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.
Thanks, but I'm done with school. I just don't care any more. The happiest day of my life was graduating from high school. I didn't want to go to college, but I did anyway because that's what you're "supposed" to do.
No one who want to get ahead, get a promotion, get another job is done with school. You always need more training to up date your qualifications, even if you just study it independently.
During the past 18 months(despite the fact that I am retiring in 12), I have taken every extended learning opportunity a swell as studied on my own in the area of Autism. I have used this knowledge to develop on going communication/ social program for the autistic kids in my schools. I continue to learn. Over the years, I've taken correspondence courses and regular courses in everything from photography to tv and auto repair to audio design to housebuilding.
Learning and coursework is never over unless you don't want to better yourself. And in that case, all you'll have left is the skill at complaining about why you didn't get things other people were willing to keep learning to get.
Life becomes a sad and unhappy complaint about what other people get for working that you didn't get for nothing.
No one who want to get ahead, get a promotion, get another job is done with school. You always need more training to up date your qualifications, even if you just study it independently.
During the past 18 months(despite the fact that I am retiring in 12), I have taken every extended learning opportunity a swell as studied on my own in the area of Autism. I have used this knowledge to develop on going communication/ social program for the autistic kids in my schools. I continue to learn. Over the years, I've taken correspondence courses and regular courses in everything from photography to tv and auto repair to audio design to housebuilding.
Learning and coursework is never over unless you don't want to better yourself. And in that case, all you'll have left is the skill at complaining about why you didn't get things other people were willing to keep learning to get.
Life becomes a sad and unhappy complaint about what other people get for working that you didn't get for nothing.
no need to be so dramatic -- I was talking about traditional university (another degree, a master's, etc.)
I wish I would have known then that a BS in mathematics is only a stepping stone and cannot be used by itself - of course, hindsight is always 20/20.
I know someone with two college degrees -- math and biology -- and she works in retail/inventory, scanning clothes at slutty teenage girl stores at the mall in the midde of the night. Seriously, the degrees are that worthless.
You and I both have worthless degrees. It doesn't matter how hard you work when your degree is worthless. You still have to be willing to take that job at Burger King or incur more student loan debt. Let me guess...you graduated in the 90's? I just know they were selling all these worthless college degrees back then and naive kids like myself and many others bought into it.
I actually had a coworker tell me that I had to be willing to sleep with a principal to be able to get ahead in my field. How sad is that?
One of the top students from my college is actually working as a waitress. She has never found a teaching job in six years.
You and I both have worthless degrees. It doesn't matter how hard you work when your degree is worthless. You still have to be willing to take that job at Burger King or incur more student loan debt. Let me guess...you graduated in the 90's? I just know they were selling all these worthless college degrees back then and naive kids like myself and many others bought into it.
I actually had a coworker tell me that I had to be willing to sleep with a principal to be able to get ahead in my field. How sad is that?
One of the top students from my college is actually working as a waitress. She has never found a teaching job in six years.
Most liberal arts degrees are worthless as far as earning potential. But Math is the best background to have if you want to go into anything else like business, accounting, engineering, physics.
Go with a degree in physics not math. Physics is just applied calculus, to a large extent....
Except of course when it does not use calculus at all. This is not to mention that so called "calculus" is really just peon applied mathematics for engineering and science students.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zarathu
And physics is just plain more fun than plain math.
Could have fooled me....as every major advancement in physics was based on prior work in mathematics.
Anyhow, outside of teaching a degree in Mathematics does not have a direct career path. This does not make the degree useless. There are so many threads like this, almost everything has been called useless. The real issue seems to be that people going to college over the last 15 years or so had rather inaccurate ideas about how the "real world" works. Well that and the fact that bachelor degrees have been slowly devalue over time to accommodate millions of dreamy working class kids.
Well, I agree with a lot of these posts. I made a comeback later in life, went back to college in my late 30's. Got the damn math degree at 40.....yeah, and I thought people would just roll out the red carpet, sound the trumpets ! Hale the man with the Tensor Calculus, none finer for miles...well, that was just the begining. Yeah, the trades are good right now and something that can't be outsourced. So I spent more money and got 2 more degrees - a MIS and a sequential MBA.
I am a computer programmer now, a Business Intelligence developer.
Did it take math to do it? I don't know. I always liked complicated things, puzzles, stuff to fugure out. So maybe I got the math degree because I liked to solve stuff. So it fit for me.
The job market? Well, that's another conversation. Some say do what you like and the money will come. Some say get the degree to make money, and your dreams, well do that in your off time.....the balance? Well, I don't know....there are people that knew exactly what they wanted to do since almost birth. But that's rare. And yea, sometimes I think it is that first job right out of the shoot. Well, I wasn't that kind of person. I didn't get that first job right off the bat. No Ivy league here....no silver spoon neither.
So, where does that leave us? I think the degree helps, I think having a personality helps, and I think having connections definitely helps.
Not everybody can be everything to everyone.
My take on it - do what you can, and if someone needs it, they'll seek you out. Keep healthy, if you can. Wait it out, study something. Read stuff. Read the right stuff. Look for trends. Talk to people. Look for stuff in demand. Don't kiss butt, it never works over the long haul. If you do have to kiss butt, don't do it a lot. Once or twice at a job is enough. If they don't want you, no amount of kissing butts will help anyway.
Keep the integrity. You might starve for a while, but man, you will be able to look at yourself in the mirror.....
Except of course when it does not use calculus at all. This is not to mention that so called "calculus" is really just peon applied mathematics for engineering and science students.
Could have fooled me....as every major advancement in physics was based on prior work in mathematics.
Anyhow, outside of teaching a degree in Mathematics does not have a direct career path. This does not make the degree useless. There are so many threads like this, almost everything has been called useless. The real issue seems to be that people going to college over the last 15 years or so had rather inaccurate ideas about how the "real world" works. Well that and the fact that bachelor degrees have been slowly devalue over time to accommodate millions of dreamy working class kids.
A math degree is valuable in computer programming and the insurance industry.
05-30-2012, 03:51 PM
i7pXFLbhE3gq
n/a posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by user_id
There are so many threads like this, almost everything has been called useless. The real issue seems to be that people going to college over the last 15 years or so had rather inaccurate ideas about how the "real world" works.
++
CS, math, physics, chemistry, biology? All useless if you believe some of the posters here.
Personally, I had zero trouble getting a decent job with my "useless" degree, nor do I know anyone who has had trouble getting a job with one of these worthless degrees. You just have to put in a little effort to build up some applied skills.
If someone just wants to get training in a specific field so they can go make x salary, fine, but that's what vocational schools are for, not universities.
CS, math, physics, chemistry, biology? All useless if you believe some of the posters here.
Personally, I had zero trouble getting a decent job with my "useless" degree, nor do I know anyone who has had trouble getting a job with one of these worthless degrees. You just have to put in a little effort to build up some applied skills.
If someone just wants to get training in a specific field so they can go make x salary, fine, but that's what vocational schools are for, not universities.
yea...with a few exceptions of course most smart and hard-working individuals who have "useless" degrees are doing just fine. the problem is that you no longer have to be smart or hard working to go to college.
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.
I did get a math degree....but....
