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Old 12-26-2017, 09:49 PM
 
Location: Homeless
17,717 posts, read 13,482,037 times
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If I had kids I would try and talk them into going to a vocational school rather then college. Half the time of it takes to finish college your done with school and less debt. Get good grades you have people waiting to hire you.

 
Old 12-26-2017, 10:10 PM
 
Location: Del Rio, TN
39,809 posts, read 26,403,608 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reed067 View Post
If I had kids I would try and talk them into going to a vocational school rather then college. Half the time of it takes to finish college your done with school and less debt. Get good grades you have people waiting to hire you.
My nephew just finished his apprenticeship and is now a journeyman electrician. He made money while doing the apprenticeship, employer paid for college and he is now making over $30 an hour-at 22 years old. Thing is though-a lot of those that can't get through college wouldn't begin to make it in the trades. You have to know as much as most college graduates and actually have to do physical work on top of that.
 
Old 12-26-2017, 10:20 PM
 
Location: NC
5,129 posts, read 2,588,189 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fordtrucks View Post
To the college graduates out there if you had to do it all over again would you go back to college?

I would, I had a great time at one of the nations most prestigious schools before the liberals overran academia with idiots.
 
Old 12-26-2017, 10:36 PM
 
1,915 posts, read 1,474,764 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fordtrucks View Post
To the college graduates out there if you had to do it all over again would you go back to college?



Bryan Caplan
I loved college. I was mainly an A/B student and graduated with honors with a bachelor of science degree. I have a good job that I like (although it pays less than average for my area and the benefits are lacking).

I wouldn’t want to give up my education, but honestly, sometimes I think if I were able to do it all over again, I’d be either a machinist or plumber. They just weren’t careers girls went into at the time (or rarely went into) so I didn’t consider it. Plus, it was assumed with my grades, I was going to college.

I worked as a book keeper right out of college (in a machine shop) and loved it. They guys were great and I’d even help ream parts and such if they needed the help. I also own a home now and like working on the plumbing. I’ve changed sinks, faucets, fixed toilets and leaks... I just like it.

Sometimes I think maybe I should have been in the military too. I aced the ASVAB test and had recruiters calling me for two years after I graduated from high school. But my dad would never allow it (and I was an obedient child).

As it is now. I’m thinking of taking college classes for the fun of it. Maybe language classes to keep my mind sharp.
 
Old 12-26-2017, 10:42 PM
 
Location: Here and now.
11,904 posts, read 5,562,534 times
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I don't think this should be an either/or discussion. It's great to go to college, and I don't think that job preparation is the only legitimate reason to go - it can be a wonderful, enriching experience, as well, for those who simply love to learn. Most will end up using their degree, even if their ultimate job is not in their major. It bothers me when people speak so derisively of universities and university students. On the other hand, there is no shame in not going, either, and I do think we should make it easier and more "acceptable" for kids who don't want to go to learn a trade of some kind, or get vocational training, without being stigmatized.

As to the original question, yes I would do it again, but I would probably take a gap year first, and work as a volunteer in a couple of fields that interested me. Sadly, gap years were not much of a "thing" in the 80s.
 
Old 12-26-2017, 10:51 PM
 
Location: Youngstown, Oh.
5,502 posts, read 9,463,580 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Catgirl64 View Post
I don't think this should be an either/or discussion. It's great to go to college, and I don't think that job preparation is the only legitimate reason to go - it can be a wonderful, enriching experience, as well, for those who simply love to learn. Most will end up using their degree, even if their ultimate job is not in their major. It bothers me when people speak so derisively of universities and university students. On the other hand, there is no shame in not going, either, and I do think we should make it easier and more "acceptable" for kids who don't want to go to learn a trade of some kind, or get vocational training, without being stigmatized.

As to the original question, yes I would do it again, but I would probably take a gap year first, and work as a volunteer in a couple of fields that interested me. Sadly, gap years were not much of a "thing" in the 80s.
I can't rep you again, but I agree completely.
 
Old 12-26-2017, 11:08 PM
 
3,614 posts, read 3,871,447 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PedroMartinez View Post
College was fun, but other than some parchment in a frame, it did little for me.
Similar. I was a Great Recession graduate and like most of my cohort who neither lucked into one of the few available decent jobs or went to graduate school I had to bootstrap my career the hard way.

Not having been able to leverage my degree and knowing that things usually shake out regardless (because I saw so many of my chronologically unfortunate overachiever friends claw their way into successful careers the hard way same as I did), if I were to do it again I would have gone for a merit scholarship at a lower ranked private university or state instead of going where I did. Still would have gone to college though, it was a worthwhile experience even if in the end it turned out pretty much pointless from a career perspective due to my graduation timing.
 
Old 12-27-2017, 04:28 AM
 
Location: Homeless
17,717 posts, read 13,482,037 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake View Post
My nephew just finished his apprenticeship and is now a journeyman electrician. He made money while doing the apprenticeship, employer paid for college and he is now making over $30 an hour-at 22 years old. Thing is though-a lot of those that can't get through college wouldn't begin to make it in the trades. You have to know as much as most college graduates and actually have to do physical work on top of that.


And on top of that most college grads don't start off working in their field of choice, a lot of them can't find the jobs they were hoping for. So they do B.S jobs hoping to catch a break.
 
Old 12-27-2017, 04:43 AM
 
Location: Sonoran Desert
39,023 posts, read 51,075,331 times
Reputation: 28216
I come from a large family. We are of roughly equal intellect. Those of us who went to college live comfortable upper middle class lives, while the siblings that did not - usually choosing "a boy" over education - are all living hand to mouth and have been doing that all their lives. The educated left the small town midwest and now live in prosperous sunbelt states or along the west coast. The high schoolers still live in decaying towns left behind when manufacturing left. Yeah, college paid off handsomely and still does for most people. Higher education is not a guarantee of success, but it is far more likely to lead to that end than is a lack of education.
 
Old 12-27-2017, 04:43 AM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
45,113 posts, read 60,214,676 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reed067 View Post
And on top of that most college grads don't start off working in their field of choice, a lot of them can't find the jobs they were hoping for. So they do B.S jobs hoping to catch a break.
And that has somewhat been the norm for a few decades.

The title should have read Too Many Unqualified Students Going To College.

Community Colleges have gotten away from their original goals of some vocational training and additional classes for certification and have transitioned into Grade 13 for kids who can't get into a 4 year school.

Many of those students spend a year or three at a CC taking remedial classes at full price but gaining zero college credit. Some of them do move out of those classes to credit courses but many, too many, don't, so they eventually drop out.

But they can always say they went to college. Which is a big deal if they're the first one, especially male, in their family to even graduate from high school.

An anecdote:
I had a kid who came blasting into my room one day over the moon, he'd gotten a 730 on the SAT. I asked him, against my better judgement because I'd taught the kid in several classes, what part. That was his combined score.

He did go on to CC for a couple years taking remedial classes. I saw way more of that than kids who went to CC for the chimera of "saving money".
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