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Not one ounce of regret. As previous posters indicated, not only were my degrees pivotal in my career, my schooling years have shaped who I am. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have many friends who did not attend college, and there is no way they will ever create careers or enjoy same income potential a college grad is capable of (with the exception of the entrepreneurial, the connected and the lucky).
I know this will sound pretentious, but once one attains higher education, one can't help but immediately notice the stark difference in education and mindset between those who attended college and those who didn't.
Everyone's attitude is different. I think many students aren't mature enough to take their educations seriously, and in turn, appreciate it less.
Yes, I regret going to college. Although the process of moving away and living in another city, going to school, and doing things are interesting, the bachelors degree I obtained in 2005 has no value. As I write this, I just got home from a job where I make 14,000 a year.
There are only two reasons why people go to college:
1.) The job they have in mind requires a degree or several degrees
2.) They've been told by society countless times since they were young that the only way one can make it in today's times is to get more education, so they go to college believing in they graduate with a degree, any degree, they will have a better job than getting paid 9 dollars an hour.
If the whole point of college is to get educated, then why would someone spend tens of thousands of dollars then? Why would someone need to spend 40,000 dollars for a bachelors degree for an education? Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to go to the library or buy and read books about something that interests you?
No one was pushing college back in the 50's, 60's, or 70's. If one graduated college back then, they were ahead of the game and got a decent paying job. Sure a few of them had to possibly scratch and save for a years while working at a low paying job in bad economic times, but they eventually find themselves in a much better job after a few years. Now, maybe not so much.
The push for college has been going on for a good 15 years, maybe more. It's still going on.
Again, if the idea of college is to get an education, then why is society still pushing the idea of going to college when it costs a lot of money? Why are colleges/universities costing tens of thousands of dollars other than the fact they can? I understand the idea of trade schools and learning how to do something. But why is it tens of thousands of people every year graduate from college with a bachelors degree or higher even if the degree doesn't directly link them to a job?
I doubt very seriously people are going to college for the sake of learning something and educating their minds. That's too stupid of a conclusion. If they wanted to do that, they could have gone to the library and read books for a lot cheaper.
You are incorrect that "no one was pushing college in the 50's, 60's or 70's". College was being pushed (I, for one, wouldn't have thought of going had a Guidance Counselor and a Biology teacher not grabbed me one day for a Come to Jesus talk), but only to the College Prep kids, not to everyone with a pulse. I can guarantee you that we were the only ones that heard of the SAT or AP classes or scholarships.
There were no SAT Prep classes or programs (the College Board insisted that there was no way to prep for them except do well in school), there were no Financial Aid Nights at the high school, there was no Gates or Broad Foundation money given to schools so every single student would take the SAT.
There were no ads on TV advertising colleges nor were there college recruiters visiting high schools to try to convince students to go there.
But, the kids that should have gone somehow found out about college while the ones who shouldn't have gone didn't. That's what has changed, every one thinks (or rather their parents do) that they have to go to college. Even the kids who can't spell Bob if you spot them the Bs.
1972 BA History
1973 MA American History
1977 PhD American History
1983 Certificate in Business Programming (IT) ... and lots of other certificates since!
Since I have never had any interest in working as a secretary, as a salesperson or a factory worker or in being a full-time housewife, I have never regretted going to college.
You can lose your spouse, you can lose your job, you can lose all your money, but if you skills and the paperwork to prove it, you can make your way whatever life throws at you a whole lot easier than people without them.
I got my degrees in Civil Engineering and a Masters in a related field.
I regret my degrees yes, although there's a chance things could still work out the way I want them too.
If I did it over I would have been probably a pharmacist, maybe an optometrist, less likely a doctor.
I've always been able to excel at school and standardized tests at every level when I applied myself, and I could have used that to my advantage and gotten myself out of the world of ladder climbing, office politics, and the rat race. That is the one thing that you can use degrees for.
But hindsight is 20/20.
Well, regretting your choice of a major is different than regretting going to college. I'm sorry that I didn't major in civil engineering but it wasn't offered at my college, and honestly, it wasn't considered a career for women back then anyways.
The world isn't perfect and isn't true for most when the educational system is a racket. Most older people who went to college went before is was all about the money too.
Sorry but that's not true. My first professional job paid $9600/year, and I had about $5k in student loans, despite having scholarships and assistantships, so I salary to loans was about 2/1. Today, that's like starting at $35k and having a little less than $20k in loans.
Furthermore, my generation of my family -- myself, my siblings and cousins -- were all the first to graduate from high school, so college was a very big, big deal. I wasn't out in the quad protesting the draft or the Vietnam War or the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. I wasn't at college to protest. I was there to get a degree and get a job. My entire college was filled with kids like me so there were very few protests compared to the nearby state university.
I went to college .. regret it. I ended up not using it and it cost me a fortune. My husband didn't go to college, worked his way up and makes very good money ... no debt. With every situation, it depends. What's good for one person isn't necessarily good for you.
I do not regret going to college. I regret not doing better in high school to get into an elite Ivy League university with generous scholarships. I also regret not knowing about five year BS/MS degrees, and not studying electrical/computer engineering which is something I think I would have enjoyed a lot.
I was too caught up in the whole partying and college being the best part of your life mindset which I think is BS. I was trying to live the lifestyle of someone that I am not.
Luckily for me, I work in a STEM field and earn a decent salary, some would even say that it is a good salary. However, if I studied electrical/computer engineering I would have found a good job a lot sooner and be earning $10,000 to $30,000 a year more by now.
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