College is a confusing, overwhelming time. You’re figuring out who you are, and what you want to do, all while battling midterms and Greek Week. It’s a lot to balance, especially when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life. College is a more conventional way of going about your future, most of the time. However, a lot of people realize that it’s not for them; and that is more than okay!
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You don’t have to go to graduate from college to be successful, and these celebrities prove that.
Did you know, per Research, that up to 40 percent of undergraduate students leave college every year?! It’s true! many have figured this out for themselves, and quite a few celebrities, too, that you may not have known have dropped out of college.
Some stayed for only one semester, while others had mere weeks to go before leaving to pursue their artistic passion.
From legends like Stevie Nicks and Madonna to Oscar-winning actors like Anne Hathaway and Anna Paquin, there are more than you think.
Check out which celebrities have dropped out of college below:
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Matt Damon
Image Credit: Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images. With only 12 credits to go, Matt Damon dropped out of Harvard to start his acting career, by skyrocketing to fame in the 1997 film Geronimo: An American Legend.
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Oprah Winfrey
Image Credit: Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images. Oprah dropped out of Tennessee State University after she got offers to work in broadcast journalism.
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Sofía Vergara
Image Credit: Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images. Sofía Vergara studied dentistry at the National University of Colombia, and continued her modeling career throughout. However, she left before her senior year to become a TV host.
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Ariel Winter
Image Credit: Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images. While filming Modern Family, Ariel Winter enrolled in UCLA to potentially study law in 2016, but it then got postponed to 2017, and then by 2018 she decided to take an indefinite hiatus.
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Jake Gyllenhaal
Image Credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images. Both Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal attended Columbia University. He went to study Eastern religions and philosophy, but dropped out after his sophomore year to act.
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Brad Pitt
Image Credit: Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images. Two weeks before Brad Pitt was supposed to graduate with his degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he packed up his things and left for Hollywood; and the rest is history.
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Eva Mendes
Image Credit: Photo by Chelsea Lauren/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images. Eva Mendes studied marketing at California State University, Northridge for multiple semesters, but after she was scouted out by a talent manager, she decided to pursue acting.
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Anne Hathaway
Image Credit: Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images. Anne Hathaway was set to study English at Vassar, and she did for a year but dropped out to film The Princess Diaries. She later enrolled at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, but again, dropped out to focus on her amazing acting career.
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Ashton Kutcher
Image Credit: Photo by Rob Latour/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images. Before Ashton Kutcher became Ashton Kutcher, he studied biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa, but dropped out after a few semesters to pursue modeling and acting.
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Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Photo by Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images. Lady Gaga was one of a very few amount of people to get early admission to NYU’s Tish School of the Arts, but in her sophomore year, she dropped out to pursue her music career.
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Jessica Biel
Image Credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images. Jessica Biel left Tufts University after a few semesters to play the lead in the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the rest is history.
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Madonna
Image Credit: Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images. Madonna earned a dance scholarship at the University of Michigan, but after a year, she left to pursue dance full time.
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Salma Hayek
Image Credit: Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images. Salma Hayek briefly attended the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico to pursue international relations, but left soon after to pursue acting.
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Rachael Ray
Image Credit: Photo by Andrew Morales/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images. Rachael Ray was set to get a degree at Pace University in literature and communications, but dropped out soon after and then in a short time after that, she was hired as a food buyer in New York.
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Ben Affleck
Image Credit: Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images. Ben Affleck only stayed at the University of Vermont to study Spanish for a few months before transferring to study Middle Eastern affairs at Occidental College. However, he dropped out after three semesters.
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Tom Hanks
Image Credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images. Tom Hanks originally went to Chabot College, but then transferred to California State University. He dropped out after some time to start a three-year internship program at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Ohio.
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Image Credit: Photo by Anna Pocaro/IndieWire via Getty Images. Julia Louis-Dreyfus dropped out of Northwestern University her junior year to take on a job at Saturday Night Live.
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Jennifer Lopez
Image Credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images. After one semester studying business at New York’s Baruch College, Jennifer Lopez left to pursue dancing and singing.
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Zooey Deschanel
Image Credit: Photo by Anna Webber/Variety via Getty Images. Zooey Deschanel spent less than a year at Northwestern University before deciding college wasn’t for her.
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Kristen Bell
Image Credit: Photo by Vincent Collyer/Variety via Getty Images. Kristen Bell had only a few credits left to graduate from the Tisch School of the Arts with her degree in musical theater. But she left to star in the Broadway musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
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Emmy Rossum
Image Credit: Photo by Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty Images. Emmy Rossum attended Columbia University for some time before leaving to pursue her acting career.
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Reese Witherspoon
Image Credit: Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images. Reese Witherspoon was all set to the English literature at Standford University, but dropped out her sophomore year to pursue acting, much to the chagrin of her mother.
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Anna Paquin
Image Credit: Photo by Chelsea Lauren/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images. Like many stars, Anna Paquin enrolled at Columbia University. However, she dropped otu after a year to keep pursuing acting.
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Eddie Murphy
Image Credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images. Soon after enrolling, Eddie Murphy dropped out of New York’s Nassau Community College
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Kate Beckinsale
Image Credit: Photo by Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images. After three years studying at Oxford University, Kate Beckinsale decided to drop out.
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Bonnie Raitt
Image Credit: Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images. Bonnie Raitt dropped out of Harvard University before finishing her senior to pursue herself to her music career.
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Stevie Nicks
Image Credit: Photo by Rob Latour/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images. Stevie Nicks dropped out her senior year of studying undergraduate at San Jose State to move to Los Angeles.
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Lauryn Hill
Image Credit: Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images,. Lauryn Hill was at Columbia when The Fugees’ second album The Score started to climb the charts. So during her sophomore year, she decided to drop out and focus on music.