College is taking up too much of my time, and I'm really wanting to quit. Would that be a bad idea?

I don’t have much experience with college, I’m just starting, too. But quitting something so important doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. Many people would love the chance to at least attempt college. You never know, quitting now could cost you a good job in the future. I don’t mean to sound like an old man, but life isn’t all easy, it seems to be a lot of hard work with at least some type of payoff or reward for it. You can do it : )

How many credits are you taking this semester? How many did you take your first semester and how did you do in those classes? Have you thought about cutting back the number of credits you are taking to give yourself more time so that you can do better in the classes you are taking. Earning a college degree could really help you in the long term. What are you majoring in? Have you thought about trying to get someone to help you with your time management?

I don’t think quitting just because it’s getting rough is a good idea. If you are at the point were you are just going to fail all of your classes, cutting back would be the better option. Has the withdraw date already passed for your school? If not, maybe you could withdraw from one of your classes to free up some time and focus more on the remaining courses. You should also try to make time to speak with your counselor at school. They may be able to give you some really good ideas to be successful. If you are open to the idea of tutoring, you can also check with your instructors and counselor to see if they have any recommendations for tutors.

I’m in my late 30s. Back when I was in college, it was all too much. I had 7:30 am classes, which were murder in the wintertime, especially when I was in bed with my first real sleep-over style boyfriend. The classes were much harder than high school. When I realized we could skip, I did – and I was kicked out of the university because of poor grades. I tried to take some classes at the community college to work my way back in, but by then I was also paying rent and living life and had a cashier job at a grocery store. My classes dwindled until I wasn’t taking them anymore – just working at an entry level job for low pay.

Now I’m 38 and still don’t have a college degree, and you know what’s different? I’m old. That’s it. I still don’t have a degree, and I’m still working at an entry-level job at a different place. And I’m trying to go back to college for the second time, one class a semester because that’s all I have time for. I have to support myself, and I can’t get any student loans because I have a job. I wish to high heaven that when I was 18 and 19, I had buckled down, quit with the silly stuff, and devoted time to my studies. If I had a degree right now, I wouldn’t be working data entry.

Yes, college IS a time hog. It sucks up your life, that’s just the way college is. If you must, cut back a class or two a semester, or better yet cut the sports, but keep going! At least, that’s what I wish someone had pounded into me when I was lollygagging my way out of University.

My husband had to quit college when they restructured student loans and he no longer qualified. He doesn’t have a degree either. He works data entry in the same room I work in, and he’s in his late 40s. He’s got enough computer knowledge to work as a database administrator, but no one will hire him because he doesn’t have a degree. We are both smart people without degrees, in dead-end jobs. We are unlikely to make enough money to afford a better home or a kid someday, because we don’t have that piece of paper. College grads with the ink still wet on their diplomas are hired before we ever will be, and there are plenty of them.

In short, if you don’t graduate college, the chances are great that you will be working some dumb job when you’re 30–50. “Do you want fries with that?” Do you want to do that? If I had it to do over again, I would totally use that time to go to college, work my arse off, and then spend the rest of my life being glad I did.

You may not believe me (I didn’t believe the older adults either when I was that age) but everything I am saying here is true. And those years will be over before you know it!

I’m not sure I understand something. Are you still in high school and taking college courses?

@hawaii_jake Yes, and it’s really dominating my life right now. I don’t have time for anything.

@laureth Thanks a lot for your answer. You’ve given me some good reasons to stick with college, but I’m still really unsure if I’m going to end up staying or not. There are other things I enjoy studying such as government, web design, and philosophy but I usually can’t now.

It scares me too, because if i stay in college then I risk hurting my GPA (or even reputation for that matter). I’ll be honest, I’m typically a pretty lazy person that likes to have an easy schedule, and its making college really tough for me. I can’t get into the study/sleep/study/sleep routine. I guess I’m kinda wondering why I’m having such a bad experience, some of my friends are doing this too and they’re doing great. I feel overwhelmed.

When I wrote this, I didn’t (for some reason) realize you were taking college courses on top of high school courses. That is a lot. Maybe it’s time to concentrate on high school and save college for afterwards?

I agree with @laureth, perhaps you should focus on your grades in high school for now and worry about college once you graduate high school.

Cut back on the number of classes you are taking.

Quitters never win. this will be you. listen to this: i was 58 years old and completed my police academy a second time. yes, it like to have killed me, but i did it. the point is, i did not quit. i know that if i can do this, you can finish your college. don’t be a whimp and be another dropout. your school come first, playtime comes second. if you graduate, one day i hope you will remember this answer. don’t be a quitter.

What @laureth and @Seaofclouds said. There will be time enough for college when you’re an adult.

I’m going to give you the other perspective on college here, although I see from the other comment that the real issue for you is trying to juggle college with high school. My partner and I are working $9 and $10 per hour jobs. We are 25, and finally have enough money to move in together, after being in a relationship for over 7 years. Both of us have Bachelor’s degrees, which have been completely useless as far as finding any sort of work that would get us more than $9 or $10 per hour. My partner does have a 2nd (higher paying) job as a wilderness instructor, and he got that through his independent scholarship and people he has connected with online.

If we hadn’t went to school, we could have spend those years earning and saving money. And we wouldn’t have student loans to pay off on top of car insurance, rent, and all that. By working and building work history and references, our chances of getting (slightly) higher paying jobs would probably have been better than they are now.

Sorry, I know that’s tangential at this point. Whatever you decide to do when you’re done high school, it isn’t worth wasting your life with too much stress. It sounds to me like your time management skills are fine; you’re just taking on too much.

You might regret this later in life. Have you really found the subjects you are passionate about?