Leaving uni without any 'backup plan'. Anyone done it?

I've been thinking about this since I got here, and it's gradually got worse and worse. I'm beginning to hate the course. The work bores me, the subject bores me, I hate reading (yet I do English Lit), I'm not even sure why I'm here apart from it being expected of me. But then, I don't know what other subject I want to do. My decision to go to uni was more a case of following the crowd, than actually thinking about it properly.

My parents will most likely massacre me, as I have no idea what I would do if I were to drop out. Get a job? Reapply in a year? Have any of you been in the same situation? What happened?

I do want to go to uni at some point, but I don't feel ready. Then again, I don't want to end up in a deadend job and end up making-do for the rest of my life, which my parents keep saying will happen.

I feel as though I've given it a fair chance rather than quitting after two weeks as I intended to. It all feels wrong somehow. Any advice is appreciated!

Reply 1

Truman

3

Id say have a hard think about how bad your course really is? I mean if you dont know what to do with your life you can allways just carry on with your degree and then decide after.

Other options are drop out and travel for a bit then re-apply next year for a subject you want to do. Or drop out and do an apprenticeship, i doubt your parents will call being a electrician or a plumber a dead end job when your earning 40 grand a year and self employed.

Reply 2

Minerva

17

zeebiatch

I've been thinking about this since I got here, and it's gradually got worse and worse. I'm beginning to hate the course. The work bores me, the subject bores me, I hate reading (yet I do English Lit), I'm not even sure why I'm here apart from it being expected of me. But then, I don't know what other subject I want to do. My decision to go to uni was more a case of following the crowd, than actually thinking about it properly.

My parents will most likely massacre me, as I have no idea what I would do if I were to drop out. Get a job? Reapply in a year? Have any of you been in the same situation? What happened?

I do want to go to uni at some point, but I don't feel ready. Then again, I don't want to end up in a deadend job and end up making-do for the rest of my life, which my parents keep saying will happen.

I feel as though I've given it a fair chance rather than quitting after two weeks as I intended to. It all feels wrong somehow. Any advice is appreciated!

Have you talked to anyone about this? Your tutor? Student Welfare? You don't mention your social life; sometimes people say they hate the course when what they really mean is that they are feeling lonely and that they don't fit in. It is difficult to be inspired about anything if you are feeling miserable.

Dropping out may be the right thing for you to do, and if it is, your parents will be less upset about it if you have some kind of game plan. Is there some sort of vocational training you would like to do instead? Are there jobs that are already open to you with your A levels?

It takes a long time to end up in a dead-end job with nowhere to go from it, and it generally happens to people who stop learning and make no effort to develop their skills. Plenty of people go to university as mature students and there is no reason why one of them couldn't be you -

Reply 3

Sazarina88

11

Are you still interested in studying at degree level but perhaps a different subject?

You might not be aware that you could transfer credits to the OU. So, say you pass and obtain 120 credits this year, you can then transfer some, if not all of them, to the Open University and study there instead.

Just an idea :smile:

Reply 4

Sazarina88

11

Firstly, not everyone recommends the Open University.
Secondly, how are you qualified to say that employers don't want it?
Thirdly, people can study from home yet have lots of friends and hobbies.
Fourthly, some people do not like university or it is impractical for them to move away from home.
Lastly, it was simply a suggestion the OP might not be aware of.

Reply 5

Sazarina88

11

How is it not a real institution? You get a degree.

You're entitled to your own opinion, even if it is a load of rubbish.

Reply 6

b_lineaddict

zeebiatch

I've been thinking about this since I got here, and it's gradually got worse and worse. I'm beginning to hate the course. The work bores me, the subject bores me, I hate reading (yet I do English Lit), I'm not even sure why I'm here apart from it being expected of me. But then, I don't know what other subject I want to do. My decision to go to uni was more a case of following the crowd, than actually thinking about it properly.

My parents will most likely massacre me, as I have no idea what I would do if I were to drop out. Get a job? Reapply in a year? Have any of you been in the same situation? What happened?

I do want to go to uni at some point, but I don't feel ready. Then again, I don't want to end up in a deadend job and end up making-do for the rest of my life, which my parents keep saying will happen.

I feel as though I've given it a fair chance rather than quitting after two weeks as I intended to. It all feels wrong somehow. Any advice is appreciated!

Hi

I haven't read all the replies on this thread so I may be repeating some information - sorry if I do. But anyway, alot of what is happening to you is very similar to what I have been through. I originally started uni in sept 2005 but like you, it was more of a follow the crowd thing. I didn't really know what to study but at the time I thought "it's time to start uni". Thus because of the UCAS deadlines, I decided to study a subject - it was Computer Science.
I quickly realised that it was a wrong choice but gave it a chance. However, after a few months i decided to quit the couse. My mum suggested taking a year out and think about what it is I wanted to do as a career, so I did. It was the best decision I made regarding careers, as it gave me an insight into the real world and allowed me to find out more about myself and what interests me. As a result of a few family events,amongst other things, I have decided to study Occupation Therapy (going to start this year). If it wasn't for my year out (infact it would be two years out by the time i start my new course), I deffinitely would not of realised what it was I was really interested in.
Looking back at it, I've found that during school, I was just following the crowd without REALLY thinking about what I want to get out of life. Once I left that school environment, it had made me more aware of myself and I now feel that I have made the right decision. At the end of the day, you have to do whats right for you. Just carrying on with a course because you 'just are' isn't going to help. Sometimes, going through hardship makes you appreciate life better. I mean getting a deadend job for 6 or 7 months may help you. Don't get me wrong, its not a career, but what i mean to say is it may allow you to realise a passion of yours - because working day in and day out is so dull, it makes you think about what else is out there. Atleast, whats what I've found in my experience.

I hope this helps. If you need any more advice feel free to PM me.

Reply 7

tortured

OP

8

I kind of see both side of the argument with the OU... I don't think it's a bad thing, especially if the person has other responsibilities so can't get to a 'brick' university. On the other hand, I can imagine it would be to my detriment to not have any kind of contact with the outside world.

To be honest, my social life has been 'lacking' since my friends moved away to university. Plus I stayed at college for an extra year, so I'm already a year behind my friends. I don't like the seminars at all, or the group tasks; I can never think of anything to say, and when I do, it always seems stilted. I don't know whether this is due to lack of motivation to actually READ the books (2 per week is HARD), or whether it's simply because it doesn't interest me.

I have to go back in tomorrow... I might give it a few more weeks. See how I get on... In the vain hope that it will get more interesting. I'm somehow doubtful, but it's not as though I have anything to lose.

Reply 8

tetedupet

11

I dropped out of university in October, now stuck in a dead-end job and bored out of my brains until September, so glad I'm going back to uni.

Reply 9

tortured

OP

8

^Where did you drop out of, if you don't mind me asking?

I don't want to drop out, then end up at a lower tier uni than the one I'm currently at. I also don't want to drop out and regret it forevermore.

I doubt very much that I'd end up in a deadend job (no offence intended, but I think I could so one hell of a lot better), but other peoples opinions are making me think otherwise. Like I'm gonna be brainwashed into staying there due to the fact that I'd be paying paid for the first time.

Reply 10

tetedupet

11

zeebiatch

^Where did you drop out of, if you don't mind me asking?

the university of edinburgh

Reply 11

jointhedots

16

zeebiatch

I doubt very much that I'd end up in a deadend job (no offence intended, but I think I could so one hell of a lot better), but other peoples opinions are making me think otherwise. Like I'm gonna be brainwashed into staying there due to the fact that I'd be paying paid for the first time.

This, in my experience, is crap. If anything, my year of mindnumbing reception/callcentre work has made me determined to stay in education for as long as I can.

However I'm now in a similar position to you in that I hate my course, except I'm in the second year so I can't afford to start over, and transferring to a university that's as good as the one I'm at now is proving hard :frown:

So...If you're not happy, but you think that uni might be for you, then drop out in your first year, don't stay in the hope that it'll get better because it probably won't and you'll wind up miserable, having to self fund for a year if you want to start over, or having all the fun of trying to find somewhere that will take you in the second year on a different course.

If you think your parents are going to be angry then make sure you have a plan; whether that's dropping out and working for the foreseeable future or working with a view to reapplying. Start looking for jobs and show them that you're serious and you've thought it through, you don't -need- to justify your decision but chances are things will be a lot easier if you have their support.

Leaving uni without any 'backup plan'. Anyone done it?

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