Thinking about dropping out of college...Kinda long rant, please read!

[Ken785]

Fvck!! school starts again in 2 days...and im stuck between "Do i really want to major in theater and risk a big chance of not finding any work?

Especially since im 5'5 and Asian...im good looking but im sure thats not going to help me much...or do i withdraw from all my classes now (its to late to pick classes in another mojor because theyre all full) and just find a trade?? Im so confused! I keep doubting myself! I dont know what i want to do!!!

 

[SmoothTalker]

Sorry man, I think the reason nobody is responding is we've said everything we really had.

I was in a similar dilemma about school last year, and in the end, nobody can tell you what to do, you have to decide.

Not to mention none of us have ever seen you act, so we don't really know if you have potential or not.

That being said, a Theatre degree is not the most useful thing you can have. If you want to be practical, get a trade.. If you want to try to live your dream, do theatre.

It's really up to you. As for picking classes for a different major, you may be able to if you really try. All my classes were full this term too, I didn't get enrolled until 4 days after term started. Keep in mind that some schools/professors are willing to override the class size 'limit', and also it's almost guaranteed that somebody will drop.

 

[The Inside Man]

Look dude, if you stick it out and get your degree, it will help you out alot in the future. It doesn't really matter what you get your degree in, just having that 4 year degree will put you ahead of many others in the workforce when you get out.

My advice is also, if you like theater then go for it! I liked my first political science class in college and decided to make it my major. I can't tell you how many times my parents, my dad especially, would hint or openly say that I should try business or switch to business, but it just wasn't for me. I stuck with it, loved most of my classes, got into the national scholars honor society and the polysci national honor society.

I haven't had any trouble finding interviews or getting a job since I've been out. Alot of the jobs I am going for have on site training programs that take up to 6 months or a year, so it won't matter that you don't have experience in that field. There are alot of jobs that don't have a set major you needed to have in college.

You've given it too much effort to just give up now. I know it seems like forever when you're studying and taking class but college does end, the fun partying life and the intense academics. Stick it out, like I said it will help you very much in the job market, and you will be true to yourself in staying with what you want to do. This is a major life challenge for a lot of people, myself included. You will be a stronger man for sticking this out instead of giving up, and when more difficult situations are presented, you can think back to your times of hardship and how you kept at it instead of throwing in the towel. Good luck, don't give up so easily.

 

[Rhoto]

Ever since i graduated high school back in 2001, ive been in and out of college. Everyone is always saying "GET YOUR DEGREE, GET YOUR DEGREE!"

In the last 6 years going to 4 different colleges (heald,community college, and 2 CSU's) switching majors back and forth...i went from a business major to criminal justice, to a communications major, and now to a theater major.

I want to go for theater because i love the arts...even though its a huge risk to take...I love acting but i don't want to be waiting tables all my life just hoping for a break that may never come no matter how good looking or good of an actor i am..

Thinking back these past 6 years i know i should have been graduated by now but i still haven't...

Right now im currently at 75/120 units needed to graduate. I just finished the Fall 07 semester completing 7 whopping units as a PT student (because all the classes were full and couldn't register for any more)

I see everyone around me making money and it makes me depressed im still in school at 24, i tell girls i meet that i am a student and it seems to turn them off.

I just have this thing in my head telling me that if i don't have a 4 year degree then ill be missing something in my life, that i haven't accomplished yet, i used to tell myself before that i was going to get a 2 year associates and that was it for me...but now that i started this 4 year degree i feel like id be ignorant if i don't finish it...even if i don't make a career out of theater.

Maybe its society that has brainwashing me to think that a 4 year college degree is a MUST HAVE to ensure a secure future...i don't know.

I see people without 4 year degrees and college dropouts start their own business and become highly successful...just look a P. Diddy...or Tom Hanks who dropped out of CSU Sacramento, or even Bill Gates...ill bet they aren't thinking that they regretted dropping out of college...

Why am i thinking it is such an importance?

My cousin didnt finish his 4 year degree and had no idea what he was doing till my uncle told him to go get certified in HVAC (Heating and Air Conditioning) and i was suppose to go get certified with him but i decided to go to a 4 year university and have been stuck on this route ever since..

Now he is making about $60,000 to $85,000 a year...(with the option of starting his own business after 4 years in the field and making tons more money as a contractor), ive always wanted my own business too... and the title contractor would be nice...

I also have this thing where i tell myself, if i stay in 4 year college...there are tons of girls around who have somewhat of a decent future...and statistics say something like 70% of all married people find their significant others in college so im thinking maybe ill eventually meet mine? who wants to meet a dumb attention wh0re with no future at the club right??? huh? even i confuse myself (AFC thinking, i know...but this has stayed in my head ever since i heard about it)

Comments??....

Hm. I don't see WHY you haven't finished college. Were you doing a lot of drugs? Working? ****ing? Sounds like you didn't goto class.

HVAC and trade schools are wise options, but the earing potential, unless you own the business or get a commission of the contracts is limited. But its also a very saturated market, especially in California. And sadly $85,000 a year isn't enough in the Bay Area.

Bill Gates didn't drop out of a state school, he dropped out of Harvard. Big difference, sorry. P. Diddy wouldn't have amounted to **** with out Biggie.

Business, communication and theater, I can see the relation but criminal justice is kinda out there. You need to pick something and stick with it.

And when you meet girls and they ask why your "old" tell em you were in Tokyo or Berlin. Make **** interesting. And if shes "turned off" who cares? Shes just some bimbo. College is about improving yourself, not spitting game.

Finish college. You can still be a contractor, probably a much better one too. Hell act on the weekends, or become a producer (major in finance). People who don't finish college don't have the polish of an education. People can say "you don't need college" and that may be true, but why wouldn't you want to finish? Cause its too hard? Why did you go in the first place?

 

[MikeYikes122]

College is kind of retarded, but it's something you have to do.

I'm a professional writer. I'm a good writer, but to be honest with you I am probably way too young and not educated enough to be where I am at in my career path. I have a good job at a pretty decent publication, but I'm the youngest employee by about three years. The third youngest person is 31, and the 28-year-old guy went to grad school at some ivy league school to beef up his resume'. I only went to state school and got a four-year degree.

How did I get where I am? College, but not by busting my a$$ in classes and getting good grades. I used college and the various internships I got to meet people and make a lot of connections. It just so happened that around the time I graduated, lightning struck and I was the tallest tree in the forest. I interned with my current employers, and they liked me, so they brought me back to fill a full-time position that had recently been vacated. I recently found out I was up against two other guys for the job. One of them was 40 and the other was in his early 30s. Both of them were random applicants who had decent resumes', but my bosses just decided they wanted to hire someone they felt comfortable with.

So what am I getting at? In the professional world, connections are everything. Grades, education and all the other intangibles don't really matter to potential employers if they already know you and think you're skilled enough. Companies would much rather hire a young person they are already familiar with as opposed to an unfamiliar one who has a decent resume'.

My advice to you is to tough it out through college and charm your way into some internships. Get to know some professionals in your field, and someone will give you a decent job when your education is over.

Honestly, I never even turned in a resume' to my current employers. They just hired me, no interview or anything. Connections are really that big of a deal.

 

[Ken785]

Hm. I don't see WHY you haven't finished college. Were you doing a lot of drugs? Working? ****ing? Sounds like you didn't goto class.

HVAC and trade schools are wise options, but the earing potential, unless you own the business or get a commission of the contracts is limited. But its also a very saturated market, especially in California. And sadly $85,000 a year isn't enough in the Bay Area.

Bill Gates didn't drop out of a state school, he dropped out of Harvard. Big difference, sorry. P. Diddy wouldn't have amounted to **** with out Biggie.

Business, communication and theater, I can see the relation but criminal justice is kinda out there. You need to pick something and stick with it.

And when you meet girls and they ask why your "old" tell em you were in Tokyo or Berlin. Make **** interesting. And if shes "turned off" who cares? Shes just some bimbo. College is about improving yourself, not spitting game.

Finish college. You can still be a contractor, probably a much better one too. Hell act on the weekends, or become a producer (major in finance). People who don't finish college don't have the polish of an education. People can say "you don't need college" and that may be true, but why wouldn't you want to finish? Cause its too hard? Why did you go in the first place?

I was in and out of college for these last 7 years because i switch from like 4 different schools, first from a trade school to a community college where i got a Associates, then to a 4 year uni and then to another 4 year uni...

I was thinking long and hard today about wanting to become an actor, and i thought to myself...

"Do i really want to become an actor? or do i want to love and lifestyle that actors get??"

Ive also always wanted my own business and to be able to travel...im starting my own business would be practical...but at least with a degree i can use it to teach english overseas and travel that way...ive wasted so much time already in school...besides the teaching english thing im never going to use that degree if i do down the line start my own business anyway...

see how confused i am?!?

 

[SmoothTalker]

Well, remember that just because you start a business doesn't mean it will succeed.

In that case, a degree would give you something to fall back on while you prepare for your next venture.

 

[Rhoto]

I was in and out of college for these last 7 years because i switch from like 4 different schools, first from a trade school to a community college where i got a Associates, then to a 4 year uni and then to another 4 year uni...

I was thinking long and hard today about wanting to become an actor, and i thought to myself...

"Do i really want to become an actor? or do i want to love and lifestyle that actors get??"

Ive also always wanted my own business and to be able to travel...im starting my own business would be practical...but at least with a degree i can use it to teach english overseas and travel that way...ive wasted so much time already in school...besides the teaching english thing im never going to use that degree if i do down the line start my own business anyway...

see how confused i am?!?

Why did you switch schools so much? If you are/were applying to transfer, you have to declare all your grades at all your schools, I believe its federal law.

You say wasted time in school, are you sure? You didn't get anything out of it man? If not, that sucks.

I want to teach over seas at some point, but I also intend to write. Do some research into that, travel writing, but think of it as a supplemental income, if that. Sell the material to travel agencies, e-book it, etc.

And as a previous poster said, you don't goto college for the degree, you go for the connections. If you want a lavish lifestyle, you gotta put in the time brother, like Jack Nicholson said in the departed: "No one gives it to you, you gotta take it."

As for starting a business, if theres a "secret" to life its this: Find what you love, and figure out how to make money from it. You'll never work a day in your life.

Stick it out man, its hard to get a job overseas with out a degree, even if you are a native speaker.

Good luck.

 

[Ken785]

Why did you switch schools so much? If you are/were applying to transfer, you have to declare all your grades at all your schools, I believe its federal law.

You say wasted time in school, are you sure? You didn't get anything out of it man? If not, that sucks.

I want to teach over seas at some point, but I also intend to write. Do some research into that, travel writing, but think of it as a supplemental income, if that. Sell the material to travel agencies, e-book it, etc.

And as a previous poster said, you don't goto college for the degree, you go for the connections. If you want a lavish lifestyle, you gotta put in the time brother, like Jack Nicholson said in the departed: "No one gives it to you, you gotta take it."

As for starting a business, if theres a "secret" to life its this: Find what you love, and figure out how to make money from it. You'll never work a day in your life.

Stick it out man, its hard to get a job overseas with out a degree, even if you are a native speaker.

Good luck.

First i went to Heald which is a trade school for computer technology...decided i didnt like it after 1 semester...then i went to community college and got my associates, then i transfered down south to the LA area to go to university down there and half-as$ed it basically and didnt get anything done the 2 years i was there, now im in University here and completed 7 units and got good grades in those but picked theater as a mojr and now im just confusing myself, school is tomorrow...i dont know if i want to take the risk of being an actor...i like it but i dont know if im all that good or if i want to waste years of my life starving even more trying to find out if ill even get work...

 

[Rhoto]

So you're taking upper division courses in Theater? See if you can switch 1-2 classes to something more "practical": Finance, economics, bio-technology, Law another language...

What do you have your AA in?

Make your case to your counselor, they're there to serve you.

 

[Ken785]

So you're taking upper division courses in Theater? See if you can switch 1-2 classes to something more "practical": Finance, economics, bio-technology, Law another language...

What do you have your AA in?

Make your case to your counselor, they're there to serve you.

I just have a General Education associates...im confused..i hate being this indecisive.

 

[Rhoto]

Hm. Thats your problem. You need to make a decision, and stick with it.

Do you plan on Graduate level work?

 

[Ken785]

Hm. Thats your problem. You need to make a decision, and stick with it.

Do you plan on Graduate level work?

you mean going after a masters? i dont think i qualify...having my grades go up and down over my 7 year college career...i dont think the decision making admission people would want to admit me very much...

 

[Rhoto]

"Qualifying" is a very broad term. You usually need to work or have real world experience before applying for it, at least an MBA. I've seen 1.8 GPA's get into Haas and a buddy with a 4.3 get rejected from USC's Marshall Business School. Its about the person at the graduate level, sure grades have an impact, but its about what you can do with your degree and how you will better their school.

You don't sound confident in yourself, or at least your school life. Change that mindset NOW. Tomorrow, go into class, sit in front and ask the professor, "Hi, my name is Ken. I've changed my life and want to be an exceptional student. What do I need to do to get an A in your class?"

Your essay is your voice to the admissions officers, tell them why you did what you did, and what you've learned. How will you be better? And how will they benefit from your enrollment?

Don't sell yourself short man. The great thing about this country, no matter how much you've messed up in the past, you can always, ALWAYS be a success.