Succesful people with AS who dropped out of college?

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I am thinking about dropping out of college. Not because of any learning difficulties, my GPA at the moment is a 3.7, but I want to be a writer and I do not think being an English major would really prepare me more than independent study. I am bored with college and do not like the college lifestyle. I do not mind taking service industry jobs or anything I can to pay the bills, and I have relatives I can live with and who can also help me find a job. The only thing would be medical insurance, and I am taking anti-anxiety pills, but I do not know if I will really need them anymore or if medical insurance will be truly necessary.

Yet everyone else, including my parents and counselor, and all my family, is telling me I need to go to college. if I drop out now I can get a 70% refund and move to where my other relatives are, start working and writing (Don't worry, I don't expect to get famous anytime soon, it's just something I need to do.). I'm an INFP, I go by my intuition, and despite the warnings of much older people, it seems like college is just the machine of big lies that takes all your money and gives you very little in return.

I suppose I just needed to ask, is there anyone else with AS or ASD who've dropped out of college or not gone to college and ended up being successful? I define success as being able to support yourself, even if you're poor. I'd just like to have some other opinions on this.

I left college in my early 20s and spent 10 years building a successful career. That career vanished during an economic downturn and I went back to school to live on the financial aid, but there were other factors complicating that whole thing, so I don't think it's representative.

Yes, I left school because it had no meaning for me and did well. It's all in what you want to do. You can always go back.

Since about the turn of the century, it's become a heck of a lot harder for anyone to become successful without a piece of paper that identifies exactly what info they've managed to regurgitate upon command.

The most successful dropout I can think of offhand was Bill Gates (no actual diagnosis of AS, but come on - it's pretty frakking obvious, ain't it?), but the market for new OSes is kind of slim these days...

I know someone who's aspie who dropped out after his 3rd year. I think he got offered a job. Now he's a computer programmer, makes a decent income. In my opinion even though college might be useless for you it might be better just to get a degree, adds more to your transcript.

Hard to say.

People drop out of college because it's not doing anything for them. If they are successful, it's because they reject the crap the school was teaching them and go for their goals with enthusiasm.

People think that piece of paper = success. It doesn't, and a lot of what school teaches will make you conform to a system plagued by mediocrity.

Now, that said, if you can't stick with school because you find your AS is in the way, I hate to inform you that the real world is a lot more demanding, intolerant and unforgiving than the academic world, so you might as well learn what about your AS is a barrier and how you can best deal with it because if you drop out of school, you'll have the same problems in a job in the real world.

While I agree it a diploma is just a piece of paper for some it is absolutely necessary but not for writers of course.

In any case it is a safety net and since you are not strugling in school it would be a waste to exit now.
For my generation, it made a world of difference. The ones that couldn't finish live mostly unsuccessful lives and some of them are very bright.

In my case, I have to get my bachelors and if i don't, I will never realize my dreams and never accomplish my dream ever.

Bill Gates remember had a very rich family to fall back on and he dropped out to follow a "passion".

Successful people who drop out often drop out because they found something much more interesting they were going to devote their time to e.g. running a business, joining the Peace Corps etc. They drop out with a certain specific goal in mind.

However if you want to drop out because college bores you and then be bored doing some minimum wage jobs while living in a relative's basement, well, I think those people tend not to be successes.

Basically if you want to drop out, drop out not because you're bored, but because you want to devote yourself to something very interesting.

Just be aware that having a diploma doesn't mean you're going to be successful. All it means is that you have a diploma. And, possibly, some really serious debts to pay for it. I have three degrees, now, and made more money (if that's your definition of "success") 25 years ago as a drop out. I work with a lot of people who have advanced degrees who do work that a high school graduate could handle, really. And they're making marginally more $$$ than a sign-twirler.

My experience has been that after you've worked for a couple of years, your degree gets relegated to the back page of your resume and is never really looked at again by employers - in the general workforce.

It depends what field your sheepskins are in - and remember that even in high-tech most of what you're taught is already several years out-of-date at the time it's presented to you. Get a BA in Philosophy and you'd better be prepared to discuss Kant over coffee as you serve it.

Zero - not sure about Gates, but I've seen a video of him where he's got the Autistic Rocking thing down bigtime. I think it might have even been posted here on WP. - N