drop out of University?
 

hello,

I'm currently studying Mechanical Engineering at a very well regarded Russell group university. The course is unbelievably fast paced and is covering some of the most complex applications of maths and physics I have ever come across (not surprising).
My issue is the lack of motivation I have to see the course through. I'm putting this down to the difficulty coupled with the fact its not really a career that I'm aiming for.
Just looking for some advice from some of you as to whether I should stick at it and possibly change course, or drop out all together and start saving towards training.
P.S aside from the course, I am loving every aspect of Uni (mainly social) so dropping out will be a huge decision.

Cheers!

what year are you in?

First year

Go and see someone in the uni and talk it through with them. You need proper specialist advice and hundreds will have been in the same position as you. And flying is not all it’s cracked up to be.

PM

I feel for you... currently studying Linear Algebra part-time to keep myself amused, and it is brutal :)

If your intention is to fly anyhow, and you are truly motivated why not wait and finish the course? You have many years ahead of you and you really never know when the degree may open doors.

Think of it as a chink in your armour... you never know when you may need it.

On the other hand... truly... given the fees and expenses... does make you think twice.

Once you start the habit of quitting it's a hard habit to break. Stick it out...it builds character. Enough said.

I went to uni myself and considered leaving throughout my first and second years to start flying, but didn't. I'm now currently training and wouldn't have it any other way, I don't think I'd have managed without the skills I obtained whilst studying - and I'm not talking about degree-specific technical skills, I mean life skills and experience. Chances are after a few years studying you'll be in a better and more mature place and you'll be better for it. Since you're mostly enjoying the experience as well, I don't think leaving is the right choice for you, I'm sure there will be aspects of your course you'll find you do enjoy too. It's easy to say the grass is greener on the other side.

Engineer here, in a field very much related to yours who graduated from a very highly ranked university with a reputation for making your life as a student a misery. My advice is, if you are of a curious nature and like going to the bottom of things, then roll up your sleeves, stick to it and finish your degree. By and large, these studies will bring out the best in you, will shape your analytical mindset and will challenge you in ways that most people will never experience. It'll equip you for life with the tool to solve in a structured way situations and problems that are ill-posed and with blurred boundaries. Seriously, enforce discipline on your brain while it is still somewhat elastic. You'll reap the rewards for many years to come.

Two more things:
1. I can't speak for everyone and I surely won't speak of everyone either when I say so, but while I find flying rather a technical activity, I often have trouble taking some pilots without technical education seriously. Everything can be explained rationally, flying is no different. My instructor showed the lift and drag formulas to me in a way that lacked so much understanding of the underlying physics that it's been making me doubt and challenge his every advice since. I'm not suggesting that every instructor should have a MS in aerodynamics but an engineering degree will definitely teach you to speak about science fluently with carefully chosen words.

2. The first and second years always stink. They're made to filter out those you came to the program without purpose nor drive from the others. It usually goes like this; every course will through heaps of work at you with impossible deadlines. Bite the dust, don't slack but stay ahead and keep your head above the water. Do this year in year out until you graduate. That's the only true learning.


My only mistake was to not take up flying while I was a student.

At a future airline interview, when they look throught your CV, they will probably ask why you dropped out. Showing a lack of commitment will not go down well.

One one hand, sticking at it is very character building. My time at Uni was probably the time I matured the most. I became so much more independent, and learned to think for myself. It gives you soft skills and something for your CV. If you get your degree and then go into flight training, you have that additional feather in your cap of life experience and maturity. Bear in mind that the majority of Integrated school graduates don't have degrees or work experience, so you'll definitely have the edge in an airline interview.

On the other hand, if your heart's not in your Uni course then you'll have a long, hard three years. And the course won't get any easier. If you were in your second or third year, I'd urge you to stick at it. But, the first year's a different beast. It's the lowest pressure, and the most enjoyable. If you can't crack it now, you won't have a chance in the second and third years.

It's a very, very difficult one which only you can assess and make a choice.

I remember my first introductory lecture at university. The tutor said look at the person to your right and then look to the person to your left, one in three of you will drop out of the course.

as others have said in this thread, you are supposed to find it difficult and it helps form your character.

completing a difficult task is rarely a waste of time.

If Artschool was given the "look to your left, look to your right" intro by someone with the initials RG, then I may have well been on the same course as them, albeit at an earlier or later date. I was one of the people who dropped out and I reckon I now earn more than I likely would if I had graduated, much more in savings too.

I've now got enough experience on my CV to avoid even mentioning my brief stint at uni (which lasted about six months). The only thing I would mention to the OP is it's all ok knowing what you're leaving from, you need to know what you're leaving to, ideally get an offer for some sort of training programme. Indeed, I know of at least one apprenticeship course where half the group were university dropouts, many did a degree at a later date.

Bear in mind though that nothing worth doing will be easy. You need to find something that "fits" you, the most recent training programme I completed seemed to do that very well. As things stand, there's only one career choice I would willingly give up my current profession for and that choice would be commercial aviation.

I was in a very similar situation to you, studying a physical science rather than engineering but first year is tough and its designed to be that way. Getting the right balance between your social life and work is something very few people master in the first year especially at UK universities.

Having the degree and the experience will help in a lot more ways than just learning your course, also the ability to work things through when it gets tough is an invaluable skill. I consider myself lucky that the Biology course I was trying to transfer over to was full (thats how close I was to re-doing first year).

Losing your medical can spell the end of a career and having that safety net of a degree will be incredibly helpful in a worst case scenario. Besides that, the salary you will be on after graduating will mean that you'll be able to save up for training in a much shorter time frame.

hey,
I see that this post was made quite some time ago now. I am currently in a very similar situation as i'm just finishing up my first year of mechanical engineering. i have always wanted to be a pilot and this has been more proven with looking at the career paths available with my current field of study. just wondering how things worked out for you and what path you ended up going down?

thanks and all the best,

It's hard to do at the time but I took the advice given on this thread and stuck it out at university (albeit I changed over to maths and got a maths degree instead). Have a read of the advice I got above and go from there - the best thing about having a degree is that it provides a good back up plan should the aviation industry hit rock bottom again, plus it opens up doors to some well paying jobs to fund flying.

Becoming a pilot is entirely doable whether you go to uni or not, but in my case, I finished my degree, began saving and started training alongside work. I've been training via the modular route for the last couple of years and I've just got my CPL/MEIR to get ticked off and I'll be done. Worth noting that if I had dropped out of uni I would have come unstuck as the pandemic hit 2 years later - no one knows what is around the corner and having a degree with work experience in another industry is a very valuable backup.

Trust your own ambition and motivation - if its there it will carry you through uni and beyond and the life lessons you learn along the way will make it worth it.

Best of luck and always do what works best for you

I dropped out of uni, I left after a year at the LSE reading Economics and History. Third best career move I ever made. #1 was joining the RAF, #2 was leaving the RAF.

I understand the frustration that can happen during university. Especially early on. But I would try to continue.
The "theory and boring stuff" intro years will be over soon and then you can pick more interesting specialised subjects hopefully.
If it just doesn't work (lack of motivation does not sound like it) I would try to maybe change the focus somehow adding different courses other teachers and similar.

I did Physics at university and realised within the first week that the maths was starting from a position which was way above my level at the time. (I did not attend the best of secondary schools). I considered my options of changing courses, quitting etc., but eventually decided to stick it out and just work hard to catch up. I can honestly say I left 90% of all lectures during that degree, not really having a scobbies what had happened. Yet I graduated with a first class honours degree from the best place in the country to study Physics at the time. I guess I saw it as a challenge to overcome. Good luck.

What do you work as
 

if you don’t mind me asking , what are you doing for work now. Also how did you find balancing the ATPL exams with work.

I work in professional services / finance. I was lucky as I was able to work part time for half of my studying so it wasn't as bad, but even when I went back to full time it was very manageable. Obviously you'll have to cut down on your social life and commit a huge amount of time to the exams, but they aren't as bad as people make them out to be