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Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

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Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#111

Post by pmiller2 »

closeparen wrote: post #65
pirocks wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry for being edgy, but please tell me where I can get jobs training for being a doctor, lawyer, etc. that isn't college. Regardless of what you think college is, college currently is primarily jobs training.

Graduate and professional school are different animals. They, like the workforce, have a strong preference for people who have first gone to college, but not necessarily because they have dependencies on particular college classes.

Preference? What US law or medical school can one go to without a bachelor's degree?

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#112

Post by pmiller2 »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #66
Hydraulix989 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're conflating college with professional school.

Colleges conflate college with professional school. The first time I visited my alma mater as a high school senior, I told them I wanted to be a programmer when I grew up, and they said "You'll want our computer science program, then." Nobody ever recommended me to a technical school instead, or told me that the CS program would teach me very basic programming, lots of academically interesting stuff about operating s…

Did you expect them to recommend something they don't offer?

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#113

Post by anotherbrownguy »

tudorw wrote: post #10

I went the build your business route, if I had my time again I'd get the degree first, compared to the time, effort and risk of building a business taking 5 years to get a degree seems like time well spent. Getting a degree does not preclude you from starting a business, the reverse is not so universally true as youth is on your side when funding education in most countries. Few of my peers work in fields related to…

>Getting a degree does not preclude you from starting a business

I would argue that it does. When you get a degree, you are mostly being guided into thinking patterns of academics i.e. the people who most likely did not pursue business... or worse condemn business in some way.

Even if starting your business requires several years of academic knowledge, I think it is much better if you start it without a degree anyway and then take courses along the way. That way, you will have a much better context for what you are learning because you can immediately apply some of it.

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#114

Post by anotherbrownguy »

finnjohnsen2 wrote: post #107

whenever i see "my kid's college fund", im reminded how grateful i am to live in a more social country than the US. (Norway here btw)

Now, download your government's budget, check the expenses in higher education and compare the taxes that all working Norwegians have to pay to support the education system (whether they go to school or not, have children or not) vs taxes in the US.

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#115

Post by PhasmaFelis »

pmiller2 wrote: post #112
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Colleges conflate college with professional school. The first time I visited my alma mater as a high school senior, I told them I wanted to be a programmer when I grew up, and they said "You'll want our computer science program, then." Nobody ever recommended me to a technical school instead, or told me that the CS program would teach me very basic programming, lots of academically interesting stuff about operating s…

Did you expect them to recommend something they don't offer?

I expected them not to lie and tell me they had what I wanted when they didn't.

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#116

Post by PhasmaFelis »

khedoros1 wrote: post #104
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Colleges conflate college with professional school. The first time I visited my alma mater as a high school senior, I told them I wanted to be a programmer when I grew up, and they said "You'll want our computer science program, then." Nobody ever recommended me to a technical school instead, or told me that the CS program would teach me very basic programming, lots of academically interesting stuff about operating s…

Classes taught me in one area. Student-organized study groups, living with classmates, taking part in on and off-campus programming competitions, and working on side projects with the people I met at school taught me in other areas. Both were part of "college", to me; I wouldn't have done all the campus-life stuff if I hadn't been there. CS itself was always presented to me as the science that acts as a basis for the…

Sure, and some of my classmates did the same. I didn't, because I foolishly assumed that going to classes and doing homework would teach me the things I needed to know and I could relax the rest of the time, and no one ever told me otherwise until it was too late.

I thought I was paying for an education. I was actually paying to hang out in the vicinity of an education, while being distracted with useless busywork.

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#117

Post by Larrikin »

pmiller2 wrote: post #111
closeparen wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Graduate and professional school are different animals. They, like the workforce, have a strong preference for people who have first gone to college, but not necessarily because they have dependencies on particular college classes.

Preference? What US law or medical school can one go to without a bachelor's degree?

I think his point was that it's possible to get into those schools without a related degree.

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#118

Post by khedoros1 »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #116
khedoros1 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classes taught me in one area. Student-organized study groups, living with classmates, taking part in on and off-campus programming competitions, and working on side projects with the people I met at school taught me in other areas. Both were part of "college", to me; I wouldn't have done all the campus-life stuff if I hadn't been there. CS itself was always presented to me as the science that acts as a basis for the…

Sure, and some of my classmates did the same. I didn't, because I foolishly assumed that going to classes and doing homework would teach me the things I needed to know and I could relax the rest of the time, and no one ever told me otherwise until it was too late. I thought I was paying for an education. I was actually paying to hang out in the vicinity of an education, while being distracted with useless busywork.

My GEs included a lot of critical thinking courses. Maybe they influenced me more than I realized at the time. Without the classes from my degree, my practical knowledge would be built on sand. I feel like the things I learned in class provide a solid foundation for building upon, but just a foundation. The nature of what I was learning became clear as I was doing it, and I could see the delta between what I was doing and the future I wanted to aim for. As I went on, I could also see how the theory could be leveraged to get me where I wanted to be.

Re: Replacing My Kid’s College Fund with a “Start Something” Fund

#119

Post by bitJericho »

learc83 wrote: post #37
bitJericho wrote: post #29

There's a third option. Self educate. Take 200,000. Buy all the tools and equipment you need to do what you love. Do what you love for 5 to 10 years and you'll have more than enough experience to be successful in your industry.

Almost no 18 year olds are self disciplined enough to do that without structure. That's the point of college. If you spend 5 years only playing your favorite parts of your favorite songs on a guitar, you're not going to be a good musician. Just like if you spend five years doing the fun parts of programming or engineering or history, you won't be a good programmer, engineer, or historian. College (or an apprenticeshi…

As what amounts to a trust fund executor, it's your responsibility to keep your child on track to becoming an expert in their field if that's what you're worried about.
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