By Professional Advice from Dr. George

Dear Dr. George:

I am student who is considering dropping out of college. I am tired of school and want to get a job. My parents are driving me crazy, as they say I should stay in school. What should I do?

Signed,

FACING A TOUGH CHOICE

Dear FACING:

Let me be very direct: YOUR PARENTS ARE RIGHT-STAY IN COLLEGE AND FINISH! I am not sure of the reasons why you are thinking about dropping out, nor do I know your classification: freshman, sophomore, junior, etc. But I do know that not getting your 2- or 4-year degree will put you at a great disadvantage in the years to come. I have never met anyone who regretted getting his or her college degree; I have met many who regretted not getting it. Since you are already enrolled, let me give you some facts about what you will face in future job interviews. You may think that just because you have some credits toward a degree, you will be ahead of someone who has had no college at all. Not really true. The first thing that will come to the interviewer’s mind is ‘Why did you not finish college?’ Some assumptions might be made that you are a quitter-that you start something but do not finish. Or that you had difficulty communicating with your teachers, raising questions about your respect for authority. Finally, some interviewers will assume that, since you dropped out of college, you may drop out of work, too.

Bluntly, if you think dropping out of school will improve your lot, it will not. You will watch people in your new organization get promoted because they have degrees. You may be a better worker, but they have the degree. You could feel defensive, in time, that you did not receive a degree when most people in your company have or are working on one. One of the first questions new employees often get from their colleagues is ‘Where did you graduate?’

Finally, if you are in a community college, finish with an Associate’s Degree. That is a respectable degree, and it shows you started a program and finished it. Don’t assume that you don’t need that piece of paper just because you are transferring to a senior college. You may start college, and, for some reason, you have to leave. So what do you have-a bunch of hours and nothing to show for it.

I do not think that a college graduate is necessarily a better person or worker than one without a degree. However, in this day, to get yourself in the door and move up, a college degree is essential.

If you have already left college, enroll in night school. A woman once told me that, if she started college, she would be fifty by the time she obtained her degree. I told her that she would be fifty without it.

Dr. George Abraham is a business consultant author of “The Seven Deadly Work Sins Against the Golden Rule. He also formally served as an adjunct professor at Hofstra. Email confidential questions for advice to [email protected].