Should I Drop Out of College?

JoeMc94

I have a bit of a problem. Basically I dont know if I should drop out of the coarse I am doing at the moment. I am in my second year of a 4 year coarse and I have very little interest in the coarse if any and I don't know what to do. Also what's weighing on my mind is that my parents have payed for most of the fees, I feel like if I drop out I will have wasted alot of money that they have worked hard for. I also have a girlfriend that I met in my first year for college and she means so much to me but I'm afraid if I drop out I won't see her as much and that is also on my mind. Im looking for people's opinions on what I should do because I've been thinking about this for a while and still have no answers.

December2012

Don't drop out to do nothing - what is the alternative?

Can you transfer to a different course in the college?

boardzz

I would suggest to find some sort of a job where you are going to college before dropping out so your parents won't need to support you. Then apply for a course you are interested in for start in September.

Tiddlypeeps

What is the course you are doing? People might be able to make some suggestions for areas to move into that won't need you to restart all over again if they know this.

What is it that you don't like about the course? Is the whole area or is it just some specific classes that you don't like?

Is there anything you think you might like to do? Some people have this but don't peruse it because of a lack of job prospects. If you have this then people might be able to make suggestions of similar areas that do have good job prospects.

It may be a 4 year course but even if you finish one more year you will be able to walk away with an ordinary degree. This is a lot better than nothing and will open doors for certain jobs. Some jobs that may be entirely unrelated to your field of study can sometimes require a degree just for the sake of it. So an ordinary degree can still have value even if you never try for a job in that field.

I wouldn't make any move for the moment until you know exactly what you want to do, or at the very least until you have a job lined up to support yourself while you figure it out.

JoeMc94

Im doing a computer systems coarse but I feel like the it's not what I taught it would be and a don't really see my future involving writing code and designing programs? But I agree with you I think sticking it out for another year might be the better option then I won't feel like I've completely wasted the money.

Tiddlypeeps

JoeMc94 wrote: »

Im doing a computer systems coarse but I feel like the it's not what I taught it would be and a don't really see my future involving writing code and designing programs? But I agree with you I think sticking it out for another year might be the better option then I won't feel like I've completely wasted the money.

Is there any element of the course you like?

With computer related courses there is often a lot of room for switching between different courses within the college. So might be worth looking into if you think there is a different aspect you might prefer.

Tokyo

JonKelleher - please remember that PI is an advice forum - please keep replies on topic and helpful to the OP. Spelling/grammar nazi behaviour does NOT count as constructive advice, and adds nothing to the thread.

regards,
Mike

JonKelleher

mike_ie wrote: »

JonKelleher - please remember that PI is an advice forum - please keep replies on topic and helpful to the OP. Spelling/grammar nazi behaviour does NOT count as constructive advice, and adds nothing to the thread.

regards,
Mike

Apologies!

retro:electro

Remember that if you drop out with the intention to do another course on the same level in the next five years you will be hit by fees big time. This happened to me and I had to wait five years before I could return and not have to pay a huge amount of fees. Also if you are dropping out make sure you tell the college, because I didn't and this made things very difficult for me when I was reapplying as no exact date of exit had been issued.

It's a big decision, and if you're not happy then you know what to do. Equally there are a number of reasons why you may not be happy, letting assignments build up and feeling unprepared for exams can make anyone want to drop out.
Make sure your reasons are good enough reasons and don't just take the easy way out like I did, because in the long run it is so stressful.

IMO everyone goes through periods in their course where they wonder are they doing the right course and would they be better off doing something else.

Alfasudcrazy

I think that if you are feeling stressed about the course - as in you feel you are over your head in terms of its complexity then you should drop out but as said only when you have an alternative you like in place already. If you feel you can complete the course and pass it then your already half way there and you should stick it out. That qualification will stand to you no matter if you don't wish to spend your life on computers. Also dropping out of anything can be seen as a negative on your CV.

JoeMc94

Just in case anyone stumbles on this thread with the same problem I decided to update this with what happened. I finished out the year and failed the exams, but instead of dropping out I decided to repeat the year in an IT in my home town. I finished first semester now and everything is looking up! I'm enjoying the coarse again and I'm the complete opposite to last year! I think what happened was that I was dumped with so much work that I felt that I was in over my head. Now that I spent a semester in the IT doing the same coarse I found the workload not to be as intense as it was in the university. Also living at home kinda of gave me a comfort and I was able to focus on studying also when living a home your less likely to skip lectures. So if you find yourself struggling in a coarse that you at one point enjoyed it might not be just down to you not being able to cut it. Even though I was in second year being away from home is a lot for anyone to handle even you don't realise it. My advice to anyone that found themselves in my situation is if you do enjoy the coarse maybe try and find a similar coarse closer to home or take a year out maybe try find a part time job that is related to your field of study or maybe topics that are related to the coarse you want to do or topics that you will cover in college. In first semester I learned how to make a computer game using the python programming language, now over the Christmas holidays I have taken it upon myself to learn android because I want to make my python game into an android app for my phone. Really all I can say is if you are passionate about your college coarse don't give up. Money is not the be all and end all of your decision.

Rubberchikken

Thanks for updating:)
I'm really glad things are working out for you.

You're right about the being away from home/study etc. for some going off to college is a lot of 'first times' and can be hard to handle.

Best of luck with your future:)