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How hard is it to fail? At a top notch college like Harvard or Princeton for instance? Does anyone actually fail?

I heard almost nobody fails english but lots fail math. is this true?

By Coureur (Coureur) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 12:21 am: Edit

People who fail are almost always people who simply don't do the work. They may have emotional problems, or substance abuse problems, or just simply slack off.

If you go to your classes and do the work, your chances of outright failure are very low. If in addition to that you work hard, get to know your professors, and get help from profs or other students when you are having trouble, your chances of failure are pretty much zero.

By Giants8307 (Giants8307) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 12:59 am: Edit

People fail. My roommate from freshman year, a math major, was kicked out. He smoked too much and didn't do his work. It happens. I believe the grad rate is around 60% or so, at my school. Granted some find jobs just before they graduate and don't finish, but failure is not all that uncommon. College is hard, so I'm going to go study.

By Guyute (Guyute) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 01:03 am: Edit

College isn't for everyone, sometimes it gets the best of people. You get caught up in the swirl of activity going on around you (trust me, there is always something going on)

Do you work and study a little and you will do fine

By Northstarmom (Northstarmom) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 09:00 am: Edit

Next to no one fails at top notch colleges like Harvard. Their graduation rate in 4 years is about 95-97%.

That's because the very top universities pick the top students in the country. Those students have a long history of working hard in school. They are very organized, and they care deeply about their academics. Every student who gets into a college like HPY has the ability to succeed at that college (This also is true of the majority of applicants to such colleges).

In addition, schools like Harvard believe that if a student is good enough to be accepted, they are good enough to graduate. Thus, in the rare cases in which students mess up, the university will have them take time off, and then the university will welcome them back. This isn't the case at many other universities. This particularly isn't the case at many state universities that are happy to flunk students out because the universities are overenrolled anyway.

WHen I went to an Ivy, I did know a couple of people who had to take time off for grade reasons or for disciplinary reasons. One guy, for instance, decided to move a dorm sofa into his apartment, and was kicked out when he was caught moving out the sofa.

Virtually everyone, including the guy who stole, was let back in, and graduated. The thief ended up becoming a minister and working with troubled youth in a developing country.

The closest to failure that typically happens is students who switch majors because they find their initial major is too hard. I know that lots of premed students switch to easier majors after they take freshmen chemistry. This happens, though, at many colleges.

By 3togo (3togo) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 11:43 am: Edit

There are two questions in that question.

Lots of people fail a test, a project, or even a course. Very few people flunk out of school ... and those that do usually earned it by not working hard enough.

Think of it this way. There are about 100 discussions in CC talking about how tough it is to get into schools because there are a zillion qualified applicants. Virtually everyone who gets accepted is capabale of doing at least a solid job at their college ... it's then up to the student to focus and be disciplined enough to make sure their performance is OK.

Why of my funnier moments with my Mom was when I was talking to a younger cousin about going to college. I advised her to have fun but make sure she took care of her school business first ... and that I had had too much fun my first couple years and then had to work too hard my last couple years to catch up. After my cousin left my mom said she never knew I didn't study hard my first couple of years ... I said .. Mom, what did you think, that I had a brain transplant (my GPA my first 2 years was 2.4, my GPA my last 2 years was 3.6). Same kid, same potential, a lot more maturity. The kids I know who flunked out just could not manage their time well enough to make sure they did at least 2-3 hours of work every night (and almost all had an alcohol or drug issue).

By Dartkid08 (Dartkid08) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 03:49 pm: Edit

Northstarmom, you said "Their graduation rate in 4 years is about 95-97%."

This is from Princeton Review:

Harvard

Freshmen Graduating in 4 years: 83%
Freshmen Graduating in 6 years: 92%

The rates are pretty similar at other Ivies.

Do you know why this is the case?

By Fendergirl (Fendergirl) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 03:53 pm: Edit

People transfer away, people drop out of college, etc.

By Justinmeche (Justinmeche) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 09:08 pm: Edit

I left a rigorous engineering program due to bad grades. Despite many hours of studying I had D's in courses like statics and physics. I transfered out so I could attempt engineering somewhere else because I still felt I had the ability to succeed. My 2.0 GPA didn't transfer though. Within a year I got 3.0 and 3.81, for a cumulative 3.51. The first engineering program wasn't too difficult....I simply didn't understand the material. The different textbooks at the second school cleared up all of my troubles with intuition about how forces affect objects.

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 06:46 pm: Edit

HYPS wouldn't let you fail out, they'd keep you. It would look bad on them if they let someone in who would eventually fail out.