Uni - should I stay or should I go?
 

I've just started my second year of university and the idea of quitting is starting to edge its way across my mind. I'm worried that I'm only staying for the 'experience' of university because nothing about my degree interests me and I know for a fact that I don't want a career in English, I want to be a photographer. I'm worried about what my parents would say and what I would do if I quit, but I feel like I'm wasting my money by being here.
Any suggestions?

Have you talked to your tutor/student advisor/whoever who have there? I know how you feel because I'm in a similar situation at the moment, although almost the other way around - I like my degree but hate the university experience, and I'm also thinking of quitting.

Do you like your university, friends there, etc? If it's just the course that you're not happy with, you could try and talk to something about changing to a different course? Talking to your parents sounds like it would be a good idea too - and even if you do decide to quit now, it doesn't have to be forever; you could always go in the future if you find a degree that you really are happy with.

Good luck anyways. :)

this is a really hard decision and you should not make it on the spur of the moment,
i went to uni straight from school and now have a useless degree, i say that but the qualification did get me onto my nursing course which i loved and am now doing a job i love.
i understand that its hard to know what you want to do si i agree with Too Shy talking it through with your parents and your advisor of studies is a good idea, especially your advisor of studies as they will be able to tell you any other options you have like transfering and stuff.
do you know what you do want to do?
did you enjoy your first year?
english is a very broad degree and there are alot of things you could go on to do with an english degree,
good luck with whatever you decide
xx

I love all my friends here, and the whole experience, but it is worth getting into £40,000 of debt? I'm going home for a few days tomorrow so I'll try and bring it up with my parents. I'm not sure there'll be a course I can change to, the reason I didn't do the one I wanted in the first place was because I didn't have an art A-level so they wouldn't accept me.
Thanks a lot for your help! =)

good luck with your parents

it might be worth taking a year out and doing your art a-level and working then going back to uni to do the course you want

I tried talking to my mum, it didn't go so well :p I didn't specifically say 'I want to drop out', I just sort of said, 'I feel a bit like I'm wasting my time and money doing a degree based on something I don't want a career in' and she said, 'well, I could have told you that before you started!'
I thought if I pushed it further it would wind up in me wanting to dive headfirst into the windscreen wipers so I left it for the time being. I really wanted to do an art A-Level, but they wouldn't let me because I hadn't done a GCSE in it! Strange how choosing music over art when I was 14 has cocked up my entire life plan :p I have to do a work-based learning placement for university though, so I'm going to try and do it in a photography place and see how I can go from there I think =) thanks for the time and help! =)

my advice would be to leave. i did a year at uni last year and hated it, so i left. my parents went nuts but got over it in the end. like you've said, what's the point getting further into debt if you know you hate something? it;s not like it's the end of your life if you leave, i am currrently trying to decide what courses to apply for for next year. it;s really scary to decide to give up on something, i was a high achiever and felt like i was throwing all my opportunities away, but its not really like that. there's always another road you can go down.

I think my parents would say, 'you're halfway through now, why have you only just decided this now?' and try to convince me to stay. My mum said that a degree is a degree at the end of the day, no matter what it's in, so I don't think I-Don't-Like-The-Course would be a good enough excuse. I'm going to give it until Christmas, then if I'm 100% certain, try and bring it up again. You reckon that's a good idea? What course were you doing when you left?

im sorry it didnt go well with your mum, but the truth is its your life not hers and your the one paying off the debt at the end of the day. my mums attitude was the same a degree is a degree no matter what its in .... but that is really not the case - it sounds to me your pretty sure you dont want to do this i think your wasting your time staying if you feel so strongly, maybe go and talk to the uni, prehaps you could take a year out .... that way if you decide you have made a mistake leaving the course you still have the chance to go back.
one thing i have learned is life is too short to be miserable, and id rather be poor and happy than have lots of money and miserable

good luck
xx

I've got an appointment to see my tutor on Thursday, so hopefully I'll be able to talk things through with her and she'll be able to help me out a bit =) I feel a bit calmer now, so thanks =)

you can always quit, take a year out to think and then go back and change your major. that way you can pick something different but still get credit for your previous study, so you don't waste all that previous time and money. this is what i'll probably end up doing next year. it's hard to stand up to your parents but after all, this is your life and your money. they'll still love you at the end of the day!

I think I want to do that, I just have to build up the courage to actually say the words out loud to somebody :p I'm starting to worry about the little things now though, things that would be effected if I went through with it. Like my house, I'd have to move back home with my parents, but I'd still be paying rent to live there... I'll go see my tutor though and see what Thursday brings =)

Just make sure you're doing it for you, not because of what your parents want you to do. :) Good luck

yeah i moved back in with my parents too. you get used to it, and it's only going to be temporary, plus it will all work out for the better in the lnog run if it;s what you want to do. good luck!

I would stay on and finish it, a degree isn't always worth it but you're halfway through and to be honset an English degree will will look better than an art degree unless the art degree was fom a top art school and the English degree was from a rubbish uni. Try to find other things to do to pursue photography. Once your degree isfinished it's over and thats a box ticked and you will always have more options. Also maybe try to get a job and not borrow quite as much if you can help it. xoxo