A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life • Hacker News Board

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#51

Post by ReallyAnonymous » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 12:23 PM UTC

itsoktocry wrote: post #41

atomflunder wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really true that, in the US, many college students don't want to be there but go nonetheless, despite having to pay absurd amounts of money? Where I study, uni is basically free, and I've met very few people in my degree who don't want to be there. This seems absurd to me.

> Is it really true that, in the US, many college students don't want to be there but go nonetheless, despite having to pay absurd amounts of money? Judging by the number of people who don't show up to class or otherwise just "get by", it's absolutely true. People "go to college" because they're told it's their meal ticket into the middle class. This is the point of the article. Ask the average person if they'd rathe…

Senior citizens are allowed to take classes for free in North Carolina. My mother uses this to take foreign language classes. She said the older folks taking the classes take it way more seriously than the 'students' ("Who goes to class in their pajamas?")

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#52

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 12:25 PM UTC

mac01021 wrote: post #44

astura wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. This article is very light on content and I'm kinda surprised something this banal and content-less even made it to an actual publication. Also, the guy's son graduated high school two years ago, he's 20-21 years old, practically everyone is happy at that age, let's hear about his life satisfaction at 40. That's ignoring the fact that two years is hardly enough time to evaluate the long term outcome of a maj…

But then "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know their own side of the question." -- J S Mill

[deleted]

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#53

Post by hocuspocus » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 12:32 PM UTC

itsoktocry wrote: post #39

hocuspocus wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you can't become a surgeon or a lawyer unless you switch a university track at some point. But you can definitely work in the medical or legal field by doing an apprenticeship first and moving on to a 2-3 year professional degree (for instance nurse school isn't college here).

> Well you can't become a surgeon or a lawyer unless you switch a university track at some point. "Can't" because those are the rules we've established. But both of those professions seem like they be perfect for apprenticeships (they were at one point in history). It's not like studying the literature isn't or can't be a part of apprenticeship curriculum.

You could argue that med and law schools are pretty much trade schools, just long ones :)

Unlike in the US where you first do 4 year of pre-med/pre-law, in continental Europe med and law students start learning on the job early.

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#54

Post by 082349872349872 » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 1:10 PM UTC

alberto_ol wrote: post #40

082349872349872 wrote: post #3

A short (and hence inaccurate) overview of the apprenticeship system for the trades in my country: Apprentices start working one day a week and going to school four. They end up working four days a week and going to school one. Apprentices can switch to a more academic track, at a technical school or university, if they get the desire. When they finish with their apprenticeship, not only do they already have horizont…

what country?

La svizzera. For instance, the CEO of the UBS started out apprenticing at a bank as a teenager.

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#55

Post by jbob2000 » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 1:29 PM UTC

mac01021 wrote: post #13

hectorr1 wrote: post #4

Most successful people have X. Government: “Let’s give everyone X!” Over time the value of X is diluted, loses its status signaling, and overall quality degrades. Successful people move to Y.

The big question is "what is Y in this case"?

Having your parents fund your startup and getting all their friends to support you until you hit critical mass where you don't need their help anymore.

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#56

Post by blaser-waffle » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 1:57 PM UTC

zajio1am wrote: post #34

mac01021 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big question is "what is Y in this case"?

To prove intelligence and conscientiousness? Probably PhD degree.

Bollocks. Ph.Ds don't mean much unless you want to do research and provide cheap labor for 5 years.

I'd say a Master's is the new BA/BS. With everyone getting an undergrad degree via online schools, or via 6+ years of undergrad college, it's ability to filter is weak. A brick-and-mortar Master's serves as a way to differentiate from that pack; I'm not sure what an online Master's equates to.

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#57

Post by elindbe2 » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 1:57 PM UTC

mac01021 wrote: post #13

hectorr1 wrote: post #4

Most successful people have X. Government: “Let’s give everyone X!” Over time the value of X is diluted, loses its status signaling, and overall quality degrades. Successful people move to Y.

The big question is "what is Y in this case"?

A job at Google? I've seen plenty of videos and articles with titles like: "Ex-googler explains the meaning of life".

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#58

Post by francisofascii » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 2:25 PM UTC

imgabe wrote: post #38

Nothing is a guarantee of a good life. It seems like people think you should be able to just check a few boxes, then slot into a 9-5 and have everything taken care of for you for the rest of your life. Well, it doesn't work like that. Even after college you're still going to have to plan and think and take action to make things happen for you. It's not just all going to fall into your lap because you took a few class…

To be fair, it used to work like that in America. Graduate high school, get a decent paying union job in your hometown with an okay house to raise a family. Drink beer and watch sports on the weekends with neighborhood buddies. Work 30-40 years and retire.

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#59

Post by atom-morgan » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

mac01021 wrote: post #13

hectorr1 wrote: post #4

Most successful people have X. Government: “Let’s give everyone X!” Over time the value of X is diluted, loses its status signaling, and overall quality degrades. Successful people move to Y.

The big question is "what is Y in this case"?

Teaching yourself new skills using the Internet.

Re: A College Degree Is No Guarantee of a Good Life

#60

Post by batt4good » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

Yeah, no sh*t.

Assuming you went to college for a marketable and "valuable" degree - by this, I mean a degree with a clear path to a somewhat stable career. Usually, if you don't have internships you've already shot yourself in the foot.

Plenty of people with family money and college still find ways to go bankrupt from addiction, real-estate woes or bad investments.

Some just don't care enough or have enough drive to be "successful".

Some who find success get involved with the wrong people, or think their source of money is an endless fountain and go broke or worse end up on the street.

Goodness do journalists write for simpletons these days...