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It can be a necessary evil; however, each person should decide for themselves .... It's a personal choice.
LOL, I really CAN'T disagree w/ you there! no one should feel like they're being forced to go to college. I hate that many schools are practically making applying to college a graduation requirement. I hate that jobs that any HS grad could have performed now require a BA (and in many cases, it doesn't even matter in what major!). it would be nice to go back to the days when people who sought higher education did so b/c they wanted higher education and not solely as a way to get a paycheck or a higher paycheck. aww well, those days are gone, and now you really don't have a choice, unless you go into trade work (which more people should really. these shouldn't be looked down upon and should be pushed as much as 4 year colleges are in HS). the college undergrad degree is now basically a HS diploma-can't really survive w/o it in many cases
Why would you think it was sarcasm? He asked some legitimate questions.
Frankly, something that "everyone" is doing... can also be lemminglike behavior and doesn't necessarily give you advantages. By the time most U.S. high school grads are going to college, the value of college will have become not very valuable. Going to college was originally about getting entry into the elite. Well, now every single high school student in America is going this route; how valuable will a college degree really be when EVERYONE is getting one? Seriously - how can anything remain valuable if everyone has got some of it? Only a few people can be in the elites; this has been true of every society down through time. The rest are just strivers, and still more are just kidding themselves. But it's very profitable to the higher ed industry to make sure maximum numbers of people keep kidding themselves. Also, why would anyone actually take to the streets and protest over lack of health care, war, or anything else, if they are all wrapped up in 8 years of college? and slaves to their student debt? Works out great for the real ruling class - the super rich. (But this is America! There's no such thing as super rich ruling elites!" LOL)
I don't know about you, but some people wish to start their lives before they are 35. And college is looking more and more like a big holding tank to keep young people off the streets and keep them from demanding real change. (Prison is a holding tank for the poor kids... college is a holding tank for the middle class kids.)
Also, a college education is not about "education." Any bright kid can educate themselves with some books and experiments. A college education is about credentialing. It's about proving you can fit in (and, I suppose, that the corporate world can use you as a cog in their wheel). If you love learning, you don't need college to learn. If you dislike learning, going to college isn't going to make you any smarter. Going to college these days is all about the fear of being left behind.
We're reaching an inflection point in American society where people are finally starting to sit down and ask themselves if this whole credentialing process is really worth the amount of time and money poured into it. Where's the payoff? At some point, more and more bright American kids will stop listening to all of the "you gotta go to college!" propaganda and choose to make a go of it on their own.
Last edited by Jeromeville; 08-06-2009 at 07:15 AM..
Well, now every single high school student in America is going this route; how valuable will a college degree really be when EVERYONE is getting one? Seriously - how can anything remain valuable if everyone has got some of it? .
Somewhere around 64% of high school students go on to college, but according to the 2007 US Census, only 28% of Americans have at least a B.A. degree, while only 10% have an advanced degree. So how is that everyone? It's not even close. The majority of college students drop out.
There is a reason people drop out of college and it isn't always the students fault.
Quote:
Originally Posted by K-Luv
Somewhere around 64% of high school students go on to college, but according to the 2007 US Census, only 28% of Americans have at least a B.A. degree, while only 10% have an advanced degree. So how is that everyone? It's not even close. The majority of college students drop out.
There is a reason people drop out of college and it isn't always the students fault.
People drop out of college for a variety of reasons. The people that I know who have dropped out of college did so primarily because they just were not into it. They said it was a waste of time, that school conflicted with other stuff that they would rather be doing.
It seems to me that those who drop out do to reasons that stem from the school don't quit per se, but more or less just transfer to another school.
That is how I felt about college. I wasn't "into it" but I still struggled through and made A's and B's.
Grad school is a whole other story. I don't feel like I am struggling to finish it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by K-Luv
People drop out of college for a variety of reasons. The people that I know who have dropped out of college did so primarily because they just were not into it. They said it was a waste of time, that school conflicted with other stuff that they would rather be doing.
It seems to me that those who drop out do to reasons that stem from the school don't quit per se, but more or less just transfer to another school.
.... Also, a college education is not about "education." Any bright kid can educate themselves with some books and experiments. A college education is about credentialing. It's about proving you can fit in (and, I suppose, that the corporate world can use you as a cog in their wheel). If you love learning, you don't need college to learn. If you dislike learning, going to college isn't going to make you any smarter. Going to college these days is all about the fear of being left behind...
It's not the same though. I consider myself to be a self-learner, specially when it comes to Engineering/Math/Sciences but you get to the point that you need some help or some resource that you as an individual don't have access to. At school, you can pick at the brains of people who have been working for years at the problems that you are trying to understand, and their guidance is invaluable. Also, as a grad student, or even as an undergrad (specially if you are a research assistant) you have access to resources that will completely broaden the things that you could learn. I usually get to go to conferences to listen to and hang out over a glass of wine with world experts in certain topics (at the University's expense), since my studies are in scientific simulation and modelling, I have access to millions of dollars worth of equipment at Teragrid and my local High Performance Cluster, including workshops on how to program in parallel for these systems taught by several of the guys that designed the system. If I wanted to do experimental work, I would have access to microscopes with 4 Angstroms resolutions, level 100 clean rooms, and tons of other equipment and support that I would have no way of affording otherwise.
Even the brightest kid would be at a strong disadvantage by limiting his education to "book and experiments" that he can perform on his own.
Somewhere around 64% of high school students go on to college, but according to the 2007 US Census, only 28% of Americans have at least a B.A. degree, while only 10% have an advanced degree. So how is that everyone? It's not even close. The majority of college students drop out.
I think one of the reasons that kids drop out of college is that they realize you don't need a college degree to make decent money. Let's face it, our society is primarily composed of people who repair, build, and service things. The trades often pay more than you earn with a college degree. I have several friends who are in AC/Heating, plumbing, etc. who earn far more than me with my master's degree. It is kind of humbling to say the least.
I think one of the reasons that kids drop out of college is that they realize you don't need a college degree to make decent money. Let's face it, our society is primarily composed of people who repair, build, and service things. The trades often pay more than you earn with a college degree. I have several friends who are in AC/Heating, plumbing, etc. who earn far more than me with my master's degree. It is kind of humbling to say the least.
That's true. I have a friend who, with his GED, earns more as a BNSF railroad mechanic than I do with a BS in engineering.
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