Anyone else think college was a waste of time?

Question

Ok so I graduated with over $11K of debt, which isnt all that much, and got a bunch of jobs making like 7.50$ an hour... I look back and hey I could have learned how to fix cars or something and went to work in 6 months instead of wasting 5 years of my life reading books in that glorified high school. I would have had all those earnings, I could have started investing in a home, wouldnt have had debts. College is a bunch of crap.

fkoober - My dad retired at 51 from a business he started. He was making 6 figures and only had a 10th grade education. Good luck in real life girl.

John T - I work with computers too. I do well for myself. But my computer classes took 3 months, didnt require college, cost about 1/5th as much and within 3 months I doubled my college degree earning pay. College is crap and your statement backs me up.

Bill - You are repeating the facts I stated. Your argument makes no sense. I went to college, got the degree and debt and then only made 7.50 an hour. You really should read what you wrote. I guess thats one benefit. I can outwit boneheads like you.

Answer 1

doubt it. the economy will change sooner or later. you also need experience at $7.50/hour before you can make more

Answer 2

It is not a waste.... you just dont know the meaning of college or school do you? I agree at first it may seem stupid, but in the end it just comes up bitin your butt again... Say, if you were to go to only high school and see what job you get? do you really think it would be better then a job from college? Hell no, obviously you dont know you can get more experience from college to get a good job that pays a lot. You know you can get so many more jobs then 7.50 an hour? My cousin is an accountant, she makes around 90k a year. You obviously dont know the meaning of college, i mean cmon you graduated and only making 7.50 an hour? Are you kidding youself with that? Once you have a family, then you will know how easy it is living after an education from college. But you? Your a disgrace saying college is a bunch of crap, apparently you are a bunch of crap.

Oh, Btw it looks like you didnt even try to do stuff in college, so your a waste, you wasted all the money to go to college and your still making that little? Why didnt u just not go to college at all? You could have made that little even if you didnt go. Also, not going to college is pretty much a sure-fire way to not have a good job

Answer 3

Yes, unfortunately, college was a waste of money for me. I spent thousands of dollars over nine years, going first full-time then part-time trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life. And I ended up taking enough credits in college to technically earn a master's degree, but they were all elective courses while I searched out different venues. So now I have no degree at all. Education is NEVER a waste; a person develops the ability to appreciate life on many more levels if he or she is better-educated. However, college and education are not always the same thing. Many of the experiences I had in college that helped define who I am were not directly related to the classes I took. While I am glad that I went away to college, I wish I would have realized that the answers for me weren't at the university, and that it was okay for me not to know what I wanted to do. If you know what you want to do, and the education required to accomplish it, go for it, and do it all the way, to the best of your ability. But if you don't know, don't feel obligated to stay in school while you search. I wish I would have known that. I dropped probably 40 grand on my education, with no degree to show for it. Yet, I'm happy in my life. And a great many people I know with degrees are now stuck doing that one thing that they don't even enjoy because they can't have that degree and then go take a lower-paying job. I don't have that stress in my life. Of course, I don't have a great deal of money either. Too bad I didn't just keep the $40,000. I would at least have been able to put a down payment on a house and almost have it paid off by now. But, it's a personal choice. For me, it was maybe a waste. For someone else, it may not be a good choice to not go.

Answer 4

I guess it depends what you major in. But personally unless you are trying to be a medical doctor I think college is a bunch of crap.
The most successful people are happy that they even made it through high school. No matter how much education you have if you don't have "IT" for a certain job you can have all the degrees you like but you are never going to be successful. You gotta have drive, discipline and heart. I know a lot of lazy ***, commitment fearing college graduates that got out of college dumb without any social abilities that show up for work whenever they see fit. And all they worry about is when their next day off will be.

Answer 5

The average differences in earning power between those who went to college and those who went into, say a trade or union, don't appear until about 5 to 10 years out, but at that point they diverge substantially.

Unless you majored in something for which there is excessive supply or little demand (ie, Communications, History, Philosophy, Psychology), or in a field that is necessary but tends to be low-paid (social work, education), a college degree is an absolute necessity for moving up in both responsibility and salary.

Consider that a student entering a trade (carpentry, pipefitting, etc) as an apprentice at 18 will earn journeyman and perhaps master by 30, and can expect to make between $35K and $60K annually. However, earnings reach a plateau at this point, unless the master craftsman becomes a business-owner or takes some form of entrepreneurial incentive.

Now consider a student with a 4-year degree in Accounting, who begins work at age 22 making $32K annually. Generally, businesspersons or accountants will receive an annual increase in pay (2% to 6%, average of 4%), as well as a substantial bump as they are promoted. After 5 years, an analyst or accountant will become a senior analyst or auditor, which translates to a roughly 10% to 25% increase in pay. Also, earning an MBA or CPA generally brings an automatic increase of between 5% and 20% depending on the company and field. This means that by the time this student has worked for 10 years, he or she most likely is making between $50K and $80K, or could command that salary if he or she wanted to.

My first degree was in Communications, which was a crap degree. There's little one can do with it, and earning power is pretty low. Consider going back for night school or even full-time (since you now qualify for loans up to $10K annually through the government), and you will likely be able to attain a degree with higher earning power within 2 years.

Answer 6

Actually, I'm with you - although you seem a little combative. One thing I have learned without going to college is to choose wisely whose opinions I give value to.

I didn't go to college. I currently have a life I enjoy which includes raising my two teenagers and a part time, work from home job that pays more than $10 an hour, and less than $15. Which is fine with me.

My husband did not complete college, either. We were both in the Navy when we met, and had Navy training that we could not use on the outside without going to college and getting masters' degrees. Neither of us wanted to pursue it.

My husband did attend college for 1 year, and has several college credits under his belt, but he has not completed anything. When our third child was born (he was fixing cars a the time, and we were destitute), he went back to school an completed a two-year diesel mechanics course, making straight As and graduating at the top of his class.

His income immediately doubled. It actually increased after he had been in school only a few months, because he was able to start working in his field as an apprentice, which paid better than fixing cars. Now that isn't to say that you can't earn a good living fixing cars, but generally you have to work (and put up with working) in a union shop, and he did not.

As I've had jobs throughout the years, I've noticed that you can walk out of college with $50 K in debt, a bachelor's in your back pocket, for the privilege of earning around $8 per hour. I guess I'd want a little better return for my money than that. Because I was able to do better than that with a high school diploma and brains in my head. Heck, I earned $13.50 an hour several years ago driving a school bus.

Now that my daughter is in college, I question the value even more. She is taking a college writing class that is by FAR easier than the English Class I took in high school. So now, we are paying $X per credit hour for her to get less of an education that I received for free 22 years ago?

I guess I'm kind of glad I haven't gone to college. I have educated myself; I keep up on current events, I read tons, I am interested in everything, and as is probably evident here, I am a better communicator in writing than most college grads.

But more than that, my daughter is bringing home all of these 'save the world' ideas that are being thrust into her head by her professors. She certainly isn't learning critical thinking, and to question ideas, and to discover and apply logic to the ideas she has and learns about. It seems more like we are paying for her to have her head filled with other people's ideas! That isn't what I would value in an education.

Answer 7

I came out of college with a piece of paper that let me go to big companies and say, "Look! I can be taught!"

To be honest, I enjoyed college a lot. College dating was fun. A never-ending supply of beautiful young women, endless conversations about whatever class we had together, warm spring evening in the courtyard. It was almost heaven. Dated a couple of my professors. Very sexy.

I also came out of it making a lot more money than I would have without going. Admittedly, I was a CS major, not liberal arts, in the 90s, when computers were the hot market to go into.

Mind you, nothing I learned in college helped with any of the jobs I've had since. On the job learning is way more effective than classroom.

So, I guess, yes, it was a waste of time. But what a good time it was to waste!

Answer 8

No i'm at univeristy now and I've learnt soo much... very meaningful experience.

But I know its hard when you can't find the right after alll that time you spent in your books. Don't give up....

You'll find something just look more carefully and be patiently or you can consider being self employed but thats dependent on what you want to do and I understand money is an issue. Have you tried putting your CV on www.monster.com and looking at some of the jobs there. I think its rather helpful. Monster.com isn't the only site though but thats my suggestion for now

Answer 9

Didn't you figure out that you'd have to do something after college? I always liked computers, and got a degree. There is no way I'd be doing as well as I am now without my BA.

Even beyond that piece of paper, I met a lot of great people and had a great time, in between long, long nights in the computer lab.

Answer 10

Sometimes college is learning for learning's sake...simply to broaden your horizons and to study/learn about things you otherwise wouldn't.

I wouldn't trade my college experience for anything. The learning/classes, friends, fun, memories. It all worked for me, even though it took me awhile to get a "decent" job after graduation... and a few years until I was actually making OK money.

It isn't all black and white. Could be you didn't apply yourself, get good grades, go to a notable school, study something suited for you and your career aspirations. Only you will know that. For you, evidentally, it didn't work out, but I hardly think "college is a bunch of crap" is something many college graduates would embrace.

Answer 11

NO If you go to college for a real job (which it sounds like you didn't) then it's not a waste of time. You wont get a lot of money "fixing cars". If you went to school for a real job like engenering you will make at least 5x