KaniPi 2,626 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 My friend did a HND in computing which he completed, then got into second year of University which he passed, so it was all good. However, I found out that he failed really badly in his final year, to the point where his University do not want to let him resit. Somehow, he managed to find an online course which allowed you to study for a year, and get a full degree which was a similar course at another University. During the period he found the course, he got himself a job as an IT assistant which was full time. When he told me this, I asked him whether he could manage working and studying at the same time, which he insisted he could. He has his first assignment due in 2 weeks, but now says he can't manage to work/study at the same time. Also completely lost interest in the subject, thats why he didn't care about failing the first time. So why did he decide to do the online course? ¬_¬ He doesn't have a study schedule nor does he want to create one, even though I suggested he should. Also prefers to go gym/play football on the weekends, so no wonder he says he doesn't have any time to study. --- Should he completely drop out and work full time? or go through with the course. Also what are the advantages and disadvantages of not having a degree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KissontheW1nD 5,731 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Right? Don't know. Depends on that person's situation. In your friend's situation, I might say yes if he thinks that job will serve him well in the long term. Stupid? Quite possibly. Advantages of not having a degree? Well, if you don't pay for tuition you have a lot of money to pay bills with... Disadvantages? Everything else. Of course, a degree from such and such college won't necessarily guarantee you a well-paying job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeTaeyong 4,086 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 He's already there so he really should just persevere................. School might seem annoying and pointless right now, but university is the standard nowadays for most jobs and in the future it will be the bare minimum. Honestly, dropping out of uni your final year is a careless thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallah 8,441 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 no, it's not, tbh, unless you have a job good enough to make it worthwhile, and an IT assistant does not fulfill that requirement unless his dream is to do grunt work for incommensurate pay. on the other hand it doesn't sound like he has a whole lot of drive, so no point in continuing if he's not going to invest himself. it's possible for him to work his way up from IT assistant to something meaningful, but in order to do that he needs the talent and the knowledge. i know a lot of people who work as software designers and the like who didn't finish college or didn't even go because they were already had the skills and found companies who were willing to take them on. does he have the talent? does he have the knowledge? if not then, welp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
...... 3,962 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 he should do what works for him right now. He's got a job... you go to school so you can get one. It's not as if all the credits he received will disappear if he takes a hiatus from school. It's not like school will go anywhere. If things don't work out for him later on...he can go back and finish up. Nobody can force someone to prioritise... he's an adult now... and he knows what he wants atm ... and what he doesn't want. Essentially deferring his education until he's ready to go back to it...if ever... is not the end of the world for him. Edit: there is no finite set of advantages vs disadvantages of getting a degree. It depends on the person, their skills, their field, and their network. I don't know your friend so, I can't answer. Default would be that having a degree is better than not having one more often than not... but that's not always the case... you have a lot of kids wandering around with degrees, shit jobs, and saddled with loans.... and you have some kids that never went to university, have stable jobs, and no debts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icedcoffee 457 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 He only has one year left? I think he should tough it out and finish the year. Yeah, it might be annoying and tough for him, but I think it will be more worth it in the end. It's hard to go back to school once you stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny_ 1,308 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 It's his life, to be honest. And he may have his reasons, maybe he can't afford not to work full time and he might've honestly lost interest, he might've tried again but realised that it's not for him. You can't say whether it's right or wrong because it's his decision. You can only help him decide what he wants, not force the decision on him. Advantages, I would say it would look good on his cv and stuff but so many people have degrees now it kinda lost the significance. A degree isn't everything. I personally would not quite my uni just because I'm in so much debt because of it, might as well finish it to make it worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaniPi 2,626 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 he should do what works for him right now. He's got a job... you go to school so you can get one. It's not as if all the credits he received will disappear if he takes a hiatus from school. It's not like school will go anywhere. If things don't work out for him later on...he can go back and finish up. Nobody can force someone to prioritise... he's an adult now... and he knows what he wants atm ... and what he doesn't want. Essentially deferring his education until he's ready to go back to it...if ever... is not the end of the world for him. You're right, but some employers can be quite nosy about deferrals at interviews. Also there is no guarantee, they will allow him on the course again. Its at another University. They didn't have to accept his application, because of his grades, but he was lucky they did. Also its expensive and time consuming to keep taking out loans. He is working full time right now, but I'm just a little concerned that he isn't thinking about the long-term. Yes, a degree doesn't mean you will get your dream job, but the current employment market in my country is so difficult right now, that even graduates are struggling. I will respect his choice if he really cannot do it, but I just don't want him to have any regrets later on. Edit: there is no finite set of advantages vs disadvantages of getting a degree. It depends on the person, their skills, their field, and their network. I don't know your friend so, I can't answer. Default would be that having a degree is better than not having one more often than not... but that's not always the case... you have a lot of kids wandering around with degrees, shit jobs, and saddled with loans.... and you have some kids that never went to university, have stable jobs, and no debts... Good point. Yes, a degree indeed doesn't mean much on its own, but it really depends on how the individual uses it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
굿바� 3,011 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 dropping out your last year is really dumb. stick with it, at least if the job fails he'll have a degree and in addition to the experience could get him more $$ at a better company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordKEN 1,608 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I would usually say "Just get it over & done with". But it seems that your friend not only has no interest, but he is completely not putting in any effort either. I had a friend like this who kept on saying "I want to graduate!", but doesn't attend any of her classes that starts at 8am because it is 'too early'. She is also super unmotivated, and when her teacher scolds her and says that she has no hope. Instead of trying to prove the teacher wrong, she just goes "yeah, I have no hope". I tried many times to get her motivated and tell her it's only a few years of effort, but it never works. Now, she dropped out of school and is working full-time at starbucks. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, there is really nothing you can do if your friend has no motivation to go on. If he himself doesn't want to put in the effort, you can't do much but be his listening ear whenever he complains about his frustrations, even though you know damn well he could have been at a better place if he went ahead with graduating school. Since your friend is already working as an IT assistant, at least he has a job secured. Is being an IT assistant something he wants to do? Is it the field he's interested in? Or is it just a way for him to earn some bucks? If it's not something he wants to do, maybe you can still try to convince him that if he graduates there are more opportunities for him to work in the field he's interested in. In terms of advantages and disadvantages, clearly having a degree is very advantageous. You get a higher starting pay, you can easily find jobs and so on. But like I said, if your friend is happy with working in the IT sector, even though he is just an IT assistant now, he can work his way up the corporate ladder even without a degree. Though, a person with a degree can get a head-start in the working world. But if he's satisfied with his job and doesn't mind putting in the extra effort, then let him be. Some people are contented with no degree, and prefers to spend years gaining experience in the working world than sitting in class and doing assignments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaniPi 2,626 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 I would usually say "Just get it over & done with". But it seems that your friend not only has no interest, but he is completely not putting in any effort either. I had a friend like this who kept on saying "I want to graduate!", but doesn't attend any of her classes that starts at 8am because it is 'too early'. She is also super unmotivated, and when her teacher scolds her and says that she has no hope. Instead of trying to prove the teacher wrong, she just goes "yeah, I have no hope". I tried many times to get her motivated and tell her it's only a few years of effort, but it never works. Now, she dropped out of school and is working full-time at starbucks. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, there is really nothing you can do if your friend has no motivation to go on. If he himself doesn't want to put in the effort, you can't do much but be his listening ear whenever he complains about his frustrations, even though you know damn well he could have been at a better place if he went ahead with graduating school. Since your friend is already working as an IT assistant, at least he has a job secured. Is being an IT assistant something he wants to do? Is it the field he's interested in? Or is it just a way for him to earn some bucks? If it's not something he wants to do, maybe you can still try to convince him that if he graduates there are more opportunities for him to work in the field he's interested in. In terms of advantages and disadvantages, clearly having a degree is very advantageous. You get a higher starting pay, you can easily find jobs and so on. But like I said, if your friend is happy with working in the IT sector, even though he is just an IT assistant now, he can work his way up the corporate ladder even without a degree. Though, a person with a degree can get a head-start in the working world. But if he's satisfied with his job and doesn't mind putting in the extra effort, then let him be. Some people are contented with no degree, and prefers to spend years gaining experience in the working world than sitting in class and doing assignments. He's doing a part-time online course so he doesn't need to physically attend lectures/classes. You can complete the units in your own time. Also he's only doing 2 modules every three months. Its spread out throughout the year. At the moment, he seems pretty content with his current job, but I can't really say whether he wants to do that in the long-term. More than anything, dropping out in the final year after failing the first time, just seems like a waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordKEN 1,608 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 He's doing a part-time online course so he doesn't need to physically attend lectures/classes. You can complete the units in your own time. Also he's only doing 2 modules every three months. Its spread out throughout the year. At the moment, he seems pretty content with his current job, but I can't really say whether he wants to do that in the long-term. More than anything, dropping out in the final year after failing the first time, just seems like a waste of money. In my personal opinion, I agree with you, it is a waste of money and super ridiculous for him to drop out at the final year, especially since it is a part-time online course. But as I mentioned, there's not much you can do. My friend drop-out of school and did not even get a diploma. Nowadays when I meet her she would mention how she envies us who has so much motivation to study. She talks about how she wanted to graduate, but she just had no motivation to go on. & it is a shame, because I went to the same secondary school as her, and she started out as a top student, and eventually just dropped down academically. I would recommend you try to convince him. But from my experience with my friend, I learnt that they know what they're doing is wrong but they just don't want to go on, and what they need most is not someone to nag them, but someone who would support them nonetheless. Of course, I don't know your friend personally, so I still recommend you try to convince him. But I'm sure you can tell when it's time to cut down on that and just let him do what he wants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeomjeom 59 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 if dropping out of school meant that he starts working after dropping out then it's fine i guess?(if he needs money rn why not.) i can't think of any advantages rn (other than an early start of career). but the disadvantage of not getting a degree is working twice as hard than those who have a degree to get in their position/rate. most employers/companies considers employees with degree a higher value than those who doesn't have it. and promotion chances are considered in this as well. i suggest he manage his time wisely. if he can't keep up with being a full time college student, then he should just take courses little by little. though time consuming, it would greatly benefit him in his career later on : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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