some credit for it but not full credit. My choice. No one cares.

Actually "all kids" do not have fake ids. In my first kids college town, the police were known for cracking down at the real bars (almost everyday weekend) so many kids decided not worth the risk. Especially if you are going into a field where an arrest will harm you (anything medical)

You drink on campus/at off campus parties but not at the bars until you are 21

Should have picked better then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone assumes the kid that took 5 years to graduate was lazy or had issues.

I could have graduated in 3 years so 5 just sounds wild to me.

Does having issues not warrant sympathy?

OP wasn’t asking for sympathy about whatever led to the late graduation, though.

They wanted people to feel badly because he didn’t get to graduate with his friends—thus the comparison to not being able to bar-hop with friends.