Hey kids! Dropping out isn’t just for beauty school anymore!

So, you gave university a try (If you’re anything like me, you gave it a try for two days before unceremoniously catching the first train home), and have decided that it just isn’t for you. What are your options? Well, i’m here to outline some of the pros and cons of dropping out of university. Hope you’re strapped in, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride…

1. PRO: If you left early enough, you should find yourself free from all student debt. If you have decided to take the plunge and drop out, remember to call your bank as soon as you can – Even if you, understandably, don’t particularly feel like it. It’s time to face up to your responsibility and un-sort all the gubbins you sorted out so you could leave home in the first place. It will be painful and boring, but just reassure yourself that you may have, just possibly, perhaps, made the right decision.

2. CON: Did I mention that you had to do a whole bunch of boring form-filling-in and phoning around? Yeah. Con.

3. PRO: Freedom! You’re free to go where you want, when you want, with no lectures, projects or professors dictating your schedule for you. Now’s the time to do all those things you ever planned on doing! So hop to it!

4. CON: Okay, so you can do whatever you want. Only problem is that, until you get a job, you have no money to do it with. Also, most of your friends are probably still at university, and won’t want to hang out with someone who just sits in their underwear all day watching cartoons and eating cereal straight out of the packet (i.e, you).

5. PRO: Speaking of jobs, you are now free to get one! Earning your own money, as opposed to slowly eating into a student loan or living off of your parent’s handouts, is incredibly liberating. This means that when you finally trick some work colleagues into being friends with you, you can buy a whole new set of clothes every time you go out on the town! No more hand-me-downs from your stylistically challenged Aunt Gertrude for you! You are truly moving up in the world.

6. CON: Ahh, yes. Getting a job… That’s going to be pretty difficult for you, especially as you have no degree, and don’t even get me started on the state of the economy. I hope you like sitting in your local Job Center for an hour every two weeks, because that’s what you’re probably going to be doing for a fair amount of time after you leave uni. To be honest, even if you stick it out and get your diploma, more likely than not you’ll find yourself in the same position. My advice is just to be patient, be polite to your agent, and for the love of God fill out your job search form every week. The last thing you need is to be cut off from your £52 a week, believe me. How else are you going to afford your Rice Crispies?

Along with these points, there are a million more to go along with them. For instance, you do now have all the nice new plates and cutlery you bought for uni knocking around your parent’s house for all to enjoy! However, you also have an extra whisk and pizza cutter that no one knows what to do with.

All in all, I suppose my point is that you have to be sure before you take the huge step of leaving formal education, possibly forever; And until you find a stable job, it’s going to be rough going for a little while. It helps if you know other people in the area who chose not to go to university, as it can get pretty lonely sitting on Facebook all day watching as all your old friends post pictures of themselves at the student union, dressed up as nerds or something (I don’t know this stuff, I only went for two days, remember?)

So just give it a try and if university isn’t for you, then it isn’t for you. While for some people these years will be the best of their lives, it’s not for everyone, and don’t let anyone convince you that by dropping out you’ve ended your life.  Keep on keeping on, brothers and sisters. I’ll be here cheering you on – TV remote in one hand, half finished box of Cheerios in the other.