This study examines student perspectives on their deferral and withdrawal from arts courses at Monash University during 2000. The research highlights a commonly unacknowledged difference between students in first semester and in second semester: it suggests that temporary and even permanent withdrawal in the early part of the academic year is most often a positive and hopeful strategy on the part of students who regard their problems as largely financial and external, rather than institutional, while students who stay into second semester, and attempt to battle on in the midst of significant distractions, often become more disillusioned with the course, the institution, and university study. The results have potentially significant implications for academic and administrative staff at universities, especially in terms of the need to support students' exit decisions and the importance of focusing on those problems--often related to student poverty and overcommitment to part-time work--that pull students away from their courses.