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<p>If he was meeting with his teachers, studying as much as he could, and doing his best in a class and still failed, I doubt his parents would be as upset. But he’s not maximizing his academic potential; he’s wasting most his time partying, and not spending enough time studying. So yeah, I think his parents, who are paying for his education, have a right to be upset that he’s using $20-50k to party.</p>
<p>The parents are right to stop paying for the kid to waste their money in college. If he wants to go to college, let him take out loans or work a job to earn the money to go there. If he waits to return when he’s 24, the college will classify him as an independent adult, and he can apply for aid without his parents’ being expected to contribute. Perhaps he’ll also be mature enough then to take advantage of the wonderful academic opportunity that he has.</p>
<p>I can certainly understand their frustration.</p>
<p>But, perhaps he can come to some sort of compromise with them? For example, for one year, he pulls together the funds to pay for college – either through working or loans – and if he can get, at minimum, on the dean’s list for that year, then they give him another chance?</p>
<p>@fa-la-la-lena</p>
<p>As far as I know, most of my friends’ parents pay for their college education. My parents said that they’re paying for mine too, but that’s the last thing that they’re going to pay for.</p>
<p>OP, to answer your question: no , he is not totally screwed.</p>
<p>But he is on his own now and has to - whether he likes it or not - figure out how to support himself. From my parents perspctive, that means:
1 - meet with college academic advisor and talk over pros and cons of taking a break from school (NB: check out the stats for your school showing what % of students graduate in 6 years; your brother is no alone!!)
2 - then DO what brother and advisor agree to
3 - get a job to start paying for an apartment food, utilities, etc.
4- do NOT borrow vast sums of $ to stay in school now; you will regret that!!!
5 - keep parents informed about your plans (e.g., “advisor and I decided that I should take a year off, so I am going back to school in Fall 2010; in the meantime, I’m working <insert details=”" here=“”>"
6 - don’t burn your bridges with the parents; they want to pay for school; they do NOT want to pay for partying . . and that , if you think about it, makes sense
7 - in the future sometime, developed a plan and a budget for going back to school, one with your paerents help and one without
8 - meet with therm and ask for their help, prteneding it’s a scholarship and get a cler agreement about what minimum GPA you need to keep their scholarship</insert></p>
<p>I know this is more info than you want right now, but it’s illustrative: you are NOT screwed, you just have to step up to adult responsibilities now, and that DOESN’T mean anything drastic . . . it just means that you start thinking about then taking one action at a time . . . starting now</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>P.S. Plattsburgh also has good advice; that compromise is really the same kind of thing: taking actions one at a time: talk with academic and financial aid advisors at school, come up with a realistic acadecmie plan and budget, investigating funuding for school, etc.</p>