Advice needed!
I'm 20 and currently nearing the end of my 2nd year of BDS in a GDC.
I didn't take a drop after Class 12. I couldn't get into MBBS through NEET, so I joined BDS.The truth is, I regretted it from literally the first day. I wanted to drop out during my 1st year itself, but my parents refused and kept telling me to complete BDS and then go abroad for my master's.
The problem is that I never wanted dentistry. I wanted to study abroad from the beginning, and ironically, my parents also had that dream. But they insisted that I should at least attempt NEET and then ended up pushing me into BDS when MBBS didn't happen.
We're a low middle-class family, so studying abroad is a huge financial decision. That's one of the reasons I didn't push harder back then.
Academically, I've always been a straight-A student. Now I study just to barely pass exams.It's mentally exhausting. I feel like I've wasted years of my life and whatever potential I had.
The only reason people tell me to continue is because "you're already halfway there." But if I'm being honest, even if I somehow finish BDS, I don't see myself practicing dentistry or pursuing MDS. I want to switch fields completely.
Since I'm in a government dental college, dropping out now wouldn't involve losing lakhs of rupees in tuition fees like it would in a private college.
So I'm stuck with one question:
If I already know I don't want a career in dentistry, does it make more sense to leave now and start building the life I actually want? Or should I complete the degree just because I've already invested two years?
Has anyone here left a professional degree midway and not regretted it? Or finished a degree they hated and felt it was still worth it? I'm looking for honest opinions.