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Ask HN: Advice needed; drop out of university or not?
1 point by kqr on April 30, 2018 | hide | past | favorite | 1 comment
So essence of the situation is this:

- I have about 1.7 years of studies remaining for my master's degree.

- For diagnosed mental health reasons, I have taken both more and less voluntary breaks in my studying, sometimes to work, sometimes to rest.

- I have always been described by my environment as unusually intelligent, my grades are generally very good, and I'm normally good at solving problems and finishing assignments quickly.

- For family planning reasons, I want to be done with school and start my career for real at most a year from now, so that requires me to study at a higher pace than normal.

That's the background. Studying at a higher pace has worked well before, but as of two weeks ago, it doesn't. I haven't been able to identify what changed -- all I know is that however hard I try, I have failed every single assignment since then.

It is infuriating to me and it affects my close relationships badly.

I can't go on like this, but I'm afraid I will regret dropping out.I also don't think it makes sense to drop out of individual classes because if I'm not finished a year from now, that degree isn't happening anyway.

I know I'm already very employable after many successful study breaks spent working. Either way, I'll have a Bachelor's.

Opinions?



I think the most important thing to bare in mind is the "Sunk Cost Fallacy" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost#Loss_aversion_and_th...)

Don't make your decision based on what you've already done/paid. Make your decision based only on looking forward. Try considering: - What's my goal? (Make a family, take over the world, have a masters) - What actions get me toward my goal most efficiently? (Start making money, steal the moon, keep head down)

At the end of the day, it's a highly personal and contextual decision.

If you do decide to drop out, it'd be worth talking to staff about ways to keep credit for things you have already done - perhaps in a few years you could finish your course with Open University?




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