Stop That Degree! What to Do When You've Just Started and Already Know It's Not Right

You're in week three of your first year, the lecturer is enthusiastically talking about something that doesn't interest you in the slightest, and somewhere deep down you already know: this isn't it. Maybe you've had that feeling for a while. Maybe you were already doubtful when you enrolled, but thought: give it a chance, you'll get used to it. Sometimes you do get used to it. But sometimes you don't — and that's okay too.

Quitting your studies feels like failure. Nobody says it out loud, but you feel it in your parents' looks, in your grandfather's question at Christmas. Yet there's something even worse than quitting: carrying on with something that doesn't suit you, year after year, until after five years you're standing there with a degree you never wanted. Now that's a missed opportunity.

What does the law say? Let's take a look at student finance

Before you decide anything at all, let's look at the practical side. Because honestly: money plays a role, and it's smart to know where you stand before you impulsively deregister.

DUO — the organisation behind your student finance — works with what's known as a performance grant system. You're entitled to a total of ten years of funding for a bachelor's or master's degree. That sounds like a lot, but that clock keeps ticking even if you start a programme you ultimately don't finish. The good news: if you deregister before 1 February of your first academic year, that year won't count towards your OV-card or your loan. That's the official restart date — and it exists for good reason.

Want to switch from an HBO to a WO programme, or from one field to another? That's possible, but keep in mind: every year you've received funding takes a bite out of your total entitlement. So speak to a study advisor at your current programme as soon as possible. Those conversations are confidential, free of charge, and often surprisingly useful. They've seen this more often than you'd think.

Want to know more about exactly how DUO handles this? Visit the official DUO page for students — it's all explained clearly there.

But how do you actually know what does suit you?

This is, of course, the real question. Because quitting is one thing, but then what? Many people who switch end up switching again. Not because they're lazy or don't know what they want — but because they've never really taken the space to get to know themselves. You go from school to studies, from one list to the next, and somewhere along the way you forget to ask: what do I actually want?

That's exactly why tools like Findmino exist. Findmino helps you discover which fields of study truly suit you — not based on what your friends are doing or what pays well, but based on who you are. Through a smart study quiz, you map out your interests, working style, and motivations. It doesn't take an hour — but it gives you the kind of insight that would normally take you months to arrive at.

And that insight is no small thing. Because the difference between a degree you complete and one you leave after two years often has nothing to do with difficulty level or salary prospects. It comes down to whether you spring out of bed in the morning at the thought of what you're going to learn, or whether you head to lectures every Monday morning with a knot in your stomach.

Switching isn't failing, it's course-correcting

Look, there's a difference between giving up and course-correcting. You give up when things get tough and you've lost your motivation. You course-correct when you're honest with yourself and conclude: this doesn't fit, and I'm going to find something that does. That kind of honesty takes courage — more than just muddling through.

Students who switch at the right time are more likely to graduate. Not because they're smarter, but because they study with purpose. They know why they're there. And that makes a world of difference on a rainy Tuesday morning, when the dissertation just won't write itself.

So if you're sitting with that feeling right now — that nagging, lingering sense that this really isn't the right path — take it seriously. Talk to your study advisor. Take the Findmino quiz. See which fields come your way that you might never have considered before. And remember: you're not the first person to do this, and you certainly won't be the last.

You're still at the beginning. That's not a disadvantage — it's precisely the right moment to course-correct.