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How many of you were able to escape the student loan barrier in life and succeed after dropping out, if that's the route you took.
Maybe I'm missng something, but at least the first couple years of college don't have to be $900/credit plus dorm plus xyz extravaganzas. You're taking mostly required crap like Science credits and English 2. At least that way if you decide college is not for you, you haven't mortgaged your future.
I then went to a state school where, except for one semester, I worked full time and school full time for 2.5 years (1 $4,500 student loan only and about $2k in credit card debt + a car loan). I got an offer for a $35k a year job in Dallas through a friend and quit my $7.50 an hour job the next week.
Took another semester off and then continued taking classes in the evenings and weekends at a community college and local commuter college.
When I finally graduated it was basically a non-event for me (didn't walk or send announcements) since I realixed I'd just paid $30k for a piece of paper that is a one liner on my resume and that really didn't teach me much.
So, like I tell lots of people these days, take the basics at a community college, take the upper level classes at a college and just get the paper since unless you're going into the hedge fund business or med/law school noone cares about your grades, just that you have a degree.
Of course if you own your own business, noone cares about a degree :)
As for student loans, I had a 16 month internship between 3rd and 4th years of university that paid well, so that allowed me to cover my loans from the first three years, get a ton of experience and save up for 4th year. I graduated without debt and some money in the bank, but the price was, a living very cheaply for a very long time. For example, I am 24 and I still don't own a car - that's more cheaply that many people can tolerate...
In order to escape the pressures of high school, I started a company. It was something I had control over. In order to escape the pressures of college, I graduated a year early. Then I wrote a book about the pressures of school!
I thought you write about how you got screwed by Zuckerberg.
In order to escape the pressures of high school, I started a company. It was something I had control over. In order to escape the pressures of college, I graduated a year early. Then I wrote a book about the pressures of school!
> Then I wrote a book about the pressures of school! I thought you write about how you got screwed by Zuckerberg.
I find it hard to believe you haven't learned anything in two years. Unless you're a genius, you're probably not approaching it the right way. As for student loans, I had a 16 month internship between 3rd and 4th years of university that paid well, so that allowed me to cover my loans from the first three years, get a ton of experience and save up for 4th year. I graduated without debt and some money in the bank, but…
"If the colleges were better, if they really had it, you would need to get the police at the gates to keep order in the inrushing multitude. See in college how we thwart the natural love of learning by leaving the natural method of teaching what each wishes to learn, and insisting that you shall learn what you have no taste or capacity for. The college, which should be a place of delightful labour, is made odious and unhealthy, and the young men are tempted to frivolous amusements to rally their jaded spirits. I would have the studies elective. Scholarship is to be created not by compulsion, but by awakening a pure interest in knowledge. The wise instructor accomplishes this by opening to his pupils precisely the attractions the study has for himself. The marking is a system for schools, not for the college; for boys, not for men; and it is an ungracious work to put on a professor." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I find it hard to believe you haven't learned anything in two years. Unless you're a genius, you're probably not approaching it the right way. As for student loans, I had a 16 month internship between 3rd and 4th years of university that paid well, so that allowed me to cover my loans from the first three years, get a ton of experience and save up for 4th year. I graduated without debt and some money in the bank, but…
As far as debating whether or not to drop out, I always figured you should have something to drop out for _prior_ to dropping out. Don't just drop out and then look to start something. Drop out because your "something" is taking more time than school.