[mwhuang2]

My peers in high school were overachievers who seemed to have everything figured out. I had no idea what I was doing and often had close to failing grades, despite scoring high on standardized tests (2390 SAT + 800 SAT II Math).

I got rejected from almost every college I applied to and ended up dropping out after a year when I actually did go. I worked two jobs and took community college classes for a year before returning to university.

I'm definitely more focused and mature now. I think people shouldn't feel the need to conform to the "normal" path of going off to college right away. There's really no single correct way to go through life. I needed time to figure things out for myself instead of adhering to a system I wasn't comfortable in.

[GhotiFish]

I seriously wish I had stayed the hell away from college until I was mature enough to handle it. I wasted money going too early. Frankly, I may of gravitated to my profession without the aid of college. Throughout my career I've always ended up as informal tech support, and an informal in house developer. By jumping from job to job and accumulating developer experience in these informal venues, I may of had an alternative way to get my foot in the door to a real programming job.

[55555]

You had a 2390 on your SATs and were rejected from colleges?

[theVirginian]

It can look bad to have high test scores and poor grades because it implies you were a lazy student. It's not a sentiment that I agree with but our guidance counselors basically put it to us that way.

[mwhuang2]

I applied mostly to Ivies and similarly competitive colleges. They get plenty of applicants with near-perfect test scores and GPAs, so my poor grades made me a subpar candidate.

[Moto7451]

This happened with people in the highly gifted magnet at my High School. It didn't matter that they were taking nothing but AP classes by teachers hell bent on being extremely difficult. They saw consistent C and B grades and a 1600/2400 (I went to High School during the transition from 2 part to 3 part SAT). Some didn't get accepted anywhere due to the fact they only applied two a few Ivy League schools.