cmort666
Member
My talent for math is non-existent.
The political science degree I got did me far more good than the accounting degree I never could have gotten.
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Is A College Education Really Necessary?
- Thread starter Kanewpadle
- Start date
The political science degree I got did me far more good than the accounting degree I never could have gotten.
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No. Not at all.
amazingflapjack
US Veteran
How much money a certain "job" accumulates is a poor reason for seeking that kind of employment, so getting an education to obtain that job would, in my view, be a poor motive for this type of training, coupled with an un-fulfilled expectation as a result. Also, aptitude alone is not a good predictor in job success, when more that financial gain is considered as success. A persons learning style may be grossly overlooked in many cases, when consideration of a career is being assessed.
TomkinsSP
Member
Technically you only need a BFA. But since there are 35 applicants per opening and 25 of them have MFAs, a PhD in Art History would not hurt.
College:first you get the lesson, then you take the test.
Life: first you take the test, THEN you get the lesson.
Modern universities are NOTHING like they were 35 years ago. Nothing.
Life: first you take the test, THEN you get the lesson.
Modern universities are NOTHING like they were 35 years ago. Nothing.
oneounceload
Member
True, now they use computers, not slide rules
sigp220.45
US Veteran
I've had two jobs since I graduated from college in 1982. I was an officer in the U.S. Air Force for 8 years and an FBI agent for 25. A college degree was a requirement for both, so in my case: Yes, it was necessary.
My wife started college at 40 and now has a master's degree, which made her eligible for the job she has now, so it was necessary for her.
Now I think the smart play is in the skilled trades. My oldest son is going to welding school on the GI bill, and loving it.
My daughter got a four year degree and has a bunch of student debt, but it got her a job she likes. Her husband has a degree in cartography and got a mapping job he loves and couldn't have gotten otherwise.
My youngest delivers sandwiches for Jimmy Johns. His loftiest ambition is to drive a dump truck. If it makes him happy, I'm all for it.
Personally, the only thing I learned in college was how to ice skate, ride a horse, and drink. The first two were from classes I had to take when I dropped some computer programming classes I was failing horribly (punch cards, Fortran, yuck) and needed to stay full-time. The last one I picked up all on my own. I never planned on actually learning anything, but I knew I needed a Bachelor's Degree to get the jobs I wanted.
My wife started college at 40 and now has a master's degree, which made her eligible for the job she has now, so it was necessary for her.
Now I think the smart play is in the skilled trades. My oldest son is going to welding school on the GI bill, and loving it.
My daughter got a four year degree and has a bunch of student debt, but it got her a job she likes. Her husband has a degree in cartography and got a mapping job he loves and couldn't have gotten otherwise.
My youngest delivers sandwiches for Jimmy Johns. His loftiest ambition is to drive a dump truck. If it makes him happy, I'm all for it.
Personally, the only thing I learned in college was how to ice skate, ride a horse, and drink. The first two were from classes I had to take when I dropped some computer programming classes I was failing horribly (punch cards, Fortran, yuck) and needed to stay full-time. The last one I picked up all on my own. I never planned on actually learning anything, but I knew I needed a Bachelor's Degree to get the jobs I wanted.
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DWalt
Member
Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, a period of excessive bank and S&L failures, I worked as an asset manager for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). It was a good job which was very interesting, well-paid, and provided excellent benefits. I learned a great deal from it, not all of it good. In many ways, I am somewhat sorry I left it when I did. At least at that time, FDIC had no requirements that its employees have a college degree. Experience (especially in banking, finance, law, or accounting) was considered much more important. Despite that, I remember no one in my regional office (other than clerical/secretarial personnel) who did not have a degree. FDIC is not a government agency. It is an independent federally-chartered corporation, and has its own separate pay and benefits standards which are different from and somewhat more generous than those of true Federal agencies (somewhat like USPS). But it is just as bureaucratic.
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DWalt
Member
I made it through college mostly by scholarships and fellowships, plus summer jobs. My family had enough means to make up the difference. But back in that time, my total all-in cost of attendance (books, tuition, living costs, lab fees, etc) wasn't much more than $2K per school year. My wife went to a somewhat more expensive private college, but she borrowed what was needed from an older cousin who could easily afford to help her out and she also worked part time in a variety of jobs. Her immediate family had essentially zip financial resources. She repaid him within two years after she graduated. Borrowing enough to attend college today is insane, at least for those pursuing degrees which are essentially worthless in the job market as so many do today.
Triathloncoach
Member
I have a MBA, my undergrad was Economics. I needed both throughout my career. The college experience is not just about crammimg soon forgotten facts into your brain, or drinking away your brain. I wrestled in college, learned a lot through wrestling, such as there are plenty of guys out there that can kick my azz. It's adult-lite life.
In one of my Economics classes the professor said (early 80s) that as much as anything else a college degree "Signals" to employers and everyone else that you are willing to invest in yourself and you have at least some discipline and long term goal setting skills. Perception.
I never think of college educated people as smarter, maybe in some cases just more well rounded. As the years and decades pass it's what you do, not what you did. Tho many well paying jobs require a college degree.
One example is the Military. No doubt there are thousands of very smart, capable and PROVEN Sergeants. These men and women will never be offered a job as an officer. (Very very rarely???) Yet a 21 year old who drank their way to a 2.1 GPA degree from SouthWest BumFolk State goes to OCS. I know who I would greatly prefer leading me into battle. Who said life is fair?
In one of my Economics classes the professor said (early 80s) that as much as anything else a college degree "Signals" to employers and everyone else that you are willing to invest in yourself and you have at least some discipline and long term goal setting skills. Perception.
I never think of college educated people as smarter, maybe in some cases just more well rounded. As the years and decades pass it's what you do, not what you did. Tho many well paying jobs require a college degree.
One example is the Military. No doubt there are thousands of very smart, capable and PROVEN Sergeants. These men and women will never be offered a job as an officer. (Very very rarely???) Yet a 21 year old who drank their way to a 2.1 GPA degree from SouthWest BumFolk State goes to OCS. I know who I would greatly prefer leading me into battle. Who said life is fair?
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cmort666
Member
I always had far more respect for my NCOs than for a lot of my fellow officers.
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