General Discussions

**jeremy860** · 08-30-2006, 01:16 PM

Hi,

school is starting back up and I am confused at what I should do with my life.

I tried out college last year and my first semester was alright or should I say passing... then the 2nd semester came along and I just went totally downhill so I ended up dropping out before the semester was over. My problem is that I have a hard time comprehending things in school, i dunno if its just a problem with how the school system delivers the assignments to me or what but I always seem/feel 5 steps behind everyone else in class. This leads me to believe maybe college aint for me.

Now as far as this internet stuff goes, I am becoming very successful at it. I went from making $200/month all the way up to $2,400/month and its been like this for about 6 months. This is probably the first thing in my life that I have ever had success with and enjoy doing. I know I can keep on building my online empire and make even more money once I say "GO".

I am trying to decide if I should drop this college crap and get my money back before its to late.

Another thing I dislike about college is that you are stuck doing one thing for the rest of your life and I just find that boring. Some of the richest people in the world never went to college.

please help me LOL :helpsmilie:

**nocturnix** · 08-30-2006, 02:14 PM

I can understand you man.

I was in the same situation 5 years ago. Graduating highschool, and my online stuff was doing pretty good. I had a pretty busy board forum-forum.com one of the first forum/board admin forums out there. I also created forum-search.com as far as I know the FIRST forum only directory. My plan was to create forum-host, with free and paid forum hosting services. All of this was pretty new and origional 5 years ago, but I chose to focus on school instead.

College was awesome. It was fun, and even though it didnt seem like it(I was like you, and had trouble focusing and seeing the real world applications), I finished anyways. My sites went downhill for lack of attention. Forum-Forum got hacked and destroyed. Forum-Search is neglected, and I dont even think I own the Forum-Host domain anymore.

It was a good plan and if executed as I had planned it would have made me money.

But I dont regret my decisions as alot of good things came out of my 4 years in college. And guess what? Now I'm working for an IT consulting firm in NYC! I'm not making that much, probably as much as you, but I'm learning a ****load about business. I work for a small consulting firm, so I can see how things work from the inside. And after a 4-5 year break I'm getting back into webmastering again. We'll see how it goes. But I can already see new ideas and applications that I may not have seen before the last 5 years of experiences ive had. I think it will totally pay off down the road. Lets not forget other business people, partners, and friends will respect you a little more if you have a college degree. Sad but true.

What happens when your sites are doing well, and youre hanging out having dinner with some friends or colleagues and they ask you were you went to college. And you have to say "i didnt go" or "i didnt like college" or "i dropped out". Maybe it wouldnt bother you, but i think after awhile it would get to me. This is just another reason, there are many many more.

I would reccommend you just get the degree. Its hard to see the value now, but youll catch on later wether you have the degree or not, and if you dont have it you might regret it.

**rex_b** · 08-30-2006, 02:49 PM

I stuck through college. Didn't do great but I got by.

Suck it up and Do BOTH!

**Raize** · 08-30-2006, 03:15 PM

take control of your life and do both

the first step in being successful in college is to find out what the point of going to college is in the first place. try talkin to people in the real world who have graduated and moved on to careers etc. without realizing the value of knowledge you cant do well in college...money is a short term solution to most of lifes issues but going to college makes you smarter in general which will make you successful in all areas of life... even if you choose to do the internet thing for good.

even if you take only 2 classes a semester and keep making online cash on the side, by the time yur finished you will be many years ahead of others around you. everything you get in this life has to be earned, so work hard and stay focused good luck

**breakpoint** · 08-30-2006, 11:10 PM

You business would have more promise if the owner has college experience, college teaches things about business practices and math skills

My college career looks like this so far

Fresh 1st Sem = 2.8
Fresh 2nd Sem = 3.0
Soph 1st Sem = 3.4
Soph 2nd Sem = 3.4

My grades went up and I made it easily into my Major's College (Business)

**imported_feros** · 08-30-2006, 11:15 PM

I know it's an odd concept, but I would suggest always going to college at least as a backup plan. If I get to the point where I can't make a living with the money I make online then I always have my degree to fall back on.

**imported_Anthony** · 08-30-2006, 11:17 PM

I've been doing both for the past 3 years and will continue to for the next 3, and each year I make more. It's all about hard work and dedication, but believe me when I say it never goes un-noticed and it drastically improves your quality of life, online and offline.

**Lucas3677** · 08-31-2006, 12:18 AM

What would happen if your internet empire suddenly collapsed? Go to college now so you will have the skills and requirements to get a real job in case things turn for the worse. You don't want to end up working at McDonalds for the rest of your life.

**Ed_bloggo** · 08-31-2006, 12:59 AM

Unless your last name is Dell, Jobs, or Gates go to college

**imported_Anthony** · 08-31-2006, 02:08 AM

Even then go to college, that degree will seperate you from the larger percent of the population.

**briansol** · 08-31-2006, 01:13 PM

I dropped out my Junior year. and it was the stupidest thing I ever did. I wish I could take it back. My reasons were different though.... I just wasn't learning what I wanted to learn. I got tired of C++ and java when what I really wanted to be learning was xml, advanced css, graphic design, etc etc... so perhaps i chose the wrong school.

I'm doing ok (well, I take that back, I'm doing **** good for myself-- i make more than all my house mates who did graduate-- half of whom now work in NYC) but its still in the back of my mind that I dont have a degree. At this stage in my career, i really don't need one. I have 8 years of development under my belt-- but getting that first job was tough.

2300 may seem "good" now... but in the run of things, thats just a hair above poverty level income.. my mortgage on my condo is nearly that much. I'm sure north dakota is a lot cheaper to live than it is here, but still... to live comfortably middle class, you're going to need to double that, at least.
I make 4 times that a month, and I wouldn't consider myself well-off. I'm living comfortably, but I'm not saving much either....

**ltn1dr** · 08-31-2006, 02:02 PM

My net business is doing okay, but I've never even given a thought to not going to college.

You can't ever have just one plan, because if it fails, you're screwed.

My uncle in Colombia focused all of his endeavors to coming to the USA; and since that failed, he hasn't done anything with his life really.

**Srirangan** · 08-31-2006, 02:41 PM

Both.

**007** · 09-01-2006, 01:50 AM

Some people try to earn money so they can go to college, others try to earn money so they don't have to go to college.

**imported_Anthony** · 09-01-2006, 07:24 AM

And some us earn money online so we can eat :P

**Otherjohn** · 09-01-2006, 04:16 PM

I dropped out of college myself. I now have a wife and children. And even though it worked out in the end. I still regret not finishing. I wouldnt recommend it to anyone.

**Hobbit** · 09-01-2006, 08:49 PM

I suggest you go to college. I just got banned from adsense, you never know if that can happen to you and you won't be earning as much as you do now. College seems great, as long as you pick classes you like and will need (unlike high school where 4/6 of my classes deal with things I will never need in life.

**Bryan Le** · 09-02-2006, 03:36 AM

I'll keep this short - and without reading what everyone else has wrote.

Life will ALWAYS be a challenge - the harder you work though, the bigger the pay (in my cases).

Do what many of us are doing. Both - working online, and schooling. The beauty of working online allows you to work when you want, however long you want, and where you want (granted there's internet).

It doesn't take much to do both - and getting a degree in college will ALWAYS be a great thing to have...both as back up, and self accomplishment.