Is going to college actually worth it?

[MerriedxReldnahc]

I think that it would be better going in with a specific gameplan or at least a general idea of what you want to do. I've known plenty of people who spent 10+ years jumping from one direction to another because they didn't really know what they wanted, though I also don't think it's necissarily bad to decide that you want to do something different. But you will blow a lot of money without a proper plan.

I'm a big fan of community college becasue it's much cheaper and so you can get away with some exploration. I actually loved taking classes that weren't necissarily major related, but just sounded like a fun subject. There's so many things that I've discovered and fallen in love with because of this. I also am a big supporter of getting involved with campus activities like clubs and student government and whatnot. It's fantastic on a resume but most importantly you gain a lot of interpersonal skills. The college I went to had a lot of people working jobs to get through college or were parents juggling kids and school so there wasn't a whole lot of SJW types around. A few, but mostly people were very grounded in reality.
Also welding apparently can earn you fat bank. If you really don't know what to do and also are good at not burning yourself, that would be good to look into.

 

[Stoneheart]

STEM is always worth it.

Disagree. Since STEM is being pushed onto most people, the field is becoming over saturated (especially if you consider the outsourcing in some of those fields). More people = more competition. Finance and STEM are both useful and have their place, but there is so much more to do at college than that. Education, government, and law are taught at college as well.

You can do pretty much every job with a STEM degree, your base skills are usefull everywhere.

I plan to study computer science, biology, aerospace engineering or history.

you should make up your mind before looking for a spot. you can combine them.
Bioinformatic is pretty interesting and you can get realy good education at smaller universities.

 

[JambledUpWords]

You can do pretty much every job with a STEM degree, your base skills are usefull everywhere.

STEM is useful, but that doesn’t make you suited for any job. There’s a reason people hire mechanics to work on their car problems and not engineers. In medicine, doctors are at risk of lawsuits and they need lawyers. If you intend on doing archeology, you need a background in both history and science (especially biology and geology). Technology is definitely necessary, but they need technical writers in order for better communication (or to write guides in how to use things). My point is, is that there are other specialized fields that work with STEM that aren’t specifically STEM. Also, just because you’re great at engineering doesn’t mean you’ll be suited to do public speaking, writing, public relations

 

[welcome2hell]

I don't know about 'murica, but where I live having a univesity degree on something(any subject qualifies) is usually hard requirement for applying to jobs in public administration and higher-end office jobs in the private sector. It doesn't matter if your masters is in academic study of anal fisting, all they care about is that you have proof of certain level of work ethic and ability of writing/reading formal texts. And that's the gist of it, in my opinion: the graduation thesis is really just a written proof that you're capable of working independently and producing technical jargon of your chosen field of interest.

I wanna emphasize this a bit. Just having a bachelor's degree in anything will be helpful in sometimes unexpected ways. If you've ever wanted to live or teach overseas, most visas require you to have a 4 year degree in something. It's stupid, because I think a lot of shit taught in colleges can be found online for free anyways, but it helps to have it on your resume.

That said, you should study something interesting to you and try to do it in the cheapest way possible.

Oh, and taking courses that require research and critical writing will help you in any field when you need to communicate clearly with people.

 

[Smug Chuckler]

Go to China and become an English teacher or a fake businessman, that or join the mafia.

 

[murgatroid]

Don't choose a major you have no interest in just because it's in demand or well paying. You will likely burn out and have no motivation after school if you do manage to finish.

Better to choose something you have a strong interest in. If you don't know what your interested it's best to try a lot of things until you do.

 

[Otterly]

My thoughts on higher education. Having spent far too long in it.
(Assuming you’re an average person who doesn’t have old money connections or family in places who can hook you up to easy rides.)

its Worth it IF you do certain subjects, you know what you want out of it and you know how to use the time.
degrees that are specific paths to jobs are usually worth it. Medicine, civil/mechanical engineering etc. If you do a degree like that, try to find one with some kind of year in industry, placement etc. And try to network while you’re there. You want yoir next step lined up - further study ONLY if needed (and many jobs will let you study) or an entry level job.
Degrees in the humanities are worth it IF they are solid. Reading PPE at Oxford is going to put you on a better path than some muppet degree from a second rate ex poly. History, etc, the same. That kind of degree just shows you are capable of functioning at a certain level so the networking is doubly important.
A degree like maths is always good. Any degree you MUST come out literate and numerate. A shocking number of graduates are neither.

don’t discount trades. Decent trade pathways are the equal of almost any degree out there in terms of life chances. The added bonus of being able to work for yourself and job security is good. I went the academic route but to be honest, I’d advise my kids to do a trade unless they were very skilled in a specific area academically. In terms of earning, you start faster, and can start a pension sooner, that alone is a big deal. People always need skilled trades. Electricians, of all types - domestic/industrial etc.

really what path is up to you but avoid shallow degrees and nice sounding but saturated degrees (like forensics - sounds good but too many grads.) make sure the industry you’re headed for is solid - people will always need plumbers, engineers, doctors, nurses, and funeral directors.. can your job be outsourced? If it can, it probably will be. No one is outsourcing carpentry, plastering or plumbing to India. They need someone on the spot.

Things like art can be done in your spare time. even if you’re incredibly talented don’t do a hobby degree - do one that gets you a skill to fall back on and do the hobby as a sideline.

Ignore the ‘follow your passion’ people. Passion won’t get you a job.

 

[Niggernerd]

College is for suckers. Being a NEET is the future.

 

[Stoneheart]

STEM is useful, but that doesn’t make you suited for any job. There’s a reason people hire mechanics to work on their car problems and not engineers.

It makes you more suited than any other college education for the majority of jobs. would i hire a mechanic over an engineer, sure, but i would hire somebody with an engineering degree over somebody with a law degree.

In medicine, doctors are at risk of lawsuits and they need lawyers.

If they are clever they take Lawyers with a degree in Stem.

If you intend on doing archeology, you need a background in both history and science (especially biology and geology).

I know atleast to guys with an engineering degree who work now in archeology, one builds stuff and works with drone data and the other one makes security checks at digging sides.

Technology is definitely necessary, but they need technical writers in order for better communication (or to write guides in how to use things).

You want somebody with a science background to learn how to write manuals or do you wanna teach somebody with an english degree how machines work?

My point is, is that there are other specialized fields that work with STEM that aren’t specifically STEM. Also, just because you’re great at engineering doesn’t mean you’ll be suited to do public speaking, writing, public relations

you will have it much easyer to break into those fields if you have a stem degree as basis.

You learn skills like ("basic") math, programming and reading scientific papers in every STEM field.
you also learn how to work fast and clean, follow manuals and how to take notes. Its the best place to be if you dont know 100% what you wanna do later.

 

[Webby's Boyfriend]

If you intend on doing archeology, you need a background in both history and science (especially biology and geology).

My dream would be to be an archeaologist but as far as I know, it's very unrealistic. There are like a few thousand archeologists in my country, and most people who study archeology, find themselves working in a boring office job, in an unrelated field or just at the NEET office.

Go to China and become an English teacher or a fake businessman, that or join the mafia.

One of my aunts is a German teacher in Indonesia. Ancient Greek, Classical Latin and Biblical Hebrew are interesting too, but offer even worse career options than archeology!

 

[Stoneheart]

My dream would be to be an archeaologist but as far as I know, it's very unrealistic.

Its not that unrealistic if you have no problem with physical work and getting dirty. your job in the summer could be running around half naked and teaching kids of to shot a bow or how to cook game like a neanderthaler. but you have the whole winter to write papers about your local spot and the findings around the museum.

 

[soft kitty]

Avoid college like the plague. It's infected. Go to trade school instead. Or study on your own and get certified (yes I know you can't do this with all jobs, but some of them you can).

 

[Rinny.]

That is a horrible list of courses. I only did gender studies because I couldn't find a better class to fulfill my BA requirements and it was just laughably bad for the most part.

Anyways, college/uni is worth it unless you're gonna do some artsy-fartsy /liberal arts major that nobody would actually see as viable, I've had friends who have BAs in writing and history and couldn't really use it for what they were studying for whatsoever (since they did not want to pursue teaching/education) which has led to them being massively frustrated and looking for a job that just wants any BA.

Try to earn a AA/BA/BS etc based on what is on-demand and what is seen as a stable field to get into,
shit like medical, law, engineering, law enforcement.................basically shid liek dat

Or if you really have no idea, go into a trade. See guys flex about welding, dunno how it works for them though.
Heard some favorable tales about plumbers though.

 

[2021Murder]

college is only worth it if you can do calculus, if you can't don't go.

majors that require calculus 2 are good ones that end up being worth it. the ones that don't require it are basically just there for kids to make connections while barely doing any real work. and then after college they either go for a masters/law school/med school or use those connections for a job in the industry they really wish to go into. (journalism)

 

[Jason Wynn]

It depends. I agree with the people who say it's worth it if you earn a degree that will help you land a job. That seems like an obvious take, but I know people who went in for liberal arts degrees, and/or degrees that "sounded fun." Most of them are in their 30s now still making minimum wage or slightly above. A degree in Gender Studies won't pay the bills.

Community college is a great stepping stone if you're unsure of what you want to do. Most of them allow you to transfer your credits over to a four year university. It'll save you some money and let you sample a few things before deciding on a major with minimal fuss.

That said, college can be a good experience outside of just preparing for a career. I got my degree in 2006, so the SJW issue wasn't in full swing yet, not sure how bad it is in Current Year, but establishing some connections and networking on campus couldn't hurt.

 

[Get_your_kicks_with_30-06]

If you're degree doesn't require a foundation of comprehensive math classes its pretty much worthless. You could probably just do whatever it is independently and build experience without being over 100 thousand dollars in debt after 4 years.

 

[The Last Stand]

Golden rule for a job: get it union or get it government.

Tell me the perks in working in government?

 

[Shadfan666xxx000]

Tell me the perks in working in government?

Job security, better perks than most middle managers can imagine (Vacations, holidays off, healthcare, etc.), decent pay, relatively low workload depending on where you go and you can just move branches when you feel like it. You essentially trade raw earning potential for comfort and security with tax dollars.

 

[John Titor]

Remember, degrees are not magic tickets. Even with STEM, you still have to convince prospective employers on why they should choose you over anyone else.

 

[Coleslaw]

Is statistics good?