Want to drop out? This person sought consolation by scrawling a message in the bathroom. Photo: Quinn Anya
When you’re getting bad grades, feeling uninspired in class, struggling to make ends meet, and running on empty from the workload and college stress, it’s natural to consider dropping out of college. Before you make any big life decisions, here’s some things to consider if you’re thinking about dropping out of college.
- You don’t need to get straight A’s. Employers won’t care about your grades so much as the fact that you put in the work and earned the degree. While there may be specific programs at your college that require a certain GPA in order to graduate, generally speaking, you just need to pass. Give up your unreal expectations for a 4.0 GPA and your workload may become significantly lighter.
- Don’t be preoccupied with debt. In the giant scheme of things, education is an investment in yourself. Unlike expensive cars or vacations, the things you learn will stay with you for the rest of your life. While student loans and incurring college debt may seem overwhelming, look into different college scholarships and grants like the Pell Grant which, unlike student loans, don’t need to be paid back.
- Is college right for you? There are some people that do better in a trade school than in a four-year college. If you’re thinking about a career as a mechanic, hair stylist, electrician, massage therapist, dental assistant, pastry chef, police officer, or web designer, a trade school may be a better choice for you to get the education you need to launch your career. Typically the programs are shorter with more hands on experience and apprenticeship opportunities so you graduate with a resume.
- Consider taking a break. Taking a semester off may give you some time and perspective about what you really want to do with your life. After three years of college, my sister took a year off and in the process, discovered her burning passion was to become a chef instead of a CEO. Now she’s at a culinary arts school and quickly being recognized as a rising star.
Have you ever though about dropping out of college? Did you leave school, or did you stay the course?
I dropped out of community college at the end of last year because things were going horribly. I had enrolled in a major for computer programming that required a lot of independent study and PLENTLY of access to the internet. The book provided for my first class with C++ was horrible, only teaching the idea of programming and the way of thinking about it, instead of any actual code itself. I was constantly being denied access to the internet at home by my mother who would put a password on it and block it for 80% of the day, but it wasn’t consistent, it was sporadic and happened periodically throughout the day, so it was extra annoying if I was in the middle of something. To top it off, I have no prior education in math since I was “homeschooled” and chose to avoid that subject, and struggled through my math classes, only passing the first one. Even though I have no formal education, I am an expert in English, which was demonstrated by my scores on the placement test when I entered the college (100 for reading comprehension and grammar, 95 for writing). Adding to the trouble was my mom, who thought I was still a child and constantly tried to make my choices for me and refused to let me get a license and drive their on my own like every other person in the college. I did have a learners though, so I had the privilege of driving to school every morning while listening to her whine about everything and what I should be doing next, like we were making a plan together and I was actually listening to her, and SHE was the one going to college, not me. On top of that, she would not let me make payments on the car I was using (my sister’s car, who still needed it) or buy a used one I could actually -bleeping- afford with my pell grant money (which I had to use just to go to college, since both my parents are on disability, and practically for no reason in the case of my mom, she just doesn’t want to work, opting to make my life miserable as her full time job instead) and she thinks that I fail everything I try at and actually cried tears over it numerous times, even though I was getting B’s and C’s. I would have been getting A’s, but you know, she was there and everything. Oh, and there was this one weaboo(anime-obsessed) girl in the community college library who would literally stalk me everywhere I went. I don’t know if that’s a crime or a gift from god when you can’t keep a female from following you, but she was really freaking annoying nevertheless. Eventually, after having been brought deep into depression from the harassment from both my mom and that girl, the hard and frustrating work I had to do to pass my math class and the depression of being behind everyone else in class even though I knew was smart enough to pass and just had to put effort into it, and the lack of any real connections or friends at the college to support me, I just gave up and dropped out when my mom asked me if I wanted to drop out, even though I had made no prior indication of wanting to do so.
It sounded like you had a lot of pressure on you at the time including a controlling home environment. Computer programming is a challenging area of study. Have you thought of moving out and going back to school? Would taking math 100 classes help you establish a foundation you could build on