Thinking about dropping out--- advice?

[Owen]

I'm currently in my freshmen year at a community college because I'm too poor to attend a real university. I am about 3/4 of the way through the semester and I am miserable. I hate taking classes and hate everything to do with college right now. Sure, I go to the local state school with my girlfriend and party, but it doesn't feel the same. I want to take a semester off and pursue my business idea that I've been cooking up since this summer, but I'm not sure it's the best route. I currently work a good job making about $55,000 a year with $600 a month with no expenses, so I'd much rather do that and use some of that money to start a real business instead of taking liberal art classes. Any advice?

[Fulcrum]

At the very least finish out this semester. I can't really give any more advise as I'm a college dropout myself (one credit to go 15 years ago and I still can't tolerate sitting in class).

[vangogh]

Owen, I don't think any of us can tell you whether school is right for you or not. That's ultimately a decision only you can make for yourself. I think education is important, but I don't think you necessarily have to go to school to gain an education. I would say that college is more than just future job training and that much of what you gain from a college education has nothing to do with getting a job. That said, it's not for everyone and only you can decide if it's right for you.

I think you should definitely stick through with this semester. You made it 3/4 of the way through. If you quit now you throw that all away. There are going to be a lot of time throughout your life you're going to have to do that you absolutely hate to do, but you're still going to have to do them. Let this be practice for those times.

[Owen]

Owen, I don't think any of us can tell you whether school is right for you or not. That's ultimately a decision only you can make for yourself. I think education is important, but I don't think you necessarily have to go to school to gain an education. I would say that college is more than just future job training and that much of what you gain from a college education has nothing to do with getting a job. That said, it's not for everyone and only you can decide if it's right for you.

I think you should definitely stick through with this semester. You made it 3/4 of the way through. If you quit now you throw that all away. There are going to be a lot of time throughout your life you're going to have to do that you absolutely hate to do, but you're still going to have to do them. Let this be practice for those times.
I'm going to definitely stay for the rest of the semester, I just don't know if I'll continue and go to school next semester. Does it look bad if I am to transfer if I don't go two straight years?

[vangogh]

It won't look bad at all. People transfer schools all the time and they don't always go consecutive years. If you transfer schools, it's possible that some of the classes you took this semester won't count toward the requirements of the next school, but otherwise it's not an issue.

I have two undergraduate degrees and I went to four different schools to earn them. I started as an engineering student, but wasn't happy. I transferred to another school and earned a degree in history. Not every credit from the first school transferred and it took an extra semester to earn the degree. A few years later I decided to finish the engineering degree. I took a few classes at a community college near my home and then went off to a university for a few more years. Some of my earlier credits counted toward the degree and some didn't.

I wouldn't advise you to follow my path. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life when I was younger and it took me awhile to figure that out. Just know that you're likely to want different things as you get older and gain different experiences. Don't ever feel like you can't change your mind. You can definitely skip next semester and the year after and still return to school the year after that. The worst case is all the credits you're earning this semester won't count.

[Paul]

I'm currently in my freshmen year at a community college because I'm too poor to attend a real university. I am about 3/4 of the way through the semester and I am miserable. I hate taking classes and hate everything to do with college right now. Sure, I go to the local state school with my girlfriend and party, but it doesn't feel the same. I want to take a semester off and pursue my business idea that I've been cooking up since this summer, but I'm not sure it's the best route. I currently work a good job making about $55,000 a year with $600 a month with no expenses, so I'd much rather do that and use some of that money to start a real business instead of taking liberal art classes. Any advice?


Owen,

Let me, in the most adamant terms, encourage you to finish school, without interruption. All of us here have long had the entrepreneur bug. Many have been successful without a formal education. Success comes from drive and persistence, not just education. Personally, I skimped on my education, interrupting it with false business starts, like you are considering. For me it was a mistake!

The mistake wasn’t about lack of knowledge, it was lack of gravitas. I found myself in a world of highly educated people, MBAs, accountants, attorneys, PHDs, engineers, scientists etc. Dealing with them I realized they weren’t any wiser because of their education BUT they were taken much more seriously than I was and of course were expert in their field. I lost many opportunities and was always at a disadvantage.

Over the years I became educated. I found myself in positions of authority that required I work with those who were more formally educated. I needed to be able to work with them on an equal basis. I did and I do but it took a long time. I regret not focusing on the education first.

You are a bright young man, with many years ahead of you to succeed in business. Don’t stunt your ability to compete by dismissing a formal education. You will be surprised that knowledge of even the most mundane subjects will become important. Even subjects unrelated to business.

I know your head is filled with ideas and the drive to be a successful entrepreneur. Give yourself the tools to succeed. You will not regret it.

Sorry that this sounds like a lecture from an old guy and I imagine many may disagree.

[Bobjob]

My advice would be to man-up, make the sacrifice and get your degree behind you. If you don’t know what you want to study study accounting. It is important both personally and with business.

If you cannot manage manning up to college, join the military. When you get out you might have a clearer idea as to where you want to be.

Cannot stomach college or military? Find something and make the sacrifice to it. In the future build a business from the knowledge you gain from; truck driving, restaurant, plumbing, retail or something. Spend five years making the sacrifice to home remodeling and then get your real estate license. Your knowledge would be a great asset to both sellers and buyers being a realtor. You would make money from being a realtor and you could flip houses with your spare time.

Also learn to play piano and speak a second language.

[Harold Mansfield]

I can't tell you whether to drop out or not. What I can say is that you have an opportunity to get smarter and learn things will give you a real shot at success. Sometimes we only get an opportunity once.

Smart money would tell you to party less, study more, keep the job, and do business ideas on the side. The odds are that your business idea won't make it. I'm not rooting against you, those are the odds. Why throw everything away now when you're just getting started and still don't know that much?


Also, what about the girlfriend? Will she still want to date a first year college drop out? That's a big change. Most people never go back. I dropped out and never went back like I planned. Things would have been much easier for me had I gotten at least one degree. I wouldn't have had to struggle so much. I would have had more opportunity.

Will things stay the same between you if she goes on to get her degree while you bounce from failed business idea to failed business idea? Probably not. Will you still hang with the same friends? Trust me, you won't.

IMO, you have a chance to learn things and meet people. So learn things and meet people.

Being successful in business means doing the tedious stuff too. Learning even when it;s hard and boring. You romanticize business too much. It's hard work. It's hard boring work MOST of the time. Here you are getting a taste of hard work, and already ready to drop out. Not a good sign.

You're lucky enough to have opportunity to get an education to help make your business ideas a success. You're healthy. You're young. You will never have this time again. A lot of people your age and older would kill to be in your position. Try to enjoy some of it.

[Paul]

Being successful in business means doing the tedious stuff too. Learning even when it;s hard and boring. You romanticize business too much. It's hard work. It's hard boring work MOST of the time. Here you are getting a taste of hard work, and already ready to drop out. Not a good sign.

You're lucky enough to have opportunity to get an education to help make your business ideas a success. You're healthy. You're young. You will never have this time again. A lot of people your age and older would kill to be in your position. Try to enjoy some of it.

Owen,

Harold is so spot on! What you don’t realize is that “success” isn’t just having a cool idea, IT IS HARD HARD WORK! From your posts you don’t seem to have a particular skill or interest to base a business on. IE: Lawyer, electrician, computer guy, plumber , mechanic etcs. If you did the answer would be obvious, just focus on that skill with some other basic side knowledge.

If you plan on being a “serial entrepreneur”, with big ambitions then you better be able to swim with the sharks. Without an education they will chew you to pieces, if they even bother to talk to you! Not that it hasn’t been done before but wow, what a disadvantage.

Let me double down on what Harold said. If you can’t even stick to taking some classes for a couple years, how can you expect anyone to take you seriously. It makes you look like a gadfly that can’t follow through.

I want you to think about this. Some time ago we spoke about a product you wanted to develop. Do you have any idea what that takes, the people you must work with, the convincing and selling and administration and coordination of operations that it entails? Lawyers, accountants, engineers, manufacturers, marketing, distribution finance etc. It doesn’t “Just Happen”. First of all you need to have some clue about all of that to even be able to communicate. Then they need to take you seriously. Since you have no experience, education is your only qualification at the early stages of your entrepreneurial career.

Unless you have some new billion dollar internet deal up your sleeve or a truly valuable proprietary product, forget about jumping from one business idea to the next until you have prepared yourself with an education (and work experience). Work also is an education. Pay attention to management styles, operations, infrastructure etc. You will learn very valuable lessons.

As Harold as often said “Ideas are a dime a dozen”. (Sorry to be piggy backing on your comments Harold). There are always ideas and opportunities. You need to be able to implement them, not just dream about them. Education is your foundation.

[Owen]

I want you to think about this. Some time ago we spoke about a product you wanted to develop. Do you have any idea what that takes, the people you must work with, the convincing and selling and administration and coordination of operations that it entails? Lawyers, accountants, engineers, manufacturers, marketing, distribution finance etc. It doesn’t “Just Happen”. First of all you need to have some clue about all of that to even be able to communicate. Then they need to take you seriously. Since you have no experience, education is your only qualification at the early stages of your entrepreneurial career.
The only experience I have right now is sales (I work at Verizon and am about to company hop to AT&T for $30 an hour), digital asset management, and some journalism. I make websites, manage social media, etc. for some small businesses in my local area. I do enjoy web design and probably have a really good opportunity to start a larger digital asset management firm, but I'm undecided if that's something I'd want to pursue. I have a million business ideas in the arsenal, but I don't have a single resource right now to start them. As for the journalism, I have written a few articles for college magazines and Vox.com and was invited to help start a "neutral" news source that specializes in viral marketing and basically dumbs down current news events, but I passed. As for sales, I'm very talented in sales and would love to start my own company that sells products on Amazon. I've experimented with a clothing company while marketing it with more viral media, and it did well for a month until I ended it because I wanted to go to college (which at the time was going to be $40,000 a year). So basically, I was looking at:
- Digital asset management firm
- Clothing brand
- Journalism (business journalism sounds fun)

I honestly think why I hate college is because it's community college. There's so much less of a college experience, and that bugs me.

Oh, and the other thing I was thinking about doing was starting a franchise. Not a big franchise like Dunkin' Donuts (as I don't have $1,000,000 in liquid assets) but a coffee shop that's local that's huge and has no asset requirement. Just a thought.

I got offered a job today at my local news paper to write articles for them covering local events, I don't think it'd be a bad idea to do it as a side gig and get experience in journalism.

[vangogh]

I was going to say this in one of my earlier posts, but didn't. However since Harold kind of alluded to it, I will now. More than anything I think you need to slow down and learn to develop both patience and focus. Look at your last post. You listed three businesses you want to run, then added a fourth. You also mentioned leaving one job for another and said you have a million ideas. No one in the history of the world has ever been successful chasing a million ideas or even four at the same time.

I know I'm exaggerating when I say this, but it feels like you've told us about several thousand different businesses you've started since you joined the forum. Pick one idea, any idea, and work at it for a few years. Like Harold said, success isn't about having a million dollar idea. It's about executing one idea well.

As far as school is concerned, I'm beginning to wonder if the reason you hate it is because it's a local community college and not a big name university like Harvard or Stanford that everyone knows. If you go to community college part time over the next two years and continue working your sales job, within two years, you can earn a year's worth of college credits and the money you'll need for three years of the college you want to go to. I'd also guess there's there are Verizon and AT&T stores in the same town where the college is and you can work part time during those three years.

You can also work on one of your ideas while in school. You'd probably graduate at 23 with a company that's already turning a profit.

Owen, you're definitely ambitious and motivated and I can tell you work really hard. I think if you can learn to focus on one thing and learn to be more patient, you're going to be very successful. But you have to give more time to one of your ideas instead of jumping from one to the next after a few weeks or a few months. If you really aren't sure what you want to focus on, then maybe staying in school is the best idea for now. You can gain a college education while you figure out which of your ideas is the one to which you want to devote your energy.

[Owen]

You listed three businesses you want to run, then added a fourth.
They're all just options. I honestly have no idea what I exactly want to do with my life yet. I'd be happy wiht multiple career paths. I've always itched towards journalism because I've always been naturally gifted in writing and have always enjoyed writing. Fun fact: I actually wanted to be an author until I was 10.



I know I'm exaggerating when I say this, but it feels like you've told us about several thousand different businesses you've started since you joined the forum. Pick one idea, any idea, and work at it for a few years. Like Harold said, success isn't about having a million dollar idea. It's about executing one idea well.


When I was in high school, after the fall of Stacktron, I think I bounced between 100 different ideas. I have been a lot more patient since I graduated having only really worked on two ideas. I have this "get rich quick" ideology. I'm trying incredibly hard to shake it off, but it's annoying. It is even harder to shake because I'm so far at the bottom of the barrel right now that I feel helpless. No one wants to hire an 18 year old with a failed startup and 700 posts on a business forum.



As far as school is concerned, I'm beginning to wonder if the reason you hate it is because it's a local community college and not a big name university like Harvard or Stanford that everyone knows.
Yeah, that's a pretty big part of it. I hate it when people ask me where I go to school and I say YCCC. Way back when I was going to Bryant University, I had no issue telling them where I was going to go. A part of me was still a little ashamed because I know I could've gotten into a better school, but I slacked off and didn't pay attention to application deadlines until it was way too late. Lesson learned, BIG time.



I'd also guess there's there are Verizon and AT&T stores in the same town where the college is and you can work part time during those three years.
Verizon won't pay for my education as I work for an authorized retailer (Cellular Sales) and it's completely commission based. AT&T is unionized and pays hourly + commission and will pay for most of my tuition.



You can also work on one of your ideas while in school. You'd probably graduate at 23 with a company that's already turning a profit.
I could only dream.



If you really aren't sure what you want to focus on, then maybe staying in school is the best idea for now. You can gain a college education while you figure out which of your ideas is the one to which you want to devote your energy.
I need to find something I am absolutely in love with. I think I'm going to take the freelance journalism position and see how I like journalism. I'd be an independent contractor, so it won't hurt anyone if I end up hating it.

[tallen]

The "college experience" is nice and all, but college is really all about the academics -- isn't it? The expensive name-brand private colleges are very nice, but .... they are expensive. If you can't afford it, well, go where you CAN afford it. See, the thing is, regardless of where you go to college, you get out of it what you put in to it. A student who applies himself on the community-college-transfer-to-state-U route, will be well ahead of the student who has taken on big student loans to "enjoy" the "college experience."

[Owen]

The "college experience" is nice and all, but college is really all about the academics -- isn't it? The expensive name-brand private colleges are very nice, but .... they are expensive. If you can't afford it, well, go where you CAN afford it. See, the thing is, regardless of where you go to college, you get out of it what you put in to it. A student who applies himself on the community-college-transfer-to-state-U route, will be well ahead of the student who has taken on big student loans to "enjoy" the "college experience."
Most of the insane private colleges are very cheap. Harvard is only $4,000 a year. Of course, I'm not going to Harvard unless someone on here is an admissions specialist and wants to do me a favor.

[vangogh]

Owen I get that the things you listed are just options. My point is that you don't yet know what you want to do, which is perfectly normal for where you are in life. Since you don't yet know, maybe college is the best option right now. Take a variety of classes and see which interests you the most. You might have a better idea of what you want to do in a few years when you've had a chance to learn and experience more. You can also work part times jobs while in school to experience even more.

With Verizon and AT&T, I didn't expect either would help pay for school. I was thinking you were earning enough working to be able to save and pay to go a school you want to go to. And don't worry about what someone else thinks about where you go to school. I went to a few different schools and the one that probably has the least reputation is the one where I learned the most.

Don't be ashamed because of the school name. Had I applied myself more when I was younger I could have gone to better schools as well, but I had no idea what I wanted to do at the time and didn't work as hard as I should have. You can get a good education at most any school. I think what you get out of school has a lot more to do with what you put into it than where you go.

If you're interesting in journalism and writing in general, I'm completely on board with that as you probably know. It's what I'm doing now and I wish I had figured it out 30 years ago. And you do write well, by the way.

Don't feel like you have to figure this all out by the time your 20. You don't. Most of the people I've know have changed careers multiple times and there's a good chance everyone your age is going to have to change careers as automation and artificial intelligence disrupt industries in the coming year. It's possible that the career you ultimately settle into doesn't even exist yet.

The "get rich quick" ideology doesn't work. Sure it happens to some people, but that's a lot to do with luck. Most successful stories take time. People put in hour upon hour without you knowing a thing about them. They only appear to get rich quickly because no one knew who they were while they were putting in all the hard work.


No one wants to hire an 18 year old with a failed startup and 700 posts on a business forum.

If someone doesn't want to hire you, it has nothing to do with a failed startup and posts on a forum. Some people probably would look at your age as a negative, but it would be less to do with age as it would experience and education. Regardless of whether you go to school or go into business, you're going to learn a lot over the next few years simply because you'll have lived and experienced things you didn't while in high school.

You feel like you're at the bottom of the barrel now, because you kind of are. We all were. It's the cycle of life. Last year you were a high school senior and at the top. This year you're starting over and are the bottom again. Odds are the same thing will happen again a few more times in your life. It's just how it is for most everyone.

On the other hand, you don't have a lot of the responsibilities now that you might in a few years. Right now you're free to explore lots of possibilities so you can figure out what you want to do. Take advantage of that. In 10 years you might be married with a kid and another on the way and you'll have a lot less options. Your one choice will be to go to work and put up with anything because you need to earn a paycheck to feed your family.

Some people know what they want to do early in life. Most don't. You have time to figure it out. I know it can feel frustrating at times, but don't feel like you have to figure out the rest of your life in the next few weeks. I think school can be a good place to figure some of this out, but only you can really know if it's the right option for you. Just don't feel like any decision you make today locks you into that decision for the rest of your life. Trust me when I say you have a lot of time to change your mind.

[Fulcrum]

No one's looking to hire you right now because you're 18. It's an illegal practice but they cover their butts by saying they want both experience and education. Many companies don't want to train and their training budgets reflect that.

And just so you know, a good, non-franchise, coffee shop will probably need a $100K minimum to get off the ground (tip: making coffee is the easy part).

[Harold Mansfield]

I honestly think why I hate college is because it's community college. There's so much less of a college experience, and that bugs me.


So do your time, get your grades, and transfer to University to finish your degree. Show that you can do what it takes, grind it out, and pull yourself up by your bootstraps do get it done and achieve your dreams. That's the guy I want to hire or invest in. Not the guy who quits because it isn't perfect and too hard. There are no jobs out there for idea men. Everyone has ideas. Business is full of people who know how to execute.

I have some empathy for how boring classes are. I'm studying for a Cyber Security certification. It's hard. It's also self study and very easy to skip days. But I know the reward is great. Not just to be able to increase my income with new skills, but it will mean a lot to me personally to finish and have that the piece of paper so that I can put it in front of people when I'm asking them to pay me for that kind of work.

People drop out for all kinds of reasons that truly suck. Financial, family, medical, and many others. Don't be the guy who drops out because he's bored or because it's too hard. I dropped out because I was bored and was making a lot of money tending bar at the time. It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made and completely changed the direction of my life. Yes, over the years I worked at some fabulous places, had a lot of fun and gained a lot of experience, but it wasn't what I was supposed to be doing. It was what I had to do because it was all I knew.

Once that ended, because I was never really interested in it.. I just did it for the money...I'd spent 20 years in the business and had no other skills. I had to start all over. Sure, many of those skills in sales, logistics, management and customer service helped me, but more computer science and finances would have been invaluable. Had I finished school I probably would have quit working in bars and nightclubs years earlier, and been much further along as a business owner than I am now.

[Owen]

You guys are right. I'm going to just stick it out and stop complaining and finish community college. My aunt is trying to get me a job at Liberty Mutual, so if I somehow get that job I'm going to work there for probably a long time (they pay for my college in full). We'll see, the door is open. I don't want to work retail anymore and I'm tired of working crappy weekends. Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll be back with a new post about where I want to go to school LOL

[Wash & Dry]

We all had a million business ideas...... most of yours won't work so don't get too excited. I can see by your wild thoughts that you are not ready to start a business or atleast one that costs very much to get in to. Franchise? Come on!! Pay Jim Bob money to have the name Jim Bob's Coffee on the building? I'm not a franchise lover but if you are going to franchise either go big or stay home. If you can't afford Starbucks then sit back on the porch. You are young and throwing ideas around like DNA at a frat party. I don't think you will be happy doing any 1 thing right now. You have too many ideas running around in your head. But, since you WILL try a few of them try the ones that don't take much money at all to start. I started a cleaning business with $3.17 in my pocket and it ended up making millions. My after retirement business that I am in now started with a $150 investment. If you are good, you can make it work with a low budget. If you suck, it won't matter how much money you pour in to it. I hope you keep us updated.

[journalist55]

Hi Owen, I think it depends on what career you want to purse. That is amazing that you already have a good job and are interested in starting a business. What did you decide to do?