Anonymous wrote:No one on DCUM did poorly enough in high school to not go to any sort of college

I only got into community college. I couldn't transfer to a 4 yr college, and barely made it through the 2 yr one, and that's WITH having a lot of the harder classes waived or substituted, and my parents writing several of my papers for me.

No one on DCUM did poorly enough in high school to not go to any sort of college

I was a disaster, even though on paper I was okay: athlete, AP classes, Key Club etc. In reality I was SO BORED with the curriculum and would just read books I’d brought in. I think I would have thrived at a college like Hampshire, but this was out of reach financially.

I took forever to finish my undergrad (self-pay - like, I myself paid for it), but I did it. Then I got an MBA. I’ve worked in analytics, hospital administration, and now I’m a senior consultant at a boutique firm. I’m probably a little behind my peers because of my non-traditional life path but I feel successful. (I’m 39). I also had an amazing time as a young person, am married to a wonderful man and have three gorgeous kids.

It all works out!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did poorly. 2.6 GPA. Make 210k. I did a lot better in college than high school.

That’s not much

Don’t be a jerk!
210k is a great salary. Much more than most people make.

I did poorly in high school and took 6 years to graduate from college. I run a department and make about 200k. I’m poor by DCUM standards but I feel pretty good about where I ended up.

I always struggled in school even though I worked hard. It wasn’t until my daughter struggled and we had her tested and it turned out she had a learning disability. When I reviewed the test results I realized that she was me! I had the same problem. But, I ended up being very successful because I found my niche. My daughter is the same way. Get your child tested as it can. Are a big difference.

My favorite success story my friend with a 1.96 GPA out of college. School rounded up to
2.0 GPA minimum to graduate.

Graduated medical school in a BS West Indies medical school is a full blown doctor, has his own practice, published several books and is very rich.

Anonymous wrote:I did poorly. 2.7 GPA in HS. Became a lawyer. I make $920K a year.

I did worse and make 10 times more

I did poorly. 2.7 GPA in HS. Became a lawyer. I make $920K a year.

Save a horse ride a cowboy

I was expelled from DCPS in 11th grade.

Went to Montgomery College for 3 semesters then applied to 4-year colleges. Got into a decent but not amazing state school. Barely graduated with a 2.3GPA. (12th from the bottom in a class of 1,200!)

It took me a while to find a professional job after college, mostly because I graduated in 2008. Virtually nobody asked or cared what my grades were like when applying to places. Eventually got an entry level nonprofit job, did the whole "temporarily poor but upwardly mobile yuppie" thing for a few years living in group houses and eating ramen. Made my way into government after a few years and am now a GS-13.

My career track is and was virtually identical to the rest of my friends who stayed in DC long-term. My poor grades in high school and college has zero impact on my post-college life. "C's get degrees" as the old saying goes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did poorly. 2.6 GPA. Make 210k. I did a lot better in college than high school.

FYI only 40% of any developed country graduates from college.

U.S. has a big fall out rate too since less merit testing to access programs

Can you explain why you are responding to my post with this?

Because you did well enough to go to college, unlike most Americans.

The Op is about bombing out in high school and what was the result. That conjures up a non HS grad or GED or non college and non vocational track.

But those folk aren’t on DCUM so guess we’ll hear from the college grads or college drop outs.

The richest (and fun) people I know own their own business. Most of them were horrible in school but really social.

Sales = money.

Academics + no social skills = no money.

Slice it and dice it no matter what industry you go into you have to bring in business which requires you to be likeable. Law firm Partner? Have a book of business. Managing Director in Consulting? Better be good with people. Own business? Sign up accounts. Any consultative sales big money role - ditto.

So I would worry less about academics and more about social and EQ intelligence in general. I also would say - Us rather be lucky than good any day!

My relatives all are Ivy undergrad and grad. They are all fine money wise but none are loaded. All did phenomenal in school. Doctors and Finance are the 2 high paying professions that require a solid academic foundation but the richest Dr in my family of many Dr went to the worst med school of all and had the worst grades of all. He is however very ambitious and good with people and decided to specialize. He took what he earned and started a number of medical based businesses and investments to leverage his medical background.

So you see - worry more about your kid without friends than your kid who isn't academically inclined. The most important thing however is desire. They need to want to be successful however they define that. Otherwise it doesn't matter where they go to college!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The richest people I know did poorly in high school. They built their own businesses

I think y’all need to delineate between the smart, bored daydreamer bad-GPA students and the teen pregnancy, juvenile petty crime, 20% absenteeism bad-GPA students.

That delineation is often the family of origin and its resources. Curious about the successful business owners and such, how much of their initial investment came from the family.

I know someone who is doing pretty well with the business her parents bought for her. She is hard working, but if she wasn’t handed a business, she could be a very different story.

Sister struggled so badly in HS, she switched to the vocational track. Very difficult in a family of high academic achievers. (Found out there was a genetic explanation later in life.) Ended up in food and beverage management. Steady, low six figure income now. Married to a blue collar union job nice guy husband. They have a kid. Very happy.