Should I drop out?

<p>I'm thinking about dropping out of college. Here are my reasons:</p>

<p>1) My major is completely useless job-wise (liberal arts), and I'm only a sophomore. There are no other majors I like at my current school. </p>

<p>2) It's only a state school and I have no intention of living anywhere near here upon graduation. IE a degree from this school doesn't mean much outside of my immediate geographical area. </p>

<p>3) I have a business idea that I am dying to work on. I know exactly what I have to do, and there's little to no financial cost (it's a website). All I need is time, which i would obviously have more of if I dropped out. </p>

<p>4) There's another school that I may transfer to (with a major that I am interested in.) But I'd have to wait another year, at minimum, and my current credits won't transfer (it's an international school.) As such, there is little to no benefit for taking classes here.</p>

<p>So to sum it up:
- A degree from my current school isn't worth much...other than being a degree.
- I have a solid business plan (which will cost me almost nothing) that I'd like to dedicate time to.
- I will probably go to another school. The credits from my current school will not transfer. </p>

<p>Any thoughts? If I drop out, I'll probably get a job/internship and work on my business for a year, until I transfer.</p>

<p>You are young you might as well try it out, as long as you don’t see yourself in debt in 5 years because of this it’ll be ok. Worst case you can always comeback to college if things don’t work out. </p>

<p>Also, if you think your major is useless then change it to something useful (Engineering, Accounting, Finance)</p>

<p>I’d agree that you maybe change your major if you find it not to your liking, but the myth about liberal arts being useless is just that, a myth. I’m a Psych major with enough credits for an AA/Honor/Transfer in Psychology, an AA in Liberal Arts (and probably Philosophy AND Film Studies… yes, I’ve been at the CC level for four years usually taking 18 credits, you get a lot done in that time). You just have to find what you can use the degree for, seems kinda stupid saying it, but look up the careers that require liberal arts degrees, they’re not all of them b.s.</p>

<p>No major is useless job-wise. Colleges offer them for a reason. It’s a silly myth propagated by science or engineering majors who actually have a lower median income than those who major in political science, economics, certain subfields of psychology, as well as other science/engineering majors who have a minor or another major in the social sciences or humanities. </p>

<p>But, if it’s true that there’s only one major you like in your entire school, then I’ll make an assumption that you’re simply not too interested in academics. In this case, it’s probably a good idea to drop out and give your business plan a try.</p>

<p>I don’t want to make this into a “is liberal arts a useless major?” topic. For me, this degree would be useless. I already explained why in the first post:</p>

<p>It’s an average state school with a decent reputation in the area, but not so much anywhere else.
I don’t want to live near here.
I don’t want to work in some random office job with my liberal arts degree.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I said in the first post that I’m interested in transferring to a school with a different major – not offered at my current school.</p>

<p>Well, you seem to have a pretty solid plan.</p>

<p>However, there are aspects of it that also seem pretty unrealistic.</p>

<ol>
<li>It’s unlikely you’ll get an internship after dropping out of college - would you be happy if the only jobs available were working as a waiter, in retail, or even at fast food or as a bagger at a grocery store? It’s a tough economy and I’m not sure you can expect glamorous employment as a college dropout, even as one “in transition”. It may be even more difficult to find a job that will give you more time to work on your business plan than school will. Employers may be reluctant to hire you for just a few hours a week. It’s widely understood that students have more time than most ;).</li>
</ol>

<p>Volunteering on the side is certainly an option, however, and as paid opportunities are declining unpaid ones are increasing. I don’t think it’s a good idea to drop out of college and totally devote yourself to volunteer work or your bussiness plan without some hours of paying work on the side, however.</p>

<p>Again, all this begs into question, how much extra time will you really have if you drop out?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What is your financial plan for attending the international university? Would you save up, take out loans, or would your parents support your move and the extra cost associated with it? How difficult are admission standards? Your credits may not transfer, but do you have the grades? Will your “gap year” be seen as a productive use of time by the school in the question, or would they prefer you transfer as a current student? </p></li>
<li><p>Your disdain toward your current university seems pretty unfounded. Degrees from local schools aren’t useless - in fact, many employers respect them just as much as a degree from more well-known schools. There’s many reasons a student may choose a local school over a more “prestigious” one, cost being one major difference (not all students have the wealth to attend nationally-recognized universities). Even an employer accross the country understands this, and many will evaluate you on the basis of courseload, grades, recommendations/references, experience, etc. - NOT on the name of your university. A local school is a sufficient stepping stone for almost any career, anywhere. And a liberal arts degree from a local school, if combined with internship experience in fields of your interest, also doesn’t translate into a “random office job.” Many people take their liberal arts degrees to do policy research, become journalists, work in publishing houses, write grants for nonprofits, or do other really specific things in areas of their specific interest…</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I’m not saying you should stay at your current university, but there are some points where your posts seem a little on the black and white aka loony side. I don’t have enough time for my business/but I will have time if I quit and get a job, if I don’t go to a nationally recognized university I can’t get a job outside of my state, blahdeblah. Some of it just doesn’t seem well thought out or true. I never think it’s a good idea to continue on course if you’re unhappy - indeed, I wish I had taken a break to rethink my course as early as you are considering breaking, but you should be realistically and honestly evaluating the reasons for your unrest, and not making up fallacies to justify your decisions.</p>

<p>What is your intended major at this international school? How is it going to benefit you in a way that a degree from your current one wouldn’t?</p>

<p>A degree’s only useless if you go into the program blindly with no clue what you want to do- and never make any effort to figure out what you want to do. Sure some state schools aren’t that great, but it’s all about what you do with that degree. Just because you get a degree from some state school that 97% of the world doesn’t know about in no way means that only people in the areas around that school would be interested in hiring you.</p>

<p>But maybe a semester off would be good. Take time to figure out what you want to do. Either do this or stay to finish general education. No use wasting money on a degree you don’t want to do.</p>