College observations...

[PapaG]

I saw it on a tweet but its pretty accurate:

College is the biggest waste of money I'd do over again.

Its more just a 4 year fantasy land...fun shit. End up with a degree.

4 years? Hell, I stretched undergrad to 5 years. Of course, I transferred one time.

 

[Ed O]

I only put in 4 years of undergrad, but three years of full-time grad school and then 3.5-ish years of night school.

I don't think that college is a money-grab. It's not a guarantee, but a degree opens many doors that people without degrees would have a much tougher time opening.

How well it prepares people to work? I dunno. What I do now has almost nothing to do with what I went to school for those seven years for... but it changed how I think and it changed how I write and it changed how I interact with people.

Maybe I could have been better served by doing something else instead of going to (and paying for) school for all of those years. If I had something I was passionate about something, then maybe that would make sense. I don't think for me it would have worked out as well.

Ed O.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

College would be better if people worked in the world for a year, then go to college.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

I agree I don't think it is a money grab, unless you are doing a degree that doesn't have a future.

Things like engineering, computer science, accounting etc seem to be sure-bets. Woman Studies or ethnic studies.....not so much.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

College would be better if people worked in the world for a year, then go to college.

10 years working before returning to college. I care a hell of a lot more now than I would have if I had gone right out of high school. I think I'll be better served this way.

 

[Natebishop3]

Gee Run, you have a lot to say.

Shhh you'll throw him off his game. He's on a roll.

Pure gold.

 

[Run BJM]

Yeah I hear about how a college degree isn't valuable and its like a high school diploma used to be. Dunno if its true or not but I see what my friends who didn't go to college are doing and don't think thats very attractive at all. Unless they're the few who are in a union job they're mostly doing shit, broke, struggling to pay bills, and working one or more shitty jobs that has no potential to turn into something someone can make a decent living off of.

 

[Natebishop3]

Yeah I hear about how a college degree isn't valuable and its like a high school diploma used to be. Dunno if its true or not but I see what my friends who didn't go to college are doing and don't think thats very attractive at all. Unless they're the few who are in a union job they're mostly doing shit, broke, struggling to pay bills, and working one or more shitty jobs that has no potential to turn into something someone can make a decent living off of.

Yeah, but they don't have upwards of 40,000-100,000k in debt

Seriously though, I'll probably be about 30 or 40k in debt by the time I'm done with my masters. I already figure I'll just go directly from under-grad to grad. With the economy we're in, there's really not much point to even try to find a job.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Yeah, but they don't have upwards of 40,000-100,000k in debt

Seriously though, I'll probably be about 30 or 40k in debt by the time I'm done with my masters. I already figure I'll just go directly from under-grad to grad. With the economy we're in, there's really not much point to even try to find a job.

Sometimes you can find companies willing to pay for your education after under-grad.

 

[Eastoff]

Degrees not being as valuable is related to parents thinking their kid has to go to college, and paying for every half brain to go. Also the economy is shit, so how can you expect it to provide a job instantly?

 

[Eastoff]

With the economy we're in, there's really not much point to even try to find a job.

this is exactly why there is going to be a HUGE flood of PhD's and masters students soon. It is going to cause some serious problems.

 

[agoo]

this is exactly why there is going to be a HUGE flood of PhD's and masters students soon. It is going to cause some serious problems.

PhDs are less of a worry. Talking to business majors over the last five years of working at colleges with big business programs, if you get a PhD you're almost entirely not hireable because you'd have to be paid so much more than a MBA candidate. I'd say its pretty much just educators, mental health, and researchers going that far.

 

[Run BJM]

Yeah, going into college I always said I wanted to finish ASAP and get out there and start working but lately I'm thinking I may go for some graduate school. All of the professors (and others) telling us how worthless sociology or BAs in general are combined with no jobs to be had makes me wonder why leave? School's a pretty good gig.

And yeah I'll be a in a ton of debt but I'd still bet that I end up with a significantly better job than those who only have a HS degree to their name. The debt is a killer but I think in the long run the degree would yield a better quality of life?

And if all that is moot then, as mentioned above, just experiencing it is pretty dope (even with all the douche bags I love to complain about lol). Its like extending child hood but with the advantages of adult hood. Everyone I know who's out there with just a HS degree is pretty miserable right now and a lot of them tell me how looking back they wish they could have worked themselves into college. Lots of them are getting married and have kids too, its like they skipped over the whole young adulthood era and went straight to the find-a-spouse-get-a-job-settle-down era.

 

[MickZagger]

What about when people start a sentence with, "I'm not gonna lie".

 

[tlongII]

Going to college was the most fun I've ever had in my life. I even loved grad school and was lucky enough to get work to pay for it. The women in school were incredible!

 

[Natebishop3]

What about when people start a sentence with, "I'm not gonna lie".

I'm guilty of the opposite of that.... I say "honestly" way too much.

 

[Run BJM]

When professors assign shit that the TAs don't even know how to do. How the hell are the regular students supposed to figure this shit out if the TAs can't do it?

 

[barfo]

I enjoyed my 15 years in college. I don't have any regrets that I can actually remember.

barfo

 

[Natebishop3]

When professors assign shit that the TAs don't even know how to do. How the hell are the regular students supposed to figure this shit out if the TAs can't do it?

I've got a couple of bad professors right now. I hate when they lecture on stuff that's not in the book, and seems way more advanced than an introductory class should be.

 

[maxiep]

I'm old enough to remember writing papers longhand and then having to type them. Between my freshman and sophomore year, my school installed a computer center geared toward word processing. I never had my own computer as an undergrad. As a grad student, I couldn't have lived without my laptop.

 

[Natebishop3]

I'm old enough to remember writing papers longhand and then having to type them. Between my freshman and sophomore year, my school installed a computer center geared toward word processing. I never had my own computer as an undergrad. As a grad student, I couldn't have lived without my laptop.

Was that in the 80s?

 

[maxiep]

Was that in the 80s?

It was indeed.

 

[Natebishop3]

It was indeed.

Did you have one of those Zack Morris cell phones?

 

[NJNetz]

I've got a couple of bad professors right now. I hate when they lecture on stuff that's not in the book, and seems way more advanced than an introductory class should be.

Is ratemyprofessors.com broken for you right now?

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I agree I don't think it is a money grab, unless you are doing a degree that doesn't have a future.

Things like engineering, computer science, accounting etc seem to be sure-bets. Woman Studies or ethnic studies.....not so much.

Women's studies? Hey, ever wonder why there's no men's studies class?

It's called history!

 

[maxiep]

Did you have one of those Zack Morris cell phones?

I wish! I didn't get a cell phone until my company forced me to get one in the mid-90s.

 

[PapaG]

I wish! I didn't get a cell phone until my company forced me to get one in the mid-90s.

I got out of college in the mid-90s, and I wore a pager during my first job when I worked for Gallo Wines. No joke, I'd have to go to a pay phone and call the number. Then, when I finally got a cell phone in '97, they didn't pay for it, and I still had my pager. So, since I was paying for it, I'd find a pay phone.

Man, I miss those days when you could just disappear for a while.

 

[barfo]

I wish! I didn't get a cell phone until my company forced me to get one in the mid-90s.

I resisted until 2004(?), or thereabouts. People actually had proto-smart phones before I had a phone. Then again, I didn't convert from vinyl until about then, too.

barfo

 

[Natebishop3]

Is ratemyprofessors.com broken for you right now?

Nah dude, at PSU it's take it or leave it. One of my classes is a req and there was only one available this term. It's so full that we literally have people standing in the back of the room and sitting in the aisles. It's gotta be some kind of fire code violation. People show up for the class 30 minutes early just to get a seat.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Do they still have a shitload of rich middle easterners/indians driving expensive BMWs at PSU?