I don't want to be at uni right now

I don't want to be at university right now. I feel like I was rushed into it, as it was seen as 'the only option' if you got good grades. I want to be volunteering and travelling. I'm not saying that I'll never come back to uni, I just don't feel that it's right for me right now. I should have taken a gap year, or two.

Am I stupid for wanting to drop out?
I'm just really not happy.
People make you seem like a failure if you drop out, but I want to do what will make me happy.

Sorry for the ramblings, I just needed to get it off my chest.

Reply 1

Princess31

Original post by llamaspoon

nah youre not rambling and its perfectly okay to feel like this... dw!
just go through a little more of the course and see if you wish to stay.. if not then drop out and do all the stuff you want to and go from there?

who said that was the only option? parents?

Reply 2

somemightsay888

I felt the same way as you a few weeks ago, give it more time, say till mid November, and then see how you feel. If you still don't like it volunteering work is easy to get. If you already have a job then travelling is easy too

Reply 3

hellodave5

You can volunteer and travel still, too...!
You would just be putting your career on hold. First year is easy anyway.
Though its best to do it when you feel ready. Depends if you're happy enough to put a reasonable amount of effort in; whilst volunteering and traveling to get a 2.1.

Reply 4

llamaspoon

Original post by Princess31

Parents and my school I guess. At school it seemed that all the intelligent people went to university, so if you didn't go to uni you weren't intelligent. And I didn't want to be in that category.

Reply 5

llamaspoon

Original post by somemightsay888

Thanks for this. I just feel like I'm slowly going crazy being here. Not a good feeling.

Reply 6

Zottula

It's perfectly normal to feel uncomfortable and unsure about university in the first few weeks. It's not stupid to want to drop out, and it does not make you a failure. Why is it that you are not happy? Are you getting on with people? Trying out some societies? Does the course interest you? I think it is worth sticking it out a bit longer, as you may find that you start to get into it more and get more comfortable.

Reply 7

llamaspoon

Original post by hellodave5

Thanks. However, my degree is really intense, even just in first year. I had to quit my weekend job because it was all too much, so I can't do these things alongside uni.

Reply 8

Zottula

Original post by llamaspoon

Thanks. However, my degree is really intense, even just in first year. I had to quit my weekend job because it was all too much, so I can't do these things alongside uni.

Not even during the summer break?

Reply 9

llamaspoon

Original post by hellodave5

Thanks. However, my degree is really intense, even just in first year. I had to quit my weekend job because it was all too much, so I can't do these things alongside uni.

Original post by Zottula

I'm not liking the majority of my course content. I feel so uninspired and unmotivated to do any work for it. I'm not really a very outgoing person, but I've made a couple of friends and joined some societies, so I think I'm doing well on that front.
The biggest thing is that, at this stage in my life, I just feel like I want to be doing something else. I don't want to be stuck behind a desk studying.

Reply 10

llamaspoon

Original post by Zottula

Not even during the summer break?

I guess I could. The thing is I want to be volunteering abroad etc. which requires money that I'll have to work for. If I wasn't at uni I could be working saving up for this.

Reply 11

hellodave5

Original post by llamaspoon

I guess I could. The thing is I want to be volunteering abroad etc. which requires money that I'll have to work for. If I wasn't at uni I could be working saving up for this.

Why not do your degree and volunteer. Come out with a 2.1. Get a reasonably paying job with much higher employability, and take a year out working. You can then spend a significant proportion of that years income travelling - which you may appreciate more, being older.

Maybe if you pick up other hobbies alongside uni work, you may find it enjoyable :smile:

The gap would also be productive, as it would give you more time to decide what direction you want to take things in.

Reply 12

alice-louise

Original post by llamaspoon

I felt exactly the same, I withdrew from uni and am reapplying for next years entry. You're not stupid, you're smart for realising that it is not right for you right now. Do whatever is best for YOU.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 13

tinyflame

Original post by alice-louise

I felt exactly the same, I withdrew from uni and am reapplying for next years entry. You're not stupid, you're smart for realising that it is not right for you right now. Do whatever is best for YOU.

What about me?
I have already taken a gap year, and I have like 120 ucas points, which you can barely do anything with at all?

I heard that if you do an access course and fail, that uni is pretty much crossed out for you forever?

And resitting A levels costs time, and I'm unsure how it will go with the AL reforms? :frown:

Reply 14

Youni-chan

Original post by tinyflame

If you start this year, you won't need to worry about A level reforms...or actually even 2015/16 as the current AS will still on that system in 2016.

Reply 15

tinyflame

Original post by Youni-chan

If you start this year, you won't need to worry about A level reforms...or actually even 2015/16 as the current AS will still on that system in 2016.

Ohw, thank you, I was just worried that they had alreay reformed AL's, and that I was too late for resitting AL's.

Also if you don't mind, what would your advise be about this issue I have...

At the moment I am mostly interested in studying psychology, but I am scared of it having "bad" career prospects?
If I would give my interest as a percentage, I would say about 65-70%, I am mostly interested in violence and childhood, not everything about psychology? And since I had read Alice Miller, I just felt like studying psychology even further.

On the other hand, I have a constant anxiety of studying engineering for the "better" career prospects, but I hated maths when I was doing it as an AL because it was the most demanding one out of all my AL's and I just find it a bit dull tbh.

Also I know that engineering is one of the toughest courses to study, so isn't it unwise to study it merely for career prospects in the long run?