The social expectations surrounding college.

This is a topic that has bugged me for a few years now. I am 18 years old and in my first semester at University. Basically what I would like to hear from the Sythe community is this: What is your stance on the outlook society has on college after high school? I feel, and I'm sure many others agree, that if you do not go to college after high school you are immediately considered to have failed at life. Not exactly at life but more so in education and in your future career.

Everyone says, "Ohh, you need a degree to get a job". Which I agree with to an extent, but what sets you apart if almost everyone is going to college nowadays? I know that tons of people are graduating with a college diploma in 2015 and struggle to get a job. It's sad that people, me included, are going to college for 4 years of their life and spending thousands and thousands for this piece of paper that you may not even use for your career.

So the discussion is this,

Do you think it is a good or bad idea to go to college? Why do you feel this way?

 

I suppose you need a college education for something like law or medicine in order to even be allowed to practice. One thing to remember is that college is a massive expense - 4 years living expenses minimum, plus any tuition costs that you may pay if you don't have a scholarship. Any money that you borrow to go to college should be treated as an investment into your college degree - of 4 years "training" and costs between tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most people who attend college do not thoughtfully think of the cost/benefit analysis (myself included) ahead of time, which is why they switch majors, or switch schools, or drop out.

I ended up getting a bachelor's degree in management. I currently work at a brewery, so the job I have doesn't require a college degree. However, a college degree can increase your bidding power when applying for jobs, as well as let you pass through some hiring filters.

 

Yeah, if I had to pay for Uni no way would I spend that much when going into a trade could end up giving me a similar wage

 

If you learn code, making apps are so easy nowadays and if you make the right one, could land in a billion dollar gold mine.

Doesn't take a degree or even a year 10 certificate to pick up basic code to learn app development.

^ Just one way to look at thing, it has been done before, many times at that and people succeed.

 

As Xier0 said, a degree gives your employers a reason to choose you over someone without a college degree, just because you have a higher level of education. However that still depends on the job.

If both of you guys were to apply for a computer science job & their other choice had better experience with computers, they'd probably pick him over you if you were a business graduate. It varies greatly on the situation, but in general having a degree will give you sort of 'higher value'.

 

Honestly it depends on what your trying to do in life, to go to college for years and study things that you don't care about and wont support you in the future is a waste even more so if you are going into debt for it. But I believe going to college is an investment and if you chose a path which leads to not many job opportunities than its a bad investment. Everyone in my family for the past couple generations has gained great success in terms of wealth from college, my dad is a architect making somewhere between 200-300k a year and my brother is in medical school right now. My grandparents have also gained off their college investment. It is also important to point out that they all love what they do. So yes going to college is a good idea if you are going to the right reasons not just money. I myself am a sophomore in highschool so don't actually base anything off what I say lmao.

 

Good point and fair enough.

 

Do I think it's a good idea? Yes. To gain employment you must distinguish yourself in a positive light. Not going to college certainly does distinguish yourself, but in a negative light. The question for the employer becomes, what has this person done instead of going to college? For some people they can say well they've started a business, etc etc etc. That is fantastic, I think that would be far more valuable than going to college (provided you still have the requisite technical skills to perform the job).

Other people will say I didn't think it would be worth it, so just chilled for those few years. Employers might look at this and save the application to be shredded later.

For the most part, you don't need college to gain the requisite technical skills, but it is a formal recognition that you do know them; knowing something and proving to someone you know them are two separate things. It would be untrue to say that college is a necessary but not sufficient condition for employment, because you can get employed without going to college (now-a-day). But, that said, there is some truth to that remark, insofar as if you don't go to college, you've made it harder to distinguish yourself from the crowd.

Another benefit people don't talk about is the networking and social opportunities you get at college. Yes it is expensive, but you're not going to get another chance to meet so many other people and see them in so many states of consciousness. College shouldn't be just about education and gaining an employment, all those other aspects are equally important for living a decent life.

 

I'm in my first year at University and not going to uni has been a thought since junior year in high school. Since junior year though, I have created 4 startups. A few of which have been very successful and helped me meet other people in my field. What I'm trying to get at is that I don't think I want to go to college and have been planning on talking with my parents about it soon.

 

For you, I think of relevance would be that: a degree lasts a lifetime. If your start-ups don't proceed further, or you find yourself out of employment for a while, you always have that degree to put on your resume. Conversely, putting the fact that you have failed at a few start-ups is also a good thing to put on your resume.

If your start-ups do find continued success and growth, then a degree would be pointless. I am sure you can pick up any technical skills on the job as most people do. Have you considered doing your degree part-time, off-campus, or something like that? It all really comes down to exposing yourself to risk. It's obviously more risky to forgo a degree and pursue your start-ups with that extra time, and that does attract a significantly greater reward. For a degree, although the reward is significantly less, it is an extremely safe decision. I would say it all depends on you being able to weigh those risks/rewards.

One thing I would point out though is that in the future, in 20 years time, most young people our age will have had a degree, so if you elected not to have a degree, you would be in a minority (just a point to consider). The default mindset that no degree = failure, people who hold that mindset are people whom you shouldn't concern yourself with. They typically don't succeed in life, and the argument itself is meritless as it fails to distinguish between those that don't/can't get a degree due to incompetence/laziness, and those who elect not to get a degree because they have better alternatives. Having said that, you need to demonstrate those better alternatives which you forwent your degree for, otherwise you will be lumped into the former category.

 

If you're really good at what you do, you don't need to finish college. You could easily get a job and prove your technical worthiness.

For the most part, average people go to college because they need to get a degree to get a better paying job.

 

It's a self-perpetuating misconception that if you don't go to university you're a failure. In reality, people who don't go to university are often more successful. In some ways not going to university has been the best choice some people have ever made.

My brother is in a senior role at an IT company doing what he wants to do. He never once went to university and he didn't put in any effort in school because organised education wasn't his thing (from memory he only used to put in for art subjects and the like). He learned everything he knows through hobbies and work experience.

I have a friend who dropped school early and became a welder's apprentice. He's decided to come back to the educational system so he can study mechanical engineering, but because he didn't go straight in to university he has a much more down-to-earth mentality over it all and is actually genuinely interested in learning rather than getting the piece of paper at the end.

Do I think university is helpful for entering some professions? Yes. I'd personally not try to apply for a chemical or process engineering job off the bat for example, which is why I'm studying it at university. Do I think it's necessary to get where you want to in life? Absolutely not; I've seen a lot of evidence to the contrary.

Once you break in to the industry, it's your experience that matters, not your education. If you've worked for a couple of companies and have a couple of good references, you're more likely to be hired than a university graduate who has none of that.

 

I'm 23 and in my second semester. Not going to college doesn't mean you've failed - However, college opens up many more opportunities and I learned the hard way that where I live, there's almost 0 opportunities without it, that is, unless you want a job where you're treated like shit for almost no pay. I've had 1 job, lasted 4 weeks as a "temp worker" and decided I needed to go back to school. So here I am.

It's always a good idea to go to college, regardless if where you live has more openings that only require a highschool education because there's always more and better jobs if you DO go to college.

 

The real use of college is getting connections. Meet as many people as you can, and start practically sucking up to the "nerd" groups in college that organize events for no real reason. I forget the name of it, but there is a club at my college focused on promoting products from businesses like Amazon, Enterprise, etc. And those companies have hired straight out of those clubs. Point is, meet people, get involved, and you'll get more out of college.

 

You don't need a college degree to get a job, it's just helpful. A lot of employers like to see that you've accomplished a 4 year degree on your resume. Unless you're going into a specific field (chemistry, engineering, etc.), your major doesn't matter, your GPA doesn't matter, and the school you attended doesn't matter. Most employers view it as "checking the box", as in, "yes, he got his degree, he was able to see through 4 years of school".

In terms of whether it's a good or bad idea to attend college, it honestly depends on who you are, your skill set, your connections, your field, etc. I've known men with accounting licences who became millionaire venture capitalists, and men with degrees from Yale who end up making $50K annually. Evaluate your circumstances, and talk with experienced people from the field you're looking at.

 

Or you can open sites @ age 17 and be on track to retire at 40.


That would work to.


No college needed.


But to answer ur question, I graduated in May & Refused to pay for college since I was under 18 I couldnt get any aid due to me being under my parents income.


It sucks but to be honest I'm doing better than most people who are drowning in $300k of debt lol.



College is society's worse enemy.


Dont ever take loans, dont ever go into debt.

 

I'm sure there are some success stories, but 99% of people don't have everything work out so neatly.

 

It is better to go to college, but it's definitely not worth it if you have to go in debt, risk losing everything to go study and pay off loans till you're 30+ ? (I heard some stories).
In Belgium (where I currently live) education costs way less than in the USA. Here is costs like $1-2k/year, sometimes less if you get a scholarship.

 

I suppose with a degree in some situations you would have stronger negotiation for a higher salary when going into a job / asking for a pay rise. However, at the same time some employers may not want to employ someone with a degree as they know they can (most of the time) employ someone without a degree, can do the same job and be happy with a lower salary.

 

Money is always important to me but my future I don't see myself working for someone. I like to create and do shit on my own, which I have been doing for years.