<p>Hey guys,
I need some outside perspective advice. Here's the thing, I just finished my first year of college in which I completed about 20 credits. I went to school in Montreal, so it was not the American system. I wasn't happy there and in the month of May, at the end of the school year, I decided to transfer and not go back. This was a bit of a life changing decision as I had a lot set up for me in Montreal. Not only did I not fully enjoy the city itself, I also found the quality of the education poor. So I applied to a few colleges and universities in the New England area (closer to home). At this point in time I have the choice in between UMass - Dartmouth and University of Hartford. Knowing that I have to keep in mind that money is an issue because my parents' financial situation is not exactly great. Here's my problem. I don't want to go to college. I mean I do, but I feel like I'm not ready. I'm not fully invested in my college education. And I know that if I'm not fully invested it would be risky to put my parents in debt for the rest of their lives. I consider myself a rather smart person, I guess I was just never exactly book smart (3.0 GPA in high school). I didn't do poorly in Montreal but I did mediocre. I just want to know if it would be a good idea for me to take a year off and work full time or if I just stick it through. If I do decide take some time off will it significantly effect my chances to get into an alright/decent school afterwards, when I'm ready?</p>
<p>it’s a matter of personal taste.
You have to remember that today’s college education system is just a lounge that keeps unsuspecting victims occupied from the real world – it’s becoming a big business and people love to become consumed by the ‘college experience’… if you feel as if you can deviate from the traditional path and create a future for yourself absolutely go for it.</p>
<p>You don’t really need a degree to be successful, it’s just an expensive piece of paper that shows employers that you’ve committed to something and went through the process of following through with commitments. Real world experience is what matters. If you’re in the North West area there’s a ton of opportunity there for you (depending on what you fancy).</p>
<p>Get out and EXPLORE what’s ‘your cup of tea’ – many people go through college and waste a lot of time and $$ ‘discovering’ what they want to do. Most of the time they have this preconceived notion of what ___ will be and major in it and when the going gets tough they completely drop off and start over (wasting boat loads of $$).</p>
<p>Your route of taking time off will allow you to skip some of that if you dedicate it to strictly exploring and discovering your passion – BUT, here’s the big catch – if you take too much time off you might loose the drive to go to college entirely and become consumed by the ‘work world’ (paper chase). </p>
<p>Ideally you should take a few hours and then do an internship or so on the side… it’s not the best idea to take a break and try to get into a big institution. They want to see you’re always occupied. If you have a steady job on the side, you can always cite family reasons and use that as leverage to get into the system.</p>