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I went to college because I wanted a higher education. The whole career thing was secondary. Now, I am better educated than the majority of Americans. I didn't pursue the focus of my degree professionally, but I still make use of the education and enjoy the fruits of my labor.
If you're going into college expecting financial profit, then you're going for the wrong reason. You should be going because you want to invest in YOURSELF, as a human being. Happiness is not measured in dollars and cents. Even the richest man in the world will die some day.
Last edited by AnonChick; 02-21-2011 at 05:24 PM..
Reason: misplaced comma
The convenience for me is that I have an aptitude for a plethora of different skill sets, I pick up almost anything very easily.
Another convenience is my passion is success and moving in an upward direction, I can apply that to any career.
More power to you...not everyone has the ability to be a pulitzer prize winning author and win the nobel prize in physics within the same life time.
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You do have a good point though, but just to play devil's advocate, what happens if one follows their passions, but there is no market for it. There is a decent chance that they will end up with debt they can't pay off, making following their passion impossible.
That can happen with any major. If we applied the "what's in demand" logic and everyone did what they thought was "in demand" those majors would no longer be "in demand." (I think that's a paradox??!!??)
Simply put, if everyone decided to become engineers, society would just have more unemployed engineers.
I use to be a firm believer in the whole "choose your major wisely"...until I read Alan Greenspan's book and came to the understanding that it isn't the students and the majors that they are choosing--but more so the industries inability to fully utilize the talent that's available to them.
Now I don't think that line of thinking reallyhelps with those of us who just want to lead normal lives, but I think there's a grain of truth in there.
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I guess my point is you should follow your passions, but try to do it in a way that will lead to success, if that means picking a 2nd or 3rd passion on your list that sells well so be it.
I'm getting to think the entire world is becoming over-educated and the blue-collar workers and college professors are having the last laughs!
There is no such thing as over-education. Unless one thinks of a university as some sort of glorified trade school. It isn't.
If all you care about is return-on-investment, and memorizing some information that will get you a good-paying job, then you'd probably be better off joining a union apprenticeship program and spending your 4 year apprenticeship learning some high-demand skills... like elevator repair, or land surveying, or welding/pipefitting, or automotive repair.
Heck... they'll even pay YOU to go through the apprenticeship program.
You'll learn all about how to make widget x perform task y, and other nice, practical skills, and once you've passed your apprenticeship can take home a nice fat paycheck.
If, on the other hand, you want to learn about the universe, and study a wide variety of subjects to give you a better understanding of things and a better perspective on the world, then go to university.
Sure, you probably ALSO learn some useful skills, that will make you more employable in the long run... but that is not now and never has been the purpose of a university education.
It's not a white-collar trade school.
Courses like philosophy, literature, and ethics do not involve directly-applicable trade skills... but instead they involve exercises in mental discipline that are applicable across a wide range of subjects, and which improve the mind itself... in much the same way that lifting weights improves your muscles.
There is no such thing as over-education. Unless one thinks of a university as some sort of glorified trade school. It isn't.
If all you care about is return-on-investment, and memorizing some information that will get you a good-paying job, then you'd probably be better off joining a union apprenticeship program and spending your 4 year apprenticeship learning some high-demand skills... like elevator repair, or land surveying, or welding/pipefitting, or automotive repair.
Heck... they'll even pay YOU to go through the apprenticeship program.
You'll learn all about how to make widget x perform task y, and other nice, practical skills, and once you've passed your apprenticeship can take home a nice fat paycheck.
If, on the other hand, you want to learn about the universe, and study a wide variety of subjects to give you a better understanding of things and a better perspective on the world, then go to university.
Sure, you probably ALSO learn some useful skills, that will make you more employable in the long run... but that is not now and never has been the purpose of a university education.
It's not a white-collar trade school.
Courses like philosophy, literature, and ethics do not involve directly-applicable trade skills... but instead they involve exercises in mental discipline that are applicable across a wide range of subjects, and which improve the mind itself... in much the same way that lifting weights improves your muscles.
If all someone cares about is getting an education, they should learn on the internet on their own. You don't need a college to learn.
Like it or not, college is used as a place for people to become more employable.
What if someone's not interested in philosophy/literature? What if they're going to college to learn a skill?
As far as the union apprenticeships go...sure, that's good if you're interested in blue collar work. But what if you're interested in white collar work?
By the way, you don't need an apprenticeship to learn land surveying. My college has a degree in that.
www. dailytargum.com: Study Finds Lack in College Education
A study conducted on 2300 college students found no appreciable increase in critical thinking, writing ability and other learning parameters on nearly 50% of all students tested. Using a standard test CLEP which asks students to use their critical thinking skills to solve complex problems, the study's authors concluded that nearly 1/2 of all college sophomores had learned nothing in two years. They further found that 1/3 of students hadn't gained any skills after four years. I don't know about you, but if you're going into debt in the order of tens of thousands, and not getting for the money spent, then I would classify that as a scam. Moreover the unis know that they're running a scam because the only way the researchers had access to their students was if they refused to name the unis where the study was conducted. Pretty damning indication of the level of "education" of USAAmericans....
www. dailytargum.com: Study Finds Lack in College Education
A study conducted on 2300 college students found no appreciable increase in critical thinking, writing ability and other learning parameters on nearly 50% of all students tested. Using a standard test CLEP which asks students to use their critical thinking skills to solve complex problems, the study's authors concluded that nearly 1/2 of all college sophomores had learned nothing in two years. They further found that 1/3 of students hadn't gained any skills after four years. I don't know about you, but if you're going into debt in the order of tens of thousands, and not getting for the money spent, then I would classify that as a scam. Moreover the unis know that they're running a scam because the only way the researchers had access to their students was if they refused to name the unis where the study was conducted. Pretty damning indication of the level of "education" of USAAmericans....
Just because there's no increase in critical thinking or writing ability doesn't mean they learned nothing.
I've learned a lot in college, but I don't know if my critical thinking or writing ability increased.
The type of stuff I've learned is stuff that might not show up on a critical thinking or writing study.
I think a better indicator of the effectiveness of college is to test them on what they know about their major.
Just because there's no increase in critical thinking or writing ability doesn't mean they learned nothing.
I've learned a lot in college, but I don't know if my critical thinking or writing ability increased.
The type of stuff I've learned is stuff that might not show up on a critical thinking or writing study.
I think a better indicator of the effectiveness of college is to test them on what they know about their major.
You could learn a lot if you read more, you don't need college to do that. And critically thinking means you can apply what you learned to real world issues and your writing ability shows your ability to communicate that knowledge. That is the reason you go to college, in order to be able to do just that.
And you don't need to declare your major until after your sophomore year. So if you have to wait two years to learn anything, then why are you paying to learn nothing for your first two years. By your thinking then your time in college should be no more than a couple years, three max. As it is, fewer students can get out in the customary four years needed to earn a degree. It's now taking them five years, maybe six depending when courses are offered. If the first years you don't learn anything then unis are deliberately keeping their students in college and forcing them to accrue debt at far greater the rate needed in order to become "educated." Sounds like a scam to me....
You could learn a lot if you read more, you don't need college to do that. And critically thinking means you can apply what you learned to real world issues and your writing ability shows your ability to communicate that knowledge. That is the reason you go to college, in order to be able to do just that.
And you don't need to declare your major until after your sophomore year. So if you have to wait two years to learn anything, then why are you paying to learn nothing for your first two years. By your thinking then your time in college should be no more than a couple years, three max. As it is, fewer students can get out in the customary four years needed to earn a degree. It's now taking them five years, maybe six depending when courses are offered. If the first years you don't learn anything then unis are deliberately keeping their students in college and forcing them to accrue debt at far greater the rate needed in order to become "educated." Sounds like a scam to me....
I actually agree with you somewhat. General ed classes are useless. The only reason I took them is because they're required by the college. I only care about my major. The skills in my major are the skills that I want to learn.
If college was shortened so people could focus on their major instead of useless classes, I would be all for that.
You don't need to declare a major right away. But I entered college with a major. I took major classes my first semester.
I had a teacher in high school that made me a pretty decent writer. I'm content with the writing skills he taught me. I'm not pursuing a writing career. I admit that my writing skills might be similar now to the way they were at the end of high school (I'm a college sophomore).
I'm not quite sure what you mean by critical thinking. Could you give an example? Maybe I'm more of a critical thinker now than I was before college.
But I'm sure of 2 things
1. I know more now than I did before college.
2. I learned a skill that I didn't have before college.
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Universities are not trade schools
