SUP3RNOVA

Has anybody here actually taken a semester (or year) off from college and actually gone back?

You can go to college any time...I'd like to focus on aff marketing 24/7 for a year or so to really build up some campaigns. For being busy as hell I'm still doing decent, but I'd like to push into the $xxx,xxx/month range. I try to explain to my parents that you have to strike when the iron is hot, but of course they don't understand anything. Internet money isn't real money.


Anyways...give me some opinions. Take the year off?

mason

how much u making now? if it's xx,xxx a month then why take a break?

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Laura

Yup, I took two years off after high school. I ended up going to college and doing really, really well with a totally different perspective on life, money, people, etc.

I still dropped out later, though.

tob

I'm going back to an almost full course load with $xx,xxx/month range. There is an end to university, and it's well worth it. There will always be an opportunity in the future, whether it's in aff marketing again or something.. not to mention I expect my $xx,xxx to last for 2-3 months before it declines.

But really, it's up to you. There is nothing wrong with taking 2 or 3 courses per semester and taking it slow.

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SUP3RNOVA

Yeah, but I'd much rather be making xxx,xxx and save.

well...at least you tried lol.

yeah...but school just isn't my thing. i slacked bad all in high school and did well (top 40 of my class)...slacked and didnt go to class last year in college and squeezed out a B average...i just really hate school.

pfgannon

I'm probably going to take off this semester or only take 1-2 classes. I really need the time to build my online shit up, between work and school.

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tob

The difference may be that I can see the end, I'm not far off. Sounds like you may only be a year into your education, which isn't much.

I'd say bank for a year or so and see how you're doing. If you get discouraged at any point or stressed out.. then just stop for a while and get back to your courses for a couple semesters... go with the flow and try to eventually get that degree. If it's not a degree don't bother! aha

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DruSam

I think your last post said everything. If you are not interested in school, then don't go. Life is too short to spend it working 4 years for somebody else rather than yourself. If you liked school, then I would have said stay in.

However, you do have to take your parents advice into consideration. Especially if you are financially dependent on them.

I am lucky enough to have parents that support my decision to work for myself.

SUP3RNOVA

Yeah, but I like the security of having a degree "just in case".

I'm not though.

LazyHippy

I did a year and a half at Uni... dropped out, planned on going back never did... no regrets.

Not sure if it's the same where you are but here going to college/uni is about so much more than getting a degree. It's about living away from home, looking after yourself (or not!), meeting loiads of people and having a fucking great time!

The social skills you learn from going away to 'study' are invaluable, you just don't get that if you stay in your small town, same group of friends etc.

The real education is not in the classroom or lecture theatre.

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loyolabenson

Why go to school? Because everyone else is? Because all the propaganda put out by universities suggests that the average person without a degree is a loser? Be above that. I know it's tough. But when I look at my sisters fiance who has a masters and making 60k, it feels pretty good to make more without a bachelors. I dropped out after a year and felt so bad about it until I met the world of Internet marketing. This is my passion. Why do anything other than your passion?

When it comes to going to college to please other people, look at it this way. No matter what you decide to do in life, you WILL NOT please everybody, so you might as well do what pleases yourself.

geekcognito

I took a semester off and went back. Then I stopped going again. I have 18 hours (1 semester) of credits left to graduate and I probably never will. Why not? Well, I can only ask "why?" If I had to do it all over with I would have never gone other than the partying. I would have saved a LOT of money since I paid for college myself.

The choice to get a college education is yours. If it makes sense for you to go, then go. Don't let anyone talk you in or out of it.

However, if your parents are paying for it and you are making good money while you're there then my advice would be to go ahead and stick it out to get it over with. It makes sense.

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Andrew

First of all, forget what your parents say. That should not play any role in your decision making.

If you think its more important to put away some money, go ahead and do it. Run the numbers, at a young age, a big chunk of savings can explode by the time you hit retirement age. Do even better and you will be retired before your friends hit their mid-life crises. On the flip side, they'll still be paying off college loans and be pinching pennies to be able to even make retirement.

That doesn't mean college is a bad thing. We need lawyers, doctors, accountants, MBAs, and math wizzes. Its just a different path and a different lifestyle. If you do take it, just be sure you set your goals high and have done really well in school.

Most people enter college with little idea of what they want to do or be. Hell, some of my friends are near or past their senior year and have no idea what they are doing. Whatever you choose, the best path to take is often the one where you have an idea of what direction you are going. The goals don't have to be exact, but you need to have them.

loyolabenson

Article from forbes I have saved that I read every once in a while:

College Vs. No College - Forbes.com

SeoDave

I took a year off between high school and college. I moved out of my parents house, was paying all my own bills (rent, car, food, insurance) and I realized why I had planned to go to college in the first place. I went to college for a year and a half during which time I really got into online poker. I won a poker trip to Australia to play in a $10K buyin tournament, so I took a semester off from college and went there. I went right back to school after that and have 1 more semester to go to graduation. I plan on graduating, although I doubt I'll ever use my degree for anything other than a wall ornament, but I think the people I met there (I've done business parterships with several and also found that college students looking for "internships" or part-time jobs are a great source of quality, cheap labor) are what made the difference. The college experience is what is worth having - meeting people, being social, etc. Not the classes. Most of the stuff you learn in the classroom is barely applicable in the real world anyway. So I advise using college as a platform into the business world by developing contacts that can aid you later in life and by just having a good time. If you aren't making contacts, and you aren't having fun - it's a waste of your time. As far as putting school off so you can make XXX,XXX a month think about it this way: If you took 5 years off from school and made XXX,XXX/mo during that time but then that income source dried up, you could live off that money for the rest of your life. THEN if you want a degree you can go back and get it for the hell of it. You probably won't, but that doesn't matter.

Decide what you want for yourself in life long-term. Do you have any large goals or aspirations that will take years to complete? Is a college degree required for any of them (probably not)? Then decide what steps you need to take over the next 6 months, next year, next 3 years, 5 years, and 10 years and work towards the goals that will make you happy and have you set for life. Living your own life isn't about fulfilling others expectations. Always respect your parents, but realize that your own satisfaction and sense of fulfillment is what is important - not theirs. The path they may have envisioned for you may not include becoming wealthy or self-sufficient. If the goal you have is financial freedom and wealth then don't let anyone else's dream for YOUR LIFE get in the way of that.

Listening to your plight my personal advice is: Skip the college, make the money, and figure out what you want to do long term if IM doesn't work out forever. Save up your money, invest wisely, and you'll never need the degree.

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MyOwnDemon

I'll put it to you like this - I make more money than all my friends who finished college and have "real jobs". Going to college isn't the answer for everyone. Just from reading the above replies, I see a lot of us went to college, but never finished (myself included).

Do what you want to do, not what your parents want you to do. It's your life, not theirs.

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SUP3RNOVA

yeah...i think im gonna take next year off.

thanks wickedfire, you all ruined my education.


i actually talked to my parents and after they thought about it, they agreed with me.

ebittner

hahaha
I just have to let you know that I am about to start college and I was thinking about taking a year or so off but I knew that there was no way that I would ever end up going if I did that so I am just going to try to knock out all 5 years at once.

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sperts car

Going to college is almost always the safer and better bet

The learning curve is too steep for most people to just skip college and making a living online.

engaged

Go to college man... don't pull a drusam because a network can crash at anytime and your referral money can be gone tomorrow.

sperts car

ROFL...try telling that to an emplyer during an job interview. He asks you "Do you have a college degree?" You reply: "Life is to short spend it working 4 years for someone else". LOL good luck

Drusam you're head is in the clouds. You're a Rush Limbaugh libertarian detached from reality.

nachoninja

there's reality then there is a reality that people instill in you as a child

you're an adult now make your own decision

I quit school the day they wanted to teach us SQL by using the text book "Teach yourself SQL in 10 mins"

All that for a piece of paper that says I have a degree? Fuck that.

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engaged

And when you want a programming job at google or another competitive company, don't expect a call back. it's the reality of life.

lucab

i stopped going to college for 4 semesters, just went back and finished my liberal arts and sciences associate degree. i am going to take some more time off to make $$$ and gain perspective.

fuck, i am only 22... not too worried about it. it is all about your attitude at college - if you don't want to be there, bounce, because you are wasting your time and $$. go back when you are mature enough to do all your work and really excel. that is my plan at least.

nachoninja

Who the fuck wants to work at Google, there are plenty of dynamic companies that realize the value of real life experience .vs a paper degree

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engaged

a lot of people did pre-ipo and there will be another company in the future that only hires grads of good colleges that you will guarantee yourself to miss out on the ipo too.

sperts car

Only problem is that only a tiny tiny percentage of companies will ever IPO and even if the company does go public being another rank and file programmer isn't gonna make you an overnight millionaire.

wickedDUDE

I might be a little late coming to this thread, but I say if you want to do college... do it now. I know some people who are in their mid 20s who are just starting now ... with the kids that are just coming out of high school. May as well get it over with while your young, this way you can relate with more people in the class too.

I would also base going to college on how much you make now, how long you've been making it, how many sources your income is based on, etc. But it is nice having a degree to fall back on or give you that piece of mind if you need it.

.. and dont forget there's still lots of free time in college to do your own thing (if you aren't taking computer science or engineering)

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DruSam

engaged, I already replaced my referral income. You need to replace your joke, it's a little old for a blithering jackass enthusiast like yourself.

engaged

i guess replacing $50/day isn't as hard as I thought

Drake

Its so easy to stop going to college. And so hard to go back. I know I quit for a semester that turned into 4 years off because I was making "good " money. That money is really nothing in the long term. You have to make plans to make good or great money for the rest of your life. Not just a year or two.

Personally I say dont quit, you never know what you might want in the long term. People here say dont quit on IM why do they want to quit on a university degree?

I do hiring decisions and the first thing we look at is did they get a degree? Its not my decision but we cut ALL that didnt get one. Thats just reality. And then I usually cut the ones with crap degrees or from crap universities. Do you want people like me doing that to you 80 - 90 % of the time?

zayd

It all comes down to where you see yourself in the future. Is college going to get in the way of that vision? Yes? Then put it to the side for now and start making your vision a reality. You're young and you only live once, plus if things don't work out you can go back to college later with the kind of real world experience that will make being there worth it.

And what's with this talk about job interviews? I thought it's been established that jobs are for slackers. (kidding)

loyolabenson

Yeah I get what you're saying. This is true if you want a JOB. Most people here have the savvy to do their own thing. A degree for most of us would have better use as Toilet paper than a career booster.