i left school to daytrade for a year. What an experience.
Now i'm going back to finish out my senior year, at 25 (i'm a bit old)
The idea is that upon graduating, i'm going right back into daytrading. Maybe it will be with a prop. Maybe it will be for myself. So far, I've seen the good and bad with both.
I'll give it at least 2 years after my undergrad. (one of my trading buds thinks if you're not getting after 1 year, its time to move on) If it doesn't work, I'll apply for a masters in fin math. (i'm a poly sci guy, but i spent my last semester junior year in undergrad studying math for this reason only...)
I figure if I can't hack it, the only thing I can do is look for trading-related positions where making money is not necessarily the primary goal, like in daytrading. (quanty/programmer position, execution trader, sales trader, trade support, ect) Positions like this are easier to come by after doing the masters. (seriously you should see some of the resumes of the masters students. great academics, but experience is something like, "I tutored math for 6 years)
That was the plan A. Plan b is go to grad school for law. Plan C is to become a broker, of any type.
And then theres plan Mysteriously High Pay. This plan is about occupations that pay a lot, but you wouldn't normally assume this. A good example is the personal trainer at 24hr fitness. Great pay, but then again, some barriers to entry (fitness, certification...did you know they actually require a B.A in kinesiology/something P.E related, or a certification?) Another example is tennis teaching pro. Good pay, but again, barrier to entry (need to know how to play tennis)
(I can see it now...help somebody get into shape in the afternoon, teach a private tennis lesson in the evening, put some trades on in the morning. there it is.)
Some people say that thinking/planning on failure is a bad thing/you weren't meant for trading. I can see that on some level. But on another level, if you never planned for failure, it'd be like daytrading 100:1 with a 3k account. nobody recommends you do this because you'd expect auto failure. Just because you do a littlle "cover your ass" planning, doesn't mean you're not cut out to be a trader.
(I'm surprised nobody actually brought that argument up in the thread, so I thought I'd just throw it out there if anyone disagrees)
Good trading, and good health!