College? Yes or No?

[Dylan Page]

Hey guys. I went to college for the first semester and dropped out after. I thought it was stupid as shit. Slow teaching, pointless homework, information that can be either entirely found on the internet or is completely useless, etc. I really don’t want to go because of how soul draining it is to put up with all of the BS but I’m really concerned about money. Starting a business is hard, especially coming up with a viable idea. Getting a job is out of the question for me long term. Fuck working 9-5 for something I don’t care about. What should I do? A) Suck it up and go back, B) Start a business, C) Try to climb the corporate ladder (and probably get fucked promotion wise cuz no degree)

[GreenWoods]

3 hours ago, Dylan Page said:

Hey guys. I went to college for the first semester and dropped out after. I thought it was stupid as shit. Slow teaching, pointless homework, information that can be either entirely found on the internet or is completely useless, etc. I really don’t want to go because of how soul draining it is to put up with all of the BS but I’m really concerned about money. Starting a business is hard, especially coming up with a viable idea. Getting a job is out of the question for me long term. Fuck working 9-5 for something I don’t care about. What should I do? A) Suck it up and go back, B) Start a business, C) Try to climb the corporate ladder (and probably get fucked promotion wise cuz no degree)

Do you have a life purpose / dream job ?

If yes, do you need a degree for it?

I also think of college as totally unnecessary. If you invest the time in studying on your own instead of wasting it in college/university you will probably be at least 3 times better prepared for a job. But you have no degree so no ones knows. So then you somehow need to prove your skills, if you succeed congrats otherwise you're fucked. It's way more risky but also way more effective 

Edited June 12, 2019 by GreenWoods

[universe]

4 hours ago, Dylan Page said:

I’m really concerned about money

What exactly are you concerned about money wise?

 

Really depends on what stuff you wanna do later. If you want to become a dentist, yes go to college. There is just no other way for it.

If you dont want a position that requires a university degree you have other options. For example you dont need to go to college if you are passionate about a topic and can motivate yourself to learn everything about it. But college is also good to meet new people and make new friends if that is something you are interested in.

[RendHeaven]

Bite the bullet, work a shit job (full time) RIGHT NOW.

Figure out your life purpose ASAP and make that your side hustle.

Find a free or cheap place to live (parents basement, friends couch; swallow your pride for now) and grind it out every single day.

If you plan to NOT work a 9 to 5 in the future, your only realistic option is entrepreneurship.

Problem is, most entrepreneurial endeavors don't give immediate returns when you first start. Brands grow over time, which means you can't expect it to be your main source of income starting out.

Sometime in the future, though, you can commit to your brand full time and scale/outsource as needed.

Realistically, though, that's not possible for you right now. It's just you and yourself. So make it a side hustle.

Get to work now, job hunt and find your purpose.

Edited June 13, 2019 by RendHeaven

[Elisabeth]

I don't know what you studied, but that's not how college is supposed to be. College is supposed to give you a quality foundation in your chosen field of study. If you want to know the inn's and out's of something, that's where college is valuable. So it's

D) Find something that's actually interesting and meaningful to you, then go to a good college on that subject (or start a business on that). 

 

[bejapuskas]

It doesn't matter whether you go to school or not, what matters is, what you do there and also at home...

[mandyjw]

First understand that there is no right answer. 

Which solution feels right? If there isn't one, why do you feel that you need a sense of direction? 

[ExodiaGearCEO]

@Dylan Page isn’t basically going to college is so you can graduate and get a decent paying 9-5 job? So you’re already stuck having to work a 9-5 job to get out of the rat race. Your only option is starting a business man. I didn’t go to school but I was able to save up 10 grand by working a 9-5 job 

[jbram2002]

On 6/12/2019 at 2:32 AM, Dylan Page said:

Fuck working 9-5 for something I don’t care about.

@Dylan Page In order to be successful in anything you do, you need to care about it to some degree. You can change your perspective. Most jobs have a very important role in society (some obviously don't). Instead of having a negative outlook on everything and prejudging ahead of time that you'll hate it, look at the positive aspects. A) You get money. Pretty important. B) Your job has its role. My 9-5 allows me to provide an important service to steel fabricators that allow buildings to be built. There's a lot of amazing interactions I would miss out if I refused to work a 9-5.

On 6/12/2019 at 2:32 AM, Dylan Page said:

I thought it was stupid as shit. Slow teaching, pointless homework, information that can be either entirely found on the internet or is completely useless, etc.

The first semester of college is intended to get most people to the lowest rung on the ladder in order to build a foundation thereon. Again, this is a negative perspective you have that you can change. Instead of deciding that all college is useless based on the extremely simplistic 101 courses you began, realize that there was a lot of information there that many people don't know. They can then build on this information next year and not have to waste time teaching it all over again. These introductory courses often are the most boring and standardized courses available in college since the professors are just as bored as you are. Try researching who the best professors are for these courses. You might find some hidden gems. My Physics course PHY 101 was taught by an amazing professor because he wanted to engage with the students. 

All in all, you have an extremely negative perspective on your future, on your options, and on things you've never experienced. This extremely negative perspective will only serve to hold you back. You felt college was BS and stupid because you had a negative outlook on it. You think 9-5 jobs are something you won't care about because you have a negative outlook on it. The best guidance anyone can give you right now is to first fix your attitude problem, then pick a path and go for it. Once you pick your choice, go all in and work hard for it. If you want to build a business, you may need to work a 9-5 first in order to build up your personal income. Most businesses are not immediately successful in the first year... or even 5 years. If you want to go to college, accept that you'll need to dust off some rusty skills and those "boring" classes are the best way to do that. Search yourself to figure out what you really want to do with your life, then go all in. That doesn't mean that changing your mind is off the table, but proceed with confidence and excitement. With a positive attitude, you can do almost anything.

[RobertZ]

I agree with the earlier comment, that college should not be too dull, though. Maybe the professors are giving students a chance to explore love, drugs, and music; or to approach the professor about exciting/more engaging projects?

Still, I think you are probably onto something with your sensitivity to boredom at school. I noticed that some students skipped class and achieved better grades than me (I paid attention to the most boring stuff that I was not interested in). 

A 2017 study [1] highlights this issue with boredom. The research made 1.1 million inquiries among 3,800 people between 2011-2013. The study found 25-year-olds were 4x more likely to be bored than 45-year-olds.
Correlations also included:
- People were bored studying, “doing nothing,” and working;
- People were bored at school, airports, medical facilities, and work.

Of course, this research also talked about situations where the people were least likely to be bored.

[1] Chin, A., Markey, A., Bhargava, S., Kassam, K. S., & Loewenstein, G. (2017). Bored in the USA: Experience sampling and boredom in everyday life. Emotion, 17(2), 359-368. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by RobertZ

[Cepzeu]

most of the fun parts of college start in the 2nd and 3rd years, were you realise that you can't find stuff on google as easily as before  (at least this is what it's like in science fields). The first year builds the foundation, the 2nd and 3rd years can challenge you which makes it enjoyable. Some courses like commerce aren't as necessary to go to college for, cause it's mostly just information. When I did biochemistry we also did a lot of lab classes and used million dollar machines which you don't have access to outside of college. We manipulated cancer cells with different chemicals and would analyse their DNA to see changes. Some of these chemicals can cost around $100-$500 per mL. 

Yes you are training to do a 9-5 in college, that's what most jobs are like. But if you like your field then that's a good thing - you get to do your practice and master your field without necessarily dealing with the admin and logistics. The important thing is to go to college for a subject you enjoy not to find out what you enjoy.

Also be very clear on the career path and job prospects once you finish. will you have to pursue post grad degrees? will you need to apply for internships? are the job prospects good in your area? will you have to move? In New Zealand, we sell milk and lamb to the rest of the world, there are not many positions for biochemists lol.

If you feel it it too easy which it sometimes is, then consider adding to the workload by taking more papers than needed (depends on your university), and you may be able to finish a 3 year degree in 2 years or a 4 year degree in 3 years. Also consider building a business while in college, you will have lots of free time. And college will be the best time to make business mistakes - I learned a lot by trying to start multiple businesses in college part time. All of them failed, but I learned valuable lessons.

Of course take into consideration the finances. In New Zealand college isn't too expensive, and the govt loans are interest free for now, I hear that's not the same in the US so be mindful of it and do you homework.

Alternative would be to move to a college town and work a 9-5 there while you're building a business for 1-2 hours a day and gaming college girls at night . Pretty sure that's what Alex Becker did with his SEO biz.

One important thing Alex says is to figure out the absolute minimum amount of money you can live well on and try to meet that. You could probably make enough working 4 days of a 9-5 to cover your basics, leaving you with 3 days to do biz stuff. Once you've built it up you can transition to biz full time. 

This is the time to take risks, say yes to a lot of things, and have as many fuck ups as possible so that you can grow. At the end of the day you need to meet your needs like finances before you self-actualize too much.

Hope that helps

[bejapuskas]

@RobertZ  You don't enjoy something mostly because you don't understand it and aren't trying to understand it imo

[Brandon Nankivell]

If you know what you want to do, you've spoken to a few people who have been in your chosen field for decades, and it's a field like medical/law where a degree is essential, then go for it.

If you know what you want to do, you've spoken to a few people who have been in your chosen field for decades, and it's a field where no degree is technically required (art, business, philosophy, sales, agriculture etc...), then probably not. You can learn all these things on the internet and on the job in half the time, for free, or even get paid as you learn (a sales job).

If you don't know what you want to do and college is free for you (because you're European) then there's no financial risk in exploring a field for a semester, although you do spend 6 months of your time.

If you don't know what you want to do and college costs a substantial amount of money but your parents are paying, then you're at high risk of being the next confused/passionless drop out who wasted parent's money.

If you don't know what you want to do and you have to take out a student loan, then DO NOT GO TO COLLEGE. DO NOT. It's called the student loan crisis for a reason.

Books I wish I would have read before dropping out half way through college (with student loans) are Choose Yourself and 40 Alternatives to College.

After I dropped out I pursued starting an online business and am forever glad I did. I dedicated my time to learning 'meta-skills' like psychology, creating healthy habits, sales, networking, communication, learning how to learn etc... + a niche skill that can be learned from world class experts online for free.

Out of the options you mentioned, B is the only one where you don't convey negativity. It's difficult to build a business and the statistics are crazy in terms of how many businesses fail but hell dude, it's the people you meet, personal empowerment, and the skills you develop along the way that are infinitely valuable in my experience.

Whichever path you take, it will be challenging.

All the best!

[UDT]

@Dylan Page  Get a degree, its baseline level. Even if its useless knowledge wise. 

If youre smart you have spare time to follow your pursuit

[John Iverson]

In my case, i am currently open to a job that is not possible for me right now because it is unknown , i am finding a job that would catch my interests.. i can understand where you are coming from, you don't want to go to college or university because you want to do something different, so do a job that is also different.. ?.. but now i am currently studying in university. Because for now i have no choice.. if you have a degree your level in the society will go to another step.. that's the reason why diploma exist.. but i am open someday someone offer me a job that here or anywhere that i will say yes because i want to do that job.. while i am building my life.. i am also finding it and searching it.. be open to the possibilities