Is college worth it?

[Gulp]

Some post in Heroscapers and some conversations outside of this site had me thinking recently about the importance of college. I should point out early on that I've been out of school with four-year degree for about eight years now (yikes!), and it's in General Studies (double-yikes!!). I don't consider myself to be the best person to give advice [see General Studies degree], so I thought I'd pitch the topic to some folks here.

Is college worth it?

I was fortunate to have my schooling paid for by my parents. Now the only debt I have is from my own bad financial investments like when I designed and had printed 500 pint glasses that say #2 Dad. I still think they're funny, but I could have bought 20 for a few hundred, had a nice weird gift for friends/family, and I wouldn't still have trouble parking in my garage thanks to the 400+ remaining glasses. But I'm getting distracted so back to the topic.

I didn't use my cruddy degree. I think I probably know more people who are not using their degree than those who did. My friends who had to pay for their own schooling are going to be in debt to a bank for the next 10 years if they're lucky.

So why go? I definitely learned a lot. That's where I first learned to do laundry and microwave potatoes. But seriously, I did learn about a huge variety of topics, and I had a lot of fun experiences. I didn't go the party route. Never drank did drugs while I was in school. I'm not sure that it's fair for me to advise young friends who are exiting high school not to go to college. Could that variety of topics been accessed easier without the debt and commitment of time? Maybe.

I usually say this: I wish I had waited a couple years before going to school. Even if it is just a semester, consider giving yourself a bit of time to shake off the high school ickiness. The first couple years of school I just pursued a degree in Spanish because learning languages just came really easily to me. Even while I was studying Spanish I didn't really care about it. I just figured I should do what I was good at. And that's where I have the problem. I should have been pursuing what I really enjoyed deeply. I didn't realize what I would really have liked to study until recent years.

Are we too young to commit to massive debt or a wrong career path (which obviously can be rectified later with motivation and perhaps more college debt)?

Anyone have an thoughts? I honestly haven't figured out where I stand on this issue. My gut tells me that college was worth it. Maybe I'm just disappointed because I work alone in a windowless room in the stinky basement of an old hotel.

[netherspirit]

I'm going to be in debt up to my earlobes when I'm done (hopefully soon!) so I certainly hope its worth it!

[Draconious]

Having a degree, even if it is unrelated to your current job, proves to employers that you are willing to work... not having one says your too lazy to do it... which would you hire?

[Taeblewalker]

You'll find that, for better or worse, many jobs require a college degree of some kind, even if the degree is only marginally relevant. It's something of a rite of passage. In other cases, the degree is relevant.

If you want to do something on your own, like make novelty items, write a novel or go into entertainment, then you really need to do that with whatever other credentials you have, which pretty much amount to your personal skills and talents.

In short, that answer is, "It depends." Your degree in General Studies does not easily place you in a particular field.

I wish you luck, and I hope you hit your stride!

[MI_Tiger]

Originally Posted by Gulp

I didn't go the party route. Never drank did drugs while I was in school.

Are you confessing to something since you graduated?

On topic, I think I college degree is important for most professions. In fact it is a minimum requirement for many jobs - without a diploma, you won't even get in the door.

As far as the actual knowledge you gain - I hate to say it, but I think it is much less important. I have a Bachelors and Masters in Industrial Engineering, and I doubt that I've used anything I learned more than a handful of times. But, having those degrees proved to my employer that I had the discipline and work ethic to take on and complete difficult tasks - character traits that are useful in my job. And doing the work forced me to become better at task and time management which is useful in any job.

I'm in the position now to interview and hire people, and a college degree is generally a must-have just because it says something about the applicant. It also matters what the degree is in and what your GPA and activities are, also because it can relate to character traits (did they excel in a challenging major while being actively involved in extracurriculars, or did they barely pass easy courses?).

I will note that there are other ways to demonstrate this without a degree - military service is an example, but there are others that can be relavant to other jobs (I work for the Army so military service is relevant).

Of course, there are lots of idiots with impressive degrees, so college doesn't mean everything (not even close). But when I am deciding whether or not to bring somebody in for an interview, I usually only have a resume which doesn't give a lot of info. A good college record can be what gets you the interview, or keeps you from it. Once you are in the interview room, you can rely on other things, without college you may never get the chance to speak face-to-face.

[InfinityMax]

I absolutely believe college is worth the investment in time and money. And I'm not even working the field I studied - I got a degree in finance, and I'm an artist. So that worked out.

However, having a degree gets me more respect than I would otherwise get. For instance, until last summer, I taught software classes at two local colleges - and could not have done so if I did not have a bachelor's degree. I have also landed jobs I would have lost had I not finished my degree, even though the degree was completely unrelated. Simply having the degree, even in an unrelated field, was often enough to get me interviews where I would have otherwise missed out.

Of course, I wish I had received my degree in art - becoming a professional graphic designer was quite a bit more difficult without an art degree. The fact that my degree is not an art degree has also cost me promotions, to the point that I am strongly considering returning to school for a masters in fine arts.

And then there are jobs that absolutely require a degree. You can't be a teacher in Texas, for instance, without the proper degree. It might be rather difficult to attain an internship with NASA with a GED. Government jobs have to pay you more if you have a degree.

But if all of these things were not true, I would still consider college to be an invaluable investment. Classes I took in college taught me how to be a good writer. They taught me how to think. They taught me how to argue a point. I learned about such a wide variety of topics that I found out how much I could enjoy things like John Steinbeck and Shakespeare, and I picked up a fair amount of French and a love of foreign food (though I prefer Middle Eastern food to French food, and I still hate Indian food).

And on top of the lessons learned in the classroom, I learned invaluable lessons about independence, community, and relationships. I learned great things about myself - that I could finish what I started, for instance, or that I was actually pretty good at talking to girls (the tips I learned in college helped there, too).

If all that other stuff isn't enough, here's my most persuasive argument - my wife would not have been interested in me if I had not been to college. Not because she's snobby, but she was terribly hard to impress. She's almost finished with her PhD now, and even when we met she was so dad-gum smart she often made me feel like I should be dragging knuckles and hunting with a club. But when the Leningrad Cowboys came on TV to do a live performance, and I asked, 'shouldn't they be the Saint Petersburg Cowboys?', she was so impressed that she decided to give me a chance. And I wouldn't have known that Leningrad had gone back to being called St. Petersburg if I hadn't taken a class in Russian politics.

You'll run up some good debt going to school, if you're not rich. You may not be able to go to Yale or MIT. And there are lots of people who just aren't cut out for college - not because they're necessarily not smart enough, it's just that it may not be able to keep up in a competitive academic environment (my wife has taught many of those people freshman history, and she's more outspoken on this topic than I am). But if you've got the desire to broaden your horizons and expand your possibilities for the future, I highly recommend college.

Just don't go to University of Texas at Arlington. They totally suck. No, I'm not even remotely kidding.

[rym]

Originally Posted by InfinityMax

Just don't go to University of Texas at Arlington. They totally suck. No, I'm not even remotely kidding.

I wish I could find some way to disagree with this statement, but alas, I cannot. You hit the nail on the head InfinityMax. And I think it's a sad state for us, locally, when TCC has a better decorum, professionalism, and - in my honest opinion - better professors more interested in teaching rather than socializing with the students.

Wasn't that way 18 years ago though...

[Taelord]

Originally Posted by InfinityMax

I absolutely believe college is worth the investment in time and money. And I'm not even working the field I studied - I got a degree in finance, and I'm an artist. So that worked out.

However, having a degree gets me more respect than I would otherwise get. For instance, until last summer, I taught software classes at two local colleges - and could not have done so if I did not have a bachelor's degree. I have also landed jobs I would have lost had I not finished my degree, even though the degree was completely unrelated. Simply having the degree, even in an unrelated field, was often enough to get me interviews where I would have otherwise missed out.

Of course, I wish I had received my degree in art - becoming a professional graphic designer was quite a bit more difficult without an art degree. The fact that my degree is not an art degree has also cost me promotions, to the point that I am strongly considering returning to school for a masters in fine arts.

And then there are jobs that absolutely require a degree. You can't be a teacher in Texas, for instance, without the proper degree. It might be rather difficult to attain an internship with NASA with a GED. Government jobs have to pay you more if you have a degree.

But if all of these things were not true, I would still consider college to be an invaluable investment. Classes I took in college taught me how to be a good writer. They taught me how to think. They taught me how to argue a point. I learned about such a wide variety of topics that I found out how much I could enjoy things like John Steinbeck and Shakespeare, and I picked up a fair amount of French and a love of foreign food (though I prefer Middle Eastern food to French food, and I still hate Indian food).

And on top of the lessons learned in the classroom, I learned invaluable lessons about independence, community, and relationships. I learned great things about myself - that I could finish what I started, for instance, or that I was actually pretty good at talking to girls (the tips I learned in college helped there, too).

If all that other stuff isn't enough, here's my most persuasive argument - my wife would not have been interested in me if I had not been to college. Not because she's snobby, but she was terribly hard to impress. She's almost finished with her PhD now, and even when we met she was so dad-gum smart she often made me feel like I should be dragging knuckles and hunting with a club. But when the Leningrad Cowboys came on TV to do a live performance, and I asked, 'shouldn't they be the Saint Petersburg Cowboys?', she was so impressed that she decided to give me a chance. And I wouldn't have known that Leningrad had gone back to being called St. Petersburg if I hadn't taken a class in Russian politics.

You'll run up some good debt going to school, if you're not rich. You may not be able to go to Yale or MIT. And there are lots of people who just aren't cut out for college - not because they're necessarily not smart enough, it's just that it may not be able to keep up in a competitive academic environment (my wife has taught many of those people freshman history, and she's more outspoken on this topic than I am). But if you've got the desire to broaden your horizons and expand your possibilities for the future, I highly recommend college.

Just don't go to University of Texas at Arlington. They totally suck. No, I'm not even remotely kidding.

I appluade you IMax. Rep points, coming your way.

[patstoddard]

It's a personal choice for everyone, I've been instilled from day one I was going to college and now I'm amonth away from getting out of HS, I will be starting this summer.

I am also lucky like you to have parents foot the bill for me. I also plan to attend law school after college so that means with all of law school and first 4 basic years of college plus grad school I have about 8-9 years left of school ahead of me.

I think it is worth it, hopeing you don't get hit by a bus the day after graduation. The fact that you have a degree will help you in the job market regardless of what it is in. According to research, someone with a college degree earns about $1,000,000 more than someone without over the course of a lifetime.

Dang, if worse comes to worse join the army and go in as a 2nd Liutenant.

[Billtog]

I think it's worth it, then again I'm now ending my second year of college and I'm very optimistic. Also, I'm majoring in Creative Writing, which, for whatever reason, people say is a "joke major." Okay, Mr. Journalism.

[loborocket]

I think most others have already stated that college is worth it. I would agree with that as well. I have a Masters degree in Architecture and spent 8 years in school getting it and feel it was worth the investment. I know for sure I would not have the job I do today if I did not do it.

The one other thing that caught my attention in the original post was the comment about waiting a semester or a year to start college. I think that is a big mistake. If you are going to go to college then just go. Waiting any lenght of time to do it will only make it more difficult to go back to school at some point in the future. LIFE has a funny way of taking over. You will have a job making "good" money (any full time job feels like "good" money after getting out of HS), bills, significant others, kids?, all of these are things that make it harder and harder to get back to school. The longer you are away the more these other things control your decisions.

[HSisforcoolkids]

I'm less than a year out of college. I had several great professors and they made learning a joy. I had a couple lousy teachers and they made class just a terrible waste of time. I think the pleasurability of the college experience is largely determined by the faculty. If you are willing to work hard and you have good professors, college is just awesome. Also, if you're lucky enough to have professors who teach you how to think and not what to think, your learning experience will be much more enjoyable.

Less than a year out of school, it is not my friends or parties or football games that I miss the most; it is my classtime with the supportive professors I had.

I would just like to add that college is not for everyone. I have friends from high school who just weren't interested in college, and they are doing fine. I also met several people in college who had no need to be there--they didn't go to class, study, or get involved with anything positive going on on campus. But if you want to take your learning to a new level and work hard, college can be an excellent place to do that.