This isn’t some romanticized “I-want-to-escape” idea, because “college is too hard.” I have a plan, and I guess that’s what I’m here for (in other words, all of the above was just to give you some background. Okay, a lot of background). So:
-If you were in my place, would you go through with it and leave university? How should I discuss this with my parents, if the main concern is finances?
I know music conservatories aren’t free, and I’m more than aware that I probably won’t receive much, if any, in scholarships, due to how dismal my current college GPA is. My high school GPA and scores are fairly decent, though (top 2% of graduating class of a large public high school, 35 ACT, IB Diploma graduate).
My general plan is to leave university (immediately, if possible, depending on how my school’s financial aid works), get a job (just so I’m not just sitting around and taking advantage of my parents because I’m already an adult now), get my piano technique back on track (I’ve already started, just in case), apply to music programs/conservatories, and see what happens from there. Yeah, I still have back pains, but that hasn’t been a good excuse for my professors to keep me from standing in a lab for 5 hours straight and performing detailed lab techniques, so why should it stop me from piano? In terms of careers, I’ve always been good on stage (though recently not so much, I’ve lost a lot of my self-esteem in general since I quit, so that’s another thing I’ll have to work on) so piano performance is an option, as well as teaching piano. I know, it’s risky, but I think I picked my poison a long time ago. I just don’t know how to get from where I am to where I want to be with the least financial risk possible.
That was really long. So sorry if some of it was unnecessary, but I needed to take it all off my chest and if you actually take the time to read this and reply, you have no idea how thankful I am.