College student shares powerful lesson after getting into his 'dream' school: ‘It paid off’
A college student is going viral after sharing a powerful message about higher education.
Patrick Miller went to community college after graduating from high school. A year later, he started classes at his “dream school.”
As Miller explained in a now-viral TikTok, he owes a lot of his success to that transitional year. He got a 4.0 GPA, racked up 85 volunteer hours and gained some work experience. Then, he got ready to transfer.
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With his newly bolstered resumé, Miller was able to get into some of the nation’s top schools, including New York University, the University of Florida and his dream school, the University of Texas at Austin.
The TikToker shared a list of the schools that admitted him in his video, along with their competitive acceptance rates.
“Normalize going to community college!! I worked very hard this year and it paid off,” he captioned the clip.
The moral of Miller’s video seemed to resonate with plenty of TikTok users, who praised his success and shared their own experiences as transfer students.
“YESS. Another fellow transfer student. So proud,” one user wrote.
“Congrats dude! I’m a transfer too. We worked so hard to get where we are,” another added.
As the TikToker revealed in his comments, he ultimately chose UT Austin, where he’s majoring in government with plans to attend law school.
Miller’s story is an inspiring example, but it’s somewhat uncommon. According to data from the Community College Research Center, only 30 percent of community college students transfer to four-year schools within six years. That’s despite 80 percent of them claiming they attend to obtain a Bachelor’s degree or higher.
One of the biggest hurdles: price. As federal data from 2018 shows, in-state community colleges cost an average of $3,243 per year. That’s compared to $9,000 for an in-state, four-year public university.
As Miller noted though, community college was a chance to save money while he prepared for higher costs. He noted that he’s currently debt-free.
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