College degree = worthless (1 Viewer)

[ChrisMatson]

I don't think this attitude is going to be helpful for learning.
Why not take this opportunity to evaluate your long-term goals and take classes that will be helpful to you.
For retail, how about business, psychology, or communication classes?

 

[Carl Johnson]

What's the name of the school that requires a gym class? That sounds less like junior college and more like junior high.
It sounds silly but honestly if my school required a physical education class I would be all for it. With some of the classes I've taken they could have saved some time by giving me the final on day one so I can ace it and go home, but more exercise is always a good thing

 

[MarkHastings]

My college (i.e. state university) required two gym classes. At the time I thought it was stupid, but I am glad they made me do it.

 

[Robert_Z]

I earned a bachelor's degree.
Graduated with honors.
Am well adjusted.
Am a hard worker.
Am dependable.

But at age 30, my "uneducated" ex already makes more money per year than I ever will, even if I work to be 80. Can you understand my frustration? (Oh, and I rechecked the math...she's not making 60 percent more than me; she's making 75 percent more [vomit].)

I used to think I was smart, but as I get older, my understanding of the word "smart" is changing.

Smart is someone who makes the most of what they have, rather than someone who knows a lot of information and can perform well on academic tests.

But even that is not right, because as I said, I work hard and am at the top of my game. But there are never any jobs available in my field. And when I do see an opening, it pays mid $20k???!!!! Maybe low $30s if I'm lucky. I was soooooooo stupid to get a degree in journalism.

I tell all my nephews and nieces not to make that same mistake, unless they are supremely confident that they can become a major network TV anchor or major mag/newspaper editor.

You all are right, I need to change my career. The BLS says "Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts" are the 2nd hottest-growing jobs out there. But unfortunately, you need... a bachelor's degree.

Good grief, doesn't ITT Tech offer a cliffsnote version of the same degree? I don't want to throw another 3 years of my life away in school.

 

[Patrick Sun]

In larger companies, if you have aspiration to climb that corporate ladder (go into management, or project leadership, or R&D), having a college degree will help you because most higher positions just don't allow non-degreed candidates. It is part of playing the game, but like in a game, if you don't have all the required pieces, you can only go so far within that game. If you don't want to work in a more structured environment, and strike out on your own, and see how your own hiring practice change when it comes to degreed and non-degreed applicants (after a while, you'll see where the numbers catch up with those who have a better chance of long-term success due to their drive to complete coursework for a degree translating into employees that can contribute in a meaniningful manner with less supervision or training/motivation/time management issues). Of course, there will always be exceptions, those with great inter-personal skills, super-specialized self-taught skill set, etc., but if you don't have those types of soft skills or specific skills, a background showing evidence of knowing how to balance workloads and the ability to learn quickly can help to secure employment, but it's still up to the individual to make the best out of their employment situation or find something else more suitable for their work ethic and interests as they progress through their career.

 

[Jimi C]

The point is I have four years of real world experience. I know the place I work better than the back of my hand. Im still young. Business classes are the plan. Ha, however I think many of my customers could benefit if I chose to persue a degree in psychology. I do agree though, my attitude isnt going to be helpful for learning.

You're not my boss are you? Just in case..

Yes sir. I feel this is a great opportunity for learning and a wonderful use of my time off of work. There is nothing I would rather do than expand my horizons and max out my credit cards. 44 hours at work each week followed by 15 or so hours cracking books and climbing ropes has been a long term goal of mine. Thank you for this great opportunity, I will think of you when I come home and open up the door to my empty 1 bedroom apartment.

 

[MarkHastings]

But as you said, it's not the degree, it's the job.

Do you think an elementary student is going to make more money than a lawyer? They both have degrees.

Again, why this obsession with salary being the justification for getting a degree?

 

[Patrick Sun]

One more thing, I know of a few engineers who went back to medical school in their late-20's and early 30's to become doctors or involved in the medical profession, mainly because there's never going to be a shortage of medical care professionals as people tend to live longer these days and require more care for longer periods of time, and they were brave enough to switch careers (and apply what what learned in terms of habits and time management and multi-tasking) for a more stable or lucrative career. This can happen because engineers make a nice bit of change straight out of college, but the better money positions are in engineering management, or leadership, but most engineers are problem-solvers but not always suited for a management tract in their careers (dealing with personnel issues, etc), so they get stuck on the tech track with a ceiling on their financial earning potential for quite a stretch until they retire.

So changing you profession in your 30's isn't the end of the world, and just might help in providing for a rosier outlook in your financial prospects, but attitude helps in making such a transition, and that's something you can control and work towards maintaining a positive attitude and have a goal in mind as to what you want to accomplish with the career change, and then monitor your progress and set other goals as you approach the completition of earlier ones.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Read these two paragraphs carefully. Can anyone spot the contradiction?

What depresses me about this discussion is that practically everyone talks about a degree as if its primary worth is monetary. A silly question, I suppose, but did anybody here take a degree because they actually had a love of learning?

 

[Robert_Z]

Because we are living in a material world. And because that is what college is for: to get a degree and land a good-paying job. Unless that somehow changed during the past two decades?

 

[andrew markworthy]

Absolutely - antibiotics, genetics, cleaner energy sources, digital media, computers, are all things thought up by airy-fairy academics in their ivory towers and utterly incapable of working in the real world.

 

[Jimi C]

Agreed. There are many ways to learn that don't involve taking out loans. If I wanted to learn about something I could go to the library and take out a book, or look it up on the web. What sane person is paying 20k+ in tuition just for kicks?

 

[Robert_Z]

Andrew, maybe you don't know what it's like to be poor? I do. I grew up in poverty.

College was supposed to be "the way out." So I studied my ass off, stayed in the library while the frat boys were partying and dating all the hot chicks. I worked three PT jobs and took a full course load. So what happened to my payoff? Why hasn't my ship come in? Where is my reward for that hard work and sacrifice? This is such BS.

I am doing okay financially because I am single, but there is no way I can support a family on my income, so I won't even try to start one. In time, I know I will regret this decision because I will want a family, but it will be too late.

So in response to your question "did anybody here take a degree because they actually had a love of learning?", I can tell you this:

If I had money to burn, the only thing I would do is go to school. I would be a full-time student and learn as much as I could, about anything and everything, just for the sake of learning. But I don't have that luxury. And apparently I never will.

This is not a good day for me. Sorry for sounding so gloomy.

Don't worry. It's St. Patty's day, so I am going to downtown Austin and getting drunk tonight. That should have a theraputic effect.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Of course it is. Silly me. And here was I thinking that some people did it to broaden their minds and maybe make the world a slightly better place. Thank goodness nobody else has that idea.

 

[johnADA]

That is the biggest bunch of bull, probably stated by a college grad I have ever read.

College is just as much a hiding place for someone to not pursue a goal and float by as it is the other way around.

If what you posted was correct, then I dont exist and live in the gutter!!!!!

Not even close!!

 

[andrew markworthy]

Actually, I do. And it stinks. But being obsessed by money is far, far worse. And lack of money, being ostracised by other kids with richer parents, etc, never killed a love of learning.

 

[Robert_Z]

I enjoyed learning while I was in school. I was a good student and graduated with honors. But if I was given the choice today of being either:

A): A well-rounded, educated person who makes $XX,XXX, OR
B): A person without a degree who makes 75 percent more than person A,

Trust me, I would take option B in a heartbeat. Too bad I don't have that option.

 

[MarkHastings]

That's extremely superficial.

 

[MarkHastings]

That's not what I said. I am talking about the attitude of someone WITH a degree. In order to get a degree, you have to work hard. Those who don't work hard (in college) you can tell who they are and what their attitude toward hard work is. That's why I think the degree helps, because it's physical proof of your determination. I'm not saying that you can't have the same determination without a degree, it's just harder to prove when you are in those few minutes of that interview.

 

[Carlo_M]

No offense, Robert, but you took Comm. That wasn't one of those "high salary" majors. I took PoliSci. Also not a lot of $$$. But it expanded my horizons. I am in a job making $50K (in L.A. that's scraping by) and am not really using my degree. But I would never call my college education useless. I took a lot of psych classes and it's helped me in valuable ways deal with and understand people and myself. Poli Sci has expanded my knowledge of American and world politics. Constitutional law helped me understand how the law has shaped the American economical system (and the rise of corporations). All things I'm glad I know.

Also some of my best friends I met in college.

However my SO is getting her Masters and will be working in the Biotech field in a year or so and will probably make 1.5X or more of my salary. She definitely wouldn't be able to get into that field without her degree. We'll be fine after we're married and I don't think we'd be in that position without our degrees.

It's nice that you worked hard, it speaks volumes about you, but you really should have had your eyes open about your major. I did. I entered as an Electrical Engineering major but changed because the workload was so high and I wasn't enjoying the classes I took. I knew I'd be losing about $50K a year in salary but I wasn't going to be happy or successful in EE. So I made the bed I lie in. I sure hope no one actually told you that Comm was the way to riches. It's a solid major, but it's not law, medicine, business, etc.

I don't think you can equate your experiences to a degree meaning nothing.