Is college a scam?

Originally posted by Scat
man, I like the whole anti 9-5 mindset you are in.

that's how i am. then they tellme to grow up. then i tell them im growing every day, and i keep writing. rock on.

I don't like the 9-5 thing either, theres no way you'd wake me up that early. IMO a job is only a temporary solution to pay your bills while the real money is elsewhere in business/investing.

Originally posted by RandomKungFu
I graduated in Highschool in 2000, and was immediatly accepted into a nearby college just up the street from my highshcool. I applied for financial aid but was declined because of my gpa (from the gov), So I got a full time job, paid for part-time classes, and still can't get financial aid because I'm part-time. 4 years later I just finished my fresman year, LOL!, I still need to get sophmore junior senior to go!. So last semester I tried to get financial aid again, but still my gpa is to low, because I'm part time, I don't meet the 12 credit requirements. So here I am 4years later broke, I hate my job, I lost interest in school, my rent is due, I live with my parents , I'm out of shape, all my friends moved away, no girlfriend. Depressed all at the age of 21.

[Edited on 2-4-2004 by RandomKungFu]

Don't feel bad, you're ahead of me, i'm only going part-time too because of financial issues, and they won't give me aid because my parents own a house, but if i was living alone and on welfare they'd welcome me with open hands. anyways, just keep doing it part-time eventually you'll get your papers, it'll get you ahead of people who don't have them.

Originally posted by subzero360
Without college, there wouldn't be any computers because noone would know how to make them.

Oh boy, I must come into this one. This is a topic that I discuss with my friends alottttttt.

For starters, who is one of the worlds most wealthy man? Bill Gates correct? Yes. From what did he become rich? From computers. Did he go to college? yes. Did he finish college? NO. As have many other people who are filthy rich now.

Yes but he did goto Harvard, even if he didn't graduate he is obviously a very smart individual and learned enough to see this opportunity to get rich and take it.

Originally posted by TrueLies
having these pieces of paper do not garantee you a job. It helps, but thats about it.
You can get good jobs "working for someone" but I prefer self employment, I don't like rules of other companies, nor do I like someone else running a tight ship and having to be part of it. I see it like a dictatorship kind of when it comes to working for someone else...

True, having more papers than others does not guarantee a job, experience is always a plus, but the reason for getting a degree is to be more competitive in the job market(if thats what you're going for, a job)
In my experience the kid who was going to college but knew less than me made more money than I did(in the same job), so it does count.

Originally posted by RANT

Originally posted by Illmatic67
I don't want to get out of college and get a lame 9-5 job paying 30,000 a year.

Um, don't worry. You won't.

Umm, don't worry, you will, unless you are going for something with high demand but with few skilled people in that area where they charge 95/hr for some service.
the national median salary in the united states is at $30,000.
now that i read this post i'm beginning to think its a scam too..

Originally posted by KrazyJethro
....
If you are going to college for something stupid like history, political science (this one really pissed me off), english, journalism, art, language, etc then you are seriously wasting your time and energies that could be better spent doing personal research or having that funny thing called EXPERIENCE.
....
I work for myself and can bet that I make more than any college grad (and I quite college because engineering sucks and it isn't what I wanted to do).

What's wrong with political science? I'm thinking about doing that later on, but if you give me a reason i might look into something else.

I also dropped a computer course i took right after high school because it's not what i wanted to do. I wanted to get a certificate and get right into the workforce making my promised 40k. Even though i've been working with computers from a young age i decided that's not what i'd enjoy doing.
So i took up going to a community college around here. Been taking classes that I like and so far so good. I'm on my way to getting some papers, but for what, i don't know, its the knowledge that counts imo.

it is turniing into a scam...yes there are those that go to get trained to go into a specific field but, more and more people go to get a degree of any type so it looks good on a resume. many companies what you to have a degree in something...it doesn't matter what, they just wnat you to have a degree. why is that?? because a person goes to college, does it mean that they are a 'go-getter', they 'follow through', they finish what they start, they did well and got good grades.........??? i don't know about you all but, i would be wondering about a person who is looking for a job as a manager for pest control company or a customer service manager, who has a 4 year degree in forest hydrology or the good old 'liberal arts'......i think college has lost most of its meaning to most people...

Coming from the highly over-educated...7 years and two degrees after high school..I don't use a bit of them now.

But, if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it again, smarter.

Good grades mean better opportunities and generally higher pay-- if that's the sort of thing you are looking for. Now some people do have callings to be things like doctors, lawyers, even...it's hard to believe...accountants. And for those people the good schooling and high grades will take them far towards achieving success in those fields.

But some of us shudder at the thought of a business suit...Cringe at 9-5--or even an alarm clock...can't see the difference between a cubicle and a jail cell.

I'm one of them-- but I'd still go back to college, and yes, even law school

But NOW I'd know that success in life is not only about who you know, but who THEY know. I'd spend more time building lasting relationships then with my nose in a book.

Yes, I'd get much more value out of college were I to go now, then this high GPA and degree ever gave me...

College is important, but only for the few who take it seriously enough and pick a major that can provide a future. I too was a communication major, which I have learned to regret. It was my friends who were Business majors and CSI majors that have great jobs now and are still in demand in this poor economy.

Do yourself a favor and look into a better major, you will appreachiate it when you graduate and find work....

-psd_1

Originally posted by Illmatic67

Originally posted by Seekerof
Whats your major Illmatic?


seekerof

Communications.

College is definately no scam! Find a job that you actually want to do... then go do the schooling to get that job... Thats it! My wife wanted to take X-rays... she went to school for 2 years now makes 30,000+ her first x-ray job which she got before graduating. So, i signed up for school (better late than never) for electronics and in 1 more year i'll have a way better job than what i have now. And it will be in a field im interested in.

Sorry to crush your youthful dreams of travelling and writing, but you gotta eat still man!

There's alot of people out there applying for jobs. All things being equal, the person with the best college degree is going to get the job.

So it's definitely no scam.

You're 100% correct. Now if you have a masters degree you are golden!

Don't be fooled, even if you think college is a scan you need that degree to get your foot in the door.

As for becoming specialized, well thats good and all but you need a college degree to show that your education is well rounded.

-psd_1

Originally posted by Esoterica
There's alot of people out there applying for jobs. All things being equal, the person with the best college degree is going to get the job.

So it's definitely no scam.

Originally posted by Illmatic67
I never believed that going to college will guarantee you a better job paying more money than the person who didn't go to college.

I'm in college right now and we're learning the same # we did when we were in high school. I thought college was a place for higher learning.

I've come to learn that I got most of my education from Barnes n Nobles than my high school and current college. It's crazy. What does everyone here think?

College, like most structured education in the US, is not so much about learning how to use the information taught as it is the regergitation of facts for the sake of passing a test that will be forgotten about shortly after taking. I have had only one teacher in my college time that inspired me to actually think. Only one is pretty sad if you think about it as I went to an 'aclaimed' university.

The funny thing about the work force and school is that you need that silly little piece of paper for many jobs (perhaps simply to show that you will jump through the hoops of the system), but in the end you are fighting for a job with some one that already has the experience of being in the work force for 4/5 years longer then you because they did not go to college.

Most everything important that I have learned in life was not learned in a classroom, but from my own studies and the real world. I am by no means saying that you should not go to college because often times you will make more money with a degree of sorts, however when you wish to exist in a system (this being society) you have to be a dog to the rules of that system in order to get ahead.

The question is "Is your children learning?"

The answer in most cases seems to be no.

Originally posted by Jonna

College, like most structured education in the US, is not so much about learning how to use the information taught as it is the regergitation of facts for the sake of passing a test that will be forgotten about shortly after taking. I have had only one teacher in my college time that inspired me to actually think. Only one is pretty sad if you think about it as I went to an 'aclaimed' university.

The question is "Is your children learning?"

The answer in most cases seems to be no.

I think its more to prove that you can follow through and DO it. And the repetitiveness of school is so that you do actually remember stuff! Of course you dont remember after learning something once for a test, but after the 3-4th time with it, you remember it for good, mostly.

If you want to be some travelling musician or writer, thats great, but go to school and get a degree as well! Unless you prefer scraping by and just surviving for you whole life... not to mention when you get old and can't work anymore to provide for yourself.

I used to be all against going to school when i was younger, i guess you just grow out of that stuff. I got tired of having 50$ buck till next paycheck all the time. Not to mention feeling better about yourself for accomplishing such a task!

I wouldn't say it's a scam.
I'm well aware that what I went to school for isn't likely to land me a job in any field other than education, but that's where I want to go, anyway. I could have just as easily learned and studied everything I've done over those years, but I wouldn't have been able to work with some incredible professors, and meet great students in the same focus to discuss and debate. I went to University for the atmosphere, not the subject or the degrees, but the degree has been helpful.

In the job slum alot of America is in right now, college isn't necasarry...

I know quite a few people who went to college, got their degrees, etc.. and are still working their # jobs they had while in school. Why? Because there are no jobs at the moment.. don't know how long it lasts.. but I decided I wasn't going to get into a huge debt for school, and stay in a dead end job after I got that debt.. I'll just stay in a dead end job for awhile, and hope the the economy goes up and more jobs come around.. then work on school.

My sister is one of the people I know.. she's still in the same job she had since she got out of highschool, is done with college, and can't find a job to put her degree to use anywhere.

Is college a scam?

Ans. College Athletics

Originally posted by EWom
In the job slum alot of America is in right now, college isn't necasarry...

I know quite a few people who went to college, got their degrees, etc.. and are still working their # jobs they had while in school. Why? Because there are no jobs at the moment.. don't know how long it lasts.

My sister is one of the people I know.. she's still in the same job she had since she got out of highschool, is done with college, and can't find a job to put her degree to use anywhere.

What are your degree's in? If its a major is Sandscrit or *gasp* Communications then there's your problem. Look at the jobs you would want to do, and check out their pre-reqs for applying. Go to monster.com or the likes and you can see lists and lists of jobs on there that will require a certain college degree.

So yeah, if i majored in History or something un-practical its gonna be hard to find a job. Major in networking, electronics or nursing and see how hard it is! There are companies in desperate need of EDUCATED employees!!!

its pretty hard to maintain any ambition about a dumb game won by the heats and slobs.

fine and practical to say its what you do with it.. is it easy to go into the belly of the beast and make it out the anus undigested? possible? worthwhile?
[uni being the closest possibility for passive access most people can have to anything advanced/or special]


maybe they did not instill enough self interest in gradeshool for someone to be arguning against their own success.


like anytihng that getsya, it getsya best when no other option seems even remotely possible.

Originally posted by Calculon386

Originally posted by EWom
In the job slum alot of America is in right now, college isn't necasarry...

I know quite a few people who went to college, got their degrees, etc.. and are still working their # jobs they had while in school. Why? Because there are no jobs at the moment.. don't know how long it lasts.

My sister is one of the people I know.. she's still in the same job she had since she got out of highschool, is done with college, and can't find a job to put her degree to use anywhere.

What are your degree's in? If its a major is Sandscrit or *gasp* Communications then there's your problem. Look at the jobs you would want to do, and check out their pre-reqs for applying. Go to monster.com or the likes and you can see lists and lists of jobs on there that will require a certain college degree.

So yeah, if i majored in History or something un-practical its gonna be hard to find a job. Major in networking, electronics or nursing and see how hard it is! There are companies in desperate need of EDUCATED employees!!!

My sister majored in accounting I believe, and can't get a better job than what she has (drone for an insurance company), which has nothing to do with her major..

I don't know what my friends majored in.. but they are the kinda idiots that would major in sandscript.. just cause they are idiots.. and I'm not really surprised they can't get good jobs.

Just google "returns to education" or something like that to see what rate of return different degrees get you.

College is a bit of a scam in that you are getting a piece of paper to get a job in order to become a consuming termite somehwere in the suburb who fulfills any stereotype I could describe to a tee.

It's also a social filtration system in that you are showing yourself capable of making a goal and committing to fulfilling that goal.

It's a bit of a heirarchical system in that 65% of your Dad's earning power will transfer to you, meaning that if daddy is rich, you probably will get into Andover, then Yale and yet your jobs fed to you on a silver spoon.

You might be better off taking the money for college and buying a house and then ride this real estate bubble for all it's worth.

the only thing why you are in college (except for some jobs using math chemestry exc.) is because the system only "test" you, so they can see if you are smart or not, then they give you "mind" jobs, you dont need alcebra and how fast a pencel hits the ground. It's just a "test".
i dont care if you think im lying, its the truth.

i think this is a humorous argument when i'm approched with it. i remmber setting in college classes and having my instructor 'instruct' the class how anyone that doesn't go to college is a sloth and will never amount to anything. i proceeded to ask him about a certain college drop out named bill gates, even if he is an idoit he sure figured out how to work the system and get paid big, which is what college is all about.

seriously though, i think college is becoming more and more of a scam. my friend just graduated from devry with a 4 year degree in computer engineering (or something similar) and he can't find a job within the lower part of the state because they all want someone with experience. he has to start paying back loans this month too. i suggested he moved to a job, but he has no money for that because he spent it all going to school

[Edited on 24-4-2004 by Strigoi]

Originally posted by Strigoi

seriously though, i think college is becoming more and more of a scam. my friend just graduated from DeVry with a 4 year degree in computer engineering (or something similar) and he can't find a job within the lower part of the state because they all want someone with experience.[Edited on 24-4-2004 by Strigoi]

Oh, well there's your problem right there... thats not really College... sorry

I agree, it is a scam!....I have a masters in computer science and a masters in physics!!!! I would have finished the Ph.d in physics but my Profs told me straight out in 1994 that if you get a Ph.d you will NEVER get a job!!!!

GOD, how they were correct...I have taught physics and math in palm beach community college Florida, Worked for a gaming company in combimnatoric, and permutation mathematics(REALLY TOP CLASS MATERIAL)....gone independent and done contract work in math , engineering, amd physics. BUTTTTT!!!!! no bites with all my credential. I am only giving a summary of my education and experience. It seems that the world got so wrapped up in the concept that knowing how to use prewritten software, and substituted that for higher intellect, that no one remembers what a REAL science graduate can do for an economy with new technologies!!! OR ANY OTHER TOP NOTCH GRADUATE!

The average masses have been placed in positions of the administrater!!! have you ever read their job descriptions......Were do they think we have the time to have degrees in biology, physics, computer science.....and all the other infinite areas!!!!

They dont know what they want, because they are ignorant!!!!! AND, THEY WANT US TO HAVE 30 DEGREES, AND WORK 18 HOUR DAYS FOR 1BOUT 28,0000 DOLLARS A YEAR!!! YEAH RIGHT...LETS SEE THEM DO IT!

THE INTERNET BUBBLE(iLLUSION) CREATED A HELL ON EARTH THAT WILL HAVE HORRIBLE CONSEQUENCES! BUT hey, UNDER THE DISTORTION OF the true meaning of political correctness...everyone is as smart and gifted as everyone else..... That is the catch in a nieve theory of politics!!! we all have our gifts....everyone does not posses the same gifts!

hENCE......COLLEGE IS A SCAM, BECAUSE OF THE IGNORANT BEAURACRACY!!!!