Useless Degrees and Why People Pursue Them (accredited, UCLA, vs)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
But most colleges calculate meal plans into Room and Board fees.
Even so, it's more than $500 a month for living expenses. As I said earlier in this thread, at my inexpensive state school, the cheapest on-campus housing option is $550 a month plus a mandatory meal plan at $236 a month, and that's for the cheapest meal plan that's an average of 10 meals per week. It isn't really a figure that allows for 3 meals a day so it isn't the true cost.
But most colleges calculate meal plans into Room and Board fees.
The person I was responding to suggest that students can work part time to cover their living expenses. He estimates living expenses to be $500 per month. That is not a reasonable number.
I know you seem passionate about it at all, but this situation as described seems pretty much the definition of not your business. LOL. Whatever she decided to do her parents agreed and are happy subsidizing it, so I fail to see the problem or why anyone else outside that family should be upset. This effects no one but them.
I was discussing the thread topic by giving a relevant example. It is not clear to me what you are discussing here. Are you irritated because you majored in art history or something?
Yup. If they are in a high cost of living area, they might have to move to accomplish this but that's part of life. Better to have to move for work when you are unencumbered and in your 20's than years later with family, kids, etc. I am always a little amazed at people who willingly live in areas that no one can realistically afford to live in without having five roommates. I don't live in my preferred city because I can't afford it. I put up with a city I am not crazy about because it is more affordable.
Are people, in general, that unwilling to move for work?
In my experience, these are the most frustrated people...those whose chosen paths start out paying modestly, but who are unwilling to relocate to an area they can afford, take on roommates, etc. during those lean years. They are the ones frustrated that nobody told them they should go the get-rich-quick route, and the ones who will go around with the this-degree-and-that-degree-are-useless rhetoric.
Plenty of the modestly paying jobs poo-pooed on this thread are liveable, wage-wise. When I was starting out, I made under 20k as a general assignment reporter for a small newspaper. I supported myself. How? Doing it in a low cost-of-living area. Did my wages stay that low? Nope. But that's what you do going in, sometimes, if that's what it takes. I suppose I could have stomped my feet and said, "But I want to be able to live in [fill in the blank costly city]!!!!!! And my degree sucks, because it is only getting me a job that pays this much!!!" But the tradeoff for doing what I wanted to be doing was to do it somehwere I could afford to meet my needs doing it.
I was discussing the thread topic by giving a relevant example. It is not clear to me what you are discussing here. Are you irritated because you majored in art history or something?
No, I'm not irritated. And my college major was advertising, and I had a job before graduation. I've long since switched careers though.
You just sounded really emotional. Like you were angry and disgusted at the girl. And my point was, when you get down to it, there were no burden on society, no problems caused for anyone else... She had a dream, she went for it, her parents supported the attempt, and now she's given up and is trying something else. This is a reason for such contempt? How is this your problem? Or at least to the point you'd be so pissed.
Ummmm...I'm just jumping in here and haven't read through all this thread. Really, there's no such thing as a "useless" degree. It depends on how you use it
I was taking a history course (required, via state of TX), and met a guy who was going back to school to get a bachelor's degree. he worked for NASA, and was told he could not be promoted any further without a degree, didn't matter what area, just get a degree. So, he did. Many jobs require a college degree just to get ahead.
It just depends. Don't confuse college with a trade school. Not knocking trade schools, but college is NOT to prepare you for a specific job, but to give you the education to better utilize opportunities---hmmm.sound good? Maybe I should write for a college website!
I currently work at home and most of my jobs only require a HS diploma, but prefer a degree. I know its given me an edge.
Ummmm...I'm just jumping in here and haven't read through all this thread. Really, there's no such thing as a "useless" degree. It depends on how you use it
I agree!!! I hear all the time on other forums about how useless their law or computer science degree is and how they've 'had to' move back home. Don't you know you could be making bank??? Gah! Even if you don't like programming or systems administration, you can use your skills in nearly any other field you like. There are people wandering around with two or more degrees who have such a good relationship with their university that they've decided to live the academic life. Great, but what about actually applying that in the workplace? So much for the qualification if they won't actually use it...
What skills and talents could a cultural studies qualification prove? Negotiation, communication, general understanding of business/client relationships, writing, creative thinking. They'd have looked at demographics, proving they know a little math; they will have looked at art, useful for graphic design, packaging and branding; they will have used a computer to compile facts and information, essential for entry level accounting; and they will have most likely touched upon mass media theory, which could take them anywhere. Where can you go? Recruitment, IT, tourism, travel, hospitality... all that's missing is the entrants' personal statement.
That's not really true. As examples, education majors come out as teachers, engineering students will end up an engineer, nursing students will end up as nurses. A BS in social work, means you are trained to be a social worker. So some college degrees do prepare a person for a specific career. To me its smarter to be in a program that trains you for a specific field.
Why do people go get useless degree's, I call them useless when they don't pay back. One can study history on their own and one wouldn't say that learning is a waste of time or useless. But one gets a degree to enhance their long term economic success. A degree in history usually means limited marketability other than becoming a history teacher or professor. Yes, one may have learned things of use in the cultural studies program that could be of use in many areas. But being realistic, its tough out there, employers are looking for the most for the buck. Its a hard sell with a degree like that versus something more in line with what the employer was asking for, such as a business or human resources degree. If you haven't pounded the pavement with a lesser degree, you really have no idea. I've been through it, I have a criminal justice degree, I was a cop, now everyone was asking why I didnt want to be a cop any longer. Yes my skills would transfer to other jobs, none the less there were 100 more resumes on the desk, and some a much closer fit. That is reality not some rose colored glasses rubbish. I ended up going back getting a Master's.
Young people still often don't know what they want to do, before ya know it they are deep into a degree that they thought would be easy, now they feel its too late and expensive to switch majors. They might also be led to believe there are opportunities in the field that do not exist.
Liberal Arts Degrees, often referred to as "useless" degrees, teach people how to think critically, process information, and write succinctly and coherently. These skills are not "useless" in the workplace, at all.
They are useful, unless if you mop floors or scrub toilets. Would you want someone who sucks at writing to write a weekly report, or someone who can't think on their own?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
