Do you think college is worth it?

[roriconfan]

It is very good as a life experiance. Most young people in my country want to go to college just be able to live away from their tiny boring villages and their stuck in the middle ages parents dictating their lives. College is a great way to see/taste new thing, broaden your horizons and have fun while you are still young. It is mostly dead time where all you do is sleep, eat and fool around in parties and random sex partners but it is still a very importand life lesson no matter how bad your scores in college are.

So degree aside, it is a fun ride that can teach you lots of stuff, mostly non-related to actual studies.

p.s. I had easily gain pass to a college in the capital of my country but never went there. I stayed home to help in the family business.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by Jjo

Hopefully I don't wake up one day and just decide to never work in that field lol ._.

Kind of happen to me, sometimes it is worth taking a year out, doing a placement, or travel the world (not resort holidays and such). I do think i missed out a lot, because i started a university after leaving school, should have listened to my old art teacher. But i have mended it now, so it is cool. It is harder to sit a year out once you get older, you get more support when you're still under 20, or in some countries even up to 25. I think you have to see the world, before you settle down and become part of the system.

[-Antares-]

If you're going to college because everyone else is doing it or because you like fancy papers you're doing it for the wrong reasons. In my opinion, anyway. I'm going to college because it's giving me the chance to learn about things I never would have been able to before (things that I'm interested in, mind you), and I've had so much fun being involved in my school's student-run events (and this actually counts as volunteer work, so I can stick that on a job application/resume later and look better). It's also very easy to get various types of jobs through my college. I can take any random course I did well in and have a pretty high chance of getting paid to tutor for it unless it's something not many people take. I am a fan of this fact.

I have no idea how I could possibly come to regret college. And I'm only in my first year of it. The debt from tuition or books hardly matters when I consider all the positive things my school's already giving me.

Also, if you're paying $200 to RENT textbooks... I really hope you've at least looked into buying your books used on sites like Amazon. Don't just look at the price your school's bookstore is offering for them; they usually overcharge for their books.

[Irkalla]

I come from a part of the world where not getting a higher education is pretty much unthinkable. Tuitions are free providing you get accepted in your study of choice, so you really have no excuse to not do it. 200 dollars is nothing compared to the career opportunities that you could get from your education so stop whining. I'm finishing my first semester of my final year of fashion design, and I have already spent like 3k€ on fabrics and paying seamstresses.

[Kafriel]

I come from a part of the world where not getting a higher education is pretty much unthinkable.

Ditto. I'm going to an engineering university, trying to get my electrical engineer degree and a job on the market. What this actually means:
1) While doing my internship, I may or may not keep a job at wherever I do it.
2) If they decide to keep me afterwards, I need to get a contract for at least a year.
3) If not, then I'll have to start off as an assistant and then as an apprentice. Even if I get to be master soon, I still need 4 years of experience to upgrade my degree from class B to class A.
Some people are already master-rank and enroll here, because they need more authority to sign contracts for factories and high-power construction, which allows them to shift from the 2k€/month deals to the 5~15k€/month ones (depends on employers, which could be national companies and whatnot).
People who should NOT be in my class: the guys who want to open up an electronics store or do construction work till their forties, they can do that upon graduating from high school, and they get a few years of experience in advance.

[Jinto]

Where I work you basically need a university degree equivalent to a master simply because otherwise you wouldn't fit in the salary scheme that is the minimum standard in research and development at Siemens.
Grade-rating is directly coupled with what you do, your skills, and your school/academic career. The problem is, when you apply for work, coming fresh from a college/university human resources rate your skills, and what you do (or rather what you've done yet) as naught. Hence, the only qualification that is relevant for you at this point, is your school/academic career.

What I was experiencing in my field (computer sciences) is that you basically have very little chance to be employed directly at a big corporation like Siemens, when you are coming fresh from the university (except you have paramount grades - being better than average doesn't work). Well, there is another exception to this... if you were really outstanding in school you can apply for corporate funded studies at a university/college. You will work in different units in the corporation parallel to your studies. This will (depending on how well you perform) offer you a good opportunity to be employed by the corporation right after your gratification.
Another possible way is to work for smaller companies after your gratification. This will give you the advantage of having something on your "skills" and "what you have done yet" list, which in combination with your academic career will significantly raise your chances to be employed by a big corporation (once you left the little company after 3-5 years). The younger you are at this point the higher your chances to be taken.

What I wanted to say is, that even with a good degree you have to be very proactive to get the job you really wanted (and btw. social skills are very important too - if you work in a team for example, you better be a natural team player, be a people person... and so on). The degree is basically your voucher to actually have a chance in a corporate world (I mean lets be realistic ... the future will be dominated by global corporations).

[Kusa-San]

The main problem that I have with college is that nowaday, you are forced to go to college if you want a good job. You can't have a good job without it and I don't like that at all.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

As a college student, majoring in math, I can whole heartedly say that the college experience is a worthless piece of trash.

You go to college for a piece of paper called a degree that helps you find better jobs (And sometimes it doesn't even do that) and then you really begin life. That's the only reason to go to college.

Originally Posted by Samari

Well every college is different. Especially if we're talking international institutions (if you are planning to study overseas). Honestly I think it's what you make of it. It's not for everyone. Some aren't livid socialites. Not saying I am, but I've had my fair share of socializing like most folks. And I've had a lot of good experiences I'll never forget.

I am with Reck. I am a Management undergrad majoring in Economics and Finance. If the newspapers and job agencies didn't list "xxx degree required" in their hires, I would have gotten a full-time job already instead of slaving away as a waiter (or "waitress" as one of my bosses said during spot-check, due to "my voice when saying 'irashaimase' being 'light and girlish'" - damn him) during my free time.

And business school sucks. Lots of facades, plenty of backstabbing and little or no honest people. It is a good place to train manipulation, power play and political consolidation, but absolutely no place to learn how to properly run an economy.

That school accredits certs from places like LSE, RMIT and UOA, which isn't easy to get the accreditation for in the first place. If that is so, I can see why many "top" Economists and financial managers simply fail in their jobs in real life.

Originally Posted by Jinto

What I wanted to say is, that even with a good degree you have to be very proactive to get the job you really wanted (and btw. social skills are very important too - if you work in a team for example, you better be a natural team player, be a people person... and so on). The degree is basically your voucher to actually have a chance in a corporate world (I mean lets be realistic ... the future will be dominated by global corporations).

Well that is if you look only at the big picture without the details. Remember Le Chatelier's Principle? Chaos Theory? Dynamic Equlibrium? Lenz Law?

Well since you live in Germany, it isn't that bad since their property prices are very well controlled (no excessive building of un-needed infrastructure like China or US, resulting in a serious supply-demand issue for both banks and loaning construction firms). It will only get worse if Aunt Angie doesn't do one of the following :

1. Dissolve the European Union.
2. Kick PIGS out of the European Union.
3. Forcibly set up lower end refining and manufacturing operations in PIGS to gain materials for hi-tech processes in Germany.
4. Wax the Euro and go back to the Deutschemark (I have three 100 DM notes I can't EXCHANGE OUT goddammit).

Let's pray that it does happen.

[ChainLegacy]

I'm going because I'd like more options available to me when I'm searching for a more permanent career, and because my parents would have heart attacks if I didn't. Kind of funny that they have that mentality as my father is a high school dropout, lol, but whatever. Assuming the economy doesn't completely disintegrate in the coming years I hope to find a decent paying job, live frugally, and then open my own business after 3-5 years. I'm not the type of person who can work under someone and be happy, and while my true passion lies in academic areas (history, science) I am attracted to entrepreneurship due to family history and what I consider the prestige and rewarding nature of owning a business. I do consider it a big 'if' concerning the economy though so I'm prepared to abandon this path if necessary.

I think college can be great if you want to learn specialized information, and obviously the helpfulness in obtaining a career is important as well. The price however is becoming questionable in private universities; so many people are getting a degree for such a high price that inevitably some are going to get screwed over.

[MeoTwister5]

I guess I should be content with the fact that no matter where the economy goes, there will always be sick people to treat...

[cors8]

College is only worth it if you take FULL advantage of it.

Personally, I don't think it was worth it for me but I never took advantage of all the things it had to offer.

[Ending]

College was very much worth it for me. Mainly because it gave me time to grow to what I want to do and gave new insight to it.

Then again, unlike in US (and soon UK), studying in college is almost free in scandinavian countries and we got social support for students. Hence the monetary value of education isn't really the question for people.

Personally, out of all the things we have here, free education is the most important one.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I am with Reck. I am a Management undergrad majoring in Economics and Finance. If the newspapers and job agencies didn't list "xxx degree required" in their hires, I would have gotten a full-time job already instead of slaving away as a waiter (or "waitress" as one of my bosses said during spot-check, due to "my voice when saying 'irashaimase' being 'light and girlish'" - damn him) during my free time.

And business school sucks. Lots of facades, plenty of backstabbing and little or no honest people. It is a good place to train manipulation, power play and political consolidation, but absolutely no place to learn how to properly run an economy.

That school accredits certs from places like LSE, RMIT and UOA, which isn't easy to get the accreditation for in the first place. If that is so, I can see why many "top" Economists and financial managers simply fail in their jobs in real life.

What does this have to do with what I said?

[Dilla]

Originally Posted by cors8

College is only worth it if you take FULL advantage of it.

Personally, I don't think it was worth it for me but I never took advantage of all the things it had to offer.

^This.

While I'm on track to graduate, I never stood out with my teachers ( so I doubt I'll get any teacher letter of recommendations) and I have a B-C average with no experience and no connections. Now I'm about to graduate with what is likely to be an unusable degree. I'll probably move back home and try a find a full-time retail job that'll stick while I go to a local community college for something I can more likely excel in.

I was told by my high school adviser to be careful when I decided to try to make a hobby a career. Shoulda listened but it is what is.

[klowny]

I've been out of school for 2 year's and i have finally decided to go to college since i can't get out of this place without a 4 year degree, either that keep working at iHop with the hopes of promotion

[Mr. DJ]

College will always be a YMMV type deal and depends entirely what you want to do, naturally if you're going towards something that's always in demand, you'll find a job quickly, but it's not a guarantee just because you got your degree. Not that these jobs are in heavy demand, but three of my friends, two got their degree in game art & design and another got his degree in animation. Only one of them managed to somewhat get into their respective industry, and that was being a game tester.

Not all manager positions require a college education either, but, some jobs to offer to pay for college education if you take classes that will serve the company.

As far as getting books go...see what the class requires and go on eBay or Amazon and see if there are used books for sale.

[Jjo]

About the books...my first year of college I thought I was being smart and buying books for cheap on Amazon...I think I spent like $70 on three different books for classes (which is great) but I never got the books...and amazon kept giving me the run around regarding the money I just decided to never use that site again.

I don't know which book trading/selling sites for students are trust worthy now ._.;

[Kaijo]

Most people have said the obvious, "It depends on what you want out of it." Schools like Harvard and Yale aren't there so much for their education, as the fact that you can bum around with people and make contacts... and as you'll learn in life, it's not what you know, but who you know.

If you're going to college because you honestly want to learn something, then go for it. But if you're going for a job...

But as someone who dropped out of college when I cracked under the pressure and the mounting fees, I've still managed to do alright for myself. I made enough contacts that I can shift around and do what I please. I partially regret not finishing, but a degree isn't much besides a pretty piece of paper that gets your foot in the door.

The key is in learning other methods for getting your foot in the door. Temp work is one way, as a lot of companies will hire temps, and then you can demonstrate just how good you are, and they'll want to end up keeping you. For one job where I was going to be hired on permanent, they had to follow the routine hiring process and interview people, but the job was basically mine... even above people who had degrees and 10 years experience.

Why? Because I knew the systems, and I was good at it. The company would lose time and money training someone new.

So we've covered contacts and temping, which are the two main ways. You can also really make yourself stand out on your resume and even lie on it! Say you have 10 years of HTML experience when you only have a year or two. Companies will deliberately fluff up a job notice and if you look closely, sometimes the needed attributes will be impossible. Say, wanting someone with 20 years of HTML, or 10 years of hybrid car maintenance, when neither has been out that long.

Your resume is only to get your foot in the door, and if you can make a big impact with it, and then follow it up in the interview, the job is yours.

I could probably make more money with a degree, but I decided on the standard of living that works for me. I make enough to live by, and live relatively comfortably, so the rest doesn't matter too much. I could be richer, but I'd have to sacrifice too much to get that. My time is precious.

Lastly, colleges charge way too much money(they get more government money that way), and research shows that most people can barely pay back their loans, if at all. They advertise that a degree will get you a job, but a lot of times you'll graduate and find you have to flip burgers for a few years anyway. Books are made expensive for no reason other than to milk students for cash. Each year will see a new edition, and you must have the latest edition of the book... despite the fact that the only differences are some of the practice questions moved around.

[yezhanquan]

Know the education system in your area well. Over here, we have fellows from all over the world. So, unless you make sure that they are living in the same city as you, you might get something different from their advice.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Lastly, colleges charge way too much money(they get more government money that way), and research shows that most people can barely pay back their loans, if at all. They advertise that a degree will get you a job, but a lot of times you'll graduate and find you have to flip burgers for a few years anyway. Books are made expensive for no reason other than to milk students for cash. Each year will see a new edition, and you must have the latest edition of the book... despite the fact that the only differences are some of the practice questions moved around.

I love the way America sets the standard for abandoning morality for greed. And let's not get started with our medical care.