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College: good or bad?

by GontrandBIJ
15 replies
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My parents always told me that going to college and getting an education was very important. Have things changed? Seems like the younger generation have a different opinion about college. Not too positive to say the least.

Some go to college and get a degree but end up working in a totally different field. Which is fine for some because they see their degree as a way to get a job, whichever it is. You get paid a higher salary too even if your degree has nothing to do with the job you're doing. But others end up working 20 years just to pay their debts or are just unhappy with working in lower bracket jobs. What are your experiences?
#college #degrees
  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    Use the search function and you'll find numerous lengthy discussions on this topic.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
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    There's plenty of failures that went to college & plenty of successful people that dropped out.

    Look at Bill Gates (dropped out), then look at Bernie Madoff (graduated).

    It's up to you, no two people are the same.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alast
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      There's plenty of failures that went to college & plenty of successful people that dropped out.

      Look at Bill Gates (dropped out), then look at Bernie Madoff (graduated).

      It's up to you, no two people are the same.
      Bill Gates dropped out because he was overwhelmingly successful already. Not to mention he was accepted into Harvard..

      More people who go to college are successful than those who do not.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
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        Originally Posted by Alast View Post

        Bill Gates dropped out because he was overwhelmingly successful already. Not to mention he was accepted into Harvard..

        More people who go to college are successful than those who do not.
        The point was he dropped out, college didn't make him successful other than peer contacts but that could have happened at a party or anywhere else.





        Originally Posted by Alast View Post

        More people who go to college are successful than those who do not.
        Doubtful you can prove that.

        Besides, struggling for years to repay $10s - $100s of thousands of debt isn't my idea of successful.
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        • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
          College is always bad. Show me one person that went to college, that ever accomplished anything with their life.

          I dropped out of high school, because I knew that it would open doors for me. Knowledge and training are a trap.

          It's always best to just go with your gut. That's what I look for in a doctor......intuition.
          Intuition, and instinct.

          All this "Knowing what you are doing" is highly overrated. I trust my gut, so you can trust me.
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          • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
            Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

            I trust my gut
            Does that mean you have a large amount of trust?
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            • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
              Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

              Does that mean you have a large amount of trust?
              Good joke. A tip of my stomach to you.


              My stomach was rumbling...my wife asks "My God! What's that noise?"

              "Trust"
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          • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
            Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

            College is always bad. Show me one person that went to college, that ever accomplished anything with their life.

            I dropped out of high school, because I knew that it would open doors for me. Knowledge and training are a trap.

            It's always best to just go with your gut. That's what I look for in a doctor......intuition.
            Intuition, and instinct.

            All this "Knowing what you are doing" is highly overrated. I trust my gut, so you can trust me.
            I have a few mixed feelings about this. Taking further education to learn specific skills like being a Doctor, mechanical engineer, scientist, chemist etc etc are essential. without them you are nowhere.

            Then we come to the management skills, business administration type stuff then I wonder. the college I work for will preferentially employ people who have taken these types of courses based on qualifications alone.

            They would say well, he/she has ten years experience running a department or 2, managing operations, people etc, but sigh., alas this requires an associates degree in blah bla blah. So they offer it to the person who has it.

            That's why our college has the most ramshakled, useless, bunch of managers who have no clue what they are doing, have poor interpersonal skills, organizational skills etc, I have ever seen! they would not last 5 minutes in the corporate world.

            Hands on experience and common sense count for a lot. But the "qualification" in our college counts for a lot as it is well, our product.

            How a guy like me ever came to be a Specialist 2 Check Processor in Accounts Payable, I have no idea. I only have a beginners swimming certificate. Must have slipped through the cracks!
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            • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
              Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

              How a guy like me ever came to be a Specialist 2 Check Processor in Accounts Payable, I have no idea. I only have a beginners swimming certificate. Must have slipped through the cracks!

              Slipping through the cracks? It sounds like a good first date.
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              • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
                Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

                Slipping through the cracks? It sounds like a good first date.
                Wrong thread, please move to any one of the countless Kim Kardahsian ones popping up at the moment.
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                • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
                  Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

                  Wrong thread, please move to any one of the countless Kim Kardahsian ones popping up at the moment.
                  You had me going. For half a second, I thought "Did I offend him?"...and then I went to the Kardashian thread.

                  Wow.
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                  • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
                    Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

                    You had me going. For half a second, I thought "Did I offend him?"...and then I went to the Kardashian thread.

                    Wow.
                    It is isn't it. :-)

                    EDIT: Actually, thinking more of the Cosby has Ebola one. :-)
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        • Profile picture of the author socialentry
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          The point was he dropped out, college didn't make him successful other than peer contacts but that could have happened at a party or anywhere else.
          lol yeah, maybe if you go to MENSA overachievers club or something.

          Or you go to NASA parties or whatnot
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        • Profile picture of the author Alast
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          The point was he dropped out, college didn't make him successful other than peer contacts but that could have happened at a party or anywhere else.
          I don't think anyone's saying you need college to be successful, but it lowers your chances without it. There are exceptions, which you just pointed out. You can't compare yourself to Bill Gates who was extremely intellectual, and and a genius with business. Not to mention the "right place and the right time" along with that.

          I also doubt the contacts made at a party will compare to contacts made at college, especially at Harvard.

          Doubtful you can prove that.

          Besides, struggling for years to repay $10s - $100s of thousands of debt isn't my idea of successful.
          For young adults ages 25-34 who worked full time, year round, higher educational attainment was associated with higher median earnings; this pattern was consistent for 1995, 2000, 2002, and 2005 through 2012. For example, in 2012 the median of earnings for young adults with a bachelor's degree was $46,900, while the median was $22,900 for those without a high school credential and $30,000 for those with a high school credential. In other words, young adults with a bachelor's degree earned more than twice as much as those without a high school credential (105 percent more) and 57 percent more than young adult high school completers. Additionally, in 2012 the median of earnings for young adults with a master's degree or higher was $59,600, some 27 percent more than the median for young adults with a bachelor's degree. For the above years between 1995 and 2012, this pattern of higher earnings associated with higher levels of educational attainment also held across sex and racial/ ethnic subgroups (White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian).

          http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=77
          This is presuming success is based on monetary value (which in this case, it is).

          I'd also like to think the knowledge I attain throughout college is far more valuable than $xyz. It just depends on what you do, and what you plan to do with it in the future, in my opinion.
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          • Profile picture of the author Cali16
            Whether or not going to college is worth it for you depends on a multitude of factors. It's not about being "good or bad". Everybody is different. I think you do have to look at it as a major investment in yourself and your future.

            Is a college degree necessary to succeed in life? Well, that depends. If you want to be a teacher, doctor, lawyer, engineer, for example, then you have to have a college degree, and, depending on the field and desired career, possibly go on to graduate / medical / law school as well. Is it worth it? It might be, and it might not be - for you, and only you can decide that for yourself. No one has a crystal ball to show you how everything will turn out down the road.
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