Dropping out

I'm about a third of a way through my second year at uni, and I can't help but feel that I don't want to be here. I'm studying maths and I can't motivate myself to do any of the work. The whole routine is so dull: Go to lectures, do worksheets. That is it.

My flatmates are taking courses in engineering and theres so much variation in their workload compared to mine. They have group work, do presentations, have coursework set in different computer programmes. Not to mention the fact that due to the amount of group work they have to do, they actually know and are friends with loads of people on their course. There are far too many people on mine (over 200 I think), so due to the lack of group work, I barely know any. Also I tend to find very few are particularly friendly (and this leads me to the other aspect of uni: social life).

Another aspect I'm finding difficult to cope with is the social side of uni. Back at home, I have many close friends, I feel totally comfortable around them and they often ask me to come out with them. At uni, its a completely different situation. I rarely go out, and have very few friends that I want to hang around with. It seems like a majority of people at this uni are boring rich kids from London that just want to go to terrible nights out (where the music is god awful) so that they can pull.

Its something I've thought long and hard about for the past few weeks. At the moment, I suppose I have 3 options:

1) Drop out (and try and figure out what I want to do with my life)

2) Stick it out and wait for it to come good (Really not a big fan of this option)

3) Stick it out but start paying for music lessons (As I'm not going out too much/doing too much, I was thinking of pooling the money saved from nights out into guitar or singing lessons. My dad said that he would consider putting money into this too)

I've talked about this a bit with my parents, and they reckon I should just do whatever makes me happy. I've emailed my tutor to see if I can meet up with him to discuss the situation, but he hasn't got back to me yet. So yeah, a bit to take in. Thoughts?

EDIT: So I spoke to my tutor today, but before I saw him I had already made my mind up that I would at least stick around until the end of 2nd year. The meeting was a bit of a waste of time. He said that it was too late for me to change to a joint maths course (let alone change course completely) and that I'm better off seeing it out, that I should try and keep to some routine until something clicks. It makes sense, but it doesn't really make me feel any better. He said he'll meet up with me again after christmas to see how I'm doing, which was nice. (Also, just like to point out I have no interest in taking any kind of engineering course. I was just using it as an example to compare with the lack of variation in my studies)

There's no point in doing something you don't like doing. Even though it's always daunting not knowing what's next, I'd take it a thousand times more than deliberately making myself miserable because it's socially accepted.

I was in a similar situation. I'm getting a bachelors in business management from a moderately prestigious university... I honestly have no fuckin' idea what I want to do with my life. I personally decided to stick it out, even though I don't know what I want to do, I feel like the degree will be helpful, because worst case scenario, I stay at my pizza place and end up managing a new location, as we're opening more all the time... I don't know what you're going to do with a math degree, though, you could consider dropping out.

I've got one semester left. I'm pretty swamped right now, full time work and school... barely any time for gaming, not to mention studying things I actually want to learn, like an instrument or a second language. Hopefully, once I'm done, I can spend my spare time taking some Piano classes or studying some Japanese.

I imagine your flatmates studying engineering are also taking loads of boring math courses. Are you just a straight math major or... ?

I don't really know how the college system differs across the pond, but 2 years of straight math/general ed would probably transition quite nicely into something else you are interested in. Engineering, computer programming, etc.

@BestUsernameEver: Thats the big question though, what else should I do? I don't want to drop out and find myself in a job I don't want to do, or studying in something else I don't want to do. Plus, I'm the last year that is paying (only) the £3,000 a year. Not that money bothers me too much, but I'd feel dumb studying in another topic in so many years years time to pay £9,000 a year.

See, they tricked you into going to university and spending tens of thousands of dollars before you have a remote fucking clue who you are or want you want to be. They talk about university like it's just What You Do when you leave high school, not as if its a major financial decision that will affect you for decades to come (and ultimately amounts of the most expensive and ultimately meaningless licensing money can buy). Since ERRYONE has a bachelors degree, they don't mean shit anymore. Bachelor degree qualifies you to deliver pizza in the job market.

I'm not going to tell you to drop out, but do what you want. Do not do what 'you're supposed to do', or you will sacrifice your own happiness, AND YOUR DIGNITY, for the rest of your life. You are responsible for yourself, and your happiness, not the expectations of society, your parents, or women who want to turn you into what they want you to be.

Do what you think is right. If you're right, you'll be happy. If you're wrong, you'll learn. But if you do what you think is wrong, you will _never_ be happy.

Option two or three. I know you probably have some grand plan about dropping out, doing some soul searching, and figuring out your purpose in life, but I've never seen it really work out like that. The vast majority of people that I know that have dropped out of university just end up idling or backsliding in their lives.

By all means, do stuff that you enjoy, but you have to keep the motor running and moving your life forward. Don't retreat back home. There are going to be less than ideal scenarios you'll encounter throughout your life, but you have to learn to bend before you break in those situations.

@TooWalrus: Yeah, thats the thing, I have so much time on my hands! I feel like my course is a bit of a joke at times, because they just give you worksheets, and (if I can do them) only take a few hours to do. I can't tell whether I've got to do lots reading around the subject, or some how find my own questions to do. Maths seems like a topic to me that you've got to be given lots of questions to understand, and it seems like my uni doesn't give enough of them.

@FoolishChaos: Yeah they take mechanical engineering, and do "Maths for Engineering" modules. But looking at it, its some of the stuff I want to do! Its just straight up computing stuff. Integrate this. Differentiate that. Stuff that I'm good at. With maths, once I have to think outside of the box, I start to struggle. And yeah, I'm doing straight maths, 3 year course. This year, I'm taking modules in stats, calculus and probability, hoping to branch out more into stats into 3rd year. Stats is the only one I think is okay, but maths as a whole its just so boring. Not to mention the fact the whole regime is so boring and that some of the lecturers are so poor. Its like they're only a lecturer so they can cram their own research (and books they've written!) down your throat.

i can relate. I went from the west to east coast in the US, and my parents got a fat loan paying for my tuition bill for a couple of years. But after a few semesters i realized that, while i was okay at math and sciences, i didnt have the passion for engineering that my classmates had. I had to choose either to change majors while losing my financial aid (meaning my parents would be paying tens of thousands of dollars on something i wasnt sure i wanted), or drop out and head to community college for something else that interested me.

I ended up comign back home, and while i still value much of what i learned at the university, i dont have a degree to show for it. But im taking classes for an entry level position in a different field, and from that i hope to find what i'm really interested in for a career in that field (which means more training and classes in the future).

That said, i would recommend that you definitely talk to whatever counselors you can before making a big decision like that. Maybe you just need a change of major at the same university. Or maybe you just need to get out there and be more social. There must be some way to find people you can relate to, university students can be pretty damn diverse, depending on where you go. So dont give up if nobody in your immediate proximity doesn't seem friendly.

While both my brother and I dropped out of uni (US) and we are both employed in white collar tech jobs, I don't know that I'd recommend it. Have you checked out any clubs you can join to feel less socially isolated? Or researched transferring to a school closer to where you grew up? Or perhaps one specifically regarded for its math program.

@Brodehouse: Yeah I see what you mean, they definitely sell you short on the whole idea of having a degree and stuff. My brother has two degrees for christ's sake, is 27 and still isn't in a stable job that he likes (his 2nd degree was in art history and he currently has a sub-£20,000 job working at an estate agents). But a degree is better than no degree, right?

@Chaser324: Thats whats difficult. If I drop out now, I get the distinct feeling I'll have to do this whole uni thing again in a year or two's time. I'm better off with a degree than no degree.

@CookieMonster said:

@FoolishChaos: Yeah they take mechanical engineering, and do "Maths for Engineering" modules. But looking at it, its some of the stuff I want to do!

Couldn't you alter your schedule to start doing this stuff? If its what you want to do, then why not?

Blue collar jobs are of serious need these days. Hell, from what I've heard being a plumber pays $100,000 a year. While it's surely unproductive and requires no creativity at all, it's a well paying job that the world needs. You can learn how to do construction and get a great job that pays $75,000 a year. You don't need college to live a comfortable life.

(Is a job necessary for the world productive? I don't know...)

@Brodehouse said:

Do what you think is right. If you're right, you'll be happy. If you're wrong, you'll learn. But if you do what you think is wrong, you will _never_ be happy.

Wait, something about that seems off.

• If he does what he thinks is right and he's right, he's happy.
• If he does what he thinks is right and he's wrong, he learns. (Nothing here about happiness. That's not the weird part.)
• If he does what he thinks is wrong, he's never happy.

What happens if he does what he thinks is wrong and he's wrong about it being wrong? Wouldn't that lead to happiness or something?

@FoolishChaos: Naa, they don't let me take maths modules as I'm already taking maths. Its a bit of a silly system. The only module I've taken outside of maths is accounting, and its god fucking awful. As uninteresting as I'm finding maths at the minute, accounting is ten times that.

@tarvis: Thats the thing. I've seen one or two clubs that I might consider next term, but nothing particularly piquing my interests. And yeah, my uni supposed to be really good for its maths programme. I was expecting more than uninterested lecturers and a bunch of worksheets.

@CookieMonster said:

@FoolishChaos: Yeah they take mechanical engineering, and do "Maths for Engineering" modules. But looking at it, its some of the stuff I want to do! Its just straight up computing stuff. Integrate this. Differentiate that. Stuff that I'm good at. With maths, once I have to think outside of the box, I start to struggle. And yeah, I'm doing straight maths, 3 year course. This year, I'm taking modules in stats, calculus and probability, hoping to branch out more into stats into 3rd year. Stats is the only one I think is okay, but maths as a whole its just so boring. Not to mention the fact the whole regime is so boring and that some of the lecturers are so poor. Its like they're only a lecturer so they can cram their own research (and books they've written!) down your throat.

I have my degree in Mechanical Engineering and it is not just here is a problem differentiate/integrate/derive the equation. They are doing early level stuff if they are in their second year of uni. The math is the easiest part of engineering and is always the last part of the problem. The trouble comes in setting up the problem in a way you can solve it with the given variables and known formulas, many times there are multiple ways to solve a problem. It's hard to explain without writing out actual questions, but the math, the final value you get, is not as important as the procedure you use to get there. I would stay away from engineering if you need a guided path to get your final answers, which is what you seem to be saying you need.

Engineers do not take much math, where i went all we took was Calc 1,2,3 and Differential equations. I completed all my math courses a year and a half into my 5 year curriculum.

@CookieMonster: Indeed, a degree isn't going to hurt you, especially since it's not holding you back from pursuing your other interests. There's a reason "everyone" has a bachelors degree (which isn't actually true, associates degrees are much more common), it's because most jobs in your field won't look twice at your resume if you only have a high school diploma. In the long run, the loan you take out for the degree isn't going to cripple you financially, either. Even if dropping out and pursuing this music thing may make you temporarily happy, you probably won't be able to build a career on it. It's not impossible, of course, but since you listed C as an option, the best course is probably to pursue both school and pleasure at the same time. In my worthless opinion, anyway. (Also, and this doesn't actually matter but I'd just like to point it out, I'm not a delivery boy, I'm an assistant manager, so my BBA is at least relevant to my job, and my fall-back plan of eventually managing my own store).

Stick it out, but change your major. Major in something that is interesting, if it lacks utility. A college degree is extremely valuable, even in a random area. If you just wait for it to get better, it won't.

Man, don't drop out. That's the worst thing you could do. You'll have spent all of that money and not have anything to show for it, other than debt. If what you are studying doesn't do it for you, meet with a counselor and discuss taking a different direction. Maybe even sign up for a career exploration class, I'm sure they have something like it at your university. I'm taking that class next semester as I have change majors twice already and want to finally find out what really interests me and just buckle down and finish it. But seriously, don't drop out. Don't listen to people saying a bachelor's degree is worthless because it's common. You know what's even more common? A high school diploma, so don't make that the highest academic level of achievement you have. Also, the people that strike out to try to make it big on their own without a degree practically never succeed, and the ones that do are the exception. Yeah man, school is hard, and typically not very fun, but it's a necessary evil if you want to get a well paying job in today's society.

@CookieMonster said:

@FoolishChaos: Naa, they don't let me take maths modules as I'm already taking maths. Its a bit of a silly system. The only module I've taken outside of maths is accounting, and its god fucking awful. As uninteresting as I'm finding maths at the minute, accounting is ten times that.

I guess I really don't understand how the system works.

In the US if I was a math major, and had taken several calc courses but then decided I wanted to major in Engineering, I would still be able to use those math courses towards my degree. If you switched to Engineering you wouldn't be able to use anything you have taken thus far?

Look into changing your course. I'm assuming you got into uni before the fees increased so if you end up taking a year break or whatever and decide you want to go back you're going to have to pay £9000 x3 on top of the 2 years you've already done. Whereas changing right now will mean you still get the lower fees (I think). Lots of times you can keep the credits you already have though and just change courses straight onto the second year again.

I ended up changing from an Animation course after half of the first year to a Multimedia Computing Animation course mostly because the travel times were killing me (I wish I had stayed in accommodation but that's another story) and that was a good change for me since it was closer and seems better when I actually come to find a job I will have more technical skills rather than just being an art guy.

I also kind of find the same thing with social life at uni, there's so many people who just seem completely the same, they do the same stuff and talk about the same thing and go drinking the same all the time. My uni is pretty shitty overall though, it's right in central London - there's no campus and the majority of students are twats.

After Friday I'll have three semesters to go. I've contemplated the exact same things that you're contemplating, and I've decided that I'm going to finish college. Why? I can't fully say that I know. I still think that a lot of the stuff here is bullshit, but at the same time I probably think so because I haven't really put a ton into any of it. Interest and excitement isn't going to jump out and bitchslap you into having grand times and learning great things, you've got to go find it and work toward something. Actively giving a damn about something really helps, it's the reason why I managed to pull an all-nighter and do a presentation a few weeks ago.

So I say just stick with Uni and pull through. I'm not going to say that you can make it pleasant, but you're here, and you've got one hell of an opportunity. Figure out how to make the best of it or it will be gone forever. No, getting it later is not quite the same thing.

I suggest you switch majors if you're not feeling good about what you're doing. If you were planning on going to graduate school, finish your math bachelors and then get a masters/doctorate in something else that is more interesting to you. Math is very useful for connecting to other degrees since most of the more difficult degrees to get involve some form of higher end math. Dropping out is probably the worse thing you can do unless you have a solid safety net. While what people are saying about bachelors is true (they aren't exactly rare on resumes), having less than what most people have will leave you even worse off in finding a good job. My brother dropped and it took him nearly ten years to get back on his feet with a good enough job to live off of. Not saying that happens to everyone, but despite school not being fun, being out there without a degree to show qualifications isn't a walk in the park either.

If you aren't feeling like you're socializing well with other people at the college then I recommend checking out a few clubs or whatever. If there are university events then go to those too even if they can be silly sometimes. Volunteer work is a good idea also. Those are great ways to meet people, and they help to pad your resume.

University degrees tell potential employers that you've committed 3-4 years of your time to this course and have seen it through to the end. They're less important compared to what they used to be, but it still shows dedication to something.
 
I'm in my third year of a law degree and most of the work is self study and reading. I had one lecture a week this year, three seminars and was basically just given some recommended articles and a couple questions to answer on each topic. Not sure about maths, but if you have some sort of module or topic overview there could be some recommended reading. Half of the point is to learn to manage your time and become more self-sufficent in your study.
It's easy to get into a downer, since it's much more lax than school or a job. You might want to pick up a sport, go to the gym, or get another hobby to help break up your day so it isn't just class > go home > computer >sleep.
 
If you really hate your course and are genuinely unhappy there's little point in forcing yourself through.  But if you quit without thinking it through carefully because you're just not feeling it at the time you might regret it later on.

Trust me, dropping out of college is the best decision you'll ever make.

I can't say I'm quite at your point, but I've had a thing this semester where I realized that I didn't want to study the thing that I was studying. I would have essentially wasted my time, but I decided to switch my major to something else that will put me in greater debt when this is all over. It'll be worth it when I make a significant amount more than what I was studying for when I'm able to pay off my loans faster and take a chunk off my family's debt.

Hopefully it works out for you.

One option is to finish with math and then do graduate school. You could try getting a minor (is that an option?).

I attended college because I wanted to and I knew what I wanted to do. It hasn't really worked out for me, but I don't regret going to college, I only regret the fact that it counts for nothing. It took me a year to find even a part time job, and all the jobs I do apply for tell me I'm "overqualified" and refuse to hire me.

@Brodehouse:

None of that really answered my question. You'd still choose to do the thing you believed was wrong, so your agency isn't compromised.

Don't drop out. A friend of mine dropped out and hasn't been able to recover from it yet. By that, I mean he hasn't found anything even though he's been looking. I majored in something I didn't end up caring for, but the degree has opened doors at employers and given me legitimacy that I would otherwise not have. Degrees are sort of proof that you can begin and finish something big. It shows employers that you can commit.

Don't drop out.

You'll regret it if you give up entirely.  
Stick it out for now and change your major (assuming you can) to something you want to do for the rest of your life. Not getting education at all would be a big regret- even if the paper is useless, well thats in the US I dont know about in the UK.  
Dont do something you'll regret, though.

College/University is fucking expensive! Unless you know exactly what career path you want from that education or if someone else is happily paying your way or you have a scholarship, etc... Get Out Now! Far too big a life expense to float your way through. At least here in the States.

I dropped out after 4 and a half years. I wish I had gotten out at year 2.

Edit: After close to two years out I think I'm ready to go back and start in a third department and then finish off with an education degree to become a teacher.

Find a different major. Don't drop out. Your life choices are severely limited if you do - having a degree, even if you don't do anything with it at your job, helps immensely.

I never went to Uni, couldn't afford it, government scrapped the grant the year before. My wife enrolled to UEL a few years back and when I meet her there from time to time, fucking hell, if that's what Uni students are like today, get out, get out now.

@BoG said:

Stick it out, but change your major. Major in something that is interesting, if it lacks utility. A college degree is extremely valuable, even in a random area. If you just wait for it to get better, it won't.

This, but I think there's an important distinction to be made as far as interest vs. passion. I guess the only way to gain a passion for something is to try it first, so an interest can evolve into a passion.

I can relate to this, its basically the situation I try desperately to avoid by not starting up new studies. But apparently knowing what you want to do in life IS REALLY HARD. So I might eventually have to do it anyways, just to not get disowned and thrown out of the house....

Sometimes dropping out to figure out what you want to do is a really good idea. But don't expect it to be easy or fun, and don't expect to be working jobs that don't suck. I took several years off from college after spending 3 unproductive years at a rather expensive university. I took some time (a lot of time) worked various jobs, lived life, and arrived at a place where I finally knew what sort of career I wanted to pursue. A few years later I finished my BFA, a process that was fun and enjoyable. Much more so than the time I spent in college right out of high school. Now I'm in a job I like well enough, and more importantly I have skills and education that will enable me to get other jobs I want in the future. Taking time off can work, but it could also be a disaster.

So consider taking some time off, but you need to be aware that you might not ever go back. I almost didn't, and that would have been really bad. If you can manage to stick with it and finish now, do it. Otherwise, you have to make a commitment to yourself to complete you degree at some point.

(Also, unrelated, what album cover is that you are using as your avatar? I was thinking it was Shellac, but now I'm pretty sure that's wrong. It's driving me nuts.) EDIT: Nevermind, it's Slint!

@Brodehouse said:

See, they tricked you into going to university and spending tens of thousands of dollars before you have a remote fucking clue who you are or want you want to be. They talk about university like it's just What You Do when you leave high school, not as if its a major financial decision that will affect you for decades to come (and ultimately amounts of the most expensive and ultimately meaningless licensing money can buy). Since ERRYONE has a bachelors degree, they don't mean shit anymore. Bachelor degree qualifies you to deliver pizza in the job market.

yea that, most people are way to stupid to see it before it's already done though. you only go to uni if you know you want it, not just because. or if your parents pave the way for you, but you still gotta want it.

find out what you like or at least finish a bullshit major unless money is actually tight and you are paying for it. i make more money than anyone i know and people don't even know what my degree was in or that i have one.

Man, I don't know. I finished college years ago and still don't know what the fuck to do. I don't even have anything to drop out from, so I guess, blaerhfgfhLnnn? Or something like that.

@CookieMonster said:

I'm about a third of a way through my second year at uni, and I can't help but feel that I don't want to be here. I'm studying maths and I can't motivate myself to do any of the work. The whole routine is so dull: Go to lectures, do worksheets. That is it.

My flatmates are taking courses in engineering and theres so much variation in their workload compared to mine. They have group work, do presentations, have coursework set in different computer programmes. They have a lot of work, but its seems so much more interesting to mine. Not to mention the fact that due to the amount of group work they have to do, they actually know and are friends with loads of people on their course. There are far too many people on mine (over 200 I think), so due to the lack of group work, I barely know any. Also I tend to find very few are particularly friendly (and this leads me to the other aspect of uni: social life).

Another aspect I'm finding difficult to cope with is the social side of uni. Back at home, I have many close friends, I feel totally comfortable around them and they often ask me to come out with them. At uni, its a completely different situation. I rarely go out, and have very few friends that I want to hang around with. It seems like a majority of people at this uni are boring rich kids from London that just want to go to terrible nights out (where the music is god awful) so that they can pull.

Its something I've thought long and hard about for the past few weeks. At the moment, I suppose I have 3 options:

1) Drop out (and try and figure out what I want to do with my life)

2) Stick it out and wait for it to come good (Really not a big fan of this option)

3) Stick it out but start paying for music lessons (As I'm not going out too much/doing too much, I was thinking of pooling the money saved from nights out into guitar or singing lessons. My dad said that he would consider putting money into this too)

I've talked about this a bit with my parents, and they reckon I should just do whatever makes me happy. I've emailed my tutor to see if I can meet up with him to discuss the situation, but he hasn't got back to me yet. So yeah, a bit to take in. Thoughts?

I totally get where you're coming from. I've got about 3 months left until I get my Masters and not a year went by without me thinking "Why the fuck am I doing this?". I can't say whether or not you should stop going to school. What I would say is that, whatever you do, make sure you don't have regrets. It would be shitty to leave school and regret it all your life. But it would be just as shitty to finally get that degree and wonder what it was all for. Maybe talk to some of your professors or classmates that are further in the program then you and see what they say about this. They could probably offer the best advice of all of us.

I agree that it sounds like you want to try being an engineer, and I agree that it seems like you should be able to apply your math credits toward it. I would also like to point out that a degree in math is applicable to statistics, which is in turn applicable to a broad variety of fields from biochemistry to astrophyics to political science. This may not bear itself out at the undergraduate level, but higher up it will.

If you are going to drop out, though, don't drop out in order to find something different. You went into college without knowing where it'd get you. It won't be any better if you leave college and end up in just the same place. I dropped out of grad school cause I was backed into a corner, but I at least knew where I was going after I left. So that's the real point - figure out what you want before you do something, not after, and you have more options from where you are now than you will once you're dropped out and unemployed.

Finish the school year. Take some time off. A year off if you need to. Get a job. Think about what you want to do. Think about switching majors.

I'm in the same situation OP, totally sucks. Yet it's always nice to hear you're not alone. I just hope that I'll make it till the end so all the money I've paid for studies won't go to hell.

Is it not common to change majors outside of the U.S.? First semester of second year seems like a pretty normal time most American students seem to really settle into their major to begin with.

Socially, I'm in the same situation as you. My physics degree this semester has literally no group work, and is mainly lectures. Hell, even my project partner dropped out because he said it was too hard. So most people have stratified into their discrete groups, so yeah I mainly hang with the same people, who are OK. Luckily, physics is kinda tough and time consuming so I really don't have time to go out any more than I do.

I wouldn't drop out, it sounds like you have aptitude for the course, and you must be nearing half way now so I would see it through. Maybe join a club or something. Also, look at the careers department and try a pick out what you want to end up with, some of the most driven and contented with the course people I know have a path after uni set in stone.

I'm in my third year at uni doing an electronic engineering course, I would defiantly say to stick with it at this point - we've got what like a week till the Christmas break, then one more term (which for me is 8 weeks - a lot shorter than this 12 week term) and then all you've got left is one year!

If you drop out now it will cost you £9000 per year to do an Engineering degree, it's likely at this point they won't let you just switch degree and keep the £3200~ you're paying at the moment. If you get the maths degree and still want to do an Engineering degree then that should help you enter straight into 2nd year missing out a whole £9000.

If you were in first year and coming up to Christmas I'd be saying a different thing but you're already two thirds of the way through your course. You might as well stick it out and think about what you want to do after Uni.

At almost exactly the same time as you, I had the same issue. I decided to stick with it. However, we have a few differences. Firstly, I study History/Politics so the lack of contact hours is cos we're supposed to do reading (which I may or may not do...). Secondly, I don't care that I don't know a lot of people here. Thirdly, I hate group work.

Anyway, you have to ask yourself what you would do if you did drop out. There's no use in dropping out and then considering it. Even if you don't come up with a career path or whatever, some sort of short term plan is required. For me, I had none. I would've moved home and putzed around and regressed to my pre-18 state. Sure, I would've applied for jobs but without experience AND without a degree I would've been fucked. Now, you may have lots of workplace experience in which case your prospects after dropping out are slightly improved but you should still think about that. I know two people who dropped out of university. One is doing very well for themselves, the other wishes they'd finished (although still not doing terribly). So, it can go either way.

You should also question whether you are disillusioned with the whole idea of being at university or just your course and the people around you. I like being at university because of the independence and the maturity I feel it has forced upon me. My course is secondary. In fact, I actively hate one whole half of the course. If you're going to switch courses, do it now. I don't go to your university (presumably, since you said London) so I dunno how that would work for you, but inquire.

Still, talk it over with more people than your parents (who will just go along with what you think you want) and the internet (who don't know anything about you).

@BestUsernameEver said:

There's no point in doing something you don't like doing. Even though it's always daunting not knowing what's next, I'd take it a thousand times more than deliberately making myself miserable because it's socially accepted.

I would disagree with this. Every job has its up and downs. And if you are part way there ensuring that you'll have something that pays decently is worth something. If the OP had some career they thought they would love, sure. But having a boring job and going skiing on the weekend beats the heck out of having a boring job and catching up on your TV during the weekend. Dropping out will not inherently put you in happy circumstances.

Switching to a different degree with a more varied class tract, as long as it makes use of previous math credits, would probably be the most viable if the current path is out. But with math the career path would probably be less paperwork intensive than engineering (where you get excited when you get to do math).

@CookieMonster said:

I'm studying maths

Well there's your problem. Maths is boring, but Math is where all the excitement happens. The S kills the party.