Contemplating whether to drop out of uni or not..

[M_BONG]

My response is actually slightly different from the other ones here - buddy, Ps get degrees. I did Arts/Law as my undergraduate, and I was really young at uni and living by myself so there were some subjects I went to one lecture and then turned up to the exam. One subject I didn't leave work in time and I missed the exam. Fail. That looked great on my transcript! Other subjects I loved and topped the subject in.

I've never had an employer ask what my grades were.

Granted, if I'd wanted to work as a lawyer at a large law firm that probably would have been different - and I did choose to do postgrad and am now doing a PhD, so of course they wanted to see my transcript then. But, aside from that, I get jobs because I did good work at my last job, I get referred and recommended, I write a good application letter, I present well at interviews, I come across as competent and at least marginally pleasant, I'm enthusiastic, and (when relevant) I have the basic qualifications: I have the required degree.

This is in no way a call to people to be lazy shits and not give a fuck about doing their best; I think the only true reward and motivation in life is the internal one of knowing you're always trying to do your best and be your best. But I also think, from observation and experience, that all this talk of needing postgrad and the best grades etc to get any kind of job is absolutely wrong. The people I know who get more knock-backs are usually the people I wouldn't want to hire anyway (of all ages), and even the best people I know get knock-backs. It's just life. I've gone through stages of sending out twenty applications a week - even to places not hiring at the time. Post-grad and grades matter for *some* jobs in *some* companies, but the vast majority come down to having the basic qualifications (if there are any), having a good track record of work experience, presenting well in letters and interviews, knowing the right people, and LUCK.

So just try to chill out, do your best, enjoy learning new things (because you generally do better when you're enjoying it anyway), and just get the degree. Worst case: defer for a year and consider whether you're in the right degree, or even whether apprenticeship or practical industry training is a better fit. It's all good.

Argh this is just such great advice. Probably self-evident but yeah felt like I needed to point this out!!!!1

[alondouek]

Hey guys, for the past week I have been really considering dropping out of university because I have been doing bad on my assessments and quizzes, struggling to understand content and therefore I feel as though I am not good enough for university and get really good grades. At this point, I can't really see myself doing well in terms of grades for the aforementioned reasons so  I kinda think there's no point of continuing on with uni if I am just going to get average results as no one would want to hire me once I graduate since there will far more better applicants with better grades than compared to me. I really don't want to drop out because I have always wanted to study at a university level and my career choices requires a bachelor's degree so I have no idea what to do. Pls help

Also, don't forget how far you've come and how much hard work you've put in to get to Monash! It's very normal for students to 'lapse' from study during first year/early second year (I should know, I went through it too - and so did a lot of people in my course!) - the key part here, as others have pointed out, is to work through it somehow. What you need to avoid is getting permanently discouraged by your first couple of weeks here.

What I would suggest you do, beyond finding someone to talk about any personal issues with, is to develop a study routine and make a habit of getting things done well before they're due. Take some time whenever you're free this week to:

• Buy a wall-calendar from Officeworks
• Develop a written, day-by-day study routine (e.g. Mondays: Weekly quiz for Unit 1, Readings for units 2 and 3 etc.)
• Make a written inventory of any outstanding work you still need to turn in
• (And this is the most important one here IMO) Devise a system to reward yourself for keeping to your schedule.

Because university is very much based on independent learning, it's important to try to form good study habits and break bad ones early on. Plenty of people (myself included) don't realise they're not going about uni in a productive way until well after first year, and by then it's much harder to break bad habits - so kudos to you for noticing it early!

Now that you've identified the problem, it's critical that you do what you can to alleviate it. Good luck man!

[sjayne]

I'm having this issue too. I can't make friends, I don't know if it's the right course, I'm finding it SO difficult and a lot of the content just goes over the top of my head. and failing seems really likely. I haven't really been studying much and I haven't adjusted to the whole lecture thing yet. If someone tells you that they adjusted easily then they're probably lying. I've made the decision to stay until the end of the semester because they are some things that I do enjoy (one subject mainly, getting lost in librarys...etc)

But you're not the only one finding it difficult and I was told that in first semester your grades will probably be a lot lower. And usually first year doesn't count as much towards you gpa later anyway

There should be a course adviser/ someone who you can talk to about whether you should stay or not and how to get extra help (eg i have times where i can get help from tutors)

Will you regret it if you drop out now? And if you do you can always go back to uni later

[Dejan]

I'm having this issue too. I can't make friends, I don't know if it's the right course, I'm finding it SO difficult and a lot of the content just goes over the top of my head. and failing seems really likely. I haven't really been studying much and I haven't adjusted to the whole lecture thing yet. If someone tells you that they adjusted easily then they're probably lying. I've made the decision to stay until the end of the semester because they are some things that I do enjoy (one subject mainly, getting lost in librarys...etc)

But you're not the only one finding it difficult and I was told that in first semester your grades will probably be a lot lower. And usually first year doesn't count as much towards you gpa later anyway

Ah that really sucks, I hope you figure it out and that things will get better soon. Best of luck!. Thank you all so much for your wonderful, your support and advice has been fantastic as you guys had made me feel a lot better about my situation and myself as I decided to give uni still a go and do the best as I possibly can