At some point throughout their time in college, most students question their choice to attend school in the first place. Some people’s desires to pursue outside interests are strong enough to pull them out of school altogether, including many celebrities in Hollywood today. Most went on to create extremely successful careers despite the lack of a formal education. Here are just a few of the celebrities who’ve made it big without a degree. If you want to see a list of successful politicians who dropped out of college, check out this site.
Kate Beckinsale
Kate dropped out of Oxford University after three years to pursue an acting year.
Matt Damon
Matt attended Harvard University and majored in English, but skipped many classes to work on acting projects. He eventually dropped out completely to pursue his career full time.
Jessica Biel
Jessica enrolled at Tufts University, but quit school to shoot a movie. She says that it was one of the hardest choices she had to make and regrets not spending time with her friends during those four valuable years.
Ben Affleck
Ben gave college a shot a few times. He left the University of Vermont after one semester and later dropped out of Occidental College after one year to pursue acting. He majored in Middle Eastern studies at both schools.
Reese Witherspoon
Reese enrolled at Stanford University to study English Literature and even joined a sorority there, but dropped out after one year to pursue acting.
Brad Pitt
Brad studied Journalism at the University of Missouri, but dropped out just two credits short of graduating. He moved to Los Angeles to take acting classes and start his career.
Anne Hathaway
Anne gave college a shot a few times too. She majored in English and Women’s Studies at Vassar College. She then transferred to New York University, but dropped out to focus on acting.
John Mayer
Although he calls it “one of the biggest gambles of all time,” John left the Berklee College of Music after just two semesters. He was overwhelmed by the training and received terrible grades, so he chose to pursue a singing career in Atlanta, Georgia instead.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth attended the University of California in Santa Barbara and majored in Art History, but dropped out to act in plays.
Tom Hanks
Tom attended Chabot College for two years before transferring to California State University, Sacramento. He later dropped out to take an internship at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio.
