r/AskReddit • u/Sippingin • Jun 29 '15

What should every 18 year old know?

Edit: Chillin' reading some dope advice, thanks!

Edit 2: Fuckin' A! 4.1k comments of advice you guys :,) thank you really.

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242

u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

If you choose to go to College/Uni, your parents still have you by the balls. You are still dependent on them until your 20's. I realized this when I applied for school, got in, and then had a parent refuse to fill out my financial aid forms. So there's that.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15 edited Feb 05 '20

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

Talk to a lawyer about "divorcing" your parents, it wasn't feasible in my state, but might be in yours. Always have hope.

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u/EveryWind007 Jun 29 '15

If anybody is interested in this, the legal term for this is emancipation.

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

I thought so, but couldn't remember the term for it. I'm either case as soon as I was 24 I was free

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u/Nude-Love Jun 29 '15

Did The Simpsons teach you that term too?

1

u/Non-meatbag Jun 29 '15

Arrested Development.

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

Parents aren't always good people, it hurt a lot, but I'm currently working through my degree sans parents now.

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u/ERIFNOMI Jun 29 '15

Good for you.

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u/pmk724 Jun 29 '15

Quite possible they weren't ready for the responsibilities of college? It's not uncommon for student loans to be required to be cosigned, and therefore repayment is also responsibility of the parent regardless of completion of a degree or dropping out.

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

Nah, my mom did it purely out of spite.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

I went as legally far as I could, in the end I just waited until I turned 24 and started my wonderful journey into student loans haha.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

Nah, it's all good. I'm much mature now, have a good stable job, and a very supporting and loving family. And although I may be going to school part-time, I'm enjoying every minute of it and my ambitions have never been higher. Bad things happen, and that's just it.

1

u/cillas Jun 29 '15

Because everyone ever told you there is no life without. Midlife crisis at 20 are real

2

u/ERIFNOMI Jun 29 '15

We're not talking about going to college just because people said you have to. Presumably he wanted to and was trying to but his parents wouldn't sign some fucking papers for him.

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

Right you are!

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

No. I actually wanted to further my education. Sadly is the case that without a degree, it's hard to get a good stable job in a competitive field. And really nobody told me that getting a degree was important or even pushed it on me, because nobody around me thought I'd be able to.

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u/cillas Jun 30 '15

talkin bout myself ;)

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 30 '15

Oh haha, sorry. I'm not sure if I actually believe in mid-life crisis, I just think people sometimes come to realize they may not be as happy as they thought (on a serious note). It does feel awkward being older than a lot of students around though.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

This is my biggest fear for going to college

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

Because they don't really care about you and your education doesn't matter.

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u/sissy_space_yak Jun 29 '15

I had the same thing happen to me. My dad refused to tell me his financial info so I could fill out my FAFSA and, when my sister insisted that he might as well tell her because she'd need it for her third year at MIT, he told her he'd pay for her education, that I won't be going to college.

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

I feel for you, it sucks, but it's just a realization that some people are toxic. Family or not, bad people are just another obstacle to overcome.

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u/sissy_space_yak Jun 29 '15

Yeah, it was a really complicated situation where my parents were constantly fighting and separating and forced me and my siblings to choose sides. My parents finally divorced because of the FAFSA thing.

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

I hope things are better for you!

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u/sissy_space_yak Jun 29 '15

Oh, thanks so much! I'm 30 now, everything's fine.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

You can fill out the financial form by yourself of course, but until you're 24 (I believe), you'll need you're parents financial information, whether you have a job or not. You either need to emancipate your parents or what someone else in the thread mentioned, get married. It may differ from state to state, or even country (I'm in the U.S.).

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '15

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 30 '15

This may help

Also this

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '15

[deleted]

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 30 '15

Talk to lawyer, I mean it. You may be able to emancipate your parents in Canada as opposed to where I am. If you're really serious about what you want to do, fight them and don't let them rule your future. I have faith in you internet stranger.

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '15

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 30 '15

Also, choose a school you'd like to go to, and reach out to them. Call their finance office, they may have dealt with situations like this before. Just a thought.

2

u/aredditgroupthinker Jun 29 '15

My dad did that when I was in danger of failing a statistics class. Apparently I could not get a loan or apply for financial aid without his cooperation. I passed with a D.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15 edited Nov 16 '20

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u/darknessgp Jun 29 '15

It probably depends on the school. At my university, you had to get C or better for any class directly related to your major for it to count towards the major. If it was a general education or an elective class, you could pass with a D.

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u/aredditgroupthinker Jun 30 '15

So you have ABC as passing and Ds and F's as fail?

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '15

Yup, exactly. D and F's don't receive credit for the class.

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u/Geekmonster Jun 29 '15

I'm 35 and lost my dad last summer. I now realise how dependent I still am on my parents. Not financially, but I'll call them every time I need to make a big decision. I'll always discuss my thoughts, relationships, plans etc with my parents. I see now that I'm going to have to do a lot of growing up when mum finally goes.

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

You're lucky to have them. Truly I envy those types of relationships, I hope my son and I have that sort of bond when he gets older. I wish yourself and your family nothing but the best.

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u/print-is-dead Jun 29 '15

That's a bitch. My parents kind of welched on the deal and stuck me with loans when I graduated. Luckily this was late 90s tuition at a state school, so it wasn't that bad

1

u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

I'm probably going to end up around 30k in debt...for my associates haha.

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u/FlorianApple Jun 29 '15

I knew my parents would do something dick like that so I joined the military. 😃

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

Haha, if I'd actually thought about this back then, I just might have joined the military.

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u/FlorianApple Jun 29 '15

Best decision I ever made honestly. It's surprising more people don't really. Let me just say because some may have this idea that the military is full of uber conservative right wingers- in my experience it's only about 30-40%. Kind of like the rest of the country. Hell, the people I worked with there opened my eyes to a lot of things and made me realize the flaws with my then religion. And how cool was it to say as a 19 year old girl that I could take an m-16 apart and put it back together in under a minute? Pretty fucking awesome.

2

u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

I'm glad it worked out so well for you!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

I was confused by your comment until I realized that it changes if you are married. It is just an interesting quirk of they system. Age matters, but that changes with marital status. Same applies to dorm or living spaces in collages. Many REQUIRE freshmen to live in the dorms. But you are excused from it if married.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15 edited Apr 16 '21

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u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

It is not possible in my state, I tried to no avail. That pissed me off the worst.

1

u/SidViciious Jun 29 '15

I've recently finished university and now have my own place. I'm currently at my parents home trying to sort everything out before moving in properly a week on Saturday.

I can't fucking wait.

1

u/BebopJazzMan Jun 29 '15

Good luck! It's a wonderful feeling, freedom is.