[2012-Sep-09] Is college worth it?

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Sentient AI
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[2012-Sep-09] Is college worth it?

Post by Sentient AI »

Is it? I'm not sure myself.
EDIT: Of course, from the viewpoint from someone who hasn't gone to college.

Unregistered User

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Unregistered User »

Sentient AI wrote:Is it? I'm not sure myself.
EDIT: Of course, from the viewpoint from someone who hasn't gone to college.
It really depends in what you want to do in life...

As a physics major, I need at least a Master's to do anything worthwhile

But there are several ocupations where getting a college education would be redundant

So to answer your question: Maybe?

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smiley_cow
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Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by smiley_cow »

Yeah, I agree. It all depends what you want to do. You can go to a community college and learn a trade, or open a business, or do all sorts of things without going to university and still have a good life. And a lot of wildly successful people never even bothered with post-secondary education. And where a generation ago a university degree at least guaranteed a job, it really doesn't anymore, so going to university isn't even a guarantee of success. Not that there's no benefits to going to university, just that I don't think it's necessarily for everyone.
Last edited by smiley_cow on Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
DonRetrasado wrote:Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Bitcoin.

Chrysophase2003

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Chrysophase2003 »

Meh. I can speculate. The fact that degrees are just being handed out makes them pieces of paper certifying that you're willing to put up with obscene amounts of bullshit in order to get ahead in life. That in itself can be useful when you're trying to get a job, since employers at least know you're willing to dedicate yourself to something that is functionally useless, like most jobs.

That being said, if you want to actually receive an education (though why the average American would want to eschew the availability of instant gratification is a mystery to me) it has to begin long before you waltz into college on your parents' dime and buoyed up by crippling debt. I wished to go into psychology and to become a novelist (Always pays to have a backup when the odds of becoming a novelist are about 600,000 to 1). I prepared for it by being born with the demeanor of the average priest in a confessional (an innocent one, at least) as well as a physically abusive, dysfunctional family in which I often as a child had to find ways of getting people on the verge of psychotic breakdowns to avoid murdering one another. I also read constantly to get away from it all and to reverse engineer the writing styles of my idols.

I obtained a degree in English literature, and frequently found myself to be more well-read than my instructors. And though I graduated summa cum laude with an advance degree in behavioral therapy, I found the only low grades I received were in introductory psychology and sociology classes because I corrected the examinations I was given for the errors they contained. Whether or not they were worth it is something I often ask myself, as I was diagnosed with a late stage cancer which I would rather not specify which has since rendered me disabled, housebound, in significant constant pain, permanently jobless, and wishing I was either well enough to work or stone dead immediately after graduation. I suppose what I'm saying is that a degree does not guarantee a middle-class lifestyle. If you are not strong and healthy, and if you are not willing to engage in self-study, and if you are not willing to go that extra mile, then you're screwed regardless of how many degrees you have.

Guest

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Guest »

I went to university back in the '80s when UK fees were paid by the government. My income has never been 20% over the UK average, almost entirely hovering around half the UK average. But, by going to university in the 1980s I was one of the top 15%. Kids going to university today are in the top 50%, having an almost cast-iron guarrantee of a high grade in 'A' levels (advanced school leaving certificate), and have to find the money for £40,000 fees plus living expenses.

bentsn

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by bentsn »

Shouldn't the last line be: "Of course!Your student loan already paid us for it."

Unregistered User

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Unregistered User »

I will also say that, while most career paths don't require a college education, if you don't know what you want ot do with your life, college is a great place to find out, because college (really higher education in general) isn't designed to teach you information so much as teach you life. College is mainly a place to learn how the real world works and gives you the tools needed to figure out the problems it throws at you yourself...

Of course, not everyone would need this, both my parents only took 2 years of college and never earned any degree what-so-ever...

My mom is a successful real estate broker and my dad used to own a small delivery buissiness before the economy and rising gas prices forced him to shut it down, but before that happened, he had 2 other people working for him, didn't even have an official building of operations, and still made enough to support a family of 3 to the minimum quality of life needed to avoid poverty (he works for my mom in realestate now)

So again, a college degree is only needed if you plan to go into a specalized field.

And to make a point on the 20% more income thing: I think that's because jobs that require a college degree usually pay better than jobs that don't, 2 people doing the same job with the same efficiency and expierience will earn about the same amount regardless of if one has a degree or not

Kamaroyl

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Kamaroyl »

Unregistered User wrote:
Sentient AI wrote:Is it? I'm not sure myself.
EDIT: Of course, from the viewpoint from someone who hasn't gone to college.
It really depends in what you want to do in life...

As a physics major, I need at least a Master's to do anything worthwhile

But there are several ocupations where getting a college education would be redundant

So to answer your question: Maybe?
I'm also a physics major, and certainly the skills I've learned in the University from my professors, whom I hold dearly, are worthwhile, but I often wonder if I could have just done it all on my own. The open courseware is equivalent if not better than the lectures I've attended for the last four years, and the massive number of free textbooks, papers and the like make you wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just learn it on your own. Plus, what could you have done with all of that money you gave to the University? You could have bought so many books and so much equipment with those funds.

Spaceguy5
Posts: 60
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:19 am

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Spaceguy5 »

College teaches a lot of helpful information that is very very necessary for some majors.

buuuuuuuuut

Textbooks are a scam. Student housing is a scam. Mealplans are a biiiiig scam. And a lot of tuition is overly inflated.

College is very helpful, but it could be better if it wasn't run by capitalists and was instead run by people who actually cared if people learned |=

/communism

MTGradwell

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by MTGradwell »

There's a interesting discussion going on here, one that doesn't involve penises, and the thread hasn't been locked yet. What's going on?

Mr.Funsocks

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Mr.Funsocks »

If you think college isn't worth it, ask yourself this:

How much does a thermocycler, incubator, shaking incubator, set of pipetmen, tips, autoclave, lab space, and reagents cost? How would you go about starting original research? Who would you study with, bounce ideas off of, or ask for help if you weren't at college? How would you direct your studies so you studied the important things?

People who think college isn't worth it fall into one of two categories:

1) Humanities majors in one of the really pointless fields, that really amount to a glorified bookclub.

2) People who are only going to class to get a grade, and not actually trying to learn or excel.

Yeah, most people who come out of college lack any sort of critical thinking skills nowadays. Those are idiots. If you think that going to college is "putting up with bullshit" then you're one of them. That "bullshit" is called "learning."

nope

Post by nope »

Hard sciences are benefited by University.

Some soft sciences are as well. A liberal arts degree, communications degree, or (LOL) a business degree? Not so much. Also English degrees are designed from the ground up to be a useless degree (unless you want to be a novelist, in that case... good luck). There is some benefit as an artistic person or liberal arts person, in going to college, but it doesn't translate to guaranteed income like the others and is more just a structured way to improve your craft.

Conversely, if you are in the hard sciences, or in soft sciences where you need access to large databases of information and knowledge of statistical techniques, or you plan on being a medical doctor of some sort, then the classes may not be perfectly helpful, but the equipment and access to information certainly is.

What I'm trying to get at: you have no one to blame but yourself (and society for not teaching you that what you're doing is useless) if you decide to get a degree in something useless, subjective, or something for which there is not a large demand of jobs. Communications is ridiculous, art? Acting? Music? We don't have that many successful people. English? Really? You want to write fiction and get PAID for it?

That being said, there are useful ways to combine things and have much more marketability: Psychology + Design? You have the makings of the design team for advertising agencies! English + science or law? Do you have any idea how many scientists are functionally incapable of writing even simple scientists? Music + ...

Well I tried, but music doesn't have a lot of uses (that being said, there are generally far more paid gigs for musicians and actors than artists).

As for a business degree, try differentiating yourself from the hundreds of thousands of other people who thought partying in school for four years was a good idea (hint: economists are better at running businesses than businessmen).

nope

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by nope »

Also, even simple scientists is supposed to be even simple sentences.


Also also: Massively inflated course like civics or science or law? Have you taken these classes? At least, have you taken them past introductory levels? Because if you haven't, you're talking out of your ass.

Guest123

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Guest123 »

9/9/2012: Mock people who study literary theory.
9/10/2012: Make a literature joke.

This is how you troll. It's also why I'll never support Zach financially. (Adblock, bitches!)

Also, sure: go into a STEM field. Take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans and enjoy working 70 hours a week for $60,000 a year -- if you're lucky. Oh, and if your job isn't outsourced to India or China.

Jason_

Re: [2012-September-9] Is college worth it?

Post by Jason_ »

I'm in medical school, so yes, college has definitely paid off for me. Don't major in something dumb, and you won't waste your money. (I was a chem major)

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