College is not for everyone... (1 Viewer)

But the ones who do go sure tend to make you feel akward talking about it .
One of my online AIM buddies was telling me that he was spending the last bits of his time signing documents for graduation. Since I never went to college, I didn't know you had to sign anything, so I asked him what it was for.
I told him I didn't go, and he said something along the lines of, "What line of work are you in again?" Apparently he forgot that I own my own web hosting buisness.
I'm just wondering how many people here never went to college? I went to a one year craptastic school in Monctlaire New Jersey, now called Katherine Gibbs College. I beleive it's right off Bloomfield Ave, that monster of a 4 lane road.
I used the old excuse that regular college just wasn't for me. But when I went to this college for ONLY a Visual Communications course, I got straight A's and B's, compaired to my Mostly C's and D's throughout highschool. The way those classes where taught, it just didn't keep me interested enough to want to learn anything. I probably had the most fun in art class, and horticulture, if anything.
I'm wondering if I'm the only one alone on this matter here? ..

After having gone to college I can safely say that the old adage is true:
It's not what you know, but who you know.

Couldn't stand college. Why am I paying money to be miserable in bored? In High School I was miserable and bored for free

I went to college and got a degree in English and Education so that I could become a high school English teacher. I've never taught a single day, and haven't picked up one of those crusty ol' classics in 15 years since graduation.

Most important thing I learned in college:

It makes no sense to ask an 18 year old to decide what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

Neil, I'm a gov't worker and what I get a lot from people is this: I meet someone outside gov't, they find out what I do for a living and then sometime later down the line, they find out through conversation that I did indeed go to college...then I hear, "you went to college?".

Go figure.

What Carlo said. I went, received my BS in engineering. It did help my land my very first job, after that is was all about who I knew to get me where I am now.
Peace Out~

I think that colleges and connections go hand in hand though. I started out as a freshman in college back in 1997 and quickly took a leave of absence in 1999 in order to launch a start-up. All the while, I kept using the reputation of my college to open doors for me as icebreakers and a means of introduction. Granted, some colleges might provide a more advanced level of alumni support than others.... But if you take away anything from college, recognize that you now have a new doorway open to you that you might not have had had you not gone.

This is the main reason why I chose to go back to school and finish up my degree.

It is a lot about who you know and how fortunate you are. A lot also depends on what type of person you are beyond whatever school you went to or what letters you have after your name. And, lets face it, what I learned on the job was a thousand times more important than what I learned at school.

Its like that saying, $0.50 and a degree will buy you a coffee. (Of course if you buy Starbucks then add $5.00 to that.)

I personally went to a two year technical institute and ended up being a V.P. of Operations 6 years after graduation so no MBA required just hard work and on the job intelligence.

Patrick

College? Wasn't and isn't for me. I hated HS and enlisted in the Army for 6 years following, which I actually enjoyed.

I hate college. Thank god I'm almost done

The only good things to come out of college is my soon to be wife and some good friends. oh yeah, I did get the all important piece of paper....

I've always done well in school. Near the top of everything (#7 in high school, #2 in Naval Nuclear Power School). I seem to have a knack for remembering lots of things, particularly numbers. When taking tests, I can literally visualize how I wrote the info in my notes, and repeat it, near verbatim, on the test. It's allowed me to do quite well. I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge. I used to read volumes of the encyclopedia, simply because it was on the shelf in the house. Whenever I read something technical, it mostly seems deja vu- like I've seen it before in a previous life. Like Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity last week. I "get it," but can't explain it. It is a strange feeling. But...
I can't seem to bring myself to go back to college. I applied to UCF, years ago ('95, eight years out of HS), and wanted to start in Calc I (which I had taken when in HS, but is now mostly forgotten also. ) I was given a 120 question test with college-level Algebra, Geometry, Trig on it- I got 119 right. They then "allowed" me to apply for the 2nd remedial class (non-credit), followed by FOUR semesters of pre-reqs before Calc I. WTF??? I offered to take an oral exam in front of the Math Dept.- NO.
I haven't been back since. Between the GI Bill and my company's tuition reimbursement, it would essentially be free (at a "regular folk" school- not Yale or MIT, for instance).
Many colleges seem to have gotten into the Business of Education, but have taken the Education out of the Business. What you learn takes secondary consideration to what you pay.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm wasting what little bit of brainpower I have doing what I do, which doesn't seem like much these days. Anyone know what sort of kick in the ass I need?
Todd
P.S. Who ever thought that you may have to AVOID college to maintain an idealistic view of what a good education should be?

>I've always done well in school. Near the top of everything (#7 in high school, >>
Heh, I beleive out of a school ranking they once did, I was in the low 200's. An under-achievier in most areas and semi-proud of it . Also got a 700 on the SAT's. Halfway mark, heh.
>>Many colleges seem to have gotten into the Business of Education, but have taken the Education out of the Business. What you learn takes secondary consideration to what you pay. >>
This phrase PERFECTLY describes the craptastic one year college I went too. Short version. Pressuring you to sign up, without giving time to make a decision. Lying about the equipment they'll have, when they only get it halfway through the year, and even then it's full of software errors. 70% bad teachers, one who was too busy crusing down the Jersey Shore to attend class. Instead of firing him and listening to our complaints, they gave us an A. Only three good teachers, who where all pro's in the movie industry. Only good thing about that place .

I never went to college...I would like to go someday, though, and become an "academic".
I think it is very wrong to make an 18 year old go to college & decide on what they want to do for te the rest of that person's life. I didn't find out what I wanted to learn until I was in my early 20's, working full-time, but not making enough money to either go back to college to or able to dictate my schedule enough so that I could go to classes. Of course, what I want to study has absolutely no relation to what I am doing now, so my employer won't pay for it...I'll go someday, I guess.

I agree about college not being right for everyone. After high school, I had a full ride to Univ. of Illinois, where I was going to major in Engineering Physics. Well, I went for one year. Apart from the possibility of landing a high-paying job upon graduation, I couldn't see the practicality of it. Maybe engineering just wasn't my cup of tea...

One thing that gets me is how people without a college education are looked down upon. Society does not seem to judge a person's true ability and knowledge, but rather judges them on possession of a piece of paper. For example, I am employed as a tire builder for Continental Tire. This job does not require a large amount of brainpower. I like my job for several reasons, namely: The money is good and the work keeps me in shape, I don't have to deal with a lot of bureaucratic nonsense, and I don't have to take my work home with me - when I leave the factory, I don't think about tires until next shift. Another plus is the union connection. If my foreman pisses me off, I have full freedom to tell him off any way I see fit!!!

We recently hired several new people, one of which attended HS with me. He recognized me and asked what I was doing working here, as the last time he saw me I was leaving for U of I. I just got the feeling that he was judging me a failure for not getting that engineering degree - and it annoyed me to no end. I feel that whenever I tell someone what I do for a living, I should have a sign that says "No, I am not stupid, I just enjoy my job. Do you?"

On a lighter note, the downside of an admitted brainiac having such a job is that I consume books, magazines, CDs, and DVDs by the truckload. It's a lack of intellectual stimulus at work, you see...

somehow, if this makes sense, 18 can be too young for most people to attend college.

other things which might get in the way are people who don't like to sit around, people who's sweaty hands curl anything paper-like in seconds, or people who don't know what they want to do, until they actually do it.

of course, these people are not me.

I spent about two years in college, and then decided to join the Armed Forces (Air Force specifically). The path my life has taken is bizarre, but I have no regrets. It turns out I am quite the technological workaholic (something I never figured out in college). Through my four years with the AF, I worked my butt off and learned a ton of really valuable stuff. Keeping in mind that I volunteered for everything (probably spent a year and half overseas) and took every advantage to learn, I left with god recommendations from all that I worked with and had a resume that wasn't all lies. Converted that to a network engineering job and, again, worked my butt off. Followed that with a vertical change in jobs and I'm now in Network Planning and getting nothing but positives from all I work with.

That said, I don't advertise my lack of degree, which I think sort of helps me. Nobody questions if I have one, and are often surprised to find I don't, given the technical nature of my job.

College may not be for everyone, but I would suggest you have a solid work ethic if you don't, becuase nothing is free.

I have my degree but I essentailly switched careers after working in my field for a couple of years. I have since gone back to school and taken a few courses in my new field and I must say you really notice a huge difference between the young people fresh out of high school and those mature students taking upgrade courses etc. I remember being the exact same way they were too, as a more mature individual the course material means a lot more to me know then it did when I didn't comprehend how I'd apply any of it.