I think college is a giant waste of time and money, especially for us

[Shiznown]

I think that college outside of a very select career field like medical or engineering, is a complete waste of time. I've spent 7 years in and out of college and I just turned 30. I never got a degree partly because of all the extra classes. Now I am looking at what I wanted to do 10 years ago and should have done, manual labor(welding, plumbing, pipefitting). My advise to anyone young here, especially in the US is to look into trade work, unless you are dead set on working in the medical or engineering field and even then you have to decide if all the debt and time is worth it.

 

[Progster]

Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that job vacancies that I later applied for did require me to have a university degree in a related field, and no, because much of what I learned at university, I could have learned on my own, at home, without formal tuition.

However, I did learn some important life skills from my time at uni: to live independently, to research a topic and present it, to present, justify and defend an argument. My writing and presentation skills improved a lot as result of attending university, and these skills have helped me in life.

 

[Shiznown]

Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that job vacancies that I later applied for did require me to have a university degree in a related field, and no, because much of what I learned at university, I could have learned on my own, at home, without formal tuition.

However, I did learn some important life skills from my time at uni: to live independently, to research a topic and present it, to present, justify and defend an argument. My writing and presentation skills improved a lot as result of attending university, and these skills have helped me in life.

But you could have stilled learned that on your own.

 

[Iamnotarabot]

It tooks me 7 years to have a 3 year degree, been throught self harm behaviours, greater eating disorder than I already had. Didnt make any friend , I couldnt find any social circle.

Why did I fail so hard is a combination of many factors, but this is realy the moment of my life where my ASD and all the little psychological issues that come with it made my life a mess.


I don"t think it 's related to the broader issue about college related to its lack of real job opportunities, especially if you choose the wrong degree.

But college never looked to me as a place we learn, its all about the social interraction over again, you have useless class because every point said in the class is not detailled enought so you have to spend the same amount of time learning the topic on your own, then you go to exam and show that you know what you are talking about. The rest of the time is mostly dedicated to social interactions. And it sucks because I was thought that college was actually a place were we could learn stuff, if you base 85%of your knowledge and work on thing you did outside of class its obvious to say that this class is useless.

It didnt give me the opportunity to think of what I want to do with that degree neither, It just ruined my self esteem that was already pretty low anyway.

The lack of organisation is also a pain, I mean the cancelled class, the teacher that is away for 2 months and all of that.

And you spend 25% of your day just moving in and out of the unni, so yeah it sucks.

 

[Progster]

But you could have stilled learned that on your own.

Yes, you're right, I probably could.

 

[Misery]

Sure was a waste of time to me.

Got into college right after highschool. The idea was to eventually get a career in game design, and this meant programming, and THAT meant a degree in computer science.

Well, I have a degree, an associates degree in computer science. Bloody waste of time and money. Took 3 years... might have taken 2, but frankly I make for a terrible student. MANY of the classes were a waste of time; either they were all about stuff I already knew, or they were about things that were irrelevant and useless for what I wanted to do.

On top of that, this was a "business" college. The normal ideas of what people think of when they think of college dont really apply to this sort. It's as if this place was TRYING to be as boring as possible to prepare everyone for the mind-melting doldrums that they'd be facing in actual jobs.

On top of THAT, there was the bizarre travelling. Heck if I remember why, but they kept finding reasons to NOT hold the classes in the actual college building. Some classes thusly would be held in.... hotels. Seriously. These hotels were typically in very awkward places, from where I live, and they were always the big ones, not the little ones like a Comfort Inn, which dont have meeting halls or anything like that. I'm very familiar with hotels in a general sense, as I do alot of travelling on my own to conventions, which means both a hotel room as well as an event in a hotel itself, so it's not like these were unfamiliar environments, but... freaking college classes in a hotel? Well, I say familiar, but that's right, the conventions didnt come until after college. Still, hotels were familiar enough from so many family trips.

So, I get out of that hideous mess, aaaaaaaand... find out that an associates degree in that particular field is bloody useless. NOBODY will accept that. Everyone wants you to have a bachelor's degree. Another few years of distilled dullness? Yeah, right. Wasnt happening.

A bit later I ended up also going to community college for a short time, to try to get SOMETHING to help get a job. This was EVEN MORE USELESS. ALL of the classes were irrelevant. Every... single... one of them. They had this brilliant idea that before you could take the "real" classes (aka, the ones that mattered for what you were trying to do) you had to take enough "general" classes. AKA, bloody stupid things that have zero meaning to you. I distinctly remember taking a class in criminal justice for nothing resembling a good reason. I *dont* remember anything that was taught in it.


And then later on, I got my diagnosis, and my family situation also changed drastically. This ended up making all of that EVEN MORE POINTLESS as I no longer needed a job, period. Havent worked a job in probably a decade. Never will again.


And then the real kicker: I mentioned I was after a career in game design. Well, the industry changed since then. I have indeed taken part in actual game development. Made a game, contracted to a developer I'd gotten to know. But it's an indie dev... no connection to any of the giant publishers. And they could not have given less of a fart about my lack of a degree. They knew I was the right person for the very specific thing they wanted to do, so they offered me a contract out of the blue (it's not like I was looking for one), and.... yeah.

All that useless, stupid college crap, because "oh it's gonna be so necessary, you're gonna NEED it if you wanna get into game design" and I end up doing it later without any of that factoring in whatsoever.

Kinda reminds me of how my parents always used to harp at me when I was in school (highschool and earlier) about how I was "really gonna need to know all this stuff later, it's important!" and I always said I wouldnt. Funny, seems I was right. All I learned in highschool is how to type. 4 years of crap for that... well at least that's something, even if it had nothing to do with college really...

 

[Major Tom]

Finished high school and said F-that to further education. Went to building houses and now I'm an English teacher. I think the whole University deal is a scam unless you are gonna be a rocket scientist or a surgeon.

 

[Mr Allen]

Meh, I've spent more than half my life in education and I still don't have a job.

Go figure.

 

[Judge]

I can appreciate the original post. It reminds of one of the most basic hurdles with education. Having to take and pass courses you have utterly no interest or aptitude in, which may or may not be relevant to a specific function or job.

On the other hand vocational training is quite specific in comparison. Where the focus is finely honed to what a trade demands in real-time rather than a nebulous curriculum established by academics over decades.

In my next life I'd prefer to cut through so much nonsense and simply go straight to a lucrative vocation that reflects inelastic demand no matter how good- or bad the economy may be. In which it's likely that I can spend less than half the time training as opposed to what it took to get a university degree where my first job afterwards was working as a warehouseman and truck driver in a very bad economy.

Higher education can be a great thing. Though not everyone is cut out for it. And most of all, know that the sacrifices that go with achieving that degree come with the knowledge that there are no guarantees regarding jobs.

Fluctuating economies just have far too much influence on the equation. The reality is that there was only a brief point in time in which an affordable college degree meant a bright future. And that time came and went long ago.

 

[felines are superior]

It depends.
If there's something you really want to learn and would love to do, or if there's something you know you can do that will bring you a real decent income, then go for college.

But if one goes to college just because that's what everyone else does, then it's a wast of time. I could give several examples of people who'd gone to college and wasted time and money, and then found a job in a different area altogether that didn't even require college education. They could've been working and making money instead of going to college and wasting money.

 

[tducey]

I really enjoyed my college experience, was in a great class with many wonderful people. Still what works for some doesn't work for others. I went to a trades college and have a diploma in office. I think a career in the trades makes more sense than going to university (As we call it here in Canada) but different strokes for different folks.

 

[Tom]

The majority of academia is a huge Scampire, designed to support the easy academic's lifestyle. The tuition is brand name overpriced and textbooks nothing more then a cash cow for academics to milk. (ie you can't use last years book, you must buy this years 87th edition, for $150.00. because it has 2 additional words.)

 

[SunnyDay16]

I think it depends on what your goals are. Lots of people go to college because they expect a degree to guarantee them employment, which couldn't be further from the truth. However, furthering your education can never be a bad thing if it's something you want to do. But not everyone wants to go to college or is cut out for it, and that's OK.

 

[Mary Terry]

It depends on the person regardless of whether they are NT or ND. Some people thrive in academia and secure decent jobs after graduation; others belong in trade school so they can become blue collar workers. As long as the blue collar job has staying power and won't be supplanted by robots, machinery or new technologies that render the job obsolete, then one can earn a decent living and be content performing menial tasks for the rest of their lives.

Many disciplines, such as law and all of the sciences, require higher education besides just medicine and engineering. I have a good friend who is autistic, divorced, and has 3 autistic children, but she stuck it out through 4 years of college and 3 years of law school. She now earns a six figure annual income, doing mostly domestic, family law, and social security disability work. IMHO, her intelligence and unique talents would be wasted as a truck mechanic or welder.

That said, I also have an NT friend who dropped out of college and now sells toilet seats to the US military and federal government. He rakes in about a quarter million dollars a year just selling toilet seats on commission. Another childhood friend went to air conditioning trade school, set up his own company, and makes really good money working on people's air conditioners here in the deep south where A/C is virtually a necessity of life.

 

[Joel's Hear]

To me, college is a place where wealthier people's kids go to drink and earn an easy degree so they can make more money for themselves. From my experience. The college curriculum is ridiculously easy, and the only thing generally learned is how to fit into a social hierarchy.

From another perspective, college can be very beneficial. My grandfather grew up dirt poor in the rural South and a football scholarship to GT (under coach Bobby Dodd) gave him the opportunity of a life. He studied industrial engineering and invented a peanut processing machine that netted him $1,000,000 in 1960s dollars. Set for life after that. Which brings me back to the OP's post: engineering classes seem to actually teach you something, while many others are for show.

 

[FreeDiver]

The number one problem with higher education these days is that it's become saturated/diluted now. There's so many people out there with degrees now that it's no longer a special thing anymore that makes you stand out from the rest. Besides, who really needs the education system for knowledge now, now that we got the internet.

Another thing you might ask is, is why most jobs out there require you to have a college diploma in the first place? It's because of liability reasons. Companies out there will literally dump perfectly good employees with years of experience for collage educated idiots. Even if it's detrimental to the company's bottom line. Losing productivity is still cheaper then a lawsuit.

 

[Progster]

I think it depends on what your goals are. Lots of people go to college because they expect a degree to guarantee them employment, which couldn't be further from the truth. However, furthering your education can never be a bad thing if it's something you want to do. But not everyone wants to go to college or is cut out for it, and that's OK.

Totally agree. It's a myth that going to university will guarantee you employment. My sister finish school with a few GCSEs and didn't go to university or get A levels even, and she had a successful career, simply because she is good at networking, good at selling herself and has good people skills.

 

[interaural]

I feel slightly reluctant to defend my profession in the face of all these bad experiences, but I'll have a go.

I'm an engineering professor in the UK. The higher education system is pretty different from that in the US, so some of my views might not apply in the US. There seem to be two main complaints here: money and whether you could just teach yourself. How university education is financed is a political decision. Most countries in Europe have mass higher education systems with only nominal tuition fees. These countries think that an educated populace is important enough for the country that it should be funded by taxation. Like the UK and the US, European countries are all wealthy enough to do this. In the US, and (more recently) the UK, governments think that only the individual student benefits from going to university and so they should pay for it. In the UK, this has changed quite recently, and has led to a rise in dissatisfaction with universities. I would much prefer the European funding model and so would most of the academics I know.

Whether you could teach yourself is an interesting question. In general, I suppose you can, but it will probably be much less efficient. My main role in teaching undergraduates is to distill a huge field of knowledge into a structured lecture course and to act as a resource to help them understand it. A lot of the source material is now freely available on the internet so you could remove the middleman (me) and read it yourself, but I think it would be hard going and very slow. Of course, there are autodidacts but they tend to be both unusually intelligent and unusually highly motivated.

I do very much agree that you should only go to university to study a subject you find very interesting. Perhaps this is a privileged viewpoint.

I recognise I'm very biased, partly because my field is my lifelong 'special' interest, so you could argue that being paid to think, write and talk about the subject that I love suits me very well and I would not argue against anything that enables me to do it!

 

[Joel's Hear]

I feel slightly reluctant to defend my profession in the face of all these bad experiences, but I'll have a go.

I'm an engineering professor in the UK. The higher education system is pretty different from that in the US, so some of my views might not apply in the US. There seem to be two main complaints here: money and whether you could just teach yourself. How university education is financed is a political decision. Most countries in Europe have mass higher education systems with only nominal tuition fees. These countries think that an educated populace is important enough for the country that it should be funded by taxation. Like the UK and the US, European countries are all wealthy enough to do this. In the US, and (more recently) the UK, governments think that only the individual student benefits from going to university and so they should pay for it. In the UK, this has changed quite recently, and has led to a rise in dissatisfaction with universities. I would much prefer the European funding model and so would most of the academics I know.

Whether you could teach yourself is an interesting question. In general, I suppose you can, but it will probably be much less efficient. My main role in teaching undergraduates is to distill a huge field of knowledge into a structured lecture course and to act as a resource to help them understand it. A lot of the source material is now freely available on the internet so you could remove the middleman (me) and read it yourself, but I think it would be hard going and very slow. Of course, there are autodidacts but they tend to be both unusually intelligent and unusually highly motivated.

I do very much agree that you should only go to university to study a subject you find very interesting. Perhaps this is a privileged viewpoint.

I recognise I'm very biased, partly because my field is my lifelong 'special' interest, so you could argue that being paid to think, write and talk about the subject that I love suits me very well and I would not argue against anything that enables me to do it!

Most things I'd learn better myself but engineering is a subject which would need a teacher.

 

[OkRad]

For me, it's better than therapy. Whenever I have been in terrible crisis, I go back to school to put more info into my brain and mind and help me stop thinking about the trauma. It is very helpful but for me, I can't sustain it because of all my issues.