Eric being Anti-College

Something I have been wondering about for awhile but why do you think Eric was so anti-college? Does anybody know if he applied to any colleges? He did really well in school, was involved in extra curriculars like soccer,RNN, etc. Plus he was well liked by his teachers and they would have given a great letter of recommendation so I don't think he would have had a difficult time being accepted. And getting completely away from Littleton while having a fresh start and finding people who were more on their level would have been really great for the both of them. I definitely couldn't see either one of them pledging or joining any fraternities but I really do think college could have been a really positive experience for them.

I think a lot of it was his dislike of the system and his knowledge he wouldn't be around long enough to go to college.
I did read once that he applied to 3 colleges and was rejected but I'm not sure how true that is.I read that long ago.

I could see those being possibilities. And going to college after high school is very traditional and Eric strikes me as someone who doesn't like to follow tradition and would rather do his own thing so that could be a reason too.


I would love to see that information but I understand if you don't remember where you saw it. But I do have a hard time believing that as well. Eric got much better grades than Dylan but he got into the Univ. of Arizona which is a really good school. So I think Eric would have been accepted into a couple of schools or at least one of the school he applied too.

I do not remember.Maybe if somebody looks for it they can find it.

CatherineM813 wrote:

I could see those being possibilities. And going to college after high school is very traditional and Eric strikes me as someone who doesn't like to follow tradition and would rather do his own thing so that could be a reason too.


I would love to see that information but I understand if you don't remember where you saw it. But I do have a hard time believing that as well. Eric got much better grades than Dylan but he got into the Univ. of Arizona which is a really good school. So I think Eric would have been accepted into a couple of schools or at least one of the school he applied too.

CatherineM813 wrote:

I would love to see that information but I understand if you don't remember where you saw it. But I do have a hard time believing that as well. Eric got much better grades than Dylan but he got into the Univ. of Arizona which is a really good school. So I think Eric would have been accepted into a couple of schools or at least one of the school he applied too.

This was my thought also, Erics grades were better than Dylans so you would think he would be accepted to at least one College/University had he applied.
I've not come across any information that Eric did apply to go to College. I had a quick look in Jeff Kass' book as he has a great deal of information about Dylan and his applications for the University of Colorado and the University of Arizona. The only mention of Eric and College is in Chapter 11 where it is mentioned that Eric had asked the Marine Recruiter Sgt Gonzales what the Marines provided for college tuition, but that's all.

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Eric got much better grades than Dylan but he got into the Univ. of Arizona which is a really good school. 

I'd like to know how the parents of the children who went to Arizona University felt when they heard that Dylan had been accepted there. It wouldn't be too comforting to know that a guy who committed mass murder could have gone to school with your child.

StinkyOldGrapes wrote:

Quote :

Eric got much better grades than Dylan but he got into the Univ. of Arizona which is a really good school. 

I'd like to know how the parents of the children who went to Arizona University felt when they heard that Dylan had been accepted there. It wouldn't be too comforting to know that a guy who committed mass murder could have gone to school with your child.

I've never thought of that before but that's a really good question. I wonder what Dylan's roommate must have thought as well.

CatherineM813 wrote:

Something I have been wondering about for awhile but why do you think Eric was so anti-college? Does anybody know if he applied to any colleges? He did really well in school, was involved in extra curriculars like soccer,RNN, etc. Plus he was well liked by his teachers and they would have given a great letter of recommendation so I don't think he would have had a difficult time being accepted. And getting completely away from Littleton while having a fresh start and finding people who were more on their level would have been really great for the both of them. I definitely couldn't see either one of them pledging or joining any fraternities but I really do think college could have been a really positive experience for them.

I suspect Eric was anti-college for a few reasons:

1. Although he liked learning & didn't seem to mind doing homework, he was maybe just tired of it---the routine of studying, writing papers, etc.

2. It would be yet another new situation---new school, new people, have to adjust again, have to make new friends again, & so forth. It's fairly clear that moving around & having to go through several adjustments was hard on Eric. He didn't do well with change.

3. I won't get into the indoctrination of some colleges, but it {college} would be more people telling him what/how to think, going over the same stuff again that he already knew {the gen. eds}, & many people go into debt doing it & I don't think he'd want to be one of them.

4. Consider these passages in his journal:  "I have a goal to destroy as much as possible"....."so we can achieve our goal {NBK}"....."THIS is what I am motivated for, THIS is my goal. THIS is what I want to do with my life!" I think that last one says it all: his goal in life was that attack/dying. It was more appealing to him than the thought of going to college & moving on with his life. Although I think he was BS'ing sometimes in his journal--trying too hard to be badass--I think he meant it when he said that's what he wanted to do with his life.

I might also add that, pertaining to college & going on living in general: he didn't like people, he thought he was way above them, especially ones he didn't consider as intelligent as him, & he didn't like society's rules. If he'd stayed alive, he would've had to continue dealing with that.

What's the timeframe for college applications in the US? Is it something that is done in senior year? If so, then I think Eric was already too focused on the endgoal of NBK to give a lot of thought to a college he'd never go to. He used the marines as an exit option instead when it was presented to him. By the time college apps rolled around, he would already have been in the middle of working out the bombs and getting everything ready for April. He halfheartedly tried that marine application, which I think was mostly done to get his parents a little bit more off his case about his future plans. He never had any intention to have a future at that point in time, so he just didn't create a fictional one for himself anymore. (Also, I have the niggling thought that him making any long-term definite future plans might've steered his focus away from NBK. I suspect there was a time right before 4/20 when he just had to push himself to stay away from anything non-NBK. Not saying he would've ended up not doing it if he'd focused elsewhere, but he might've been a little more hesitant if he'd made his future a little brighter than it was now. He purposefully made NBK the only option he had left.)

I don't know if the move to college would've been a bad one for him. Getting out of Littleton, which is a town he never really liked all that much, would probably have done him a world of good. He might've settled down in a place he'd already been, or in a new place altogether where he could just start over. Then again, I think having to make new friends again would not have been his cup of tea at all. The adjustment to yet another crowd of people might not have gone over so well. He might've ended up clicking with some of his new classmates over shared ideas, though, if he'd given himself a chance to make new friends again. The curriculum provided at college certainly would not have been a problem. With college being a lot more focused on particular areas of study, he might even have enjoyed it and been challenged in his classes more. I keep thinking that a gap year would've worked for him, though.. alternate some time between working and travelling around.. getting new experiences, meeting new people, etc.. and then have him make a definite decision on college after that year. Just getting out of the school system for a year would've been a liberation. The gap year would've provided him with a little more stable ground and maybe some more self-assurance to draw from, so that's why I'm partial to the idea of him not going to college straight away after Columbine. It might've been the best option.