What happens when you drop out of college? (bachelor's, skill, degrees)
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When I mean what happens I mean what can you do when you drop out? Can you re-enroll to another college, or do most people say "i'm done with college" or do most people say "I failed, but maybe i'll give it a second shot"
This question has been floating in my head for a while.
When I mean what happens I mean what can you do when you drop out? Can you re-enroll to another college, or do most people say "i'm done with college" or do most people say "I failed, but maybe i'll give it a second shot"
This question has been floating in my head for a while.
From you first sentence it sound like
you need a lot of help deciding.
.
Depending on where you live, college dropouts are destined for a life of service industry hell. Or if one has parents with deep pockets, then maybe not.
How bad exactly is service industry hell? I think if one begins working at say McDonald's where employee turnover is high, within a few years of dedication and hard work, perhaps one could move up the ladder and eventually get a high paying job with corporate. So a few years' worth of dedication at McDonald's might turn into something better, where as a few hard-working years at college might provide you with a good GPA and few job offers in this economy. Or a college degree could leave you destined for graduate or professional school, where you'll exit in debt and probably a slightly higher amount of job opportunities. And if you land one of those jobs, a few years of hard work and dedication might provide you with the opportunity to make some real money in that field.
Short answer: it depends on what you want to do with your life. A college degree opens doors, but it may not open the doors that you want it to.
For a variety of personal reasons, including being more or less homeless at the time, I dropped out of my first school. Now when I say "dropped out" I really mean "stopped going". I didn't properly withdraw from my classes and, as a result, my grades and GPA sank. I also did it very late into the semester (IIRC, I stopped attending right around Thanksgiving break), so my loans for that failed fall semester were already dispersed. In the end, I had a crappy GPA of <2.0 and owed Sallie Mae and the school itself a nice little chunk of money.
When I applied for college again at 23, I asked about what to do with my previous school transcript. My school didn't care and I had the option to start over from scratch. Mind you, I went to an art school w/ an open admission policy, so they may have been more lenient than average. I've heard of some schools demanding that you give them your past school's official transcript. In the end, I did eventually graduate from college and likely did better than I would have had I not dropped out and worked menial jobs for a few years. But on the other hand, I always had college as a goal and knew I wanted to go back.
I know someone who dropped out of college recently. She was a first semester senior and stopped going to class to pursue a "full time" (full time hours, non of the benefits or salaried pay of a typical FT job) job as a fry cook. She's likely lost her merit scholarship, sank her GPA, may not qualify for any more grants, and may even end up on academic probation. She's already starting to hate her job (in her words, she's "working like an illegal alien") but likely burned her bridge to go back to school.
Moral of these stories: don't drop out without a solid plan of what you'll do next. Don't drop out b/c you think the money you're making now tops going to class. And don't drop out half-azzed. If you must quit school for a bit, GO TO YO YOUR advisor. find ways of leaving school while keeping your GPA and standing in school intact. Some people leave school every other semester to work and reapply after saving up money. Don't put yourself in a position where the money and time you've spent so far is all for nothing. I owed almost an extra $10K in loans and tuition for 3 months of classes that more or less don't exist any more because I started over. That's more than 30% of my total loan burden. It sucks and dumb mistakes cost $$$.
I left my first university - immaturity on my part, coupled with some significant health issues caused my grades to drop, leading to my eventual dismissal.
I worked in the "real" world for a year, at a menial but okay job (pharmacy technician) and then applied/begged various universities for a second chance.
I got a second chance - and my bachelor's degree, and now graduate degree.
A lot of people who withdraw/dropout - never go back.
I knew a lot of students who were just a few classes shy of their degrees and who quit - and never got their degrees.
Which is kinda ridiculous.
Its one thing to not ever go to college at all. Its another to be 90% done with a degree and just never finish it.
im sure it depends on the reasons for dropping out. some drop out for better opportunities and they probably fare pretty well. some drop out for what they percieve as better opportunities (such as the fry cook example) and they probably get slapped in the face by reality. and then others drop out for financial purposes. some of them probably go back later when they figure things out, others probably never go back and eventually find employment in other fields. there are many different scenarios
My best friend in undergrad was forced to withdraw when we were juniors, after several semesters of academic probation on his part. He suffered from severe depression, went on and off several medications, and ultimately opted forgo medication. During his various ups and downs, he missed a lot of class, forcing enough withdrawals over several semesters that, while the college's counseling center was able to advocate for him, ended up forcing the issue of academic probation and then a forced withdrawal when things did not improve.
Once he was no longer a student, he took about a semester to do some soul searching. His family was all thousands of miles away, and going home was not something he wanted to do. He ended up moving to another city, getting some mental health help, and ultimately enrolled in a community college to make up credits he had never completed, and get his GPA to the point where he could re-enroll somewhere. I don't think he ever planned to re-enroll at our alma mater, too many bad memories. But he did get his grades to the point where he did enroll at another school, and completed his degree program there. He had to basically start from scratch, which has its costs. But he did finish a dual major degree program, with honors, once he got his personal stuff sorted out. He was an older graduate, but he did what worked.
In this case, this was a person who was very academically inclined to begin with, it was mental health that got him offtrack. I would imagine that there are those who do not care for college on a academic level, and re-enrolling may not be a desire of theirs. But there are people who end up dropping out of programs for many reasons.
I left my first university - immaturity on my part, coupled with some significant health issues caused my grades to drop, leading to my eventual dismissal.
I worked in the "real" world for a year, at a menial but okay job (pharmacy technician) and then applied/begged various universities for a second chance.
I did the exact opposite of you. I graduated college back in 2005 and got a pharmacy technician certification last year because I thought having some sort of skill might be better than the college degree I have.
My bachelor's degree is pretty useless, and I haven't had any opportunties to use it.
I dropped out after two years. I figured that second year would give me a sort of solid "two years done" thing, and I needed to get my grades up in case I ever wanted to go to school again. I do not enjoy the school process for learning.
I went to a two-year trade school for a credential that has supported me very well for many years. I went to a tough nine-month credential in something else that I turned out to hate the jobs and realized I wasn't suit for the field.
I went to grad school and got a master's in public health. The school said I had four years of post-high school from the above, and to ace the GREs and apply. I tried to follow the dream blah blah with my plan for that degree, went for broke, and got broke.
After age 33, I stopped thinking about school, but I did only go each time for a job (the reason I dropped out in the first place- didn't see how it led to a job).
I did learn that two years of college put me in a different category for federal civil service exams. After a year and a half, I started getting calls for federal jobs in my area, but had already lucked into a great job where I'm pretty sure I was the only person without a degree, never mind a degree from a highly rated school.
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