By Emily Feimster Some of Hollywood's brightest stars found the classroom to be a bit dim so they nixed school for a shot at the big time. Wannabe actors who follow this path usually wind up struggling along on day jobs. However, there are those whose enormous talent - or luck - prevailed and they more than landed on their feet, but not without some bumps along the way.Our first group of celebrities got so antsy that they didn't even make it through high school. At age 16, Jim Carrey was already a staple on the comedy scene so he left school and worked up the nerve to move to Los Angeles. Actress Juliette Lewis became legally emancipated from her parents at 14 and left high school just three weeks after starting. "American Idol's" Simon Cowell quit school at 16 and got a job as a mail boy at RCA. He worked his way up to music producer and now spends his time crushing the dreams of wannabe musicians. Aww.

In high school, Keanu Reeves was lukewarm toward academics (isn't he that way about everything, though?) but took a keen interest in ice hockey and drama. He was a goalie for the hockey team but left school to pursue acting. Sarah Polley left high school during her senior year to devote herself to political activism. Director Guy Ritchie also dropped out at 15 and never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and unwatchable - clearly "Swept Away" is much better.

Some actors traded in the books for a life of crime. Robert De Niro quit school to join a gang. However, Mark Wahlberg left school at 14 and eventually spent 50 days in Deer Island penitentiary for assault. He emerged a new man and earned his GED.

Then there are those who gave college a go but quickly found it wasn't for them. Richard Gere won a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts where he majored in philosophy but left after two years to pursue acting. MTV VJ Carson Daly landed a golf scholarship to Loyola Marymount University, but quit after one year to pursue golf. Guess the black fingernail polish wouldn't have sat too well with the PGA. Courteney Cox Arquette left Alabama to study architecture and interior design at Mount Vernon College but quit to pursue a modeling career in New York. Hard to believe but Enrique Iglesias studied business administration at Miami University for a year while Ashton Kutcher briefly majored in biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa. Who knew they could be hot and smart too?

So close yet so far away. While studying journalism at the University of Missouri, Brad Pitt left college two credits short of graduating to move to California. Matt Damon dropped out of Harvard 12 credits short of graduating to pursue his acting career and English major, Vin Diesel, left college with only a year left.

These celebrities found you can drop out of school and still get a degree without even having to write a single paper! Lucky dogs. Nicolas Cage left Beverly Hills High at age 17 - and wrapped up his high school experience by taking the G.E.D. An avid student of culture on his own time, he was given an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton in 2001. After quitting high school, Whoopi Goldberg became addicted to heroin but eventually cleaned up and now holds an honorary degree from Wilson College in Pennsylvania. In 1968, Steven Spielberg quit California State University Long Beach to concentrate on his career but finished his degree in film and electronic arts via independent projects in 2002. He marched in the commencement ceremony donning a cap and gown with his fellow graduates. That same year he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Yale University.

Other folks had no choice but to quit - they were, gasp, expelled! After he set his sister's tree house on fire, Kevin Spacey was shipped off to the Northridge Military Academy, only to be thrown out a few months later for pinging a classmate on the head with a tire. Owen Wilson was expelled from 10th grade at St. Mark's Academy in Texas before heading to a military academy. Growing up in L.A.'s South Central, comedian D.L. Hughley joined the Bloods gang after getting kicked out of high school but turned his life around after a cousin was shot.

It just goes to show that life does have a funny way of working out. But since the odds of becoming famous are a million to one, we highly recommend you stay in school.