Thoughts on a college degree??

Hi everyone, much appreciation for all the wisdom, it clarified for me how very unclear my academic direction is in life right now so I've decided to take a gap year before hand and then go to college after. i would like to clear something up and say that i am very passionate about astronomy! i am just not so very passionate about any 9-5 jobs and bureaucracy, so the idea of even starting down that path sends me a little bit of the heebie jeebies! So that's another reason why i'm going to try a few things out first beforehand. All of the thoughts and comments have very much inspired me so many thanks and smiles to everyone!!

 

I got my Bachelors in Sociology and want to get my Masters soon. IDK what to major in for it though. I don't use my degree but I guess my employer likes that I have it. I could use it later in life if I chose to further my education. I guess it's just a nudge in life, it doesn't always work out the way you think it will.

 

A degree can be a waste of time and money or it can propel your life to the next level of meaning, comfort and security. That depends on the school, the degree, and your success with it (did you just barely pass or did you get a 4.0 GPA with volunteering, extra-curricular, teacher letters of recommendations etc).

A good college degree that is in demand from a good school where you apply yourself hard and do very well is EXTREMELY worth it, it will pay for itself within a year easily. Goofing off in a school you hate for a program you couldn't care less about is going to get you in debt and depressed, and likely still stuck in the same minimum wage job you were in when you started college.

The thing is to get noticed, it's WHO you know. Be good at what you do, whatever it is. Love what you do, do what you love. If there is nothing you love offered in college, then it's probably not for you. Either pick the thing you hate the least and try to be good at it, at least for the next while, or take a step back and figure out how to approach having a livelihood in your life given who you are as a person.

 

I believe every answer youll recieve for this will be very opinionated as will mine, and the best advice you need is to go with your own, but heres my opinion on college.

I believe the actual degree isnt worth the money/effort exhausted but it all depends on what you want to do with you life. In college you will learn a lot. A LOT. completely different from high school where each professor wont be on a core set curriculum that if they dont have to teach you they wont. I believe my time at college has helped me greatly in the fact im a more educated adult than if i had been working some meaningless job the past 3 years. You will meet new friends, and be very influenced by the teachers which i believe has helped me grow into the person i am today.

I believe in college but for the experience not the paper.

It all comes down to what you want to do with you life and if college is necessary to help you get there. I know your young like me i still dont know really know. I just have certain ideas i think i might enjoy. Just dont worry about the money. Money isnt as important as people think it is. Ide just a career that makes me love my life over a career for money to try to buy my happiness any day of the week.

 

Many young people are aware of their theoretical knowing needs from sources beyond college; they are well adjusted understanding the theories of wealth and technical intelligence being developed for vocation. But it is knowing the practical satisfaction and desire to be productive which could really be bolstered well by a college education. Ironic.

 

Read only the first page...
Only thing in life that you are guaranteed is that it will end.
What you get from it and take on ...ass-u-ming that Existence has some kind of higher Awareness - is how you used it to Change yourSelf and Become More.
So the question for you becomes how can you best Grow in Awareness and move into Beyond what you came in with. You can See that you are not the same. Are you Growing ?
Does your life Path increase the opportunities to Become More Aware ? Are you a Self starter ? Can you Be True to your Self - or do you need others to tell you how ?

In the end you are in charge of you .
Each of us makes decisions that affect not only ourSelf but those others we also affect. We are ripples...- how do you affect others ? - how do you want to ?
From my own perspective the best Way to Be is to be impeccable with your Self. Which means you do not lie to your Self and you Be exactly and specifically what you perceive is the best Way to accomplish your Intent. Your Intent involves why you are here in This Now.
You give your life to express your Self. Do you put a high enough value on your Self to Be True to it ?
Each must decide for their own Self and each is limited by what they are willing to And can See (perceive). WE CAN Grow it (our perceptions) by Growing in Awareness.
How you best Do that is up to you - for no one else Knows you like you do
Blessings are the lessons learned - a mistake is redeemed from that status if we learn from it - it then Becomes a lesson.
If we are to truly Learn and Grow we Must Pay Attention.
You are your final arbiter.
Possibly more than you want.

Namaste (my spirit bows to your spirit)

 

Remember that when assuming, you make an "ass" out of "u" and "ming".

 

A college degree is a good thing for some people. A college degree is not a good thing for all people?

I got my bachelor's degree in 1983 and my master's degree in 1987. I was able to get the first two years at an expensive school paid for through a very generous scholarship. I had a graduate assistantship that paid all of my tuition; I worked in the writing center and taught classes and got a modest stipend. So I was able to get my credentials for less than the sticker price.

A bachelor's degree in French doesn't open many doors to jobs, fame or fortune. If you've got the money and the time, go for it. However, you will need to have some idea of what you want to do after graduation and how you're going to get there. It is also essential that you be very good at marketing yourself and have some sort of plan.

The education industry is cranking out many more people with college degrees than the economy is cranking out jobs that require a college degree. The days when a degree more or less guaranteed you a good job are long, long gone.

A gap year can be a wonderful thing, but many of us just don't have the money or other resources to have one. If you do get such a gift as a gap year, use it to figure out what your passion is and what you do well so that other people will gladly pay you a living wage to do it.

These days I am teaching as an adjunct (part-timer) at a university and I see lots of students just going through the motions. Many of them are essentially illiterate, and they don't seem to have a clear or practical sense of what they will do after graduation. I say these things as someone with many regrets, but also as someone who doesn't know what he could have done otherwise to live a happier life.

 

This is so true.

When they try to sell you an investment by showing how it has performed in the past, they have to include a statement that past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

But when they want to sell you a degree ... they just tell you how much more the people in your parents' generation who had a degree earned during their lifetime than those of your parents' generation who didn't. But they forget to mention that in your parents' generation, only 7% of people went to college, so a degree had a rarity value that it just don't got nowadays

 

I got my bachelor in Human Resource, and I still haven't got a job yet. So I don't think a BA is useful. And I'd be looking for entry level joe anyway (like administrative assistant or receptionist).

 

Maybe not useful if you went to school purely to get a job at the end, but the communication, research, and critical thinking skills are priceless. Assuming you went to a good school, I guess.

 

These days you can't get a job as an admin assistant or receptionist without a degree, so I guess the degree is helpful in that your options as even more limied without it.

 

I don't think there's much "critical thinking" in school, but yeah. And most entry level jobs in business require only a high school diploma, so it's no use getting a BA.

 

College degrees shouldn't be everything. It might matter in the US but increasingly, jobs that could be done by anyone with a well-rounded education is reserved for those with a degree. I think that's just wrong

 

Then you went to the wrong school. Or maybe it's just because you went to school for business.

 

there's nothing magic about a degree itself. it may open doors to a few more job INTERVIEWS, but it won't magically get you the jobs.

but and again but, at least some of what you learn earning one, MIGHT be useful in broader applications and elsewhere.

of course it MIGHT be possible to gain as much or more in other ways, there's just not guarantee of this either.

and either way, no less effort is required.

 

Good question!! No, not everyone is cut out for college and not everyone needs a degree. My BIL is a successful banker, and another is successful commercial appliance repairman, and others run the infrastructure of small business, as well as video and write. Myself as an AS in animal health. It has gotten me far. however I can't say I'm in the happiest of situations. I'd rather raise Alpacas. So follow your heart. Serisouly!! What is your passion? Mine was animals, especially domestic. But I hated it. Be prepared. Do you have alternatives?? For instance, while an AS in aeronautics is great, it is highly specialized. So....choose electrician, cable, manufacturing, and MOVE UP when you find a good company. Best of luck to you. An AS degree worked great for me!!! Even to the tune of $115.00/hr. Not bad.

 

look at it this way too.....college doesn't really prepare you for a job. In the corporate world with specific industy it's mostly on the job. A cerification will help.

 

makes great toilet paper....

 

s.t.e.m. is the whole point of education. that and the arts on the side.
the business of business is monkey business,
politics and economics are half a science each.
social psychology is a real science,
but that's pretty much cultural anthro.