Hate college course-1st Year

LegacyUser

Well, I don't hate it, its just not for me at all. Its a four year course and I really don't want to waste my time with it.

Does anyone know what the story is if I drop out and repeat my LC next year and apply again next summer for UNI? How do fees work out? If fees come back in, surely then there is no drawback of going down this route?

The problem is the course I'm doing kinda binds me to the anglophone world, yet doesn't really offer much possibilities in Ireland so its immediately of no interest to me. I honestly don't know why I accepted the course, I think it was pressure from my parents since I didn't get my top choices.

I'm really worried either way, even if I was told I'd be offered 500 euro to change course I reckon my dad would go insane. My mum is supportive of any decisions I make, but my dad, like no offence to the guy but is just terrible when it comes to stuff like this and I don't want to see my mum, who is extremely supportive of me put in a position because whenever I do something my dad seems to relate it to my mum and blames her for 'the way i am'

LOL, didn't really mean it to become deep like that, but just sort of a little background to the lack of freedom I have in controlling my future.

Cheers.

C.Haboucha

antiskeptic

conorhaboucha wrote: »

Well, I don't hate it, its just not for me at all. Its a four year course and I really don't want to waste my time with it.

Then don't. My dad was a college lecturer who interested himself the area of student intake educational+motivational attributes / subsequent performance. Globally he found that there were three main reasons why a person performed poorly/was unhappy in the course they were following:

1) Their parent(s) made them do it: "I want them to have what I didn't have"

2) Their parent(s) made them do it: "daddy a lawyer > son a lawyer"

3) They (the student) had a passion - ticked #1 on the CAO form. After that they ticked boxes on the basis of:

- the subject vaguely tickling their fancy.

- random choice cos they had to tick something ("so as to keep your options open").

...and ended up doing one of those fancys/somethings - not what they were passionate about.


We all have to take a certain amount but if your reason for sticking the course arises largely out of some combination of the above the it's time to stand up for yourself. If a parent gets their knickers in a twist about it then it'd be worth considering why that is.

Parents are fallible.

rantyface

I think you would have to pay fees because anyone else doing the LC next year will have to pay fees. You could get a long term student loan.
If you change course in college without going through CAO you might only have to pay one year's fees. You could probably pay that yourself.

What is your course out of curiosity? There might be more opportunities than you think

RacoonQueen

If you leave and reapply through the CAO you will have to pay fees for your new course regardless of whether fees are reintroduced or not. However, if you go to the head of your department and discuss it with them, if there is a course you would rather do instead in their department or another they will sometimes help you out. I have a friend who did science and hated it, she wanted to do Physio so they told her if she got 70% in her end of year exams they'd let her switch to Physio the next year. She did this early into the year though, but it's worth a shot.

RacoonQueen

rantyface wrote: »

You could get a long term student loan.

Apologise for going O/T, but, can you get these now? I have offers from UK colleges to go back to college next year but financially it's not looking likely now because of the loan system there not providing living expenses loans to EU students.

LegacyUser

If the course you are doing now has similar aspects to one you want to change to and it is within the same college then they may allow you to transfer if you obtain certain grades in your exams. If you drop out and re-apply you will have to pay fees. Sometimes if you have special circumstances the college may be willing to reduce those fees. You should really talk to somebody at your college. I dropped out in first year to change courses and my college was extremley helpful.

LegacyUser

I've been there, done that. Think long and hard about this as it's a really big decision and once you oficially withdraw from your course, there's no going back (well, not EVER but you would have to re-apply and go through all the rig maroll etc.).

Personally I left college at the end of the first year for the same reason as you - I had passed my exams but I just wasn't into the course, or the people for that matter, or the place lol. Anyway, it just wasn't for me!

That's neither here nor there. Point I'm trying to make is that I now know that I made the right decision. I would have been wasting my time to stick with something I didn't want to do/wasn't interested in.

If you're sure you want to leave the course and are serious about doing so, you will need to speak to your parents. Prepare how you will say it to them and try back up what you are saying by outlining the reasons for your decision. Let them know that you have given it a lot of thought and considered it in it's entireity and they will have more respect for you. It will come as a bit of a shock to them but I'm sure once they have time to think about it, they'll be behind you in whatever you choose to do. Your not the first person to make a wrong decision when choosing a college course!

Time to plan for your future and what you want. I think your parents will find some reassurance in knowing that you have given thought to what you want for your future once you leave the course. Hopefully they will be understanding and will help you assess your options.

Best of luck & hope it all works out for you!

BongBoyJay

Just wanting to know how you got on with this?? A yea later and i seem to b in the same boat, altought i was not forced in2 the course, i thought it would the course for me and it seems it isnt. i havent really been attending class atall this semester, but am still revieving my grant. i just want to know if i change course in sept and dont do my exmas this summer will i still recieve my grant? i also have 2 repet like 3 of my xmas exams this summer...