Around this time of year, many of us are heading off to college, anxious to begin the next academic year. However when comparing colleges or even contemplating college altogether, there are a few key disadvantages that many dropouts understand.

Schedule

When you’re in school there are often many activities, events, and even classes themselves that interfere with your ability to do what you’d like with your time. While this can certainly be an advantages because it keeps you busy, it also has drawbacks like committing you to spend your time doing things you don’t necessarily want to do.

Costs

When you enter college you most likely will have a big bill to pay. Unless you are a high athletic or academic achiever, or have worked really hard to get scholarships, you most likely don’t have too much financial relief in the way of expenses. This can make it particularly hard to stock money away for a home, living expenses, or even retirement planning.

Freedom and Mobility

Not only can the college experience place more restrictions on when you can go, it can also place restrictions on where you can go. During college there are usually rules on when you can be back. This, by definition places a time limit on how long you can be gone, and thus how far you can go.

When entering college you will be giving up these freedoms as well as a few others. Please don’t think I’m against college altogether. But it certainly is a good idea to compare these various factors when thinking about going to a specific college or university.