If this has been brought up before, sorry. I am asking my own questions.

I'm 16, and starting to doubt that College can help me very much. I plan to be a fiction author... and well, I don't need 4 years of college for that. I'm sure it'd be nice to have it to fall back on; but if not, do I really wanna waste 4 years of my life learning things, just to later realize that my dream job failed?

If I don't end up writing novels, I can only assume the only thing I'll be able to possibly do is be a hobo. I'm an intellectual person with a creative mind, but I don't want to bother with any other kind of job. All the teachers I have urge me to take Pre-AP (advanced placement is what it stands for I think) classes to prepare for college, but I don't know.

Of course I could go to college, and get a degree in something else in case I need to fall back on it... but even then I am doubting college. I need some kind of convincing evidence that college will give me 4 years worth of information. If I can just as easily educate myself in a month by visiting the library every week, I'm not going to waste (my parents') money on college, and get in some kind of debt, and end up wasting four years of my life.



And don't act like I'm over-reacting. College is seriously the number one decision for every person around high school.

I thought the first college I went to was a waste of time, I knew I could learn everything they had from other sources, but I realised that if I worked in the system rather than outside it, it would be much easier to get a job. It's worth sticking with a course because you'll get official qualifications from it.

I'm not american and don't know much about colleges. I live in the Netherlands. After High school you have different directions and grades you can go to. MBO is the lowest, then comes HBO and then University. Basically MBO and HBO will educate you in a specific field for a specific job, University is I think much the same here as it is in the US. HBO by difficulty is considered to be inbetween american College and University. MBO is easier.

Why am I telling you this?

Well... the past two years I've followed two different educations at HBO level. You have to understand I already got a MBO retail diploma, and after that you can do a HBO education (as my grades in high school weren't sufficient to go directly to HBO educations).

The first year I did 'Fine arts and Design' in the field of becomign a teacher, I stopped in May in my first year. This year I started with English teacher, which I just stopped with last week due to personal problems. So you could say I've wasted two years of my life, not finished two educations. But I don't see it that way, In those two educations I got classes, teachers taught things to me I didn't know before. I got to know new people, learned from them. All by all I gained a lot of experiences. Experiences I wouldn't have had if I didn't go to HBO, or made other decisions. I don't see them as a waste of time, because I learned none the less. In so many different ways.

All I'm saying is, what do you have to loose? I think what you have to loose is a lot of new experiences, that other peers will have, and you won't have. What you have to loose is getting to know new people, where you can get inspiration from, who can help you further with your possible future career. So I don't see your college education just as a 'back-up plan if I fail to be a writer', but as so much more. As you want to become a writer, isn't a writer all about experiences? And wouldn't it be the best for a writer to experience as much as he/she possibly can? So that he/she can work from his own experience, then rather delve into books to read about romantic relationships? Because I believe a writer doesn't only write about others, but always puts a piece of him/herself in a story.

So yah, that's my views. I hope you can get some inspiration from my ideas and views. I wish you luck with making your decision.

College isn't for everyone.

They don't explain this to you when you're in high school, shoving down your throat about the importance of college for your future. I'm personally taking a year off, to get my crap together and to experience a little bit of a break from 13 years of dealing with the same things everyday - however. . .

College isn't a bad idea.
And I'm intending to get at least two years under my belt at a local community college. I don't know what I'll major in. Like you, I'd love to write novels for a living because I am good at writing. Logically speaking, however, the writing field is cut throat. My mother writes for a living and is a published author, I understand what she had to go through in order to get to where she was (and part of it was luck) and what she has to go through now in order to maintain her reputation as a good writer. Not everyone is going to make it, but I suppose thats just like any other field.

ShinLi has a good point though, however, I do see college as having something to fall back on - to support yourself through your dream, but it is an experience that only comes once during your life. And you should take that chance. If money is an issue, you're a writer aren't you? Find scholarships that require you to write about something. You don't even have to touch your parent's money. Scholarships are out there.

I'm sorry, I find this arrogant. You can't be bothered with another job? Well, aren't you closing your mind to the thousands of possibility that this world has to offer? A job isn't even something that is supposed to last more than a couple of years. . . a job is something to get you through to the next one, to help support what you truly love to do - and if that means having to flip a burger for a few months, its money. A career is something you hone throughout your entire life, something that you WANT to do.

And it doesn't matter if you're intelligent, or a complete arsehat. People have to do things they don't want to do in order to get to that next step. I would consider myself the same, but I'm willing to do what I can in order to pay the bills. If that means working at some silly place, then yes, I'll do it. But the difference is that I know this isn't going to be forever.

I would give college a chance, if you have the right resources. Maybe you'll find a completely different opportunity.

I'm currently in my third year of college. Let me be frank: it will be tough. Not only are you taking the next step toward a career, you'll also have to plan your schedule a good three months ahead of time. You'll also be dealing with a variety of people. Some of them you'll get along with, some you'll be indifferent, and some you may want to strangle (I had a creative writing instructor who made me feel this way. The amount of arrogance he had was astounding, and he would go into a politically correct debate on many things). If you are unable to commit to a goal, then college is not for you.

However, there are many good things about college. The curriculum you'll be exposed to may help you find other fields you might enjoy, as well as get you plenty of experience in managing your time, which will be vital in a workplace environment.

As for writing, I'm following the same lines, since I enjoy it and improving in it. However, I'm only following a major in English Literature so I have the option to follow another career path if the opportunity comes up. I have a good eye for reviewing, so I may also take up an internship at a local paper and do entertainment articles. And Mana's right about the publishing industry: it is brutal. You need business skills and a good penchant for promoting and advertising as well if you want to get your works published. If you go to college though, I'm sure you'll find there are other paths you would want to take as well as fictional writing.