Seriously considering dropping out of high school

[-aggie-]

I dropped out.

Don't.

^^^^
Yeah, you don't want to end up like this guy.

Seriously, if you're bored take AP classes or even go to college courses now (a friend of mine did that in his senior year). If none of that, just coast, it'll all be over soon. Just remember, college will be different, so you better be prepared.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Again, you need to know the facts and not be scared into doing the wrong thing. This is not true. From the Miami U website:

Q. Can I get into Law School with only a GED?

Their answer:

"A. Law schools in the US all require a 4-year B.A. degree or equivalent as a pre-requisite to admission. So I'm afraid the road is a little longer than you imagined: first 4 years of college then 3 years of law school.

If you do well in college, having a GED may help you more than hurt you: since law school is such a long tough slog, there's nothing better than a sign of true grit and determination."


They do go on and say SOME schools might think the opposite and want to see a real H.S. degree but it is not a must have.

One thing about that. One you have a degree no one even looks at your HS or GED any longer. Hell they will not even ask for a copy of your HS diploma or GED.
If you are doing any post-Graduated work (that being a 2nd bachlors, masters, or something like law school) HS/GED are not even among the requested paper work.
All they will want is a copy of your transcript from every college you went 2.

 

[RawBert]

You will. Not trying to be patronizing but you'll be surprised how and when knowledge becomes tangible. You might not apply it all directly but it will come in handy one way or another.

Yeah. Like when watching Jeopardy!

 

[rymack]

OP: Stick with it, my friend. It may seem trivial and pointless now, but most teenagers see most things as trivial and pointless (I'm not saying you do, just generalizing, lol). I teach high school and have these types of conversations with students all the time. If you truly want to be a mature, contributing member of society in the way you described (lawyer), then education is something you need to have in your back pocket. I also know from a hiring standpoint (I've worked about 13 years in retail, and most of that time in a supervisorial position), education on a resume shows that you are able and willing to follow through on tasks and that you are able to accomplish things on your own. Also, if I had my choice between the student currently IN high school versus the student who has dropped out, guess who I am more likely to hire? And that is just at the retail level for a job to help you pay for university. It gets even more intense competing for jobs in the work force as you move up in the world. Think long and hard about what you want to do with your life, and what you NEED to do to make that happen.

 

[darkplanets]

AP courses are phenomenal. It's not that they're particularly useful, or teach you a lot (in fact, compared to college courses they're a joke); its the time (and money) they save. The only useful AP courses I had were the ones where I learned to write well (Eng Composition, and Eng Literature), and that was because my teacher was good.

For example, I had 8 AP courses in high school. This allowed me to exempt 35 credits of courses in college, especially since I had mostly 5's (some 4's). More specifically, I'm a Chem/Biochem major, and I managed to eliminate all of my liberal arts classes (with the exception of language and "culture"), thus making my schedule entirely science and math now

If you're planning to do law, focus on science AP's in highschool, this may enable you to exempt these for your undergraduate studies. As a note though, most schools wont accept it unless you have 4's and 5's, so try to get these; 3's typically don't fly, unless you plan on going to a community college.

EDIT: Oh, and if you do become a lawyer, for the love of god, please don't be a greedy SOB who pushes for class-action suits for personal monetary gain

 

[-aggie-]

Yeah. Like when watching Jeopardy!

...or applying for any government job. Even secretaries require a degree now. Without a degree you cut yourself off from one of the biggest employers.

 

[Melrose]

I dropped out when I was 16, and I don't have my GED. To be honest, it never hurt me or my ability to find a job (and we're not talking Burger King jobs; I mean good, career-potential jobs.) Now, this doesn't apply to everyone and certainly there are jobs that require a certain amount of schooling, or even that you finish high school. On my own I've been very interested in reading and learning... I just went about it my own way - I didn't drop out just to kick back and be lazy.

I never missed what I didn't learn the last year or so, and therefore haven't realized or even cared I'm missing it. School is good for some, and not so good others. I'd say keep going until you're absolutely sure, and then if you do decide to drop out, have a plan to learn what you need to know. Don't drop out, and to sit and play computer games.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I dropped out when I was 16, and I don't have my GED. To be honest, it never hurt me or my ability to find a job (and we're not talking Burger King jobs; I mean good, career-potential jobs.) Now, this doesn't apply to everyone and certainly there are jobs that require a certain amount of schooling, or even that you finish school. On my own I've been very interested in reading and learning... I just went about it my own way - I didn't drop out just to kick back and be lazy.

I never missed what I didn't learn the last year, and therefore haven't realized I'm missing it. School is good for some, and not so good others. I'd say keep going until you're absolutely sure, and then if you do decide to drop out, have a plan to learn what you need to know. Don't drop out, and to sit and play computer games.

I would take it that you would agree you are a rare case.

There are study after study out there showing what happens to people compared to their relitives level of school.

My dad was showing me some numbers that were he teaches part time uses for advertisements for students and I can not remember the exact but its close nough to prove my point.

30% of all people have a 4 year degree. But something like 50-60% of all jobs requires one. Then it like 80% of all jobs requires at least 2 year degree or better and I want to say 60% or so have a 2 year degree or better.

That leaves 20% of the jobs out there for something like 40% of the people.
So no HS or GED there are a lot of doors that are slammed.
Yes you can get around it but it requires work and quite frankly a good deal of luck. After a while it is not a huge deal once you have the experience under your belt but the problem is getting your foot in the door.

The biggest thing school does is it opens the doors for you.

 

[mscriv]

Practically speaking:

As a minor, depending on your local laws, you will have to have parental permission to drop out of school. Additionally, I hope you see the incongruence in being bored with busy work and wanting to be a lawyer. A lot of legal work is "busy work" in terms of tedious research and study. It's not the glamorous legal drama that you see in the media. As many have said dropping out will most likely make meeting your stated goals more difficult.

Theoretically speaking:
Welcome to life OP. What you are facing is not uncommon. The problem is not one of boredom, but a lack of passion. Each person must find what it is in life at any moment that stirs them deep down and meets their need for fulfillment. Sure, we all have to find ways to meet our basic needs and this is usually referred to as the daily grind (food, shelter, etc.). But, beyond that, there is a different level of life, a place where what you do brings feelings of accomplishment, pride, contentment, humility, and joy. I'm sure you've heard people say they have the blessing of being able to work in a career/job that they love and that they can't believe they get paid to do what they do. This is an example of someone who has been able to match up their work and their passions. This doesn't happen often and for many it is a struggle throughout life.

I would suggest you take some time to really reflect on what it is that drives you and what activities really bring you joy and contentment. Then I would try to find ways to engage in those activities as much as possible around the "daily grind" of school. If the current extracurricular activities you do are not fulfilling you then make a change and try something new. The teenage years are the beginnig of identity formation and self awareness. Welcome to the start of a life long journey. I hope you find your passions and are blessed with the opportunity to fulfill them.

This thread is a good example of what we are talking about here.

 

[Melrose]

I would take it that you would agree you are a rare case.

Perhaps. I'm just offering a different perspective. Not everyone is cut out for school, and in so many cases it really isn't vital to have a degree. A good work ethic and people skills can go a long way. And, for that matter, just because you have a degree doesn't automatically get you in, nor does it downplay interpersonal skill or hard work. As you said, either way you go, you have to be willing to work.

 

[swiftaw]

Perhaps. I'm just offering a different perspective. Not everyone is cut out for school, and in so many cases it really isn't vital to have a degree. A good work ethic and people skills can go a long way. And, for that matter, just because you have a degree doesn't automatically get you in, nor does it downplay interpersonal skill or hard work. As you said, either way you go, you have to be willing to work.

Which is a fair and valid point in the OP hadn't indicated that they wanted to become a lawyer.

 

[Melrose]

Which is a fair and valid point in the OP hadn't indicated that they wanted to become a lawyer.

Exactly. If the OP had said "I want to be a Doctor/Lawyer/Rocket Scientist" my point would be nil.

 

[GFLPraxis]

As the title says, I am really thinking about dropping out.

It's not that I'm a lazy/bad student, in fact I'm the exact opposite (3.4 GPA, taking multiple AP classes, honor role, top 20% of a class of 500, etc.); it's the fact that I am bored with school, and I've just realized that I will never use 95% of the crap I learn in school.

I just feel like I would be better off dropping out, getting my GED, and then enrolling at my local community college. I just don't know what my chances of ever being able to move up to a better college or university would be. My end goal is to eventually go to law school, and become a prosecutor in a place like New York or Chicago. But common sense tells me that dropping out would destroy any chance of my dreams coming true. Am I right?

I'm smart, and I do well in school; but I'm just bored with school, and learning pointless crap that I know I'll never use. Can anyone chime in here and give me some advice?

Thanks,

-Don

You're not being as smart as you think you are. You WILL use most of this 'crap' you're learning in school, just not in the way you think you will. What's the useless crap? The math is usually most student's complaint; the secret is that the math is there for teaching you the critical thinking/reasoning skills you need, even if you don't go into a math-centric field.

The reality is that though you might be academically smart, the course you are advocating is not practically smart. Use your common sense.

 

[Sun Baked]

The biggest thing school does is it opens the doors for you.

If you play the game right and join with a frat or some other club filled with sons with fathers in upper company management.

Doors to the limo are opened for you.

 

[GFLPraxis]

AP courses are phenomenal. It's not that they're particularly useful, or teach you a lot (in fact, compared to college courses they're a joke); its the time (and money) they save. The only useful AP courses I had were the ones where I learned to write well (Eng Composition, and Eng Literature), and that was because my teacher was good.

For example, I had 8 AP courses in high school. This allowed me to exempt 35 credits of courses in college, especially since I had mostly 5's (some 4's). More specifically, I'm a Chem/Biochem major, and I managed to eliminate all of my liberal arts classes (with the exception of language and "culture"), thus making my schedule entirely science and math now

If you're planning to do law, focus on science AP's in highschool, this may enable you to exempt these for your undergraduate studies. As a note though, most schools wont accept it unless you have 4's and 5's, so try to get these; 3's typically don't fly, unless you plan on going to a community college.

EDIT: Oh, and if you do become a lawyer, for the love of god, please don't be a greedy SOB who pushes for class-action suits for personal monetary gain

Dunno about other states, but up here in Washington, AP courses are phenomenally terrible; not because they're bad, though, but because WA has so many options that blow AP courses out of the water.

We have a program up here called Running Start that allows students in their last two years of high school with consistent (not necessarily spectacular) grades to attend courses at the local colleges; every class they take at the college gives them one year of high school credit PLUS the college credit, and the school *pays* for the college classes.

For example; take English 101 at the local community college. The class lasts one quarter (12 weeks), but you get a full year of high school english credit AND the college credit. As opposed to AP English (which is also offered) which also gives you college credit, but requires you spend a year in the AP class.

Up here, Running Start >>> AP classes > normal classes.
Just wanted to throw that out there, as I'm not sure where the OP lives. There might be a similar program.

 

[aloofman]

I'm going against the tide here. IF you go ahead with your plan, you can solve lots of time and money here. Drop but get your GED ASAP. Hit a community college for the first two years of all the liberal arts bs. Ace everything, move up to a better school for pre-law and then get into a great law school. Lots of ifs though! If you just hang around and don't move, you'll waste time and accomplish nothing.

It's a LOT of ifs. The main problem here for the OP is that the message you'll be sending to everyone is that you quit rather than commit yourself to doing the work. Of course a lot of high school is pointless. A lot of college will be too. And if you think law school will be all relevant to being a prosecutor, then you're in for a massive disappointment. At every stage of life, including kids, marriage, career, and retirement, you will sometimes feel bored, unchallenged, and consider leaving it all behind to do something else. Where does it end? By that I don't mean that you can't quit something if you don't feel it's helping you, but where do you draw the line?

I'm just tired of school. I do well in school, all of my teachers like me, but I just feel like I want to move on. Hell, I'm even taking two classes online right now so I won't have to take a math class next year (I despise math). I just feel like it's time for me to move on to something bigger, and I can't stand the idea of having to deal with two more years of high school.

And what will you do if college bores you too? Or law school? As someone else mentioned, much of the long-term benefit of school isn't the knowledge itself but the process by which you learn it. It also takes time and a variety of subjects to figure out what you're good at and how to make it happen. I'm not trying to sound patronizing, but at 16 (or 15) there's no way to understand all of this. No matter how much adults try to explain it to you, you don't know what you don't know, until you experience it. That probably comes across like I think you're a dumb kid, but that's not the case. No one understands it at 16. It may not be school that teaches it to you, but it will happen.

Dropping out of High School with a high GPA, means you get bored too easy.

If you were working in a key department you'd be the part of the 1% of employees causing 85% of the grief.

This is a good point. It's possible to get hired and to get into a community college with just a GED. People do it all the time. But if you think high school classes are boring you now, wait until you see what the first couple years of community college feels like. Do you quit then too? Because I can guarantee that no university or law school will cut you slack because of your 3.4 GPA and being "too smart for high school" if you couldn't be bothered with community college either. If you drop out of high school, your only hope of getting into a decent law school -- the kind that produces prosecutors instead of ambulance-chasers -- is to do extremely well in college. Maybe you can do that, but your path will be much harder.

One thing about that. One you have a degree no one even looks at your HS or GED any longer. Hell they will not even ask for a copy of your HS diploma or GED.
If you are doing any post-Graduated work (that being a 2nd bachlors, masters, or something like law school) HS/GED are not even among the requested paper work.

That's exactly right. No one will care whether you have a HS diploma or GED once you have a bachelor's degree. But it's not a precedent you want to set for yourself if you can avoid it. People who think that just having the piece of paper entitles them to something are wrong, but so are those who think it doesn't help open doors.

If you drop out of high school now, you're setting up a situation where you have to pretty much ace community college to transfer to a good four-year school. Then you'll have to find a way to stand out among the thousands of other people who did two years of community college and two years for a bachelor's. Many of them DID finish high school and you'll be competing with all of them to get into a good law school. All of these stages and the quality of the school (although not necessarily the reputation) matter when trying to get through the next door.

Did anyone mention that attorneys have the highest job dissatisfaction rate of any profession? A huge number of them thought they too would be landing their dream job putting bad guys away and making their world safer. Even if you stay in school and excel at all levels, your goal may not happen. Dropping out before finishing high school will make it almost impossible.

And yes, I'm addressing the OP when quoting the others.

 

[advres]

The world needs ditch diggers too! GO FOR IT!

 

[Don't panic]

Exactly. If the OP had said "I want to be a Doctor/Lawyer/Rocket Scientist" my point would be nil.

from the original post:

My end goal is to eventually go to law school, and become a prosecutor in a place like New York or Chicago.

these are very competitive markets, and to land the job, the law school you come from will make a difference.
to get to those school, the college you come from will make a difference.
to get to those colleges, your high-school career will make a difference.
it's like dominoes.
besides, for that kind of job to be able to show a strong work ethic and dedication and the ability to 'grind it out' are a given. dropping out of school doesn't show that.
it is certainly possible to be successful without formal education, or with unorthodox education paths, but (with possible exceptions in the spots or entertainment businesses) it likely makes it harder.

 

[GFLPraxis]

I would point out, though, not to burn yourself out. Looks like you're taking a lot of AP classes.

I ran into that problem; I was TOO good at school, and overloaded myself. It wasn't hard, it just was...tiring to do all of this (relatively) easy work. I was taking Calculus by the time I was 15 years old, and passed with an A.

I'm suspecting, OP, that you're overloading yourself and getting burned out. If that's the case, it's better that you take some easier classes and finish school than burn yourself out on all of the AP classes assigning a ton of homework and drop out before ever finishing. (I might be totally off base here though, of course)

If that's the case; take some easier classes (though don't skip out on the math, that'll save you time in college), and take up a hobby for fun. I recommend competitive fighting games like Smash Bros (which I play) or Street Fighter.

 

[Queso]

Stupid Idea. Stay And Graduate.

 

[rhett7660]

I think graduating HS is a must. As a kid that should be your only goal. Get your but through high school. If you don't want to go to college then don't. But get through high school. You will be starting yourself behind the 8 ball if you don't. There are very few cases of those who don't and go on to succeed without the high school graduate, but those are the exception then the rule. Graduate then do what you want.

 

[maflynn]

So it's not like I'm taking the easiest classes, and doing no extracurriculars. I'm just tired of school. I do well in school, all of my teachers like me, but I just feel like I want to move on.

Let me ask you this. How will college be any different then? I mean you have to take classes and do boring stuff. What happens when these feelings start cropping up in college? You quit that?

Life is hard period, why would you want to add more obstacles and impediments to future success?

Given your activity level that you stated, perhaps its not boredom but over-extending your self. Quit one or two of the activities and yourself some time to do unstructured fun.

Its your life and ultimately you have to live with your decisions, that's part of being an adult but as you can see by the consensus here, quitting is a poor choice and will only cause more heartache and headaches.

It may not be fair but a GED does not equal a high school diploma and many companies will shuffle your resume off to the circular file because of it. Heck if you can't stick out 4 years of high school, why should they dedicate time and energy to you.

 

[liamkp]

Don- Don't You Dare Drop Out. I'm Serious.

+1, as much as i think you shouldnt, its really up to you.

 

[MarkCollette]

Forget everyone's advice here, and drop out. Work on your rationalisation skills, so you can better explain to everyone just how brilliant you are to have dropped out. Ignore everyone who thinks you're a lazy weak dumb-ass.

Let us all know, in 5 years, how this has worked out for you.

 

[liamkp]

No offense to anybody here, but to the OP: you are asking for advice about something that can and will affect your life forever from some people that you have no idea who they are, they have no idea who you are and you and they are probably never going to know. This is a life changing decision. You need to think it over carefully with yourself, family, friends, and come to a conclusion.