College Degrees --> Overrated

[Beantown]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

You're going into teaching, right?

Sooner or later. Taking a year off before I go back to grad school. Haven't decided if I want to go back for my MFA in creative writing or a masters of education.

[Speedy]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

More importantly, how many people make $30k a year at 19 with no degree (or trade school equivalent)?

I did and wasn't in a trade. I had the opportunity to go to college (my mother worked at Wake Forest, I could've gone for free) however I decided to pursue other interests.

Now, obviously that is an idiotic decision but it all goes back to my initial post...people without degrees whom have the equivalent intelligence are shortchanged compared to those with degrees when seeking a job in the market.

Positions such as software, engineers, doctors/lawyers...of course those are degree required jobs and those are careers I would assume people would pursue without degrees anyways.

[Cyros]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

Sooner or later. Taking a year off before I go back to grad school. Haven't decided if I want to go back for my MFA in creative writing or a masters of education.

I'm still very undecided on my master's degree. I think a lot of it has to do with writing research papers, lol.

[Husker_OS]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

*is one of the few with $0 college debt*

Same here. Parents just paid for my tuition/books/fraternity dues in full at the beginning of each semester. No loans=no worries.

[Cebby]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

I think the debt thing is really overrated.

Realistically, there's no reason to go out of state or to a private school unless you are on scholarship, your parents are paying for it, or you are in an absolutely elite program (MIT/Cal Tech engineering or something).

I went to UMD, did four internships while there, paid minimal money (partial scholarship and my parents covered the remaining few grand a year), and then got decent job offers and got into top private schools for grad school.

Aside from networking and career services (which is obviously big and the main reason I'm going to the grad school I am), I think going to private schools for undergrad is overrated, and if it's not one of the top schools downright stupid. Paying $40k a year for Harvard Law or Yale Business is probably a good investment but St *generic name*'s liberal arts degree is not.

[auburntigersfan]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

Same here. Parents just paid for my tuition/books/fraternity dues in full at the beginning of each semester. No loans=no worries.

That's why I'm very happy my parents are going to be paying for my tuition. My dad's really against debt, and doesn't want me or my sister to graduate college with any. I feel really bad sometimes, though, he's already paying nearly $40,000 for my sister and will have to pay a similar number for me.

[Husker_OS]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

That's why I'm very happy my parents are going to be paying for my tuition. My dad's really against debt, and doesn't want me or my sister to graduate college with any. I feel really bad sometimes, though, he's already paying nearly $40,000 for my sister and will have to pay a similar number for me.

$40,000 for all 4 years? Or $40,000 per year?


U of A in-state tuition was somewhere around $8,000/year including books and then my fraternity dues were $2,250 per semester for 7 semesters. So all tolled it was in the neighborhood of $40,000 or so. I don't know if they would have been down with that total per school year to go out of-state when UA(where all 3 immediate family members went) was in our backyard basically for less than $50,000. I essentially was told where I was going lol.

[Cebby]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

$40,000 for all 4 years? Or $40,000 per year?

He's going to private school.

[Knight165]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

More importantly, how many people make $30k a year at 19 with no degree (or trade school equivalent)?

The only jobs I can think of would by fire/police jobs in one of the major cities I mentioned earlier, but even those are probably pretty damn competitive now, and I believe there's a trend of major police departments requiring at least some higher education (or I would assume military time).

You do need some college credits(although you do get "life credits" and such for non-college accredited courses for P.D. right now. Four years ago they added the same requirements for F.D., but just dropped them again(I can't get into the reasons why here on O.S.), but honestly....you didn't need them for 100+ years in these two departments and it worked fine.
My take....is some guy who really wasn't cut out for either P.D. or F.D. work...but took the job for some reason...who was also a college grad....somehow convinced the other staff chiefs that it was necessary at all the levels up.(total conjecture, but I don't think some of the chiefs who completed college and even graduate school liked the fact that a member who only had a regents high school diploma could be his equal as a chief or worse...his boss....but its and educated guess from some info I gathered through the years of this happening)

Ceb...since you seem like to read up on a lot of different things, I don't know if you remember a thread about crime stats and Compstat....and I told you not to believe those B.S. stats....here is a very interesting group of events that are about to blow up the N.Y.P.D. This particular article is in the middle of the story, but I'm sure anyone interested can backtrack and find the entire thing.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-08-...corroboration/

At the time of that thread...I didn't know of this happening(the tapes I mean, even though the retired fireman...Freddy Bienz is a good friend of mine who I worked with until he retired. I knew his son and his story, but had no idea of the other events), but I knew it was only a matter of time before a P.O. would get fed up and just go this route. This is really since Compstat came onto the scene(the Giuliani admin) that it became total B.S.

Okay back on track...we're really getting away from the O.P.'s original question and it's a tough one to answer without being subjective.
I think that yes...they can indeed be "overrated" in that going to college does not automatically guarantee success. Like with anything else it's what you put into it.
The blue collar(no college) vs. white collar(college) talk isn't helpful though IMO.

M.K.
Knight165

[TheMatrix31]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

I graduated without any debt, but if I go to grad school, there will be.

Not sure if grad school is worth it nowadays.

[superjames1992]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

It is an investment, but it shouldn't take 20 years to pay off your loans...nowhere near that...The people with that 150k debt are doctors/lawyers and come out of school making 6 figures so are able to pay them off quicker. It also depends if you go to in state schools or not, my college tuition was nowhere near that expensive because I stayed in state. That's a very real option that won't result in as much debt.

I don't mean 20 years to pay off the loans. I just mean 20 years to make back up all the income you've lost from not working for four years, which could be in upwards of $100,000. Now, obviously, if you're an engineer making $75,000 right out of college, then that money will be made up in no time, but there's a lot of college graduates out there working in warehouses making $25,000 per year, as well.

Fortunately, since I stayed in state, my parents can pay for my college tuition, so I do not have this issue. That's another reason I didn't go to WVU (in addition to them not having meteorology) because there was no way in hell my parents were paying out-of-state tuition.

[Speedy]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

Isn't college in Georgia free? Seems like I've heard that because the Georgia lottery pays for all the tuition.

[TimmeH]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

I have no problem with college educations in fields where the knowledge is necessary. I hope to go back to school to finish my degree at some point over the next few years.

What bothers me are the fields where you really don't need a college education yet they're valued so highly for some reason.

I've been fortunately to work myself into retail management(never thought I'd say that lol) as it's a field that you can make very decent money at a young age and don't need a college education for it. But I've seen as years go on an increasing focus on having a B.S. I just don't understand it. Sure, a business education might be useful, but it doesn't teach the people skills nor the work ethic(and by work ethic, I mean actually doing physical labor) necessary to doing the job.

I've seen so many college grads get into the field and they fail horribly because they don't know what they're getting into. Hard labor, constant employee/customer complaints, working weekends/holidays, etc. Don't get me wrong, some do well, but in the end, more end up bolting the first chance they get than end up working out in the long run...yet many retailers are actually making a degree a requirement now. And I'm sure this isn't the only field that is starting to push for degrees that really doesn't need one.


As I said though, I'm all for degrees and hope I can get my crap sorted out over the next couple years so I can finish mine. But personally, I value proven experience over a degree any day of the week.

[Alex the Great]

Isn't college in Georgia free? Seems like I've heard that because the Georgia lottery pays for all the tuition.

Yeah, it's called the HOPE scholarship. To get it you must go to an in-state school. You also must have a 3.0 GPA (unweighted, core classes). And to keep it throught college, you must maintain that 3.0.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: College Degrees --> Overrated

You would think with free college, GA would have a way higher college attendance rate and crime in that state would be very low. I mean 3.0 ????? Hell....that is easy to maintain.