I dropped out of HS to pursue electronic music

[V0RT3X]

I dont care if you finish school online, dropping out is foolish. Your records may show a high school diploma but future employers may look deeper and see that you dropped and finished online. That could cause them to question your commitment level and in fact you could be passed over for a job just based on that.

While true to a point, this really is the "old-skool" way of thinking. Times have changed, college degrees don't mean what they used to, you don't have to walk up a hill to school and back in the snow and ice, etc etc...

Depends on what you want out of life.

This also depends on where you live and how much luck you have living a life in society without a degree.

Having a college degree will get you paid more in the long run and give you much more options in finding a job that you won't hate.

[deastman]

"Do you want fries with that?" is really no joke. Who do you think makes your McBurgers? Robots? Its people without any other employment options. The are millions of people in that position. Most of them come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and school was never an option for them. Either that or its high school students just passing time before they go off to college. Voluntarily putting yourself in that position all for the sake of pursuing some naive fantasy of making it big in electronic music seems tragic.

Up above, I mentioned my great career. Yeah, well, I started out to be a recording studio engineer, but quickly realized that it didn't pay. I shifted gears, followed my other interests instead, and it all worked out. Now my background in audio comes in very handy as part of video production, even though it isn't quite what I imagined at the outset. Bottom line: keep your options open, recognize opportunities when you see them, and don't go out of your way to sabotage your own future.

[deastman]

I dont care if you finish school online, dropping out is foolish. Your records may show a high school diploma but future employers may look deeper and see that you dropped and finished online. That could cause them to question your commitment level and in fact you could be passed over for a job just based on that.

While true to a point, this really is the "old-skool" way of thinking. Times have changed, college degrees don't mean what they used to, you don't have to walk up a hill to school and back in the snow and ice, etc etc...

Depends on what you want out of life.

This also depends on where you live and how much luck you have living a life in society without a degree.

Having a college degree will get you paid more in the long run and give you much more options in finding a job that you won't hate.

Where I work, they won't even consider your job application without a college degree. It doesn't matter what other life experience you have. You can't even get your application in front of the right eyes.

[Tony Ostinato]

you cant fast forward life, and man you really shouldnt try.

[highkoo]

Where I work, they won't even consider your job application without a college degree.

But are you hiring?
That is really where any 'equalizing' is happening these days...

[ontol]

I concur with the pro-education posters.

I realize the OP did get his GED and that is great, but getting a diploma is not old school thinking or some throwback to the dark days before the iPad made everyone a musical genius.

While having a diploma does not automatically secure you a great job, and there are many examples of people who dropped out and made it big, a certified education from an accredited institution is and has been a well-established tool to better careers, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. And I have yet to hear of anyone who earned degree have it get in the way of a career.

[fluffy_little_something]

A back up plan is always good....

Indeed, plan E as in education

Before one takes drastic steps such as kicking HS, it is important to make 100% sure one got the talent, discipline, energy and stamina to succeed in the arts. Unfortunately, only others can evaluate that, especially with young people.

[deastman]

Where I work, they won't even consider your job application without a college degree.

But are you hiring?
That is really where any 'equalizing' is happening these days...

Sure, we're hiring in all sorts of positions across the US. Sadly, there are no openings for "Electronic Musician Senior".

[Hink]

I dont care if you finish school online, dropping out is foolish. Your records may show a high school diploma but future employers may look deeper and see that you dropped and finished online. That could cause them to question your commitment level and in fact you could be passed over for a job just based on that.

While true to a point, this really is the "old-skool" way of thinking. Times have changed, college degrees don't mean what they used to, you don't have to walk up a hill to school and back in the snow and ice, etc etc...

I take exception to your comment about my age (I dont see the point, I am far from old)... with that said I have an 18 year old daughter who is a Jr in High school, I am extremely proactive in her education and have her in an amazing high school. Not a public school but not a private school either. She attends a charter school that is fairly new, it runs 6-12th grades. In 2011 they had their first graduating class of students that did the entire six year, 100% of the graduating class was accepted to a 4 year college or university. My daughter has learning disabilities, public schools kept her on meds and kept floating her along. I got her to this school as a freshman and the first thing was to stop the meds, then she repeated her freshman year. She once hated school and now loves it, she now say "when I go to college".

So I am not thinking old school, my thinking is current and progressive with the times as such charter schools are only recently being recognized. While I do not consider myself at the age of 54 to be old I have gained some wisdom along the way and one thing is a fact, we should never stop growing and learning. I know I love learning

The article I read a friend posted today on Facebook addresses this, I may not agree with all the article says but this I do believe

-- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are "260,000 Americans with bachelor's degrees earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or less in 2013" and "another 200,000 associate's degree holders" who are also stuck at that wage. (Opponents of raising the minimum wage often say that the low minimum wage serves a purpose -- it's a temporary condition for people just getting their feet wet in the job market. The reality is that it's now a permanent condition for hundreds of thousands of seasoned, accomplished adults.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/1 ... 36003.html

Perhaps you should rethink your post

edit...ftr here is my daughter's school http://www.innovationcharter.org/

[highkoo]

I have yet to hear of anyone who earned degree have it get in the way of a career.

Well, allow me.
I went to school for fakking sculpture. Seriously.
I have never even attempted to have a career, or even a job, related to fffffxxxxing sculpture. I dont know if there is such a thing...
Anyway, Im "good with computers". I taught myself all sorts of marketable shit.
But, its not uncommon for an interviewer, or boss, to be in the midst of approving nods and "Yep, mm-mm, great, uh-huh...", and then go "ssssculptuuure....?", as if it might be a typo or something.
It is not always a negative, but it is most definitely not always a positive...

Its a cruel horrible world.
Decide on a nice box when you are 18 years old, crawl in it, and stay there.
Renaissance men are seen as confused losers now.

I dont regret. Im actually thankful I had the balls to take the path I did.
But I might be just a tad bitter about the big picture.

OP, if you are committed to music, learn to DJ man.... Seriously.

[jacqueslacouth]

gone

[Hink]

I have been an educator for over 20 years and now hold the position of Deputy Principal in my local High School. I am confronted with this sort of question on an almost daily basis.

Look, it may fly in the face of conventional (old) thinking, but just because you leave the traditional classroom does not mean that your educational opportunities are cut off and finished for life. You can always go back to formal education later in life if things don't work out. Sure, you could go back to school and get a "sensible" job working in an office, bored off your tits until the day you die, looking back on your life and saying "I wish I had….", "I wonder if…..", "You know, maybe I could……"…….OR, you could give it a red hot go, work your ass off, try, try and keep trying, don't take no for an answer and you may just realise your dream (hey, you may not, but if you don't try, you DEFINITELY will not).

In Australia we have a saying…."Have a crack son"

And yes, I have teenagers of my own, both pursuing their dreams with my encouragement and both doing home schooling where they are receiving an exceptionally high quality education.

shoulda, woulda coulda is a two way street...do you not think there are people who went after their dreams and failed that say the same thing "I wish I had stayed in school", "I wonder if I could have done both" (I know a radical thought, maybe pursue higher education in music)...there is a middle ground where you can do both

[trimph1]

I dont care if you finish school online, dropping out is foolish. Your records may show a high school diploma but future employers may look deeper and see that you dropped and finished online. That could cause them to question your commitment level and in fact you could be passed over for a job just based on that.

While true to a point, this really is the "old-skool" way of thinking. Times have changed, college degrees don't mean what they used to, you don't have to walk up a hill to school and back in the snow and ice, etc etc...

Depends on what you want out of life.

This also depends on where you live and how much luck you have living a life in society without a degree.

Having a college degree will get you paid more in the long run and give you much more options in finding a job that you won't hate.

Where I work, they won't even consider your job application without a college degree. It doesn't matter what other life experience you have. You can't even get your application in front of the right eyes.

You need a college diploma in my field. healthcare. And, even then, be prepared for constant refreshers...learning is definitely a lifelong thing...

[jacqueslacouth]

gone

[trimph1]

I think we need to keep in mind that there are those who have succeeded without HS/college/university whatever...they are not as common mind but still...they exist....