Man Asks If He's Wrong For Refusing To Pay For Stepdaughter's Med School — Says It's A 'Waste' Of Money
He felt his reasoning was good enough.
Nicole Michalou / Pexels A man is being defended for his decision over not wanting to pay for his stepdaughter's college tuition.
He posted the events that lead up to the choice to the subreddit 'AITA' (Am I The A-hole), a forum where users try to figure out if they were wrong or not in an argument that has been bothering them.
In his Reddit post, the man explained that he and his wife have been married for a decade, and she has a daughter from a previous relationship, Sarah.
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His stepdaughter is currently working toward going to medical school.
In her junior year of college, Sarah has been working to get a degree in Biology, completing additional courses that she'll need for medical school as well.
"She’s had [a] dream of being a doctor and helping people since her mom and I met. The problem is she’s not a very good student," he wrote.
The man pointed out that Sarah previously "failed her Biology 1 class" and was forced to retake the course to receive a higher mark.
"She really struggled in her next-level biology class and finished with a C. She also got a C in her chemistry class. She got a B in calculus 1 and 2," he continued, adding that during the current semester, he learned she's going to "make B's and C's in her science and math classes."
Even though Sarah hasn't been scoring impressive marks in her science and math-based classes, she's gotten nothing but high grades in every other subject.
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Due to her low grades in those classes, the man is refusing to pay for her medical school tuition.
After learning how low Sarah's grades were in those science and math classes, he decided to do a bit of research.
"I found out that medical schools require many things but at the top of the list they is a high GPA and top grades in science and math classes," he remarked, noting that her current GPA is 3.2.
He continued, "With Sarah’s grades, she’s not getting into any medical school. I even looked into nursing school to see if I can talk her into going that route and all the ones I looked at require higher grades than what she has."
The man decided to have a talk with his wife about everything, but she argued that medical schools "look at other things besides grades" which is where Sarah does better.
"She has a solid volunteer resume and she cares about people," he added.
However, he rebutted that none of that will matter if Sarah's grades are not good enough, though, her mother was adamant that she'll most likely excel during the interview portion with potential schools.
When Sarah came back home for Thanksgiving break, her stepfather sat her down and told her that she might want "to look into another major because she might not be cut out to be a doctor."
"She ran to her mom and we all got into a huge argument. I admit I lost my temper and yelled I’m not wasting any more money on something she’ll fail at."
He told both Sarah and his wife that he won't pay for her next semester of classes until she changes her major to something she can succeed at.
"I feel bad, I really do but I’m not rich and I don’t have money to waste if she doesn’t have a chance to get into medical school," he concluded.
A majority of people who commented on the man's Reddit post agreed that he was NTA (Not The A-hole).
"Medical schools are very competitive and every one of them [has] a minimum GPA requirement. If her GPA is below that, they’ll automatically reject her without the chance of an interview," one user wrote.
Another user chimed in with a possible solution, writing, "A good compromise could be you let her pay for the school and if she excels you pay back her loans."
"I’m all for supporting dreams, but based on her grades alone, it’s extremely unlikely she’s getting into medical school, even if she gets perfect test scores," a third user added.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.