Why Boys Fail in College

Of the boys who do not reach their natural academic boundary during the course of their college career, but who fail to get through, there are two main classes: those who try, and those who do not try. Many boys attempt seriously to make good, and really have the native ability to do so, but find it almost impossible to sit at a desk and concentrate on the tasks assigned.

There is the boy who sits down to study, opens his book, but before starting on his work says to himself, 'I think that I had better sharpen my pencil; it needs it.' And when he has sharpened it, he observes that all his pencils need sharpening. And so on, until his time is gone and nothing has been done. Such nervous habits are not easy to uproot, and so far as I can see cannot be eradicated by anyone but the boy himself. Others can see the difficulty, but the boy must take himself by the collar and make himself cultivate a poise and calm that smothers the fidgets. Until he does this, he does not really try, although he thinks he’s trying and often spends more time in the presence of an open book than many a boy of equal ability who does good work.

A common cause of failure is a mistaken ambition for the boy on the part of his parents. More often than I should wish, I find a boy who is not showing any interest in his work and who is not trying to do it with any distinction, because he is following a direction, mapped out by his parents, that runs counter to all of his interests and abilities. I have made a number of very warm enemies among the parents of college students by telling them that I am certain that the good Lord never intended their son to be a physician, or a dentist, or an engineer. It may be that the boy has ability enough to be anyone of these things, but the long and short of it is, he does not want to be. He wants to be a theatrical manager, or a businessman, or a book-illustrator. It may be unreasonable for the boy to turn his back on a fine opening in the dental profession in favor of business, or to be deaf to a long-established medical tradition in his family due to some vague desire to be a writer. But as a general thing, the boy wins out in such controversies. And he should.

Nowadays, when most ambitious boys want to go to college, the financial pressure is a very serious one. A few parents take the position that the boy should earn his way through college for the good of his soul. As a matter of fact, no boy ought to be compelled to earn his entire way through college if it can in any way be avoided. Not only does he get a mighty poor living by the process, but a mighty poor education as well. If the boy ought to go to college at all, he ought to be trusted to make good use of reasonable contribution from his parents toward his expenses. Any parent owes this much to his son. The boy did not ask his parents to bring him into the world. They are responsible for his being here, and consequently, they have the responsibility for giving him the best equipment possible to meet the world’s problems.

The question of health, both physical and mental, is always one of the reasons for failure. If an adequate health service is available in the college, and if proper cooperation exists between the teaching staff and the office of the college doctor, an immense number of failures can be avoided. And, what is just as important, the reason for inability to do satisfactory college work can be clearly understood by the boy, his parents and the college authorities. In the case of poor academic work, the reason for which is not apparent, it is my custom always to ask the student to undergo a thorough physical examination.

There are always a goodly number of undergraduates whose heads are turned and whose judgment is perverted by the attractiveness of athletic sports and literary activity. All of these features of college life have their place, and should receive the support of those students who are interested in them. In my experience, the awakening of a clear judgment as to what the college is for, is not as difficult as is often supposed. If a boy is too much interested in these side shows he ought to get out of the main tent and become a professional. But most of them really are not, and if reasoned with by a friend who knows youth and understands the importance of the college opportunity, they will not allow themselves to be swept off their feet.

A few lazy bluffers drift into college and usually drift out again. Most of them have not found any serious interest in life, and some of them never will. It is usually wise to let them retire to the cold world for a reason and find out by experience how much demand there is for a lazy bluffer. Sometimes they learn their lesson and return to do first-rate work. But the burden of proof is always on them to show that they mean business.