<p>I started college at a large university as an international studies major near my home and had serious wanderlust, I did well 3.45 GPA my first year, but wanted to take a path less traveled and live somewhere else for my college experience... I love academics and liberal arts, but figured I should go to school to follow my 'dream' career path instead of just a general major.</p>
<p>So I transferred to pursue my 'dream' of becoming a designer... I actually want to design outdoor and technical apparel- so I thought fashion school would be a good choice to get me to where I want to go.</p>
<p>I came to the Fashion Institute of Technology, which has a very good reputation as a design school. I stuck it out for 2 years to get an AAS... but HATED it. I am not the fashion type, I like academics, I want to question everything we do, dig deeper but my school does NOT encourage it. They are underfunded, under staffed, and the students are overworked and not encouraged to think. The liberal arts are a terrible joke in which they try to get student to understand how to use notecards as study tools instead to actually teaching the material... I want to go back into a liberal arts major... but am encouraged to pursue my BFA in fashion design so that I may get a good job in the industry.</p>
<p>I am really regretting my decision to go to this school, though it will give me the credentials I need to go into the apparel industry... I'm miserable and want far more from an education then just learning how to pattern make and pick fabrics.</p>
<p>I Just started the BFA program hoping it may get better, it's not. I'm lost, unmotivated, and VERY frustrated, depressed... the whole 9 yards. I'm thinking of dropping out, moving back to my home state, and staying for a year to get my in-state residency back so that I may go to a low-grade state school and hopefully get my brain back... Then I won't be graduating until about 26, but at least I wont have the life sucked out of me...</p>
<p>please help, I want a great education and a great career... I am almost 23 and oh so lost. </p>
<ul>
<li>What credits that you already have (from your first year, from the AAS, and from this semester) would transfer back to your state school(s)? That probably tells you something about whether it is worthwhile to finish this semester.</li>
<li>How much more do you have to go to finish the BFA? Is it worth it to finish and work for a couple of years before going down a new path (maybe to have a degree in hand and start paying off any debt that you have, or saving for a new attempt)? Note that not everyone works in the field that their degree is in… if you are close to the BFA, you could finish and seek work in another field, or a related field. See if you can get a few finance or accounting or marketing classes to shore up your skills as you finish your BFA. There are jobs as buyers for retail companies, sales jobs, etc. that may use your skills and not be directly design related.</li>
<li>What about the finances? Do you have debt already from your first 3 years and this semester? How much?<br></li>
<li>Do you have a place to live if you move back (are your parents supportive)? How would you pay tuition if you move back? Would you take a gap year and work? Doing what? </li>
<li>Are you clear on what you would major in if you go back? To be blunt… it sounds like you have 3 1/2 years of college under your belt and may have no marketable skills. If you have a lot of debt, too, then you may need to consider a major that is NOT a humanities major. I am all in favor of the liberal arts major, BUT you have to be realistic about earning your own way in the world, too. I say this as a 50 year old who is working full time, and also working on math classes at night so I can go back and take some physics classes, maybe eventually returning for a bachelors in science…but I gotta pay the bills in the meantime.</li>
</ul>
<p>Part of the reason I chose the school I am in is because it is a very cheap state school, because of that I don’t have much debt and my parents have been supporting me while I have above a 3.5 average… though their support will stop at 23… I’m getting a little old, which is totally understandable. </p>
<p>I do have a place if I move back, though my major will be an ‘independent’ major so that my fashion school credits will transfer… I know it’s a bit unfocused, but I would love to take a lot of phych, sociology, and business classes and call it ‘design and the human experience’… I could finish up quickly this way at Metro State university… or I have the grades to get into a more prestigious university, such as CU Boulder or Denver, however, it will take me much more time to graduate with my old degree in international affairs.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I’m feeling like I messed up, big time- hopefully I can reclaim my education- or just finish my fashion design degree in 2 years and take CC classes for the rest of my life…</p>
<p>I have to figure this out… SOON, really soon.</p>
<p>To be honest, it feels like you need to figure out your major and career direction before doing anything else. You are wasting time and money – with a dreamy idea of what your education should be, but no actual focus and targets for jobs, internships, employable majors, etc. I would worry less about “reclaiming your education” and more about making a concrete plan that leads to completing a degree and moving on to employment.</p>
<p>It’s true, I felt like I had a great direction until finding that this may not be the path I want to take. In focusing I’m not sure if I should just finish up my degree in something I’m not that into, or take some time to work and support myself while figuring things out. </p>
<p>I want a degree, I love school and am a great student, but I don’t know what to be studying… so yes, I should probably figure that out before moving forward. The question now is shall I stop what I am doing and try to figure things out, or just keep going until something else reveals itself. That way, I’ll have a degree in SOMETHING, even though it isn’t very marketable to any career outside of apparel… </p>
<p>I’m trying not to waste more time and money- but I just don’t know which path to take. </p>