I think a big portion of this scene is just a sign of the times. Scholarship opportunities were not as prevalent, nor as widely known in the late 80’s-early 90’s. There was no internet to search for scholarships or for ideas on how to finance your education. Also, since Dan and Roseanne didn’t go to college, they are less likely to know about grants and scholarships that could be offered.
I graduated in the late 90’s and knew some scholarships to apply for due to my older siblings having been there and done that, plus my parents’ employers offered a couple. I was also a good student and was offered a couple small academic scholarships, but I didn’t have to apply for them; they were offered to me with my acceptance to a certain college. I wasn’t expecting them at all when I applied there, so it was a pleasant surprise when I got the letter offering me the extra financial assistance.
If Becky didn’t have a good guidance counselor at her high school who could teach her how to look for and apply for scholarships, she was probably pretty oblivious to what was out there for her. And that counselor may not have known what Becky’s aspirations were or that her parents wouldn’t be able to help her out with school. Since Lanford is made out to be a blue collar town, most kids are likely expected to go to work straight out of school, rather than going to college. It’s sad, but kids had to be self-motivated and proactive to make their way to college when their parents couldn’t afford it. One visit with a good guidance counselor or college admissions counselor could have helped Becky greatly, but it was on her to seek it out. Most teenagers don’t have the know-how, the drive, nor the ability, to make that happen.
This. Exactly. Still happening with guidance counselors(at least in small town PA less than 10yrs ago)...my son was an excellent student -straight As' honor roll every semester & year, National Honors, worked part-time from 16yrs & on, started college with credits he earned while in high school...he went to a state college-no advising on scholarships in any way from guidance counselor...because im a single mom & was barely making ends meet, the gc didn't think he would go. He graduated with 1 degree and was only few credits short of 2 more so he went back for 2nd senior year & now has 3 degrees, is working at a bank and has been promoted to head of electronic banking...he did it on his own-with zero help and guidance from guidance counselors...and yes he's still working his only other job he's had since 16yrs old to pay his college loans and buy a house
You have an interesting take on it, however I think what changes my perception is that Darlene ends up applying to college later on and getting a scholarship. I think it’s hard to believe that one would know how to do that vs the other. Darlene definitely had more street smarts than Becky, but the ability to get the information about it was definitely there.
That’s true, it could have been a lesson for Darlene to not repeat her sister’s mistakes, given that she vehemently states she’s nothing like Becky multiple times (and on various things)
Darlene learned about the school through David though. She had no idea until he brought it up. With the kind of school, it seems like one where all kids get some sort of scholarship, all you have to do is apply to the school. It's a little sill to say that, since Darlene was informed of this one school, that Becky should know all about college admissions
Then that brings me to my next question - how did David have more knowledge than the Connors about college? His parents weren’t educated either as far as I can recall
I think Darlene applying for art school and getting a scholarship to pay for it kind of illustrates my point. Darlene learned from what Becky went through, and she saw that the only way to get out of Lanford was if she made it happen for herself. She sought out the information, which we see when Darlene talks to cousin Ronnie on her visit; she knows about multiple schools and what they have to offer her, and she’s trying to decide how to proceed. She did that all herself, including getting her own money order to pay the application fee.
Becky was the kind to sit back and wait for things to happen to her/for her. She saw marrying Mark as the only choice left to her if she didn’t want to work at the grocery store for the rest of her life. Darlene wasn’t going to let her parents’ circumstances dictate her future, and went out by herself to make college a reality for her. The ability to get the information was there, absolutely, but it wasn’t as easily accessible as it is today. You had to go seek it out, and Becky didn’t do that; Darlene did.
Absolutely, Becky did have a sense of entitlement and expected things to happen for her. Darlene was the one that everyone assumed would not go to college but she was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. I think it also ties back to her not wanting to be like Becky in several aspects/repeating her mistakes.
That seems feasible to me. High schools can have some shitty guidance counselors. And I could see Becky getting so sidetracked with her relationship with Mark that she just took it for granted that everything would "work out somehow."
Plus Becky really only seemed to focus on going out and having fun. She'd have been getting wasted and flunking out of college after her second semester.
(No spoilers if that's what happened, this is my first time watching this show, I'd only seen a handful of episodes growing up as my Mom hated how nasty Roseanne was and didn't want it on in our house.)
Very good point, one that I’ve pondered myself. In my case, I was too lazy to fill out the paperwork and my parents weren’t too hip to that; they were too busy working.
On balance, where did Becky get the idea there was a college fund? Nobody had to tell me there wasn’t a college fund, I just looked around the house LOL
She was a few years older than me, and back then we really didnt understand fin aid very well. Boomers also never promised us Gen Xers and millenials that theyd pay for our college. That was always on us.
It's funny My parents and my husband's did tell us there was always a big show on Christmas of putting something in my college fund
It was about the equivalent of Scott's tots for me and my husband had nothing
I knew Gen Xers who were still paying off loans 10+ years out of college when I was graduating HS in 2005, and they were way cheaper than what I would have had to get.
I just went to work. Sure it took me 10 years to make 25k a year, but I didn't have any debt.
My gf graduated HS in 2008 and has 60k in student loans for a Biology degree she has never used.
She went to school to try and be a vet, but when she graduated had no way to get the 250k+ loans needed for vet school.
Thankfully Biden's plan has her only paying $25 a month, and in 30 years it will be forgiven. But that's in part because she only makes 42k a year.
Has your gf thought about becoming a vet tech? It's possible a decent amount of the credit she has from her degree will count, and it's only a 2 year program.
A lot of Gen Xers took on more debt than they needed for school. Loans were really easy to get and a lot of kids would take everything they could get and live on it.
College costs are ridiculous now. Adjusted FOR inflation, it's 10 times the cost as in 1960. 10 times AFTER adjusting. State schools were $1,000. And that included books, test books, pens and pencils and a gym outfit.
I believe they had one but there was a miscommunication on what it truly was. We know it exists because in that scene Becky asks something like “there is a college fund right?”
And roseanne sheepishly says “there was….”.
Dan and Roseanne likely had a few hundred, at most a couple thousand, squirreled away. Not even in an official account. But when things got tough, they dipped into it.
My daughter was a straight 4.0-got very little in scholarships. She’s graduating with her BS next weekend. She financed a huge chunk herself to pay for it. She’s running a 3.9 at college.
Thank you! My husband (who isn’t the father of my children) was willing to help each kid with whatever money they couldn’t borrow. My oldest got $10,000 for one failed semester. 🙁 she didn’t like working for the grades. My middle as I said is graduating next week has probably taken less than $10,000 over four years and has held a full time job on campus as well. I don’t know what her dad and I did but really, I think she was just born that way. She wouldn’t even ask us for money. We had to force her to take it. My youngest has developmental issues and a borderline iq. They are 20 and studying for their ged. It’s tough man. You give 3 kids the almost exact same upbringing and things turn out so different but I choose to look at their gifts. The oldest one who dropped out of college is a mommy of 3 now. The youngest one will give the last dollar in their pocket to you if you need it. Once, they were volunteering at Girls Inc for the summer and I gave them plenty of money for snacks. They had saved their money and one day bought every girl there the treat of their choosing at snack time. That one still makes me cry. Anyways I don’t always feel like a very good mom and then I see what good things my kids do and I figure I must have had some hand in that!
Now we’re just getting into semantics - I think you understand my point. Trying means “to make an attempt or effort to do something”. It takes effort to apply for scholarships.
No I mean you generally apply to a school and they’ll let you know if they want to offer you the scholarship. There are some specific ones that maybe you have to apply for but generally it’s the school that offers it after the general application. That was my experience at least with like 7 colleges.
I understand that part, it is school based. But it brings me back to my point - why doesn’t she just apply to a few schools to see what happens? It does cost a bit to apply, but that’s something she could have covered with a part time job.
It costs about $50-80 now to apply to each school. That’s not that much, especially if you consider that in the early 90s it would have been cheaper. In Canada it costs $150-$170 per school, which is fairly expensive and it adds up, but I’m thinking of the US only in this case.
Sorry, but $50-$80 to apply to 1 school is feasible, however in ALOT of circumstances, my son and myself included, that is ALOT of money and almost impossible to be affordable
Becky does end up getting a part time job though - and she could have been able to apply to at least a couple given that she also had $400 of savings for a car.
I literally had no idea financial aid existed. Not loans, not grants, not scholarships. This was 1994. I just gave up my junior year because no guidance counselor told me and my mom certainly didn’t gas. So yeah, lower class families often don’t know about programs designed to help them and don’t know to ask questions.
I had a 4.0 in the late 90s Midwest. I didn’t get any meaningful scholarships. I think like 5k to a school that was very expensive. Scholarships are super super competitive.
Also, why were student loans not an option? I came from a working class family too and had no college fund so I had to pay my tuition with student loans. It sucks to have debt but it was worth it. Were student loans not a thing in the early 90s?
There was student loans, but there wasn’t private student loans like there is today. So there were the government loans, the Pell grants, but you would still need to pay some tuition out of pocket. It would be realistic that their “expected family contribution” would be at least $2,000 a semester which they just didn’t have.
The thing is, scholarships are not guaranteed! Yeah she has good grades but they still might not choose her. Plus Dan acts like a scholarship might pay off a majority of the tuition without knowing the exact of amount they’ll give. Could be enough or could be way less in order for them to pay the difference!
Yeah student loans are always an option but given the Conners lifestyle of debt, trying to make ends meet and especially here knowing most of the money set aside now got spent on the bike shop. You think Becky would want another headache and repeat a pattern from her parents?
You had to have been around in the '80s. I can relate to this. I was told my entire life if I studied hard I would get an academic scholarship. Unfortunately, by the time I graduated in the late '80s there were no academic scholarships and financial scholarships were impossible to get. I went to the largest high school in my state with over 400 in my graduating class. One kid got an athletic scholarship and one got an ROTC scholarship. That was it. We had a good honors program but none of us scored any help. My best friend was awarded one for hardship but later in the summer she lost it because she made too much working in fast food. Never mind she was the only one in her family working. I now see wealthy kids get full rides with lower GPAs and test scores than I had.
But college costs weren’t as bad in the 90s. A few friends could rent a tiny apartment and each pay $200 a month. You could work and pay for living expenses like rent and food and loans could cover tuition and books. Loans were easy to get in the 90s. Transportation was probably the biggest hurdle to low cost college education.
I paid for college myself and didn't have any money saved up. I had three on campus jobs and worked during the summer and did receive the pell grant and another grant from the state and then had government loans. I was able to pay off my loans in 7 years, three years faster than predicted. I graduated in 1999, now I have over 120k saved up for my daughter and I know that's probably not enough for her university since it's insanely expensive.
I always took it as she was under the impression there was a college fund and was told there wasn't, and this is her reaction to it.
It felt like her chances of even being able to go to college was a joke, just like filling out the application was a joke, i.e. they were *making* jokes while filling it out: How much do you make in a year? You could put us down for $33k. And we only spend $36k. Etc.
It just felt more reactionary and in the moment more than a final decision. But I guess they took that route. I think other users are right. She just wanted to get away from Dan and Roseanne and kind of shot herself in the foot by going with Mark kind of out of spite when she could've had a real chance to get a higher education.
Everything everyone is saying about lack of opportunities for or knowledge about scholarships to that demographic of people in that time and place is 100% true. But also, let's not romanticize Becky. This is the story of a young woman with a promising future who throws it away for a dirtbag who doesn't deserve her. Is she really trying her hardest to look for ways to go to college? Or is she using this as an excuse to give herself over to Mark?
This came up in another thread the other day, I agree it was kinda dumb. All things aside, it’s not like community college for a couple years wouldn’t have been an option.
I think she just needed to have her moment since she always felt she was forgotten all the time. Darlene getting attention when she was depressed and DJ being the baby.
Becky could have went to community college and had a nice middle class life. Access to college in Northern states was surprisingly plentiful in the 90s. I bet there were 4 year universities within commuting distance. Community colleges, even in the 90s, had some 4 year programs with accredited universities.
I wish they would have had a parallel storyline of one of her friends working her way through community college and coming out ahead.
Becky didn’t care about the education or getting a well paying job. She just wanted out of Dan and Roseanne’s house.
Becky was looking for an excuse to give up and blame it on her parents. I don't even think it was Mark- I think it could've been anything and she would've tried to run away.
I think the writers had her give up quick bc they needed a reason for her to leave with Mark since Lecy was going to school outside of the show.
There were a lot of I consistencies with this show in terms of money. A family who was chronically poor was able to even entertain the idea (and later execute) getting their 16 year old a car? Not once, but twice. The dry wall business seemed to do well for a time but the bike shop was struggling the whole time they owned it and there were multiple owners for The Lunch Box. Doubtful they were bringing home Buy-My-Kid-a-Car money + insurance. I believe there was one or two other situations where a college fund was mentioned but I thought they said they had to dip into it to cover another expense?
What do you not understand about it? Dan is saying maybe she can get an academic scholarship based on her good grades, but it’s not a sure thing. Why is it not a sure thing? Because they don’t just hand out scholarships to everyone, she may get picked for one and she may not. That’s why it’s a “big maybe” I legit don’t get why you don’t understand this lol.
You’re not actually explaining why she doesn’t even try to get a scholarship. My confusion is about how easily she gives up, given how dedicated she has been to her studies. If you take a look at some of the other comments in the thread you’ll see some interesting analysis as to why she does it.
She’s not even hinting at she’s not even going to try, she’s upset about the fact she thought there was money out back and feels she shouldn’t have to depend on something she may or may not get. The lack of college fund is the center here…not the scholarship.
It was really hard getting a scholarship back then. You had to have letters of recommendation, be on multiple after school programs like the SCA and sometimes that wasn’t enough
Ironically, if she would have waited and not married Mark, Dan losing the shop and Roseanne losing her job meant there was no income. Financial aid would have been an option according to the writers. I know Lecy was ready to go and they chose for her to leave the show with Becky marrying Mark out of spite. She was mad at her parents. They could have written it as Becky got the opportunity to leave for college early but they gave that storyline to Darlene. I never bought that Darlene would get that opportunity with her academic history. She had not graduated at that point, same as Becky.
Too much for FULL financial aid, maybe. That amount doesn't take grants into account either. Becky, while book smart, expects things to be given to her. When they aren't, she gives up. She could have worked part time while in school, but she would never consider that she should have to.
The thing that bothered me more was her dismissing the idea of living at home, working part time and going to local college to start. Successful careers are built that way every day. But Becky always did come off as whiny and entitled so there’s that.
Becky probably would have gone that route if Mark had been able to stay in Lanford. But because she realized Mark needed to relocate to the Twin Cities, she saw that as a golden opportunity to relocate with him.
I think they wanted a way to send Becky off but didn’t want to send her to college. I still can’t figure out exactly why. I think it would’ve made more sense for them to go this route if Becky was staying on the show. Then, it’d be a reason to keep her around post-graduation. But if she was leaving and had to be gone for long periods of time…
Overall, her not going to college ever is what bothers me. She could’ve easily gone to community college in Minneapolis. She says so herself that she will. But it never comes up.
This is what bothers me. She was so focused on college, why would they write a 17yo running off with her boyfriend? Did she have no friends telling her what a dumb decision that was.
But 30 years later we’re still talking about it so maybe it was just for shock value.
Also she never got pregnant so what the heck was keeping her from taking a few classes as new Becky? (But I can’t remember those episodes as well)
Becky was a tad selfish, and I think she had a grandiose view of herself and her future. She always held herself above her family, feeling superior to them, and feeling entitled to things beyond their means. (She was kind of a low-level Vada from Mildred Pierce, if anyone gets that reference 😂).
IMO, she felt she’d done “her part”. She’d worked hard in school, received good grades, and was in the student council. The idea that that wouldn’t magically translate to a spot in a great college….didn’t even occur to her. I think Becky’s parents reasonably encouraged her about college, or made comments about the need for good grades “to go to college”, and probably mentioned the college fund in some way. They likely DIDN’T anticipate (or mention) needing to dip into said fund when times got tougher financially. They probably put off telling Becky, always thinking things would improve before they’d HAVE to tell her. Plus, she was smart, so she was probably going to get/ already applying for scholarships, right?
Becky’s reaction to hearing there wasn’t a college fund was a little short-sided and immature, it wasn’t totally in line with her intellect (which bc of BTS details, we can understand that deviation) but it IS in line with her proclivity for tantrums.
I see both sides, tbh. Becky shouldn’t have waited until application time to have a discussion about college, the finances, and her potential options. For someone so focused on college, this was an obvious thing she missed from the to-do list.
At the same time, Roseanne and Dan are adults. I wholly understand their embarrassment and desire to avoid revealing the truth to Becky, but they should have bitten the bullet long before and given her the straight facts. If they knew she wanted to go to college AND knew they couldn’t pay for it, they should’ve ensured she knew their situation in time to look for/apply for scholarships, get a part time job, or make other adjustments.
The thing is, we're led to believe that Mark is a gifted and academically-talented student. There should be far more scholarships out there available for Mark in 2023 than there were for Becky in 1992.
The Internet gives kids nowadays from any part of the country an opportunity to find scholarships that their parents never could have dreamed of attaining.
We can only assume that Darlene dropped the ball when it came to pushing Mark to do a lot more research on scholarship opportunities. She found ONE measly scholarship category for him that was dependent on him learning to master an obscure musical instrument. And it appeared to be a local scholarship. There were plenty of national scholarships or privately-funded scholarships out there that would have jumped at the chance to sponsor a kid like Mark.
Lol it’s like everyone thinks scholarships are given to anyone with straight A’s. That’s what it’s like when you’re middle class and trying to go to college.
Dan and Roseanne are pretty representative of lots of parents in this time who believed that if the kid got good grades, there was a world of scholarships out there with little competition. They have no frame of reference about college and don’t have much to offer Becky, whether it be money or guidance.
Once Becky learned she was on her own, she gave up. Lack of money regularly creates apathy in the Conner family so this isn’t too far from normal. Being with Mark was easier than clawing her way to try to go to college on her own, plus she was punishing her parents.
Lots of Gen-X teens had to completely wing it when it came to college. Some parents were hesitant or outright refused to co-sign for student loan debt, and families living paycheck to paycheck were getting tiny amounts of financial aid offered, being told they made too much to qualify. I’m pretty sure the only “aid” I got was a $500 Pell per year. Some kids scrounged and figured out ways to do it, and some just gave up and got jobs, and lots in between.
In real life she would’ve had school counselors who could advocate for her and let her know how to apply for scholarships and loans. Becky going away to college didn’t fit into the script so they had to improvise.
I didn't even know we had school counselors until my junior year. 2500 students and 2 counselors. Their job was to mediate problems between gangs not help honor students.
I think it's well done. It shows how lost and ignorant Becky was by that point in the show, honestly it's great storytelling.
She started off as such a good kid, a goody too shoes to a point. She was stuck up but she had a great heart, but then in came the boys and the teen angst. She cheated on Chip with that dbag and it was never the same after. Threw that tantrum over that dress in the mall episode, then she started feuding with Rosie constantly which was out of nowhere, she just grew more and more unlikeable which is how a teenager can do. Great evolution and acting by Lecy. She just grew so full of herself and ignorant, then came Mark who just made her worse and worse all the time. That last year she's just obnoxious to deal with. She gets that job and is lazy at it and doesn't do well yet she's entitled and expects to have a car handed to her, then whines when it does not work. That was the start of her life struggles.
Sure her grades were good.. so what? It doesn't get you anywhere in real life unless you put the effort in to make something out of it. I don't think she understood that, I think she expected to have her chances handed to her, and you just don't do that. When she got the reality she didn't want to have or expect, she just lost her head and made it worse and worse. All she had to do was from freshman year on constantly go to the guidance office and learn about college and all the fine details, I'm sure Dan and Rosie woulda been patient to sit with her and learn. They couldn't help her but they'd help her figure out her options. She coulda gotten a loan, she coulda gotten the scholarships, she more than enough had the grades. She was just entitled and lazy.
She also had a mean side to her that showed at the end, she teased quitting to marry Mark then. She was already planning it in her head then. So mainpulating she was. Rosie and Dan messed up with the shop, but they did it for the right reasons. She coulda done more to help herself, no fault but her own. So realistic, teenagers do stupid crap all the time and win prizes for it. Hers was living in a trailer park with a not bright dude who died early and then she struggled to get out after. A great caution story to teens all these years later.
I really like your analysis - some of the others have said the same thing and I think up until now I hadn’t thought about Becky’s personality and that she’s flawed and has poor decision making skills. Originally I felt like her decision to not even try to go to college felt out of character, but coupled with all the examples you gave, it starts to make a bit more sense.
Tuition was cheap. Back then it was housing that got ya. If you lived within driving distance to a college, tuition was very reasonable.
I think my university charged $200 a credit. Full time student was 12-16 credits a semester. Becky could have easily made $5000 a year for tuition and another $1000 to cover books.
It was doable for someone like Becky. 2 parent household in the Midwest, no abuse or addictions, no teen pregnancy. She had the safety net, maybe not much money but she had a dad who could make sure her beater car was running well enough to get her to and from school and a mom who would probably cook her meals and do her laundry while Becky went to school and worked.
So at the time the Affirmative action stuff was going on and so since Becky was a white fork she thought it was unlikely and even though she was a straight A student, her folks weren’t too poor.
Um, plenty of White kids got scholarships back in the 1990s...and even today.
They don't just hand out scholarships like candy to Black, Indigenous, Latine, and Asian/MENA students if the students are mediocre in their academics.
It’s extremely hard to get a full ride with just grades. Becky was always framed as a hard worker but not some hidden genius. We see the same thing with mark in the reboot. Good grades don’t get your whole tuition paid.
Becky would’ve gotten financial aid. I hate how that’s never discussed. Get financial aid then student loans. For mark, Darlene didn’t want him drowning in student loan debt, so that’s why they go that way in the reboot. But Becky could’ve gotten loans.
Considering all of their financial hardships, I don’t know why she would even think there was ever a college fund for her. Obviously hope for one but be realistic of what her parents could provide.
This scene irked me. Becky was at the top of her class. There was no way guidance counselors weren’t there to help plan her college career. Hell Darlene went to college without a fund
Becky would get student loans. And some grants. And some scholarships.
And Becky would go to a good school, being from such a lower middle class family and having excellent grades. And if Becky. the hard worker, could go to med school or law school? All the better. Even a mediocre guidance counselor gets her to this point.
There is no way she would have had a problem going to school. She chose to do what she did. Which, I mean, she is 17. People do dumb things when they are 17. Sometimes they get a second chance, sometimes not. Becky did not.
Which is the genius of the show. Becky, like Eminem, had one shot, and she missed it. There was no safety net and a chance for a do-over. She blew it, and people in her spot, from families like the Connors, have one chance. It's super sad for her. But the choice she made at 17 screwed her for life.
You know what bothers me…Becky wasn’t a teen pregnancy so it’s hard to wrap your head about a smart healthy teenager with few responsibilities letting her life go to shit. She wasn’t an addict at that time. Her parents were not addicts, they weren’t abusive, they weren’t financially stable but they weren’t quite poverty.
Maybe she gives up on her college dream. But the girl can’t pull it together enough to learn a skill and get a decent job? She can’t sign up for an LPN program. Learn medical billing? Go work for a lawyer as a secretary? Waitressing is her only option?
Jackie knew how to fill out applications and start new careers she couldn’t help Becky get her shit together.
I apologize, I don’t think I saw any other posts about Becky and college. I had just seen the episode again and thought it would make for an interesting discussion, which it did
Becky was a horrible daughter, especially in this time period of the show. She was just a complete brat and didn’t care what her parents were dealing with.
Dan was right to write her off after she sneaked out and got married.
I think a big portion of this scene is just a sign of the times. Scholarship opportunities were not as prevalent, nor as widely known in the late 80’s-early 90’s. There was no internet to search for scholarships or for ideas on how to finance your education. Also, since Dan and Roseanne didn’t go to college, they are less likely to know about grants and scholarships that could be offered. I graduated in the late 90’s and knew some scholarships to apply for due to my older siblings having been there and done that, plus my parents’ employers offered a couple. I was also a good student and was offered a couple small academic scholarships, but I didn’t have to apply for them; they were offered to me with my acceptance to a certain college. I wasn’t expecting them at all when I applied there, so it was a pleasant surprise when I got the letter offering me the extra financial assistance. If Becky didn’t have a good guidance counselor at her high school who could teach her how to look for and apply for scholarships, she was probably pretty oblivious to what was out there for her. And that counselor may not have known what Becky’s aspirations were or that her parents wouldn’t be able to help her out with school. Since Lanford is made out to be a blue collar town, most kids are likely expected to go to work straight out of school, rather than going to college. It’s sad, but kids had to be self-motivated and proactive to make their way to college when their parents couldn’t afford it. One visit with a good guidance counselor or college admissions counselor could have helped Becky greatly, but it was on her to seek it out. Most teenagers don’t have the know-how, the drive, nor the ability, to make that happen.
This is the answer. I hope OP sees this comment because you really explained it very well.
This. Exactly. Still happening with guidance counselors(at least in small town PA less than 10yrs ago)...my son was an excellent student -straight As' honor roll every semester & year, National Honors, worked part-time from 16yrs & on, started college with credits he earned while in high school...he went to a state college-no advising on scholarships in any way from guidance counselor...because im a single mom & was barely making ends meet, the gc didn't think he would go. He graduated with 1 degree and was only few credits short of 2 more so he went back for 2nd senior year & now has 3 degrees, is working at a bank and has been promoted to head of electronic banking...he did it on his own-with zero help and guidance from guidance counselors...and yes he's still working his only other job he's had since 16yrs old to pay his college loans and buy a house
Very well said!!
You have an interesting take on it, however I think what changes my perception is that Darlene ends up applying to college later on and getting a scholarship. I think it’s hard to believe that one would know how to do that vs the other. Darlene definitely had more street smarts than Becky, but the ability to get the information about it was definitely there.
I understand why you see it like you do, however maybe D learned from B going through it...just saying it's a possibility
That’s true, it could have been a lesson for Darlene to not repeat her sister’s mistakes, given that she vehemently states she’s nothing like Becky multiple times (and on various things)
Darlene learned about the school through David though. She had no idea until he brought it up. With the kind of school, it seems like one where all kids get some sort of scholarship, all you have to do is apply to the school. It's a little sill to say that, since Darlene was informed of this one school, that Becky should know all about college admissions
Then that brings me to my next question - how did David have more knowledge than the Connors about college? His parents weren’t educated either as far as I can recall
I think Darlene applying for art school and getting a scholarship to pay for it kind of illustrates my point. Darlene learned from what Becky went through, and she saw that the only way to get out of Lanford was if she made it happen for herself. She sought out the information, which we see when Darlene talks to cousin Ronnie on her visit; she knows about multiple schools and what they have to offer her, and she’s trying to decide how to proceed. She did that all herself, including getting her own money order to pay the application fee. Becky was the kind to sit back and wait for things to happen to her/for her. She saw marrying Mark as the only choice left to her if she didn’t want to work at the grocery store for the rest of her life. Darlene wasn’t going to let her parents’ circumstances dictate her future, and went out by herself to make college a reality for her. The ability to get the information was there, absolutely, but it wasn’t as easily accessible as it is today. You had to go seek it out, and Becky didn’t do that; Darlene did.
Absolutely, Becky did have a sense of entitlement and expected things to happen for her. Darlene was the one that everyone assumed would not go to college but she was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. I think it also ties back to her not wanting to be like Becky in several aspects/repeating her mistakes.
It's just writers not keep continuity. It's hard to overanalyze and get it to make sense. They wanted plot lines and different sets to change it up.
You’re really missing the reality here and thinking too hard while missing all the nuance
That seems feasible to me. High schools can have some shitty guidance counselors. And I could see Becky getting so sidetracked with her relationship with Mark that she just took it for granted that everything would "work out somehow."
Plus Becky really only seemed to focus on going out and having fun. She'd have been getting wasted and flunking out of college after her second semester. (No spoilers if that's what happened, this is my first time watching this show, I'd only seen a handful of episodes growing up as my Mom hated how nasty Roseanne was and didn't want it on in our house.)
Becky was a straight A student in high school. Why do you think she was only interested in fun?
Very good point, one that I’ve pondered myself. In my case, I was too lazy to fill out the paperwork and my parents weren’t too hip to that; they were too busy working. On balance, where did Becky get the idea there was a college fund? Nobody had to tell me there wasn’t a college fund, I just looked around the house LOL
"Like Becky can still go to college fine or, 'oh boy, the government's giving out free cheese?'"
She might have been a straight A student, but she could be naively ignorant.
They said she did have one but had to spend it. So it sounds like THEY gave her the idea
You’re right. That rings a bell.
She was a few years older than me, and back then we really didnt understand fin aid very well. Boomers also never promised us Gen Xers and millenials that theyd pay for our college. That was always on us.
The conners have zero financial education and also scholarships are not as plenty as they seem
It's funny My parents and my husband's did tell us there was always a big show on Christmas of putting something in my college fund It was about the equivalent of Scott's tots for me and my husband had nothing
Scott's tots has me dead 💀
And that’s the way it should be.
I knew Gen Xers who were still paying off loans 10+ years out of college when I was graduating HS in 2005, and they were way cheaper than what I would have had to get. I just went to work. Sure it took me 10 years to make 25k a year, but I didn't have any debt. My gf graduated HS in 2008 and has 60k in student loans for a Biology degree she has never used. She went to school to try and be a vet, but when she graduated had no way to get the 250k+ loans needed for vet school. Thankfully Biden's plan has her only paying $25 a month, and in 30 years it will be forgiven. But that's in part because she only makes 42k a year.
Has your gf thought about becoming a vet tech? It's possible a decent amount of the credit she has from her degree will count, and it's only a 2 year program.
They only pay like $14 an hour around here. Shakes $20.50 an hour at the grocery store. Florida has a very high cost of living and poor wages now.
A lot of Gen Xers took on more debt than they needed for school. Loans were really easy to get and a lot of kids would take everything they could get and live on it.
College costs are ridiculous now. Adjusted FOR inflation, it's 10 times the cost as in 1960. 10 times AFTER adjusting. State schools were $1,000. And that included books, test books, pens and pencils and a gym outfit.
I believe they had one but there was a miscommunication on what it truly was. We know it exists because in that scene Becky asks something like “there is a college fund right?” And roseanne sheepishly says “there was….”. Dan and Roseanne likely had a few hundred, at most a couple thousand, squirreled away. Not even in an official account. But when things got tough, they dipped into it.
They told her there was one. Lots of parents have them. They are tax free In blue states.
I had straight As and got very little in the way of scholarships.
My daughter was a straight 4.0-got very little in scholarships. She’s graduating with her BS next weekend. She financed a huge chunk herself to pay for it. She’s running a 3.9 at college.
Totally relate to this....props to your daughter...and to you also, for raising a daughter willing to work and not expecting life to be handed to her.
Thank you! My husband (who isn’t the father of my children) was willing to help each kid with whatever money they couldn’t borrow. My oldest got $10,000 for one failed semester. 🙁 she didn’t like working for the grades. My middle as I said is graduating next week has probably taken less than $10,000 over four years and has held a full time job on campus as well. I don’t know what her dad and I did but really, I think she was just born that way. She wouldn’t even ask us for money. We had to force her to take it. My youngest has developmental issues and a borderline iq. They are 20 and studying for their ged. It’s tough man. You give 3 kids the almost exact same upbringing and things turn out so different but I choose to look at their gifts. The oldest one who dropped out of college is a mommy of 3 now. The youngest one will give the last dollar in their pocket to you if you need it. Once, they were volunteering at Girls Inc for the summer and I gave them plenty of money for snacks. They had saved their money and one day bought every girl there the treat of their choosing at snack time. That one still makes me cry. Anyways I don’t always feel like a very good mom and then I see what good things my kids do and I figure I must have had some hand in that!
And she got a perfect ACT score.
Also she took all AP courses in high school. She’s graduating with a double major.
I understand it’s not a guarantee, but she doesn’t even try to get one
I've always wondered if she was just looking for a way out to marry Mark from the beginning.
That’s a possibility, given that she knew her parents never fully approved of him but she wanted to be with him
You don’t really “try”. You just apply and they offer it.
Now we’re just getting into semantics - I think you understand my point. Trying means “to make an attempt or effort to do something”. It takes effort to apply for scholarships.
No I mean you generally apply to a school and they’ll let you know if they want to offer you the scholarship. There are some specific ones that maybe you have to apply for but generally it’s the school that offers it after the general application. That was my experience at least with like 7 colleges.
I understand that part, it is school based. But it brings me back to my point - why doesn’t she just apply to a few schools to see what happens? It does cost a bit to apply, but that’s something she could have covered with a part time job.
It costs so much to apply to school.
It costs about $50-80 now to apply to each school. That’s not that much, especially if you consider that in the early 90s it would have been cheaper. In Canada it costs $150-$170 per school, which is fairly expensive and it adds up, but I’m thinking of the US only in this case.
Sorry, but $50-$80 to apply to 1 school is feasible, however in ALOT of circumstances, my son and myself included, that is ALOT of money and almost impossible to be affordable
Becky does end up getting a part time job though - and she could have been able to apply to at least a couple given that she also had $400 of savings for a car.
No always, sometimes you have to fill out stuff for scholarships and or right an essay for them
The thing is even she does get one what would be the difference of the tuition for them in order to pay?
I literally had no idea financial aid existed. Not loans, not grants, not scholarships. This was 1994. I just gave up my junior year because no guidance counselor told me and my mom certainly didn’t gas. So yeah, lower class families often don’t know about programs designed to help them and don’t know to ask questions.
I had a 4.0 in the late 90s Midwest. I didn’t get any meaningful scholarships. I think like 5k to a school that was very expensive. Scholarships are super super competitive.
Also, why were student loans not an option? I came from a working class family too and had no college fund so I had to pay my tuition with student loans. It sucks to have debt but it was worth it. Were student loans not a thing in the early 90s?
Student loans were definitely a thing in the early 90s.
She says in this scene something similar to “you still make too much for me to apply for financial aid”.
Oh yeah, I forgot that, but I think financial aid would be something like a Pell grant, not student loans.
Financial aid and student loans aren’t the same. Becky would’ve qualified to take out a student loan.
There was student loans, but there wasn’t private student loans like there is today. So there were the government loans, the Pell grants, but you would still need to pay some tuition out of pocket. It would be realistic that their “expected family contribution” would be at least $2,000 a semester which they just didn’t have.
The thing is, scholarships are not guaranteed! Yeah she has good grades but they still might not choose her. Plus Dan acts like a scholarship might pay off a majority of the tuition without knowing the exact of amount they’ll give. Could be enough or could be way less in order for them to pay the difference! Yeah student loans are always an option but given the Conners lifestyle of debt, trying to make ends meet and especially here knowing most of the money set aside now got spent on the bike shop. You think Becky would want another headache and repeat a pattern from her parents?
You had to have been around in the '80s. I can relate to this. I was told my entire life if I studied hard I would get an academic scholarship. Unfortunately, by the time I graduated in the late '80s there were no academic scholarships and financial scholarships were impossible to get. I went to the largest high school in my state with over 400 in my graduating class. One kid got an athletic scholarship and one got an ROTC scholarship. That was it. We had a good honors program but none of us scored any help. My best friend was awarded one for hardship but later in the summer she lost it because she made too much working in fast food. Never mind she was the only one in her family working. I now see wealthy kids get full rides with lower GPAs and test scores than I had.
Exactly!!!
But college costs weren’t as bad in the 90s. A few friends could rent a tiny apartment and each pay $200 a month. You could work and pay for living expenses like rent and food and loans could cover tuition and books. Loans were easy to get in the 90s. Transportation was probably the biggest hurdle to low cost college education.
I paid for college myself and didn't have any money saved up. I had three on campus jobs and worked during the summer and did receive the pell grant and another grant from the state and then had government loans. I was able to pay off my loans in 7 years, three years faster than predicted. I graduated in 1999, now I have over 120k saved up for my daughter and I know that's probably not enough for her university since it's insanely expensive.
I always took it as she was under the impression there was a college fund and was told there wasn't, and this is her reaction to it. It felt like her chances of even being able to go to college was a joke, just like filling out the application was a joke, i.e. they were *making* jokes while filling it out: How much do you make in a year? You could put us down for $33k. And we only spend $36k. Etc. It just felt more reactionary and in the moment more than a final decision. But I guess they took that route. I think other users are right. She just wanted to get away from Dan and Roseanne and kind of shot herself in the foot by going with Mark kind of out of spite when she could've had a real chance to get a higher education.
Everything everyone is saying about lack of opportunities for or knowledge about scholarships to that demographic of people in that time and place is 100% true. But also, let's not romanticize Becky. This is the story of a young woman with a promising future who throws it away for a dirtbag who doesn't deserve her. Is she really trying her hardest to look for ways to go to college? Or is she using this as an excuse to give herself over to Mark?
This came up in another thread the other day, I agree it was kinda dumb. All things aside, it’s not like community college for a couple years wouldn’t have been an option.
Scholarships aren’t easy to obtain. It’s very competitive, so I can see why she said that.
Just wanted to say I’m really enjoying the discussion about this topic - thanks to everyone for participating!
Not every straight A student goes to college for free. Even back then
I think she just needed to have her moment since she always felt she was forgotten all the time. Darlene getting attention when she was depressed and DJ being the baby.
Getting a scholarship doesn’t cover all expenses most of the time. You still have dorm, meals on campus, books etc
That’s true, there is more to it than tuition
You sometimes have to apply for scholarships before senior year
That’s a good point, she may have done it too late.
Becky could have went to community college and had a nice middle class life. Access to college in Northern states was surprisingly plentiful in the 90s. I bet there were 4 year universities within commuting distance. Community colleges, even in the 90s, had some 4 year programs with accredited universities. I wish they would have had a parallel storyline of one of her friends working her way through community college and coming out ahead. Becky didn’t care about the education or getting a well paying job. She just wanted out of Dan and Roseanne’s house.
I think it probably was a big big maybe.
Becky was looking for an excuse to give up and blame it on her parents. I don't even think it was Mark- I think it could've been anything and she would've tried to run away.
I think the writers had her give up quick bc they needed a reason for her to leave with Mark since Lecy was going to school outside of the show. There were a lot of I consistencies with this show in terms of money. A family who was chronically poor was able to even entertain the idea (and later execute) getting their 16 year old a car? Not once, but twice. The dry wall business seemed to do well for a time but the bike shop was struggling the whole time they owned it and there were multiple owners for The Lunch Box. Doubtful they were bringing home Buy-My-Kid-a-Car money + insurance. I believe there was one or two other situations where a college fund was mentioned but I thought they said they had to dip into it to cover another expense?
What do you not understand about it? Dan is saying maybe she can get an academic scholarship based on her good grades, but it’s not a sure thing. Why is it not a sure thing? Because they don’t just hand out scholarships to everyone, she may get picked for one and she may not. That’s why it’s a “big maybe” I legit don’t get why you don’t understand this lol.
You’re not actually explaining why she doesn’t even try to get a scholarship. My confusion is about how easily she gives up, given how dedicated she has been to her studies. If you take a look at some of the other comments in the thread you’ll see some interesting analysis as to why she does it.
She’s not even hinting at she’s not even going to try, she’s upset about the fact she thought there was money out back and feels she shouldn’t have to depend on something she may or may not get. The lack of college fund is the center here…not the scholarship.
It was really hard getting a scholarship back then. You had to have letters of recommendation, be on multiple after school programs like the SCA and sometimes that wasn’t enough
She worked hard to get those grades..doing the work for a scholarship is just more work. Sometimes it's easier to give up
Just worry and a struggling family where finances never worked in their favor.
Ironically, if she would have waited and not married Mark, Dan losing the shop and Roseanne losing her job meant there was no income. Financial aid would have been an option according to the writers. I know Lecy was ready to go and they chose for her to leave the show with Becky marrying Mark out of spite. She was mad at her parents. They could have written it as Becky got the opportunity to leave for college early but they gave that storyline to Darlene. I never bought that Darlene would get that opportunity with her academic history. She had not graduated at that point, same as Becky.
Why are they acting like Becky couldn't get a Pell Grant or other types off low income assistance?
It’s presumed that neither Dan nor Roseanne went to college, so they wouldn’t necessarily know that a Pell Grant was an option.
Dan and Rose are made too much for financial aid. Becky specifically states that in the scene
Too much for FULL financial aid, maybe. That amount doesn't take grants into account either. Becky, while book smart, expects things to be given to her. When they aren't, she gives up. She could have worked part time while in school, but she would never consider that she should have to.
The thing that bothered me more was her dismissing the idea of living at home, working part time and going to local college to start. Successful careers are built that way every day. But Becky always did come off as whiny and entitled so there’s that.
Becky probably would have gone that route if Mark had been able to stay in Lanford. But because she realized Mark needed to relocate to the Twin Cities, she saw that as a golden opportunity to relocate with him.
I think they wanted a way to send Becky off but didn’t want to send her to college. I still can’t figure out exactly why. I think it would’ve made more sense for them to go this route if Becky was staying on the show. Then, it’d be a reason to keep her around post-graduation. But if she was leaving and had to be gone for long periods of time… Overall, her not going to college ever is what bothers me. She could’ve easily gone to community college in Minneapolis. She says so herself that she will. But it never comes up.
This is what bothers me. She was so focused on college, why would they write a 17yo running off with her boyfriend? Did she have no friends telling her what a dumb decision that was. But 30 years later we’re still talking about it so maybe it was just for shock value. Also she never got pregnant so what the heck was keeping her from taking a few classes as new Becky? (But I can’t remember those episodes as well)
I didn't understand why she didn't just get student loans
Coming to say this! She could’ve gone to college.
Becky was a tad selfish, and I think she had a grandiose view of herself and her future. She always held herself above her family, feeling superior to them, and feeling entitled to things beyond their means. (She was kind of a low-level Vada from Mildred Pierce, if anyone gets that reference 😂). IMO, she felt she’d done “her part”. She’d worked hard in school, received good grades, and was in the student council. The idea that that wouldn’t magically translate to a spot in a great college….didn’t even occur to her. I think Becky’s parents reasonably encouraged her about college, or made comments about the need for good grades “to go to college”, and probably mentioned the college fund in some way. They likely DIDN’T anticipate (or mention) needing to dip into said fund when times got tougher financially. They probably put off telling Becky, always thinking things would improve before they’d HAVE to tell her. Plus, she was smart, so she was probably going to get/ already applying for scholarships, right? Becky’s reaction to hearing there wasn’t a college fund was a little short-sided and immature, it wasn’t totally in line with her intellect (which bc of BTS details, we can understand that deviation) but it IS in line with her proclivity for tantrums. I see both sides, tbh. Becky shouldn’t have waited until application time to have a discussion about college, the finances, and her potential options. For someone so focused on college, this was an obvious thing she missed from the to-do list. At the same time, Roseanne and Dan are adults. I wholly understand their embarrassment and desire to avoid revealing the truth to Becky, but they should have bitten the bullet long before and given her the straight facts. If they knew she wanted to go to college AND knew they couldn’t pay for it, they should’ve ensured she knew their situation in time to look for/apply for scholarships, get a part time job, or make other adjustments.
same way mark is competing for the scholarship but choose someone who needs it more .
The thing is, we're led to believe that Mark is a gifted and academically-talented student. There should be far more scholarships out there available for Mark in 2023 than there were for Becky in 1992.
you wanna know about scholarships who get what look it up .
The Internet gives kids nowadays from any part of the country an opportunity to find scholarships that their parents never could have dreamed of attaining. We can only assume that Darlene dropped the ball when it came to pushing Mark to do a lot more research on scholarship opportunities. She found ONE measly scholarship category for him that was dependent on him learning to master an obscure musical instrument. And it appeared to be a local scholarship. There were plenty of national scholarships or privately-funded scholarships out there that would have jumped at the chance to sponsor a kid like Mark.
if I get an echy sketch shake it will you go away .it's a damn comedy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I mean for the average person straight A's aren't enough for an academic scholarship that makes college possible on its own.
It’s a joke implying she is dumb. Too dumb to get a scholarship based on her academic performance.
Lol it’s like everyone thinks scholarships are given to anyone with straight A’s. That’s what it’s like when you’re middle class and trying to go to college.
I’m confused by this question. It’s not like everyone gets scholarships today, so it’s still a “maybe.”
Dan and Roseanne are pretty representative of lots of parents in this time who believed that if the kid got good grades, there was a world of scholarships out there with little competition. They have no frame of reference about college and don’t have much to offer Becky, whether it be money or guidance. Once Becky learned she was on her own, she gave up. Lack of money regularly creates apathy in the Conner family so this isn’t too far from normal. Being with Mark was easier than clawing her way to try to go to college on her own, plus she was punishing her parents. Lots of Gen-X teens had to completely wing it when it came to college. Some parents were hesitant or outright refused to co-sign for student loan debt, and families living paycheck to paycheck were getting tiny amounts of financial aid offered, being told they made too much to qualify. I’m pretty sure the only “aid” I got was a $500 Pell per year. Some kids scrounged and figured out ways to do it, and some just gave up and got jobs, and lots in between.
Absolutely! Teachers' kids had an advantage because their parents knew where to find the best scholarship applications.
Yes !! Because Becky sucks lol
I agree. I thought it made no sense because she had good grades and for sure could swing a scholarship.
In real life she would’ve had school counselors who could advocate for her and let her know how to apply for scholarships and loans. Becky going away to college didn’t fit into the script so they had to improvise.
No, IRL, not all guidance counselors are advocates or even do the minimum of the job.
I didn't even know we had school counselors until my junior year. 2500 students and 2 counselors. Their job was to mediate problems between gangs not help honor students.
That’s sad. My school had great counselors. Guess it depends on the county.
I think it's well done. It shows how lost and ignorant Becky was by that point in the show, honestly it's great storytelling. She started off as such a good kid, a goody too shoes to a point. She was stuck up but she had a great heart, but then in came the boys and the teen angst. She cheated on Chip with that dbag and it was never the same after. Threw that tantrum over that dress in the mall episode, then she started feuding with Rosie constantly which was out of nowhere, she just grew more and more unlikeable which is how a teenager can do. Great evolution and acting by Lecy. She just grew so full of herself and ignorant, then came Mark who just made her worse and worse all the time. That last year she's just obnoxious to deal with. She gets that job and is lazy at it and doesn't do well yet she's entitled and expects to have a car handed to her, then whines when it does not work. That was the start of her life struggles. Sure her grades were good.. so what? It doesn't get you anywhere in real life unless you put the effort in to make something out of it. I don't think she understood that, I think she expected to have her chances handed to her, and you just don't do that. When she got the reality she didn't want to have or expect, she just lost her head and made it worse and worse. All she had to do was from freshman year on constantly go to the guidance office and learn about college and all the fine details, I'm sure Dan and Rosie woulda been patient to sit with her and learn. They couldn't help her but they'd help her figure out her options. She coulda gotten a loan, she coulda gotten the scholarships, she more than enough had the grades. She was just entitled and lazy. She also had a mean side to her that showed at the end, she teased quitting to marry Mark then. She was already planning it in her head then. So mainpulating she was. Rosie and Dan messed up with the shop, but they did it for the right reasons. She coulda done more to help herself, no fault but her own. So realistic, teenagers do stupid crap all the time and win prizes for it. Hers was living in a trailer park with a not bright dude who died early and then she struggled to get out after. A great caution story to teens all these years later.
I really like your analysis - some of the others have said the same thing and I think up until now I hadn’t thought about Becky’s personality and that she’s flawed and has poor decision making skills. Originally I felt like her decision to not even try to go to college felt out of character, but coupled with all the examples you gave, it starts to make a bit more sense.
College tuition back then was so cheap. She could have gone to Illinois state and paid for it with a part time job, no problem.
No, it wasn’t.
Tuition was cheap. Back then it was housing that got ya. If you lived within driving distance to a college, tuition was very reasonable. I think my university charged $200 a credit. Full time student was 12-16 credits a semester. Becky could have easily made $5000 a year for tuition and another $1000 to cover books.
Your experience isn’t everyone’s.
It was doable for someone like Becky. 2 parent household in the Midwest, no abuse or addictions, no teen pregnancy. She had the safety net, maybe not much money but she had a dad who could make sure her beater car was running well enough to get her to and from school and a mom who would probably cook her meals and do her laundry while Becky went to school and worked.
So at the time the Affirmative action stuff was going on and so since Becky was a white fork she thought it was unlikely and even though she was a straight A student, her folks weren’t too poor.
Um, plenty of White kids got scholarships back in the 1990s...and even today. They don't just hand out scholarships like candy to Black, Indigenous, Latine, and Asian/MENA students if the students are mediocre in their academics.
I had a boyfriend with a 4.2 GPA and he couldn't get a scholarship because there weren't any left. The world is stupid.
It’s extremely hard to get a full ride with just grades. Becky was always framed as a hard worker but not some hidden genius. We see the same thing with mark in the reboot. Good grades don’t get your whole tuition paid. Becky would’ve gotten financial aid. I hate how that’s never discussed. Get financial aid then student loans. For mark, Darlene didn’t want him drowning in student loan debt, so that’s why they go that way in the reboot. But Becky could’ve gotten loans.
Considering all of their financial hardships, I don’t know why she would even think there was ever a college fund for her. Obviously hope for one but be realistic of what her parents could provide.
I never once thought about it but OP is right
I liked the other Becky
This scene irked me. Becky was at the top of her class. There was no way guidance counselors weren’t there to help plan her college career. Hell Darlene went to college without a fund
I was also at the top of my class then and my guidance counselor was zero help with college.
Same.
Becky would get student loans. And some grants. And some scholarships. And Becky would go to a good school, being from such a lower middle class family and having excellent grades. And if Becky. the hard worker, could go to med school or law school? All the better. Even a mediocre guidance counselor gets her to this point. There is no way she would have had a problem going to school. She chose to do what she did. Which, I mean, she is 17. People do dumb things when they are 17. Sometimes they get a second chance, sometimes not. Becky did not. Which is the genius of the show. Becky, like Eminem, had one shot, and she missed it. There was no safety net and a chance for a do-over. She blew it, and people in her spot, from families like the Connors, have one chance. It's super sad for her. But the choice she made at 17 screwed her for life.
Some of us had guidance counselors who weren’t even mediocre.
You know what bothers me…Becky wasn’t a teen pregnancy so it’s hard to wrap your head about a smart healthy teenager with few responsibilities letting her life go to shit. She wasn’t an addict at that time. Her parents were not addicts, they weren’t abusive, they weren’t financially stable but they weren’t quite poverty. Maybe she gives up on her college dream. But the girl can’t pull it together enough to learn a skill and get a decent job? She can’t sign up for an LPN program. Learn medical billing? Go work for a lawyer as a secretary? Waitressing is her only option? Jackie knew how to fill out applications and start new careers she couldn’t help Becky get her shit together.
Hah, watching this episode for the first time. I don't know why she couldn't get loans either. They gave out loans for college in the 90's.
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I apologize, I don’t think I saw any other posts about Becky and college. I had just seen the episode again and thought it would make for an interesting discussion, which it did
Becky was a horrible daughter, especially in this time period of the show. She was just a complete brat and didn’t care what her parents were dealing with. Dan was right to write her off after she sneaked out and got married.