is college worth it, like, at all?

[alice144]

With school as expensive as it is, I can't see the point of getting a liberal arts education, at all. Whatever job you get after you graduate seems to have more to do with who you know rather than how good you were at analysing Shakespeare. I know some kids who went to school with me and are now employed but this is becase 1) they did a lot of career-related stuff, internships in their free time or 2) they were douchebags then, are douchebags now, and have been using their douchbaggery to get ahead ever since.

Here's an article about the BA from someone who likes BA's and here's another one about a really smart kid who made a bunch of shit up and got into Harvard. LOL.

 

[the]

I guess it depends on what you want to do. I think a better question is is high school even relevant these days considering you pretty much take several of those classes over year 1 of college/trade school.

 

[acd]

I wish I didn't pay so much for mine...
But I wouldn't change anything if I could go back...
I think the things I've learned are invaluable.

 

[Gaze]

I am less concerned about college education than about high school education. Once upon a time, if you graduated from high school, you could get job, even an office job because you were taught basic job skills that would allow you to function fairly well without needing a degree. Now, even a BA is not enough. And it's really all about money. Too little is taught or expected at the high school level. Students wait too long to begin schooling, and being taught devalue education not realizing that they are not preparing themselves for college or the work world later on. Communication skills, math skills, science and tech knowledge should be taught more intensely at an earlier age so that the last two years of high school can allow for specialization. In the Caribbean and this probably 15-20 years since, you can graduate high school and go to work in a bank. You didn't need to have a finance, accounting, or math degree as long as you had good math skills, etc. Also, and I know many will disagree, but students should learn to think of preparing for careers earlier, have a career they're working towards rather than being told to take classes just because or simply wasting money taking classes which won't be useful later on. In other words, we need better forethought and planning in our education system.

 

[Billy]

I think its a good thing, but the way its structured now, no... not at all. Its not worth going in and paying 10s of thousands if not 100s of thousands for an education that going to net you a 50K a year job. I wish more people would open their eyes to the possibilities around them, there are plenty of methods for making money, and then its just an investment game to the top. I have a friend who saved up a couple thousand and bunked in with a friend in Colorado to pan for gold in the rivers out there, he made a couple hundred thousand after a few years of doing that which he turned into a small but profitable business back here on the east coast selling tires and recycling old tires. He has no college education.

 

[JGirl]

here college and university aren't interchangeable. university is a step above college academically.

i went to university late in life. i was 40 when i started and i have to say that it was monumental in helping me to discover who i am in this world. it boosted my self esteem, gave me a lot of self confidence in my abilities both academically and socially.
education aside, a college/university experience can be life changing in so many personal ways. i think it's one of the most important things i ever did.

 

[894tt3h9]

Well, in Canada I think it's a bit different than it is in the USA and other areas of the world. College is more geared towards trades and 2 year programs. University is for your 4-5 year degree and is substantially more expensive. Most people these days are opting to go to college because it costs less, takes less time and is easier to get a job afterwards.

I did not complete a university degree though I did go to school for a time. Most of my friends right now are drowning in student loan debt. There are very few who could afford to pay their way through school on their own. Most are doing jobs that have absolutely nothing to do with what they were "educated" for. I went to school for the sake of having something to do and did not take it seriously though I did enjoy the learning environment but use absolutely zero of the information I learned there currently.

At the moment I am team lead on a massive account for a huge, worldwide corporation working for a business that is known world wide. I make fairly good money, have amazing benefits and other "perks" that come with my job and I did not need a university education for it. All that was required was that I was awesome (which I am) and that I complete a one year course that was paid for by my company. Easy peasy. So based on my own personal experience, I have no real use for higher education outside of my own personal interest in certain subjects.

 

[Soulful]

There is so much more to college than liberal arts programs alone. And for many specialized careers, such as healthcare, engineering, teaching, and anything board-certified, formal qualifications are essential.

I don't know if it's "worth it". I guess that depends on the individual. People tend to get out of life what they put into it, and college is no different.
To add to that, not everyone is a self-made entrepreneur, or ready to work minimum wage after high school while trying to figure out what to do with their lives. There is nothing wrong with either, especially the latter (pardon my wording if it suggests as though there is), but it's not for everyone. Nothing is for everyone. So it just depends, really.

 

[the]

So based on my own personal experience, I have no real use for higher education outside of my own personal interest in certain subjects.

Life is easy when everyone finds you attractive.

 

[894tt3h9]

Life is easy when everyone finds you attractive.

Especially when you are extra attractive.

 

[Lerxst]

I have a B.A. - completely useless. If I could afford it, I'd move on to a PhD in a very specific field (Ethology/Animal Science) but it's only at that level that a degree becomes useful. If anything a Bachelor's is just a way to get a foot in the door to a higher degree. Most are too generalized to be of any real value and the ones that are specialized just groom you for the higher degree (PRE-Law, PRE-med, etc.)

 

[Paladin-X]

[MENTION=1834]sandra_b[/MENTION]
I've managed a rather successful career in IT with only a high school diploma. And from Quebec, that is only a grade 11 education. Did you have to do grade 13 or was that abolished by the time you got to that level? (Assuming you went to HS in Ontario). The thing that bit me in the ass is in wanting to go back to get a degree in something, I had to take some grade 12 prerequisites in order to get in. Not that it is an easy solution for anyone, but the trick for me to avoid student loan debt is being a University employee. One of my 'perks' is free tuition for up to 6 courses per year

And I'm getting a liberal arts degree! HAHA! (In Psychology though.)

I had no interest in education though. They always seem to try to teach me stuff that I really don't care to know. Even now. I want to learn more about Psychology, however, I must also take 2 classes in foreign language, take 2 'Art' classes (Art/Music/Drama/Writing) and some other requirements that are irrelevant. Psychology also has a science route, where I would equally be bombarded with useless science-y things that I don't need to know. The choice for me was that Science had 3 Grade 12 pre-reqs and Arts had 2.

In reply to Alice...

Damned douchebags using douchebaggery to douchebag their way to the top of the douchebag ladder! I was thinking about a double major Psychology and Philosophy. Out of all Liberal Arts, I'm sure Philosophy has got to be the one takes the cake for lack of job opportunities in its field! Haha!

Kidding aside, and it's irrelevant for the majority of people and I've only learned it in my 30s, but there is great truth to be found hidden in the works of literature. Whether it was meant to or no. One of the fundamental principles, in the mental health recovery program I am designing, was founded upon reflection of Shakespeare's King Lear, that I studied in my English upgrading class. I have called it the Cordelia principle. Also, it was in studying Into the Wild that I also came about a great many revelations about society, education, and mental health problems that brought me to where I am in my research. I find inspiration everywhere, as hippyish as it is to say that (damned liberal arts having an effect on me! Douchebags! )

A buddy of mine has a BA in graphic design. Oddly enough, he got a job in graphic design! I have a colleague with an MA in history who works in IT. Hahaha! History is kind of useless unless you plan on going into a field where history has some bearing. Some people, believe it or not, pursue an education in liberal arts, not because it will help them in their future careers, but simply because they like to learn and have personal interests in that field of study. I know some people where education is a hobby, so to speak.

In any case, what degree one wishes to pursue or not pursue, is irrelevant. It is their choice. It is their life. It has no bearing on me.

 

[894tt3h9]

lol. as for the douchebaggery, that would be me. I just keep climbing the ladder at work and am getting sent on an all expenses paid trip cross country for a leadership conference. I don't care. Some of these people in my field have made a career out of this job. I just do it for the money and don't care if other people want it more than I do. I am just soaking it all up. So it goes! Some of us can charm our way through things and that's exactly what I intend to continuously do.

 

[894tt3h9]

[MENTION=5437]Paladin-X[/MENTION]

I went to high school in Ontario. I was the double cohort year when they abolished grade 13 but we were allowed to stay an additional year if we wanted which is what I did. So I have five years of high school and a ton of grade 12 courses. I was going to go for a BA in psych and had all the pre-requisites but didn't have to do TWO languages or anything like that. Weird.

 

[the]

lol. as for the douchebaggery, that would be me. I just keep climbing the ladder at work and am getting sent on an all expenses paid trip cross country for a leadership conference. I don't care. Some of these people in my field have made a career out of this job. I just do it for the money and don't care if other people want it more than I do. I am just soaking it all up. So it goes! Some of us can charm our way through things and that's exactly what I intend to continuously do.

Our only weapon to surpass you on the ladder to success is to shame you. Hopefully that will be enough.

 

[Paladin-X]

lol. as for the douchebaggery, that would be me. I just keep climbing the ladder at work and am getting sent on an all expenses paid trip cross country for a leadership conference. I don't care. Some of these people in my field have made a career out of this job. I just do it for the money and don't care if other people want it more than I do. I am just soaking it all up. So it goes! Some of us can charm our way through things and that's exactly what I intend to continuously do.

Haha yes! Do it! Or rather continue to do it!

but didn't have to do TWO languages or anything like that.

Maybe it's just the university I work for! :O
I'll go find one that doesn't require a second language, then go work for them!

@No one in particular...
I would take French, but I think they make you do a placement exam, so I wouldn't be allowed to go into French 101. I don't want to do the harder French classes. If I cared so much about the language, I would have stayed in Quebec. Although McGill University does have a leading Psychology research department in Canada... No. Nope. Not going back there. You can't make me.

 

[Soulful]

Yep, not every university in Canada requires students to take a certain type of undergrad course (one science, one humanities, etc.). Forcing people to study something they're not interested in, and pay tons of money to do so when they may wish to instead focus on something else, seems more silly than useful.

Also, @Paladin-X , I've often wondered how many people fake their way through the entrance exam and dumb down their abilities to do well in a course they're capable of stepping beyond.

 

[Paladin-X]

[MENTION=407]oceanbreeze[/MENTION]
Despite my philosophical musings on comparing life as we know it to a form of ignorant Hell, in another thread, I think there are not as many who would cheat their way in as one might think. Although I am often cynical, so those numbers might grow in a fit of cynicism!

I thought about dumbing it down, but I have this really annoying incessant need to try to do well on tests. I like getting high marks, though I rarely do. I'm usually average. At least until I can figure out an effective study method that works for me! Then I will be supernerd! Until then, I just wing it, but always try to do my best. I'm a keener like that, even if I hate the very idea of the test I'm doing. The crazy part is that it's not just in educational tests. Heck even blood tests make me hope for the best damned blood sample the doctor has seen!

 

[Soulful]

@oceanbreeze
Despite my philosophical musings on comparing life as we know it to a form of ignorant Hell, in another thread, I think there are not as many who would cheat their way in as one might think. Although I am often cynical, so those numbers might grow in a fit of cynicism!

I thought about dumbing it down, but I have this really annoying incessant need to try to do well on tests. I like getting high marks, though I rarely do. I'm usually average. At least until I can figure out an effective study method that works for me! Then I will be supernerd! Until then, I just wing it, but always try to do my best. I'm a keener like that, even if I hate the very idea of the test I'm doing. The crazy part is that it's not just in educational tests. Heck even blood tests make me hope for the best damned blood sample the doctor has seen!

lol. I get it. I've had my supernerd moments.

 

[bamf]

I have my BA in English (and a history minor!), and I am currently (although slowly) working towards my MA in pedagogy. I'm spending this year teaching full-time while working on more coursework to get my teaching certification. The best part about the teaching is that I have to pay 14k to do it. I'm already pretty deep in debt due to my undergrad taking so much to complete, and it's going to be a hefty sum by the time I'm done with my MA. However, it's the only way to land my teaching certification without doing something like Teach for America. To do what I want to do (teach high school) I have to spend all this money and time to be making around 30k my first five years or so in the profession.