Seeking your opinion - Drop out of school to focus on studying for certs.?

I'm contemplating on dropping out of community college to focus on certifications.

I'm two classes away from graduating this Spring. I've lost interest in earning that AA/AS degree from the community college, and I'm totally behind on those two classes as well. There's a good chance I can catch up and pull decent grades to pass, but I have no motivation.

Would you guys encourage me to drop out this semester, and focus on certifications, and return later?

I'm currently employed, and wouldn't benefit from either the AA/AS or certs. I just have a strong desire to drop out and work on certs...but there is a big part of me that is forcing me to earn that meaningless associate's degree.

I have a few days to think about...if you guys can offer some insight that would help, please do.

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Comments

cyberguypr

I don't see the point in dropping out if you are so close to completion. When you are out there applying for jobs, what seems meaningless to you may be the deciding factor between you and another equally experienced candidate with no degree.

Go for it man.

Essendon

I'd say continue with the degree, you are just 2 classes away. Keep plugging away at those certs as you go. When you are done with the degree, which doesnt seem to far off either, really gun for the certs. Can I ask you why, apart from no motivation, you want to drop out and do the certs? Is it to change jobs? And what certs?

erpadmin

LuckyGreenFrog wrote: »

Would you guys encourage me to drop out this semester, and focus on certifications, and return later?

No...I will not encourage you to drop out with two classes left.

[/TOUGHLOVE] Stop with the bull----, go to your classes, do whatever your assignments are, and get your AA/AS/WHAT-HAVE-YOU! Your motivation?! You get to tell employers when you're looking for a job that you can finish what you started! More motivation? You can get a BS at some point in your life and it will only take you two years to do it and you won't have to take any (hardly any) GE classes. The semester is almost over man, just buck it up and finish! [TOUGHLOVE]

Suck it up man....do what you have to do and get that degree. If you're falling behind, USE THOSE OFFICE HOURS YOUR PROFESSORS OFFER!!! That can be the difference between a D and a C!

mikej412

LuckyGreenFrog wrote: »

Would you guys encourage me to drop out this semester, and focus on certifications, and return later?

Nope. Finish what you started now.

QHalo

Suck it up buttercup. Finish strong.

rep21

You only have a couple months left. Suck it up and finish. If you want to transfer to get a bachelors someday that degree will be helpful!

BroadcastStorm

mikej412 wrote: »

Nope. Finish what you started now.

+1 :P gotz to finish it...

Just a motivation alot of high-end position requires BS in Engineering/Computer Science, without BS and AA/AS life is tougher there's alot of cats out there it's a dog eat dog world...

Anonymouse

Your motivation is that you only have two classes left. Just do it. It can only help you in your career. I dropped out myself and will be going back this year fall semester after I take care of some certs.

earweed

Finish it up.
When you're in the hunt for your NEXT job (and in this IT climate it's not IF but WHEN) the degree will be a deciding factor between you and the other guy without it.

Paladin

LuckyGreenFrog wrote: »

I'm contemplating on dropping out of community college to focus on certifications.

I'm two classes away from graduating this Spring. I've lost interest in earning that AA/AS degree from the community college, and I'm totally behind on those two classes as well. There's a good chance I can catch up and pull decent grades to pass, but I have no motivation.

Would you guys encourage me to drop out this semester, and focus on certifications, and return later?

I'm currently employed, and wouldn't benefit from either the AA/AS or certs. I just have a strong desire to drop out and work on certs...but there is a big part of me that is forcing me to earn that meaningless associate's degree.

I have a few days to think about...if you guys can offer some insight that would help, please do.

Well, you could always tell people in the future that you have 37 degrees... Celsius.

I think my winning formula is:

3 degrees +
certs +
experience +
smarts +
hard work +
perseverence +
listening to mentors +
some luck = $ucce$$

blargoe

LuckyGreenFrog wrote: »

I'm currently employed, and wouldn't benefit from either the AA/AS or certs.o.

You might be singing a different tune when you are shopping for your next job and don't get any call back because you have no degree. You are so close... just finish it!

N2IT

School > Certs

Please stay in school and get your AAS. That is a big accomplishment and can lead to bigger and better things.

Certifcations are awesome, don't get me wrong, but don't drop out of school to focus on them.

powerfool

Dude... finish that degree. There are two things that people tend to regret in regards to their careers, 1) not finishing school and 2) not starting their schooling sooner. Certifications aren't going anywhere.

Paladin

N2IT wrote: »

School > Certs

Please stay in school and get your AAS. That is a big accomplishment and can lead to bigger and better things.

Certifcations are awesome, don't get me wrong, but don't drop out of school to focus on them.

Where I come from, people don't think much of the AAS. It's kind of like doing something for two years after high school.

In my opinion, an AAS doesn't compete real well against a B.S. or those with graduate degrees. But in reality, your education should never stop, right?

On the other hand, among the unemployed, those with college degrees and a lower percent of unemployment than those without any college degrees. So something is better than nothing.

powerfool

Paladin wrote: »

Where I come from, people don't think much of the AAS. It's kind of like doing something for two years after high school.

In my opinion, an AAS doesn't compete real well against a B.S. or those with graduate degrees. But in reality, your education should never stop, right?

On the other hand, among the unemployed, those with college degrees and a lower percent of unemployment than those without any college degrees. So something is better than nothing.

Other than certain fields, like nursing, I wouldn't consider an associates a real degree... it is really just like "half a degree." In nursing, they have so much in regards to clinicals that they make up for that.

In any event, get that done and work on a BS. Heck, you could transfer to WGU after finishing your AAS and do certs and BS at the same time. However, I am still precautious about online schools for an undergrad degree, mostly because I see that those doing hiring are, as well. In any event, keep working on your education.

Paladin

zerogames wrote: »

what about experience?

I wrote this earlier, but it's worth repeating...

I think my winning formula is:

3 degrees +
certs +
experience +
smarts +
hard work +
perseverence +
listening to mentors +
some luck = $ucce$$

(The expanded version:)

B.S. Eng. Tech. +
M.S. in Computer Information Systems +
MBA +
69 certs +
experience +
smarts +
a lot of hard work +
a lot of long hours (sometimes over 90 to 100 per week) +
perseverence +
listening to mentors +
some luck = $ucce$$

(almost forgot... zero video games...)

-DeXteR-

Paladin wrote: »

(almost forgot... zero video games...)

This part may be hard for some ppl

Paladin

-DeXteR- wrote: »

This part may be hard for some ppl

People have short memories:

Korean Dies Playing Video Game
BBC NEWS | Technology | S Korean dies after games session

NetworkingStudent

LuckyGreenFrog wrote: »

I'm contemplating on dropping out of community college to focus on certifications.

I'm two classes away from graduating this Spring. I've lost interest in earning that AA/AS degree from the community college, and I'm totally behind on those two classes as well. There's a good chance I can catch up and pull decent grades to pass, but I have no motivation.

Would you guys encourage me to drop out this semester, and focus on certifications, and return later?

I'm currently employed, and wouldn't benefit from either the AA/AS or certs. I just have a strong desire to drop out and work on certs...but there is a big part of me that is forcing me to earn that meaningless associate's degree.

I have a few days to think about...if you guys can offer some insight that would help, please do.

DONT DROPOUT!!!

Certs come and go, but a degree lasts forever.

Get you degree now, because the older you get the harder it is to return to college. You get married and maybe divorced, have kids, work full time, and try to have hobbies…ect..ect. Being a recent graduate and job hunter I can tell you for a fact, I have seen a lot of entry level jobs that require at least a A.A.S degree. Certs are nice to have, but I haven’t seen them as a requirement for most entry level jobs.

jtoast

Get the Degree.
My experience has been that when it came to two otherwise equally qualifed candidates, the one with the degree got the interview before the one with the certifications.

The main reason to get certifications when you have no experience is to convince HR that your not a clueless idiot despite not having a degree.

Once you are in front of the hiring manager, neither will have anywhere near as much influence as your softskills and experience.

mikej412

zerogames wrote: »

what about experience?

Experience + Education + Certifications (and some luck and people/networking skills) maximize your opportunities that lead to career success in IT.

Experience is King -- but only if you have the other "keywords" that get get your resume pulled from the pile so that someone with a clue reads your resume, is impressed with your qualification (including your Experience) and call you for an interview.

Of course, if Mommy & Daddy own a company and give you a job then the required minimum Experience, Education, and Certification may be zero -- but that scenario may be covered under by the luck and/or people/networking skills of the "IT success Formula."

Paladin

mikej412 wrote: »

Experience + Education + Certifications (and some luck and people/networking skills) maximize your opportunities that lead to career success in IT.

Experience is King -- but only if you have the other "keywords" that get get your resume pulled from the pile so that someone with a clue reads your resume, is impressed with your qualification (including your Experience) and call you for an interview.

Of course, if Mommy & Daddy own a company and give you a job then the required minimum Experience, Education, and Certification may be zero -- but that may be covered under luck and/or people/networking skills.

Of course, if Mommy & Daddy own a company...

Yeah - I've seen this before. Usually their progeny get very good at video games. As they often say, :"The new 18 is 34!"

Stiltz79

Get the degree!!! I went to college late after I already had a family and other obligations. I got my Associates Degree. That's all we could afford and all I had time for. I felt like I was burned out at times and wanted to quit. Just got to push through it and finish it. You only have 2 CLASSES left! Just do it!

-DeXteR-

Paladin wrote: »

People have short memories:

Korean Dies Playing Video Game
BBC NEWS | Technology | S Korean dies after games session

Comm'on man that who would play game for insane 50 hrs except a ADDICT.
I play games sometimes for STRESS BUSTER !! It really helps me and many ppl like me out their for sure .

-DeXteR-

Btw on the topic:
Only 2 classes left and you wanna give up, comm'on man . Just think about why you holded onto it for so long till now

Paladin

-DeXteR- wrote: »

Comm'on man that who would play game for insane 50 hrs except a ADDICT.
I play games sometimes for STRESS BUSTER !! It really helps me and many ppl like me out their for sure .

Great! When you identify a professional IT certification track based on video games, that pays good $, please start a forum section on that so we can all share and trade notes about them.

Unfortunately, human life is short, less than 2.5 GS usually. Every minute you spend doing video games is a minute you aren't spending reading, doing, learning and gaining valuable skills.

On second thought, I hope there will be more and more video game players, because it will cull these people from the available IT talent pool, and increase the value and compensation of those who are actually doing the work.

Thanks!

World of Warcraft, anyone?

jtoast

*shrug* I like WoW. I don't play it very often but I enjoy it. I'm also really enjoying Dragon Age II although perhaps not as much as the first one.

I also work 50 hours a week, go to college full time (WGU), ride my bike 150 miles a week, and have time for a family.

It's all about time management. If I didn't take a break for things like video games I would probably end up on top of a clock tower with a sniper rifle :P

natureboy24

I have a BS,MBA degree, security clearance with four certs. Its still tough for me when applying for jobs. There is so many competition out there. You should always get your education to prove you can finish what you started. Degree+ certs+experience+networking trumps all.

Turgon

LuckyGreenFrog wrote: »

I'm contemplating on dropping out of community college to focus on certifications.

I'm two classes away from graduating this Spring. I've lost interest in earning that AA/AS degree from the community college, and I'm totally behind on those two classes as well. There's a good chance I can catch up and pull decent grades to pass, but I have no motivation.

Would you guys encourage me to drop out this semester, and focus on certifications, and return later?

I'm currently employed, and wouldn't benefit from either the AA/AS or certs. I just have a strong desire to drop out and work on certs...but there is a big part of me that is forcing me to earn that meaningless associate's degree.

I have a few days to think about...if you guys can offer some insight that would help, please do.

I think you should keep your ass in class. You have the rest of your life to get the alphabet soup of certs. You need an AS degree at least or your options will be limited.

Turgon

Paladin wrote: »

Great! When you identify a professional IT certification track based on video games, that pays good $, please start a forum section on that so we can all share and trade notes about them.

Unfortunately, human life is short, less than 2.5 GS usually. Every minute you spend doing video games is a minute you aren't spending reading, doing, learning and gaining valuable skills.

On second thought, I hope there will be more and more video game players, because it will cull these people from the available IT talent pool, and increase the value and compensation of those who are actually doing the work.

Thanks!

World of Warcraft, anyone?

I agree that playing computer games is an enormous waste of time. I certainly dont have time for them and neither does my wife who is of the opinion that grown men have far more important things to spend their time on. However, it's 2011 and a lot of people do like to play computer games and to be fair some are rather successful in work and life.