College is a HUGE waste of time and money.

Is everyone still living in the '50's thinking a med degree is worth a lot of $?!!

Most doctors I know are struggling with high overhead costs and insurance premiums - they lease everything they have - cars, furniture, and even plants in their over mortgaged homes. sheesh.

I went to college - finance - came out with a 75K/yr. job - not bad for a 21 yr. old.

Now, years later, I own my own biz - I won't tell you what I make, but I sure in hell don't lease anything. I buy it cash - cars and house.

College is a waste if you are going to major in art history or anthropology, etc.. , but the 'hard' sciences and finance and acctg are still worth the time and the $.

My friend's kid just graduated this past summer from UCSB with a degree in Electrical Engineering - she is now working for a Silicon Valley firm - starting salary - $135K.

Just sayin'

I say the following as a former college professor:

(1) Just showing up for class isn't an education. You will get out of college only what you put into it.

(2) A college degree isn't and never was a guaranteed meal ticket.

I say the following as a successful business owner for 25 years:

(3) Use education as a tool. Once you know where you are going with your life you will find out you have areas that need bolstering. Education can help you with that, but see (1) above.

(4) Unfortunately, most businesses have job descriptions and degree requirements for every position, so if you want to go the corporate route you'll have to play the corporate game.

(5) Me, I want your ability and your character, not a piece of paper hanging on the wall. I developed a nationally recognized capability in computational electromagnetics with the following employees: theater major, math major, former sixth grade teacher and former help desk operator. Yes, they all had degrees but for the most part the degrees were irrelevant to the job.

(6) If you decide to take college classes, pay as you go. You will appreciate and value your class time more if you are writing a check each month, and you won't be saddled with a mountain of debt when you are done. Yes, it will take longer. Yes, you'll probably have to work part time and go to class part time. That's ok, no one is keeping score.

Last Edited by Life and Love on 09/26/2012 08:26 AM

everything you said is TRUE 1000%

I dropped out of high school as a sophomore and never looked back. I now make 6 figures a year as a software engineer.
When my son comes home from school I have to correct the garbage methods he's been taught to problem solve in math and HE GETS IT AND FIGURES OUT THE REST OF THE PROBLEMS IN 5 MINS.

They now have MORONS teaching our kids.

you have no idea how many dopes with a piece of paper I have beat out for a job because I have REAL EXPERIENCE and are just that much better at what i do then they are.

You're right, I don't know a thing about you.

My comment is from my life experiences, not yours. I have watched dozens of qualified but non-degreed people get cut off from even interviewing because they lacked the right degrees.

I would say those are companies that haven't been burned by dopes with a piece of paper yet. The ones that have now include a clause about education OR REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE. something most dopes with a piece of paper are sorely lacking in.

I'm not disagreeing with you about the way things should be. Perhaps you think I'm one of those "dopes with a piece of paper" since I have several.

no not at all, this isn't a personal attack, just a consensus of what I see. I think what most people fail to realize is that it's human nature to want acceptance. For most a college degree is just another tool make their way through life and don't really represent what the education on that piece of paper says they should. Of course there are those that do make the most of College but that is because they have developed a love for learning and knowledge and not necessarily something they need college for.

Soon I'm going home...so i don't care.
"I'm coming home, Dorothy"
-2012

When you run your business, no one asks for it. I do electrical design, circuit design, most cities don't even ask for my stamp anymore.

Yeah, most kids really need a trade. My best friend is 25, has a house and is about to start investing in real estate (renting). He is a machinist, started as an apprentice at 18. Nowadays he makes $50k a year. That's what I make and I am the same age as him, but he has NO DEBT and get this. He was paid to learn, not the other way around. I wish I had done that.

Also, I can see going to college if you are very bright and know you can make it through an engineering/law/medical program because those fields generally pay very well. But if you have an average or slightly above average mind, you aren't doing yourself a favor by going to college. If you really want an education, go to the library.

^^^ And this, people have an extremely difficult time to understand this concept. The vast majority of people want to deal with the paper work bureaucracy and become a slave.

They compare their own success in jobs by working for an employer that wants a degree. They don't want to take the initiative to start and run their own business, because they really don't know how or where to begin, EVEN if you try to help them do it, they really can't understand the whole concept. I would ask this simple question, for those that are employed, how many of those business owners that you work for, have degrees (And I'm talking about the actual owners, not the manager that hired you, they're in the same boat as you)? Because I can bet you a thousand dollars right now, that more than half of them don't have anything. The vast majority of business owners I do jobs for DO NOT have any formal past education, they just know what the hell they're doing. And believe me, when I was in this same mind of thought as all of you that I had to have a degree to succeed. I later realized in my life that is simply not the case at all and ended up wondering why the hell did I end up going to school anyways? Our society back in the day was based on merit alone and now you have an army of academics that want to change this.

This is why we end up having a society that now vilifies business owners, because X went to school for so many years and has nothing but debt and Y dropped out of school and owns a home, car, boat, and has no debt. This is why you have so many leftist in schools now. Notice how society completely ignores past successful business owners that weren't from institutions? Look at how they spit on Steve Jobs now. Or hell, look at Henry Kaiser and how nobody even knows who the fuck he is anymore.

I don't know what world you live in, but you'd be lucky to get an engineering job that pays well. Average engineer pay nowadays is 50-80k a year. As for law, good luck with that, most end up being accountants with lousy pay. And believe me, this is not just in the US. Just fresh out of school, I tried to get a job as an engineer in Germany, a lot of them were absolutely horrendous in pay scale, I could have found work at McDonalds with better pay and benefits. This is before I realized the bullshit college is and before I even started my own business.

And now with outsourcing, education only made these job fields worse, because you are able to find Asian engineers to work for you for next to nothing. Good luck competing with that.

Law school is a complete scam! check out jdunderground.com for anyone who is thinking of going to law school.

Haha, reading that forum makes me chuckle. Only 10% of the graduates get something good, the rest end up getting screwed over and a few hundred thousand in debt.

Don't worry. This thread should be proof that anything one chooses to do is ok.

I still say if one wants to get their Phd or pursue a field like medicine, they have to go to college to get there.

College may not be for everyone, so there are community colleges, if one still wants a degree.

Then there is the work place where one earns experience, which is important too.

Alot of this depends on your bank account first and maturity level second.

At this point in time, I would not advise anyone to borrow money to go to college. However, student loans are out there if u feel that is right for you.

There are a lot of factors, which gives one different ways to go.:khu::uhg::hri:

Sadly, some are flipping burgers with their six figure for-profit degree.

There are so many schools that it doesn't take brains to get into law school, unless you count Harvard, Yale, etc

I agree. The school I attend is claiming they are broke and as a result are penalizing students by jacking fees and tuition through the roof and eliminating classes which are resulting in overcrowding of classes, all while somehow having enough money to re-landscape the campus grounds, build new admin buildings, spend $25 MILLION on a new school logo..... the list goes on. The quality of the education is "iffy" at best. So yes, I agree with it being a waste of money and likely time.

Darby rocks!!

Thank you...

I wanted to chime in on law school...

I graduated at the top of my class from a respected law school. I was actually hired by a law firm (unlike half of my class). I practiced law for several years. I have never been so unhappy.

Make sure that you love what you do before you get an advanced degree (in any profession)...

As for undergraduate degrees - I strongly recommend public accounting. It's a great profession. You work with nice people and if you maybe don't remember anything from college (for whatever reason) that's okay - you can relearn everything when you study for the CPA...

Sorry if this has already been said - I haven't time to read the whole thread.

Most uni students get jobs to help pay their way through their degrees. You say you have a job at 11.50 an hour and hope to progress. Well, so do most of the students. There is always the chance of staying with the company and progressing - just the same as you.

^^THIS^^

College, when done at a good school with good teachers and lots of face-to-face contact with them, not some online BS, is great. I'm very glad I went and very glad my 3 kids all went and graduated. They came out much smarter, worldly wise, and mature than they went in, and ready to hit the hard world and job market with preparation that is getting them through the really tough times out there.

If it can be done, real on-campus schooling is worth all paid and more. But you learn more out of the classroom than in. It's total immersion into the culture, theater, arts, lectures outside of your chosen discipline, seminars, etc. that make it a great experience.

It sucks beyond belief that people are getting degrees today "online" without even attending classes at the campuses their lecturers are at. The internet will be very chilling. There are many things people won't say online that they might say in the evening at a casual get-together. And face it, that's where much of the real learning goes on.

Well, my 2 cents and all for free.

the things you are proud that they claimed they learned seem like things you should have taught them in the first place or they would have learned by getting a job instead of going to college.

You are a loser with no life

This thread is full of groupthink.

If you tards went to college you'd understand what i mean. But alas, you're too busy feeling sorry for yourself and patting yourself on the back for not taking risks. Enjoy your $11/hr. That's all you'll ever be.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my benefits, pension, salary, etc. that would not have been attainable without multiple degrees. You get out of college what you put into college. I worked my ass off. Now I can afford to pay douches like you $11/hr cause I'm clearing well over that magical $100/hr you note. I took a risk and made it.

But if it makes you feel better to surround yourself with other people who will tell you how great you are for avoiding the risk of college, so be it. I'll make sure to tip you next time I pay my bill.

As a CPA I can attest. Both literally and figuratively.

That must be why you bumped this from out of the blue from last year.

I have noticed some awful grammar in this form. The last diploma I received was from the 8th grade. Even I can see that a bunch of brainless idiots are calling themselves "Educated". My self education is infinitely superior than the average college graduate. I hold numerous patents and never have to work again for the rest of my life. Were did I go wrong? Yet If I were to apply for Job now I would have to deal with some yuppie punk who is determined to hire only from his own demographic group.