Oh goodness.
If you were my teacher in HS I would have had the hugest crush on you.
I recall a US History teacher of mine that I found quite irresistible at the time...
is college worth it, like, at all?
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Oh goodness.
If you were my teacher in HS I would have had the hugest crush on you.
I recall a US History teacher of mine that I found quite irresistible at the time...
Degrees in liberal arts are productive in that they can encourage critical thinking, but they often don't promise any sort of job after. In Canada right now, 1 in 10 teachers are hired, and that's one of the few things you can do with an arts degree. To get a job with an astrophysics education, you're best to get a PHD, and the jobs in that field are not lucrative. I think that's where people get mixed up. Obviously if you go into something like medicine, or engineering for example, you're more apt to being hired in that field, but not each program is made alike that way. Why should it be? I think that it should be made clearer in high schools, the purpose for differant types of education. Higher education does not mean you're hired.
I agree that college is just a money-making scam. But it wouldn't be so lucrative if the public system weren't so ineffective.
My mom tells me about what a good education my grandma got. She never went to college; her dad splurged for the wedding instead of school. My grandma is no intellectual, but she's a capable lady, and she definitely knows enough to get by.
I visited an elementary school about a year ago as part of my teacher training and I was impressed by how committed the teachers were in getting the basics across. Some of the stuff the third graders were doing in science class I didn't do until seventh grade! So it's definitely getting better. But it kind of sucks for those of us who went through back when the public system was a joke.
Ugh, what a nightmare! I'm a math major, and people keep telling me to be a math teacher because they need math teachers, but right now that's the last thing I want to do. I feel so sorry for you English majors. You are all such nice and talented people and you get so screwed by the system. Also, how does anyone rationalize you paying money to work? That sounds like bullshit to me.
No, you're way too honest about yourself to be a douchebag. Most douchebags I meet are completely deluded about what pricks they are. So go you!
I think some revisions to college should include reducing general ed to one year instead of two. Combining some of the humanities and social science courses so that you take two instead of 6 or 8 courses in various humanities unless you intend to major in the area. Half of the first year general ed should be life skills development with courses such basic finance and economics, computer and technological literacy, and of course communication skills which include management and leadership skills. I'm sure there are others that could be included. But I think the time has passed for requiring so many humanities courses before specializing. I think you should be able to specialize from the beginning, and be able to have a degree with fewer credits. The credit count for a BA should be lowered. Three years instead of four should be more typical (US example).
Of course. Even if you don't reap the financial rewards of an engineer or MBA, a BA makes you a better thinker because you have to learn to analyze and think critically about a topic. My father's a molecular biologist, and he says the most important undergrad class he took was an Intro-level English class because it made him a much better writer.
Yes, with the decline in the economy, students don't have the luxury of focusing on education for education sake anymore. They need to think about if the large amount of money they spend on a college education, which they don't typically have, is worth 3 or 4 years. Of course, I think college is important especially since I'm an educator. But I also understand concerns about wasting money on studying something one does not use or need later on. Of course, most jobs prefer that you at least have an associates or bachelors. But understandably, students need to know that if they study something, there is a market for it out there in the real world where they have to make money to pay bills. I am not a proponent of the idea that not everyone needs a college education, because I think you can always learn something new about the world. But if I'm paying for it in loans for the rest of my adult life, then yes, I need to think about whether it's worth the time and effort. Just to inject a little realism.
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I've heard this one a lot. I enjoy learning, but working so hard in college to finish that late night paper, to please the professor, eating all that bad food, being in debt the rest of your life -- 'intrinsic value' just doesn't cut it for me. I gotta know that it's making my life better down the road. Personally, I think that when colleges claim that education is an aim in itself that they're just trying to dodge responsibility for not imparting any real life skills. Kind of like when Jon Stewart claims that he doesn't need to be a good journalist because he is a comedian. Kind of like that.
That's probably true, but still, it depends on what you want to do with your life. You're going to need a degree for certain things, and you can also learn about finance and how to invest and make powerful contacts in college.
If your main goal in life is to piss off your father, you might want to go ahead and get the degree and find another way to piss off your father. (I have no idea whatsoever if this is your situation or not, since I don't know you, or your father, but that situation seems to apply to a lot of people who have parents or others lined up to help pay for their educations.) Flushing opportunity down the toilet just to rebel is foolish and you will wind up regretting it, nearly certainly. <<<That was purely metaphorical and not intended to be personal at all!
Generally speaking, if someone is offering to teach you something, and give you higher status in the process, it would be smart to take them up on that offer. I don't think any opportunity to learn anything is worthless, but you certainly can pay too much for it, and that's why looking into ways to save money and not going to a for-profit university is very smart.
Also, there is a limited market for things like fine needlework or analyzing Shakespeare or something, so you might want to crunch the numbers before paying for a degree like that and know what you are getting into.
And regarding the douchebaggery, it does generally come back to haunt a person, eventually. It's much better long-term to focus on more of a collaborative, helpful mindset, IMO. That's why volunteering is such a good idea, because you learn so much and meet people and are in a very cooperative collaborative environment, typically.
...BTW, those were good articles. I laughed at the quote from the first one:
That's about half the battle for most people, figuring out what they even want to do with their lives and being aware of the possibilities. It can be very limiting not to know what is possible, you know?
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But what if I dont want to kill people who have never harmed me or occupy a foreign nation?
I keep saying this, so let me say it again. College IS NOT job training, it is education. The cliff note version of college was that the elite used to send their kids to entitites (that ended up being colleges) so they could be educated/refined. The MALE children of WEALTHY families that is. Once they had finished their "education" it was time for them to embark on their "grand tour" where they would travel extensively to combine "worldly experience" with their "education". College level education is founded within the upper echelon of society.
The basic tenents of college work is to educate the individual. The first two years are considered general education because they are about taking classes within broad categories (100 to 200 level classes). The last 2 years are where you narrow your focus and recieve more specific information about a particular topic--say business. However the only way to successfully navigate your college degree to a good job is to include as much internship and/or work experience as you take classes to broaden the base of your knowledge from merely theoretical to both theory and experience.
Edit: The first two years of any degree are kinda standard. It makes more sense to go to a Jr. or Community college which are way less expensive and then transfer into a major university. You need to know what type of degree you want by the end of your freshmen year though so you can work with the university/program you want to finish up in so most of your credits transfer. Most first year coursework like English 1 and English 2 you don't have to worry about but you should be planning out what you need to do/take your second year.
The basic tenents of college work is to educate the individual. The first two years are considered general education because they are about taking classes within broad categories (100 to 200 level classes). The last 2 years are where you narrow your focus and recieve more specific information about a particular topic--say business. However the only way to successfully navigate your college degree to a good job is to include as much internship and/or work experience as you take classes to broaden the base of your knowledge from merely theoretical to both theory and experience.
Edit: The first two years of any degree are kinda standard. It makes more sense to go to a Jr. or Community college which are way less expensive and then transfer into a major university. You need to know what type of degree you want by the end of your freshmen year though so you can work with the university/program you want to finish up in so most of your credits transfer. Most first year coursework like English 1 and English 2 you don't have to worry about but you should be planning out what you need to do/take your second year.
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Yeah it's worth it. It's a lot better than high school at any rate; I'd go just to experience the contrast.
These days, I would suggest people look into going into a trade such as Machinist, Electrician, Plumbing etc.
That is were the demand is these days. And these careers pay very well.
For 30 years there has been too much emphasis placed on going to a college rather than a trade school.
That is were the demand is these days. And these careers pay very well.
For 30 years there has been too much emphasis placed on going to a college rather than a trade school.
