Maggie's Farm

As a long-time instructor of science at a large public university, it's been my experience that as many as 30% of the undergraduates in my classes did not belong in higher education. They were inadequately prepared for college level work and lacked the personal commitment needed to correct the deficiencies in their backgrounds. They would have been better off taking a few years off after high school, working some, traveling, maturing, and then---having decided what they wanted to do later in life---going back to school for an education. There's nothing like dedication and perseverance to turn a mediocre student into a fire-breathing world-beater. Hard working, older students are a teacher's delight. They are grateful for the knowledge you share with them and they value the learning experience. Too many younger students are in college to mark time. Colleges use them to fill seats in cavernous classrooms, taking their tuition money in order to pay an army of administrators and faculty and to make a splash in the annual rankings of universities by magazines. If your school's entrance standards are high, some of those seats probably won't be filled. Administrators worry a lot about empty chairs.