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beast7369 said:
The cost of being able to go to a ton of parties, drink, and get laid whenever you want: Priceless.
Heh, I got that without college. I was in a few bands from the time I was 16 until I was about 24. Played my first paying club gig at 16. Hell, I got paid to do all of the above :)
College is a scam.
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www.coasterimage.com
Bottom line: You have to look at higher education the way CF looks at new rollercoasters. Sure, it looks nice--but when do I get my ROI?
-'Playa
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The scholar, the eternal question and a lot of REALLY stupid jokes. Celebrate Pancake Day 10/27. Check local listings for events.
*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 10/22/2003 2:13:39 PM ***
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Tact is for people not intelligent enough to comprehend sarcasm...;)
It doesn't matter if you spend 4 years wasted in a haze and slip by with a 2.0 or bust your ass and waltz out with a 4.0 - you still get that same piece of paper. Even though the latter student is certainly the one who deserves it more and in the long run is probably much more qualified to hold said piece of paper.
It's a scam and more and more it seems to me college has little to do with actual education and is more about money and just being part of the system.
I was a "gifted" student. I was in all the advanced classes, I read when I was three, I went to math class with the third graders when I was in first grade, I breezed through school with little effort, blah, blah, blah...
I didn't go to college. I'm doing just fine. It's the ultimate ROI!
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www.coasterimage.com
*** This post was edited by Lord Gonchar 10/22/2003 2:12:19 PM ***
I know high-school grads with $70K jobs and have a friend one semester short of a masters who lives in a rented room and can't make ends meet. Then again, there are still folks a couple cubes down from me with law degrees. High tuition, lots of time, blown investment. That simple.
-'Playa
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The scholar, the eternal question and a lot of REALLY stupid jokes. Celebrate Pancake Day 10/27. Check local listings for events.
*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 10/22/2003 2:14:33 PM ***
I've got a house, a soon-to-be wife, a car, a job that I enjoy meaningful friends and an online coaster community! ;)
My parents pushed me so hard to go to college because of the "experience" and to get that piece of paper but it wasn't for me. "Education" at college isn't always the way towards a happy life, my dad went to college and is on 6 times the wage I am. And believe me, he is nowhere near as happy as I am.
.....what was the original topic again?
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-Mike Buscema
'No matter how skilled the designer is, every time we push the envelope we learn new things about coaster design.' --Dana Morgan
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Also, like a pedigree, it is quite literally the "price of admission" some places. That's not to say that someone else couldn't get the job done, it's just that it's an easy filter to use.
For example, I know someone who will only have a AKC registered pup. I'm on my second shelter-rescue dog and I love him just a much as my friend loves his dog. Who's got the best dog? Both of us do, except he's the one with the lighter wallet.:)
As with everything else in life, a college degree has a different value to different people. Some people have to have it, some could care less. Base your decision on getting one on what your goals are. If your goal is to work for NASA, you'd better believe it's a requirement. If your goal is to simply make money, well, there's lots of ways to do that!
Later,
EV
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"Everybody has desperate days of quiet questioning.
Everybody has times when they feel like they don't fit in."
- Color Theory, So Many Ways, 2001
Guess there wasn't a real point to this post, just whining about everyone here devaluing how I've been spending my last 4 1/2 years ... *sigh*
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Brett
Resident Launch Whore
Lord Gonchar said:
Yes, it's all about the paper. You pay for a piece of paper that says your qualified to do something.
That's a very limited and unfortunate view on college. Sure, people without college are successful all of the time. Would I trade in my time in college for anything? Not a chance.
Sadly, yes, a lot of professions won't even look at you without a degree. However, what I got out of college and what I use from the experience has absolutely nothing to do with classes. The interaction with people in close-quarters, the bureaucracies of a university, the intimate relationships, the networking... these are all priceless things. Yeah, you'll get them without college, but it'll take a lot longer. I've seen it in people I've worked with and hired. I find people with even one year of college more well-rounded and able to deal with the world than people who didn't go at all.
If you think it's about the money, you really missed out.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?
I take that back. You can learn a whole lot during the interview. But when it comes time to cull down the list of resumes, your resume has to look really good to make it to the interview pile if you don't have the degree.
That's not to say that your reume should look as good as it possibly can. It does say a lot about you...and just a freindly tip, have a couple different poeple look it over for grammar and spelling. Also, be sure to tailor.
Oops, back to the grindstone..
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"I go out at 3 o' clock for a quart of milk and come home to my son treating his body like an amusement park!" - Estelle Costanza
janfrederick said:
That's not to say that your reume should look as good as it possibly can....have a couple different poeple look it over for grammar and spelling.
Okayyyyy. I read your post and, uh, found a couple things.
-CO
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The scholar, the eternal question and a lot of REALLY stupid jokes. Celebrate Pancake Day 10/27. Check local listings for events.
*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 10/22/2003 8:48:57 PM ***
Jeff said:
The interaction with people in close-quarters, the bureaucracies of a university, the intimate relationships, the networking... these are all priceless things. Yeah, you'll get them without college, but it'll take a lot longer.
That's exactly where I disagree. I think there is no teacher like real life, "hands-on" experience. I honestly think you'll learn more (both personally and professionally) spending those 4 years from 18 - 22 in the real world.
The line is blurred a bit on the personal level - college just feels like a "cushier" way through it to me. A weird mix of adult responsibility and the security of still hanging on to the last bits of childhood. Here's where I start sounding like a "dad" but I was exactly 18 years, 8 months and 2 days old when I left home for good. I moved 1300 miles away with a girl I'd known for 3 months. Welcome to real life! I've been on my own ever since. It's amazing how quickly you pick up the necessary skills for life in general when you just jump into the deep end of the pool. College feels more like swimming lessons with the little floaties around your biceps. In the end you probably end up in a similar place, but the path there is vastly different.
On a professional level I think someone who spends 4 years learing their chosen profession "in the field" so to speak, will be far ahead of someone who's read books, studied and perhaps interned in that same period of time. I know I'd rather be working with someone who has been there, done that than someone who's read about it a lot.
And yes, many, many jobs these days won't even look in your general direction unless you have that piece of paper that says you can do the job in question. It's all just become part of the process, something you have to do. Too many kids just go to college, slip through and get that paper that says, "I can do this." I think in general it's become more about buying the rights to do a job, than about bettering and furthering yourself.
Maybe I'm just a cynical jerk ;)
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www.coasterimage.com
I realize that your experience was a good one and you feel that you have been successful. I don't doubt that you are and that it worked for you. However, you can find exceptions to every rule, just as you can find college graduates who are live-at-home slackers.
Like I said, it's my experience that a 20-something graduate, who lived on campus (or served in the military before or after), is more qualified to deal with life.
Also, and this is tough for our culture to accept, in addition to not being about the money, college is also not about learning a career. I double-majored in radio/TV and journalism. I'm a code monkey now. College is not like getting a "career chip" on Futurama. We're free to do whatever we want or change our minds at any time.
My four years were the most emotionally intense four years of my life, without question. Dealing with marriage, mortgages and the ugly job market have been easy by comparison. However, I don't think I would've had the strength to deal with "real life" had it not been for the college experience. It has everything with who I am today.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?
So, I guess I get to spend the next thousand years as a *delivery boy*? :)
bill, thinking the *education* wasn't really about the classes, but about people
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Tact is for people not intelligent enough to comprehend sarcasm...;)
I'm one of the few people I know who's work exactly matches what they did in college (Mechanical Enigneering w/ Automotive Specialty).
Later,
EV
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"Everybody has desperate days of quiet questioning.
Everybody has times when they feel like they don't fit in."
- Color Theory, So Many Ways, 2001
Jeff said:
College is not like getting a "career chip" on Futurama.Ha! Excellent analogy :)
Well then I think the debate has reached the end for me. If it's not about starting a career path and is mostly about the experience and life lessons then you know where I stand. If one's motives for going to college are solely for the "experience" then I feel stronger than ever that it's unnecessary.
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www.coasterimage.com
Jeff said:It [college] has everything with who I am today.
This is only one of many quotes from this thread where you sound like you've got a lot of potential to be a "career res lifer." ;)
Edit: Spelling error
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Everyone is different. No two people are not on fire.
*** This post was edited by one sided soldier 10/23/2003 1:58:40 PM ***
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