Dropping out of High School.
Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 64 posts · 85 votes
I want to build a real estate investing business. I want to buy and hold, I want to rent I want to do BRRRR's and I feel like High School is holding me back. I also want to get a job working with GC starting out as a laborer and working my way up. I sit in school for 6-7 hours a day miserable, tired and annoyed. I feel like I could be home studying, or in an internship and gaining real world experience. I dont feel like i fit in school because of what I want to do. What do you guys think about this? I am finishing up 10th grade. I have big plans and I want to start executing them. The only issue with this is I want to join the fire department and I dont know if they require a High School diploma or not. Im feeling really torn at the moment. (For reference I am a honor roll student 90.4 GPA)
Short answer. Do not drop out of high school. PERIOD.
If you drop out now most likely you’ll need a GED to do anything later even a job in contacting.
You don’t have a lot of time left (trust me 2 years will fly by) and you’ll be done. If you don’t have an after school job you can use that time to intern at a local construction firm or real estate agency. But please just get your diploma now rather than waste time getting it later. Try to change your perspective on HS look at it as a place to network. Every single one of those teachers and staff live in real estate everyday right? You can find deals for them or partner with them. That could be a way to use other people’s money to fund your first deal. You are so close just finish strong.
@John Moorhouse may have already been been said, but every where will require a high school diploma. Maybe not so much a college degree. Finish school now and you won't have to worry about it later. Life is more fun without any regrets.
I think everyone has said the same thing 156 times.
It is possible to get great, if not more education when your not in school. (It depends).
If your home schooled, usually you get a lot more experience, and a lot more free time. For example: My sister was home schooled, and she graduated college four years before other people, and went on to be a professor. Along with gaining 10x the experience than the average student.
Kids these days, even adults who have left college don't know how to do basic stuff like, doing laundry, basic social skills, organizational skills, etc. Which all are covered, and more when home schooling if you do it the right way.
If you can't change to home schooling, and if you can't get a lot of internships in different areas, than stick with school and wait till you graduate. You can make your decision to go to college or not later. But finish HS.
@John Moorhouse
Do not do this. I felt the same way and failed my way through high school. Eventually I needed the army the knock me into the right place. Now I’m an md. I passed through being a janitor, fast food worker, furniture sales, quality control “chemist”, phlebotomist, etc en route. I wouldn’t have gotten any of those without my diploma.
You’re young...things change. Don’t do this. Please.
@John Moorhouse
Life is full of hoops that must be jumped through. It may feel like a waste of time and 99% of what you learn won’t be used or remembered. But high school is the low tier hoop that you have to have. It shows basic competence. In the end it’s just a box that has to be checked for jobs and your future. You don’t know how your future is going to pan out. Think of all the other people you may know without that diploma. I can’t think of any of them I admire.
@John Moorhouse there is lots of great advice on here, just asking the question is commendable, that trait will help you in life. Never be afraid to ask questions~
1. Do not drop out of school because it is a STIGMA. You don't want to start life with a stigma, rightly or wrongly society labels and you will have the label "high school dropout." No. If you're smart you are better than that.
2. Do NOT take on student loan debt. Debt overall is bad (unless it's strategic) and I would try to avoid college debt at all costs.
3. Find a way to make your HS experience better -- join a club, START an investing club! Find a teacher who "gets" you and you like and set up an internship. Be proactive. Don't be afraid to have an adult contact the school and maybe set up an independent study. Find a mentor. Maybe on BP. Find a real estate company with a savvy President/CEO in any area of real estate and ask them if they can mentor you on an independent study. Go do an independent study. You could do that for your junior and senior years. BE PROACTIVE
The lesson here is your drive is great - being smart is great - now you have to take the gifts you have and make them work for you not against you.
Also, don't believe the hype about "online education" it is not the same.
HOPE THAT HELPS! GOOD LUCK!
@Aaron Wadez. Please. Please. DO. NOT. Drop. Out. Of. School. Take. Up. A. Sport, exercise. Daily. &. Get. Yourself. To. A. Good. Church. This. Education. Is. A. Now. Must......get. That. Diploma. I'll pray. For. You. Hug. Hugs it's. Not. Easy. Being. A. Teenager. Hang. In. 😇🤸♂️
@Joe Splitrock you said it all perfectly and I just realized that I too, am a rabbit chaser! Yikes! Thanks for this revelation Joe. Focus and discipline is the one salient trait to a successful individual in any field.
@John Moorhouse
If I heard of someone with your ambition talking about your goals, I’d get you signed on with my broker under my team.
If I found out you dropped out of high school because you found it annoying and challenging to focus, I’d reconsider.
ALWAYS EDUCATE YOURSELF, especially when it’s paid for. Don’t do RE instead of school, add it to your plate so you can be a high performing member of your community and network. If you can’t do both, stick with school and listen to great podcasts on BP and other sources at night after your homework is completed. HS is free, if we are talking about going $60k into student loan debt to study an obscure subject that doesn’t add value to the global economy, I’d say spend $400+ and get your RE license or use that money to start educating yourself with valuable, time-tested books. BTW that’s what I did. I graduated HS during the recession and paid my way through working at school for an associates degree that took me two years. I am 30, debt free other than RE, and still slowly getting my bachelors, but I’ve worked 40-80 hours per week since I was 20. I have friends still paying off their student loans, moving back in with their folks indefinitely, and working at Chipotle. To be clear, this would be a HUGE mistake @John and a complete bummer because it sounds like you have big goals. If you want to chat I’d love to talk with you. Twenty years down the road if you decide to have children, what advice would you give your son? Be the example and listen to those that have gone before you. Take care young hustler.
-KL
@John Moorhouse
Hey man I was going through the same thing as you in high school. I felt like I was wasting precious time, sitting in class when I could be out learning about life and making money. I had everybody telling me not to and that I will regret it and I’ll be a loser. I didn’t listen any of them. I dropped out in the 10th grade and went to work for a masonry GC. I busted my a$& at work as a laborer making great money for a teenager.15-22 and hour and over a couple year period until I became an apprentice, then journeyman bricklayer. Now I’m 22 yo and I make 28 an hour with full benefits because I learned a trade and went against conventional ways. I have 0 dollars invested in school and I had a huge head start on life due to dropping out. I was able to buy my first cash flowing duplex at 21 with money I saved, married and started a beautiful family with a wife that dose not work and gets to stay home with the kids. It may sound bad to some but dropping out and taking life head on was an amazing decision. It can put you ahead if your a hard worker and stand out from the rest or it can set you back if your lazy and unmotivated. I was able to achieve and learn so much in those 2 years about life and money. Schools not for everyone, especially for guys like us and time is the most valuable thing we have. Because of this decision I believe I will be retired by 30 As I continue to invest save and educate more and more about things that will affect me and my family for the best and help us grow in health and wealth
This post reminds me of something I saw yesterday. I was at Fedex and they were looking for warehouse people and delivery driver. On the sign under qualification, one of them was High School Dipolma and/or GED to do a basic labor job.
@John Moorhouse
While I’m in total agreement that the public school system is a waste of time, I think staying in is the best. Start working for investors for free putting in that sweat! Build your contacts from there, maybe work out some equity deals for work, by the time you graduate you’ll already have connections and a net worth.
I recommend staying in school, be patient, get a solid education and a solid foundation for your future plans and do your best to excel in school as well. You have your whole life ahead of you. Build a solid educational foundation now so when you go off and pursue your dreams, you are in a better position and better prepared to succeed at them.
@John Moorhouse you seem smart and motivated. See if your high school has dual enrollment with a local college and you can finish high school with or close to an Associates Degree. It is true RE doesn't require "higher" education but one of the biggest lessons I always see is "Always have multiple exit strategies" and that applies to jobs also. One of the smartest people I've ever met was one of my high school teachers and she said have a career and have a trade to fall back on. Looking back now that is the exact same lesson.
You are way ahead of your peers, just stick with school and work On your skills on the side.
Don't Drop Out that is just silly as everyone I know who ever dropped out has regretted it.
Instead take on a challenge and see what kind of Entrepreneur you really are.
I challenge you to Build a Side Hustle Business while maintaining an "A" average in school where you make more than your teachers the day you graduate. So how can you hustle and grind for the next two years and make more than your teachers part time???
I promise you it is not being a Labor jockey for GC's. You do not want that life.
I believe if you invest the next two years learning and building something that you could be off to the races by the time you are 18. However, if you drop out now you have put a ceiling on your life and I promise you it is much lower than it could be by simply finishing High School. Note we are not talking about college here we are talking about High School.
I was in a similar spot as you. I was a D and F student. I didn't do classwork or homework, but I aced tests.
The remedial work and sitting in a classroom to do it was torture.
I finished 10th grade, then got myself onto homeschool where I was able to get the required work out of the way in less than 6 months. This was 1994, so the world and how to get education was different. I finished "ahead" of schedule and I was free
My recommendation is to just get the diploma, but find a faster way. You can take community college classes that will count towards HS credit, do homeschooling, take accelerated tests, get your units and get it done.
Also would be a good idea what the FD requires before you quit school. You are almost there, you might need it, but find a faster way to getting it done - maybe at home
School wasn't my thing either, but dropping out of high school shouldn't be an option. Even though I got my bachelors degree, I don't think college is necessary in most cases. Completing high school is necessary in all cases. Don't shoot yourself in the foot before you even start.
Be patient finish school. Then go apply for an apprenticeship. My son graduated last year and I got him into the same apprenticeship I went through. He makes really good money for an 18 year old. He is saving to buy and house hack a duplex or triplex. He has to establish his credit over the next year and by then he will be ready. He has a huge head start and so will you if you are patient. I wish I had someone to guide me when I was your age. I dropped out and have worked construction since. I did go back and get my GED and got into an apprenticeship now I make decent money and hopefully will get my first deal soon. I made a lot of bad decisions and it has cost me. Now I'm almost 40 and barely catching up. If I would have had this advice I'd be retired already.
I want to build a real estate investing business. I want to buy and hold, I want to rent I want to do BRRRR's and I feel like High School is holding me back. I also want to get a job working with GC starting out as a laborer and working my way up. I sit in school for 6-7 hours a day miserable, tired and annoyed. I feel like I could be home studying, or in an internship and gaining real world experience. I dont feel like i fit in school because of what I want to do. What do you guys think about this? I am finishing up 10th grade. I have big plans and I want to start executing them. The only issue with this is I want to join the fire department and I dont know if they require a High School diploma or not. Im feeling really torn at the moment. (For reference I am a honor roll student 90.4 GPA)
Go to one of those online or stay at home schools where you can go at your own pace and just finish two years early. You can probably knock out a "normal" days school work in a couple hours at home vs being there for 7 hours. If I could go back in time this is what I would have done, Because you don't not want to have your GED or Diploma, trust me.
Good luck.
@John Moorhouse omg please do not make a mistake. Total mistake to leave school education and school is everything. I went to school for realestate, culinary, nursing, business, horticulture, massage therapist, now going to school for Bachelor in Social Work . School is everything....Do not stop your education it’s everything! Please....
@John Moorhouse I wouldn’t recommend dropping out. BUT...
I did fall one course short of a diploma. I finished grade 12 with 120/100 required credits. The only course I was short was an English 30 course, which was a required course to graduate in Alberta.
I did NOT graduate, rather than taking that English course I took a “pre-employment Electrician” program which was called “dual-credit” made for creating more tradesmen in my generation.
After finishing that course, the week after school ended I got a job with an electrical company and completed my trade within 3-4 years becoming a Red Seal (Interprovincial) Journeyman Electrician.
I’m registered in courses at NAIT to get my Blue Seal (Business Management) this fall. And in September 2021 I’ll be eligible to go for my “Master” Electrician.
I currently own three buy and holds and have one flip under my belt with a profit of $39k on the flip. So a total of 5 units right now with two up/down duplex’s and a single family home.
I’d say follow your gut, get the required courses to become a firefighter and the required courses/grade level to apprentice inthe trade you desire then GO AFTER IT.
Life’s short, logically make a plan to achieve your goals then execute.
I’m a landlord and a Journeyman at 22 yrs old with a diploma, how often do you think I get asked if I have a diploma? NEVER.
The best part is when people laugh or scoff, and you’re far more successful than they were at your age.
Go get em.
Every single person at some point wanted to leave high school; that's how we operate. It's a mistake that will follow you around for a long time and even if your successful and own your own thing one day, there's always a stigma in today's world for that sort of thing, for better or worse. Take your time, learn what you can and start to apply it while you're trudging along in school to be better prepped when you're out. A lot of people have the same idea as you and I haven't seen too many of their success stories in the comments, so you need to realize that it's an uphill battle.
So I feel your pain. I did well in school but always HATED EVERY MINUTE of it. So take it from someone who also thought it was a waste of time. DO NOT DROP OUT! You will put yourself at a great disadvantage if you do so. You will limit your job prospects as well as back up plans if you find out that you do not like/aren't cut out to be a landlord. Many people fall in love with the idea of owning real estate but actually managing rentals is very different than how the shows and many investors make it out to be. Not to mention it will be way easier to buy rental properties if you have a W2 job. Also most people won't do a contract with anyone under the age of 18 as they are not executable. The best thing you could do is finish school, get yourself a w2 job, work on your credit, and buy a 4 unit on a residential mortgage and live in one of the unit. You only need 3.5% down for an FHA loan, and can take it out to 30 years making the property cashflow like crazy. Then after you live in it for a year, purchase a new one and do the same thing. This will also let you get experience as a landlord and you will find out pretty quickly without a ton of risk if this is really the avenue for you. Feel free to shoot me a message if you ever have any questions.
@John Moorhouse
Like Nike, just do it!!!!
@John Moorhouse
I’m a little confused from your comment. 1 you said you want to start a real estate business. 2 you want to be a fire fighter. Both have different paths and if you really wanted to you could do both to a certain extent. If you want to BURRR home you should focus on how you could start, what you need to get started and set goals to achieve. Same goes for fire fighting. As for high school, you should definitely continue going and graduate with your class. On your spare time work on your real estate goals. This will help set you up, so when you do Graduate you have more options and time to amplify what you’ve already been doing. The choice is yours and it will never be clear but you need to choose one and keep moving forward.