What do you regret most during college?

45 comments

  1. Most of my college time was during the pandemic and I focused so much on my grades instead of on myself. I’m graduated now, but I still feel this heavy stress on my shoulders. I wish I would have tried to enjoy it more.

    Edit: lol just seeing this is AskMen. Wrong gender but hi :’)

  3. I met my college girlfriend freshman year and my social circle stopped expanding because I was spending most of my time with her.

    I was from out of state so I didn’t have any ready made friends so this hurt in the long run.

  4. Choosing the wrong program initially. All student loans are paid off but I would have saved a lot if I took a gap year after high school to explore.

  5. I didn’t spend my free time intelligently. Spent mostly on videogames. If I had to do it over again, I’d invest it in something like Jiu Jitsu or learning how to evaluate stocks and trading.

  6. 1. My first program choice, I did it because it sounded cool, didnt enjoy half the classes and quit a year in

    2. For my second program I just didnt give a shit about my social life, I went to school, did my work and went home, missed out on making friends.

  7. Going. I have a good job now that has nothing to do with what I was pursuing and I also have college debt.

    You do not need a degree for a good job.

  8. personally, I spent too much time doing nothing. I’m a senior now and it’s very clear I should have gotten more involved when I had the opportunities to.

  9. During undergrad and grad school, I worked full time, went to school full-time and worked out 5 days a week, so I was constantly busy.

    I had friends and study partners, but I never really went out a bunch. I also went to a very popular SEC school and as a big college football fan that was my draw to the school, but I only ended up going to three games the three years I was there. Ironically, I live 3 hours away now and I’ve gone to 7 games in the past two years now that I’m not a student.

    Looking back after being out 4 years now I’m thankful I focused my time and efforts on building my future, and responsibility. But I regret not getting that “college” experience like most people do and felt I could have done more to enjoy myself while I was there.

  10. Being in the Army.

    Going to online school while serving active duty both meant I got no funny college stories and, my god, constantly having shit keeping me after work means I had to rush and cram just as a necessity.

    Imagine all the stress of college with none of the fun parties or wild stories.

  12. I slept with about a third of one of my classes and it ended up causing HUGE issues, to the point I was asked in a bery formal meeting if I would refrain from sleeping with my cohort. It was awkward as hell man.

  14. That I did not study harder and that I didn’t try to find courses that really suited me. But I came from a shit adolescence with bullying, born in a daytime workers area so I had no ambitions or dreams

  16. I moved to Arizona for college and discovered I *hate* desert heat and months of sunshine at a time.

    Probably for the best because I focused on school and work, and it was a physical separation from where I grew up which aided me in healing and growing as a person.

  17. so basically, the ones who were Carrer focused regret it because they didn’t fully enjoy college experience and vice versa. interesting, i think you’re going to regret something anyway.

  22. Focusing so hard on my grades at the expense of having a social life.

    I’ve been in the professional workforce for 15+ years now and literally not one job has given a shit about my grades or asked to see my transcripts.

    Hell, I didn’t even have a job request proof that I wasn’t lying about having a degree until the first time I applied to a job at a mega-corp in my mid 30s.

  23. Spending my free time participating in greek life and party culture when all I really wanted to do was hike, camp, and ski on my own.

  24. 1. Not starting a fraternity at our small, Christian college. Would’ve been the first and probably only.
    2. Aside from the great friendships I made there, going to a small, Christian college in the first place.

  26. 1.) Wasting my time in other courses rather than being focused on my medical carrier.

    2.) Being anti-social

  28. Studying more. I graduated with a decent enough GPA but really skated through the last few years.

    If I had just spent 1-2 hours a day studying and doing work to try for the A instead of settling, I could have done much better.

    Then there was the night the girl wanted to take me back to her room for a “goodbye session”, and I decided to go to the bar instead.

  29. – going to college right out of hs. If I knew what I know now, i would have went to the military or soemthing

    – shadowed more professions and hopefully figured out what I wanted to do sooner

  32. Getting into a toxic relationship that lasted the better part of three years. Not only did I not open myself up to other people because of it during my college years, but to this day I have problems being intimate, flirting, and even thinking of being deserving of a girlfriend.

  34. Attending a cult sponsored, conservative religious school.

    I feel like I lost a lot going to a school where everybody looked and talked like me.

  35. Not going to college. I dropped out of high school and joined the Navy a few years later.

  36. I don’t have major college regrets. I thrived both socially and academically.

    However, even as someone who earns good money, doesn’t have kids, has an extremely flexible schedule (I’ve been self-employed and working from home for almost a decade now), and lives in NYC with immediate access to endless entertainment… I still wish I had appreciated more just how much there is to do on a college campus on any night of the week, and how much freedom I had to do it all. It’s all in walking distance, much of it is free, and there are plenty of people to share experiences with.

    Art exhibits and museums. Guest lectures. Film screenings. Poetry readings. Fitness classes. Comedy shows. Sporting events. Plays. Concerts.

    If you’re currently a student and you live on or near campus, don’t take this for granted. It’s a very unique aspect of the college experience that doesn’t last forever.

  37. Got depressed after a break up and bombed a semester, effectively derailing my college career. Found out she cheated pretty much the entire time we dated later

  38. Not dating/getting laid more. I turned down a lot of nice girls in part due to anxiety and in part due to being overly picky. I would have been better off with more romantic company than I had.

    Picking a major because it was easy rather than something I was interested in. Similarly, being too scared to pursue what I really wanted to do.

    Getting too into drugs. Experimentation in itself isn’t bad, I don’t think, but I was so into it that it got in the way of my social life

  39. I made the mistake of majoring in computer science and electrical engineering at the same time. I didn’t sleep for 4 years.

  40. I should have done more extra-curricular things. I just turned up and left. I always encourage people to join clubs, play university sport etc. Wish I had done this.

  41. Not making plans to stay in contact with friends after graduation. What was a large circle of friends and teammates, is now a couple emails a year with one person.

  45. If you’re asking because you’re heading to college soon, you might like the book *Been There, Should’ve Done That*, which is a collection of exactly this kind of information from graduating seniors on what went well and what went badly during the previous four years.

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