College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead" • Hacker News Board

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#11

Post by mononcqc » Thu, May 14, 2009, 2:57 PM UTC

cates wrote: post #2

what a whiner. there's no place for whiners in this world. no wonder he's stuck at his warehouse job. and yes, i am one to speak. i graduated college in 2001, in the midst of the dot com bust and graduated with no job awaiting me either. i stuck with it, and made it work due to my passion. if i can do it, so can everybody else. i'm sorry, but complainers disgust me. they should go cry to their mommys.

"if i can do it, so can everybody else." No matter how many people try to become the president, there won't be enough time to let millions of people be the president during their life.

Of course the scale is wildly different with education and employment, but one should consider the environment and context of the other when making such a statement. No matter how hard you try, there will always be things you can't control; sometimes, they'll be massive blockers.

That "you just don't want enough -- that's why you fail" attitude can be insulting at best.

Edit: I'm not advocating dropping out of college. I'm currently working as a web dev during the day and studying on weeknights, specifically because I believe in education leading to better conditions (and I love learning as a whole). I just believe it's wrong to assume that if the formula works for me, it should work for everybody else.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#12

Post by lethain » Thu, May 14, 2009, 2:58 PM UTC

maukdaddy wrote: post #3

What a stupid article. What's with the sudden rash of "Don't Go to College" articles? It is a WELL proven fact that people with college degrees earn far more during their lifetimes than those without degrees. See the second page of this report for a great graph: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

What that reports shows is that historically college has paid off, but even with adjustment for inflation the cost of college has increased by 2.5 times over the past 70 years ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_tuition has a great chart showing how that varies across institutions, in some schools the adjusted increase is much lower). Combined with the increased percentage of Americans attending college (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Educational_attainment.jpg), I think it's disingenuous to rely on data based on the relative success of those who attended college 40 or 50 year s ago to someone who is graduating from college today.

College is more expensive and having a degree is much more common. Because of these factors, although I do think lifetime wage for college graduates will continue to outpace non-graduates, I also think that the relative payoff will decrease.

Apologies for over-reliance on wikipedia, it is remarkably hard to find quality sources in a minute or two. ;)

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#13

Post by phn1x » Thu, May 14, 2009, 2:59 PM UTC

rdj wrote: post #9

Yes, he's whining. But the undertone seems to be that he is crushed by debt to the point his life feels worthless. Therefore instead of spending those years only to accumulate debt, he is feeling he could have done just as well sitting in prison, for free. I think the bigger issue is that people assume going to college leads to getting a job which leads to making more money. In this case, the whiner is stuck because…

not for nothing, but if he's crushed by debt why is he only working a warehouse job.

Deliver pizza or work a second job, use that extra income to rapidly pay down the debt.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#14

Post by smanek » Thu, May 14, 2009, 2:59 PM UTC

maukdaddy wrote: post #3

What a stupid article. What's with the sudden rash of "Don't Go to College" articles? It is a WELL proven fact that people with college degrees earn far more during their lifetimes than those without degrees. See the second page of this report for a great graph: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

That isn't fair - there is selection bias. You have to compare people who were accepted to college and choose not to go to those who choose to go.

Then, subtract the opportunity cost of the money the college goers paid (i.e., cost * expected ROI in some other endeavor) before comparing lifetime earnings.

The studies I've seen to that for a lot of people (mediocre students, no-name school, etc) there is relatively little benefit to attending college.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#15

Post by jimbokun » Thu, May 14, 2009, 3:01 PM UTC

maukdaddy wrote: post #3

What a stupid article. What's with the sudden rash of "Don't Go to College" articles? It is a WELL proven fact that people with college degrees earn far more during their lifetimes than those without degrees. See the second page of this report for a great graph: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

1. That also includes older workers who got their degrees when a smaller percentage of the population went to college. Now that a much higher percentage of young people are getting degrees, will there still be enough demand to keep wages for degree holders high, relative to the increased supply of workers with those degrees?

2. If you include debt, cost of servicing that debt, opportunity cost of the years needed for the degree, increasing tuition and fees, and reliance on credit cards to make ends meet, with the finance charges and exploding interest rates credit cards entail, surely at some point all of the increased lifetime earnings are completely offset? Especially taking into account the increased number of degree holders in the marketplace.

It may very well still be worthwhile to get a degree. But the decision is not as clear as it once was.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#16

Post by noodle » Thu, May 14, 2009, 3:01 PM UTC

maukdaddy wrote: post #3

What a stupid article. What's with the sudden rash of "Don't Go to College" articles? It is a WELL proven fact that people with college degrees earn far more during their lifetimes than those without degrees. See the second page of this report for a great graph: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

i don't think that in this case, the language that the guy is using is saying "don't go to college", he's saying "don't go to a standard 4 year".

not everyone should go to a standard 4 year university. some people are better off in a trade school or a 2 year tech school. or, the military where they'll train you well to do some specific things. i also think that associates degrees vary in success and pull reasonably more weight than the linked report shows they do.

i think that this should be the takeaway.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#17

Post by kyro » Thu, May 14, 2009, 3:05 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #5

"landing a job as an accountant" "I wish I had gone to prison" What's the difference?

What a stupid comment. Where I come from, accounting is a fairly semi-successful occupation. Lots of people I know in my community are accountants, who love it, and are leading really happy lives. Just because there are people who don't aspire to be independent, let's run the show, I am my own boss, entrepreneurs, and would opt out for something a bit safer and more stable, doesn't mean they're accepting a prison-like lifestyle. Your childish, baseless, and condescending comment is actually quite offensive.

You'd think someone as old as yourself would know that there's more to life than a job.

And you'd think these types of garbage comments wouldn't get upvoted. To be honest, it's not even that witty.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#18

Post by ajju » Thu, May 14, 2009, 3:10 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #5

"landing a job as an accountant" "I wish I had gone to prison" What's the difference?

My brother really loved accounting as a subject in college. He found something else he likes more now, but if he had become an accountant, I don't think he would have felt his job was like prison.

Just because something might feel like prison to you, does not mean it feels the same way to everyone.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#19

Post by hko » Thu, May 14, 2009, 3:14 PM UTC

ajju wrote: post #18

edw519 wrote: post #5

"landing a job as an accountant" "I wish I had gone to prison" What's the difference?

My brother really loved accounting as a subject in college. He found something else he likes more now, but if he had become an accountant, I don't think he would have felt his job was like prison. Just because something might feel like prison to you, does not mean it feels the same way to everyone.

He wasn't saying college felt like prison, just that it was a worse financial deal.

Re: College grad: "I wish I’d gone to prison instead"

#20

Post by ajju » Thu, May 14, 2009, 3:17 PM UTC

rdj wrote: post #9

Yes, he's whining. But the undertone seems to be that he is crushed by debt to the point his life feels worthless. Therefore instead of spending those years only to accumulate debt, he is feeling he could have done just as well sitting in prison, for free. I think the bigger issue is that people assume going to college leads to getting a job which leads to making more money. In this case, the whiner is stuck because…

It is amazing what a contradictory situation the United States has landed itself in when it comes to college education. One the one hand, I can attest first hand to how amazing the college level educational system is here compared to other countries. On the other hand, the US is probably the only country where you have to incur 10-20 years worth of debt to get an education!

Maybe the tuition component of college expenses can be justified: you get a world class education, you pay a high price for it. But the textbook prices are just insane. If Wiley can make a profit selling a book for $10 in Asia, how is a $150 US price on the same textbook reasonable?