What does college mean to you?

[Stealth]

^ Those are some negative attitudes. I was a schmuck before I went to college, so that didn't change it.

But my life is better now than had I not gone to college. To say that education has increased the quality of my life is to say that education is not a waste.


Then again CB - you're one of the most intelligent folks postin on this board. Why are you against college?

 

[ColdBlooded]

to actually learn anything in college takes a concerted effort and realization that you won't learn anything unless you specifically search out new knowledge. classes will give you nada.

the stigma attached to people without a "college education" is elitist and largely unnecessary. there is nothing in my job that would be better served by a college education, yet they require one. for the average person looking for the average job college = HUGE waste of time and money.

actually graduating means nothing and requires you to have learned nothing attended classes very little and really amounts to you having paid your tuition on time for the required 4+ years.

this applies to nearly all degree programs other than people becoming something very specialized like a doctor or a drug dealer like cranky

 

[STICK-N-MOVE]

college should be one of the best times of your life. the time where you experiment, mature, and set yourself up to get into the adult/business world. also, its the time where you get to party extra hard as an adult w/ all those frats/sorority and have countless sex. probably the last time youll be young chilling with the folks before you go off and do your own thing.

college tuition is pretty damn expensive, but, it DOES apply alot of education ppl take for granted. there are required courses such as speech, public speaking, international business, 2nd language, english, math, etc. all of those are very helpful/important. suppose you were invent a product, how would you go about it and advertise if you dont know the ins and outs? see, ppl think college is just waste, those are ppl who dont exactly know how to educate their career in a bigger picture. college helps you know when, where, how, what, why on your career choice so youll be set to go.

 

[SocialResponsibility]

But I think the best thing about college is that you got a piece of paper that can open up opportunities you otherwise wouldn't have. Increase your chance of promotion, increase your pay rate.

exactly.....call it what you want, but a degree opens more opportunities (i.e. - have to have a degree to even apply for certain jons), and it gives you more bargaining power for raises & promotions.....if you dont have one, will you not be successful? of course not, i just think having one gives you a slight advantage, maybe not a huge one, but definitly some sort of advantage.

 

[MizeryMade]

College prepares you for a career. I've had plenty of jobs in my life, but I'm at the point where I need a career. I started out going to a community college and was there longer than I expected. None of the classes I'd taken interested me. I was takin' them solely for the grade. Had it not been for Intermediate Algebra, I would've had my Associates Degree. The only good thing that came out of it was most of my credits were transfered to the school I'll be attending this fall.

I plan on gettin' my Bachelor's Degree in Communication from Central Missouri State (CMSU). This is my chance to redeem myself, come outta there with a degree, and move on to a career.

 

[GottaGo]

What does it really mean to you? Does it mean doing whatever you can to get a passing grade, so that you can be finished with that dreadful class? Does it mean its time to party hardy? Does it mean that you are promised a great future? That you’ll succeed in life and never have any worries, once you get your degree?

im trying to get some opinions for my research paper thing...thanks for your honest imput homers..

Hahahahahahaha....LOL. ^^You'll succeed in life and never have any worries once you get your degree. If anybody believes that in any line of work on this planet they should just kill themselves now.


College/post-secondary education is basically paying for credibility in a particular field to have an opportunity to work there. There are no guarantees in the work field. I guess if you use your time wisely you will network with the right people and increase your chances for success later, but who knows. The one thing I do know is this.....them folks running the schools gettin big money. A cold hustle.

 

[FDS]

community college is like high school.

 

[DeceptaKhan]

college teaches you how to work for other people

 

[ColdBlooded]

College prepares you for a career . . . I plan on gettin' my Bachelor's Degree in Communication from Central Missouri State (CMSU). This is my chance to redeem myself, come outta there with a degree, and move on to a career.

this isn't intended as a personal attack on you (so if you take it that way it's your own fault), but many of the people in this thread in general . . .

Since you haven't had a career, currently don't have a career and haven't yet finished college how would you know that it [college] in any way prepares you for a career?

It seems as though a lot of people are making the connection between college helping you in the work place with the work place requiring a college education. Just because a job wants to see a diploma does not mean it is actually useful to the job.

 

[MizeryMade]

this isn't intended as a personal attack on you (so if you take it that way it's your own fault), but many of the people in this thread in general . . .

Since you haven't had a career, currently don't have a career and haven't yet finished college how would you know that it [college] in any way prepares you for a career?

I imagine that I'd only be able to get so far with only a high school education. I've been out outta high school for a long time, and although I've spent some time at community college, I think its about time I finish up and at least get a degree.

I can get a JOB just about anywhere, but I'd much rather have a CAREER.

 

[ColdBlooded]

just because the career requires a college education does not make the college education actually usefull to the job

 

[MizeryMade]

Some jobs only require a high school education. Does that make a high school education useful? Not takin' any of what you said as an attack, but me personally, I don't see myself doin' a whole lot with just a high school diploma.

 

[AC Transit]

If you're an employer - who are you more likely to employ - the high school graduate or the college graduate.

 

[ColdBlooded]

Some jobs only require a high school education. Does that make a high school education useful?

Not necessarily useful to the job, no.

but me personally, I don't see myself doin' a whole lot with just a high school diploma.

i'm not saying you can

 

[dali]

i have to agree with cold blooded.
College education or any other qualification is not always helpful or even reasonable.

By the way, Here in Germany for example we have a completely different school system.
There are basically 4 types of high schools.
A school for dumbasses (special school), real school (only till 10th grade), comprehensive school (till 13th grade but easier than gymnasium) and gymnasium.
You must go to school for 13 years before you can even attend college and get your matriculation standard.
Plus we got this "numerus clausus" rule. To this day we dont have to pay anything but a fee of about 200 bucks to attend any college we want (which is going to change next year, then fees will be due because the government changed the law), but you need to have a certain grade average to study certain topics, which is fucked up.
I wanted to study psychology in the first place but i have to wait 5 years before i can, because my grades in the gymnasium, which have NOTHING to do with the topic of psychology btw because none of my classes were even related to that topic, were not good enough, you need to have a 1.6 average which is fuckin ridiculous. It's the same thing with the jobs you guys are probably gonna get after you get your degree, shit doesnt make any sense, only because you got a certain degree doesnt mean you are qualified to do a certain job.
Now my majors are english and antic culture in college which are interesting but not the thing i really wanted to do.
This school system doesnt make any sense at all.

 

[Stealth]

It has been said that for a lot of people in college besides drs, pharmacists, engineers, etc. the coursework will not prepare you for a career. I agree with this a lot...you can choose to have a job in your field or you can choose to have a job that has nothing to do with your field.

But here's what a college degree shows an employer:

Your ability to plan for the future.
Your penchant for delayed gratification.
A well rounded person.
A literate person, writing ability.
A person who is able to see things through to the end (i.e. finish a degree).
A person who has priorities, goals.
An above average intelligence.

There's more. And before you get offended, keep in mind: this does not mean that people who did not go to college does not have these skills. Nor does it guarantee that a college graduate has these skills. However, it does make the employment process easier for an employer.

If you're running a reputable company and you need somebody to deal with your money or take clients out to dinner, etc., who would you rather trust. You have guy A that didn't go to college. This could mean that he didn't think it was necessary, he couldn't afford it, he got some girl pregnant, he is a drug addict, he is an alcoholic, etc. There are various reasons. There are a lot of people on this board who didn't go to college, but are intelligent/mature enough that if I had to hire them for a job, I would. However, by only selecting someone with a college degree, you limit your chances of hiring a drug addict or someone who lives a reckless life.

Is it fair? No. Is it elitist? Yes.

But does it make sense why an employer would take someone with a degree over someone without a degree, on the grounds that they want to make sure the person has the right "qualifications"? I'd say so.


People can whine all they want about how it isn't fair or how it shouldnt be this way. I personally advocate an apprentice system that avoids uneeded time/classes. But either way, just because you personally don't feel it is necessary, or people who go to college are chumps, you are still limiting yourself just to hold onto your beliefs. And, if you are in a situation where school is a possibility and you don't take it, that is cutting off your nose to spite your face. You are guaranteeing yourself a harder life IN MOST CASES.

 

[MizeryMade]

College isn't for everybody, I understand that completely. My older sister didn't go to college. I've got an older cousin, who last time I saw, was goin' for her GED. I don't know if she ever got it though.

I had a friend that went to the same community college I did for all of 3 weeks before he decided it wasn't for him. This was back in '01. Since then, he's had 3 jobs (I think), that and he's slangin' on the side too. Last I saw him, he was manager at some restaurant b4 the place went out of business. I don't know what he's doin' now.

 

[ColdBlooded]

also to be clear:

i suport higher education be it technical school, college, university and think everyone should attend at least one of those

i just believe the current college/university system to be:

lots of bullshit for a piece of paper
lots of wasted money
possibility to learn something, but not a guarantee

 

[D'struction]

honestly it means waste of time and money. hate to be so negative but i know too many people with degrees for hella shit and they work at regular jobs where a college degree dont mean shit.

for real...I cant count the number of people I know who have degrees, but work at Arby's....wtf does that show you?

 

[STICK-N-MOVE]

just because the career requires a college education does not make the college education actually usefull to the job

depends on your job. lets say your job requires you to make a public annoucement. how would you go about it? thats why college requires you to take classes such as public speaking speech. lets say, your job requires you to write a letter, manual, pamplet, or even a book. college requires you to pass leveled english classes to help you on that. lets say, you own a small buisness and you have to calculate all products, funds, gains, losses, etc. college helps you on that w/ math, etc.

it all depends on how you apply your knowledge learned from college into your job/career. but like many said, college isnt for everyone. yes, ppl can succeed w/o that degree but most would have to start from the very bottom or get hooked up.