Considering Dropping Out

Haha...funny, but sad. There has been a lot of progress, but every time I see income stats by gender I get a bit peeved...I spent too many years trying to fight the gender gap to just slough it off...

Meredith manor=waste of money unless going for just the farrier short course. I was taking the equinesl science master with farrier emphasis..only thing I learned from constant work every day was how to check if a needle is in muscle/vein, how to trim, and their program is a joke.

Personally..I'd drop out or go to a much cheaper state school. I currently work a $9/hr job. I'm trying to eventually take some time off and get my CDL.

For anything in horses..to make money, it either has to be in the family or you come across amazing horses (lucky!). With either of those, you need the experience as well. I've not met one person in horses who will take someone with a degree over someone with more experience. I'm getting my experience right now and hope to have a training/boarding barn with enough field to provide my own hay, as well as sell some. That's my dream, and I plan to manage to make it happen somehow, someday without a degree I'll be paying for until I'm retired. I'm not interested in paying thousands of dollars just to make a little more money. I'm glad other people do though, else we wouldn't have any vets or such.

Soo..do what you need to do. You can make it without a degree. You'll probably have to work harder, but you can make it.
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Fair enough Northern. :) Though I would've never gotten the initial interview without that degree.

At this point I think you have to finish the degree, otherwise you have all that debt for nothing.

A better question would have been made a few years ago when asking if all that debt was worth it for a low income job, but it's too late for that now.

Blunt and simple.
Finish the degree.

Who knows, maybe you can train professional horses. I'm talking top world cup horses. Do you know how much ridiculous money people pay trainers to help train their top notch horses? A LOT.
If you worked hard into that business, you would pay off your debt in like 5 years easy.

There are trainers around here that charge crazy amounts just for coaching and encouraging riders at a show.. and people definitely pay for it! How likely you are to land jobs like these all requires connections and hard work I assume.

You've worked to hard and spent to much money to quit now.

One thing about quitting. It gets easier after you've done it once.

What's the old saying? "Quitters never win and winners never quit."

Tough it out and finish what you started. Next time, think about it before you commit.

I want to expand on my earlier post.

I really wouldn't finish out on the horse degree. You already know all the problems you're going to have. You'd be putting all your eggs in one basket by finishing the degree without a backup plan. But, if you instead use the 50k at another school, your options increase, even if you have to start from scratch to earn another degree.

Yes, it sucks that you wouldn't be able to finish the degree. But using the logic of "you've gone this far, so you might as well" is B.S. You shouldn't justify wasting more money just because you already wasted money. That's like saying you should just marry a guy you found out was cheating on you because the caterer and limo was already paid for.

Seriously, if you are going to go more in debt, use the money to get a degree at a different school. Even an associates at a community college is going to help you get a well paying job.

So here's a complete outline of how to get out of this:

Leave Findley,
Go to community college to get the more bang for the buck, Or possibly if your credits transfer, go to a big college to get a degree.
Begin teaching and training horses freelance while you get a different degree. Your education at Findley will not go to waste! Use money training to pay for school.
In a few years, graduate with new degree and start career.
Have at least one job to gain worthwhile experience to go along with your degree.
If you're doing good training, keep training, but get at least one year of your new career on your resume just in case something happens and you can't train horses anymore.

This is exactly what happened to my son .. he went to a 40k a year school for culinary arts .. decided 2 years into it that he didn't want to be a chef or manage a hotel or restuarant .. now he has 80k in debt .. which I'm paying .. and transfer to a local university to get his 4 year degree in communications .. he does have a 2 year hotel management degree but for 80k he could have gone to a local school ..

This is my opinion if you are not going to go into the equine business and train horses get out before incurring more debt .. find a local college that will take as many transfer credits as possible and find another degree .. but finish you college education .. having an education is very important regardless of what it is in .. not only for yourself but also for your parent who probably has support you through this whole thing ..

If the financial side is what is getting you down why not call into the suzie ormand show and she what she says .. her financial advice seems mostly sound ..

Good luck.

I agree with a lot said on both sides.
I have a few questions. Is your specialty mostly in training? Is there another direction you can go this final year, like trimming farrier, business, marketing, etc where you can get quicker pay and a steady job?
Do you need to spend the $40K or can you continue with just taking a few classes there and then some at a community college and wrap up an associates with some credits transferring?

I feel for you!
I went to a couple Universities but couldn't make up my mind on a degree. So I just worked on the basics then transferred to a community college and got a degree in graphic design. Thank Heavens I did. According to that chart I make as much as a person without a high school diploma!
I have several friends though that are in great careers that have nothing to do with their degrees. I agree that the piece of paper is worth more regardless if it applies. Have you looked into working with a large equine supplier or online business? You may be able to work your way up with one of those. How about a job in the nutrition field, they often have large testing facilities where they need handlers/trainers etc... Just throwing out some ideas!

Finish your education in the military. They'd educate you and you return this by staying a few more years.