I quit University today

[WillyB]

So I had a meeting with my tutor today and I've quit Uni and deferred for a year, so i still have a chance of going back to do something different. On one hand i feel as though a huge weight has been lifted of my shoulders and hope to finally relax, on the other hand, i feel like a failure. Uni has been trouble from the start. But what finally drove me to quit was the course. It just wasn't for me, and was too basic. I didnt like the idea of spending 3 and half thousands pounds a year on 4 hours of 'teaching' a week along with the thousands spent on living, accommodation ect. I'm dreading explaining to everyone ive quit, they will see me as a failure, a waster. I've still never had a job, although my friends dont know about my year of utter panic, despair and terror, which lasted from the moment i left school, so during my year off i was unable to work anyway.

My tutor and I looked into a masters course in the same subject, which lasts a year which seems more suited. I can get onto the course as a mature student with a relevant port-folio.

I just don't know if ive made the biggest mistake of my life or the best. This gives me the opportunity to try again or try something new, if i stayed on id be on a course spending thousands on something i dont want. But what if things picked up and it turned out to be a great thing? My mate said today when i told him ' You idiot, at least you'd have a degree!', £20k+ to say i have a degree? hmmm no thanks.

Has anyone here quit Uni and felt or know they made the right decision?

Cheers :(

[vicky23]

That's obviously a very hard decision to make and not one you've taken lightly.
I think maybe you're 'mind reading' what your friends will think, and if they do infact say that you're a failure know that this isn't the case. In fact I would say it takes more courage to stand up and admit that what you're doing isn't working rather than continuing to waste the following years doing something you're not passionate about.
It sounds like you've made good plans with your tutor so I'd be positive :)
Best wishes

[Anxious_gal]

My friend did 3 years of college, she didn't like her course but she stayed because she didn't want to let her parents down , even when she was depressed. , I mean she was in a very bad way , she still finshed her course.
She didn't want to work in that area either!
Shea now gone back to college doing a course she enjoys, she's made friends etc . . And this time it's going much better.

Honestly your health is worth more, :)

[Dying_Swan]

Hi WillyB

I don't think anyone is going to think you're a failure. I deferred uni halfway through for a year while I was struggling, and I went back and finished it off. For me, that was the right thing to do. I also had a friend who did nearly 3 years of a PhD before finally accepting it wasn't for her and she left. Life is too short to spend it doing things you don't want to do, and you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. It's very easy to think "oh but you would have had a degree", but it's really just a piece of paper, and it sounds as though you've left your options open which is a good thing.

Try not to beat yourself up too much. Use this time to think about what it is you want and to get yourself better and stronger and hopefully it will become clearer for you.

Best of luck x