I turned down a full ride scholarship plus living stipend at one of my state's top-rated universities because my mentally abusive high school girlfriend didn't want me to move that far away from her, who had only applied for the local community college. The whole time, I knew that i was making a mistake that I'd regret forever but didn't have the courage to stand up for myself. We ended up breaking up before I even graduated, but I had already turned down the offer by that point. I ended up going to the same community college as her. Ironically, she ended up dropping out of that college because she saw me on campus every day.

I have nothing but respect for community colleges and I genuinely believe they can provide a better education than conventional universities, but I know that my life would've went differently if I had taken that offer.