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Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

levinotik.com

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Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#61

Post by k__ »

wil421 wrote: post #35
k__ wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know what you mean. After I got a bachelor in computer science I made about 4 times as much as before. Later I started a master while still working. Just on the side, for fun, because the work was kinda boring. When my boss heard of it, he wanted to promote me. He didn't even know what I studied or if it was a good master program...

I have been thinking about getting into a master program next year. Been thinking of doing it on the side too but maybe I should let my employer know. Glad to hear it kinda worked out!

Haha, well, I quit the job before I finished the master :D

As I said, the job was boring.

Now I almost done studying and looking for a new job.

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#63

Post by uniformlyrandom »

lordnacho wrote: post #60

Well, naturally everything you learn in college is well-known and available very cheaply. The question is how are you going to know what there is out there? I was pretty set on Engineering, and I knew it had something to do with math and something to do with technology, but there's plenty of things that I hadn't seen until I started: Control Theory, Materials, etc. It's also not easy to know which things are consider…

> which things are considered important, and which are considered marginal. What should a course in economics contain?

Most online education sites have 'tracks' now - sort of packages of courses, so that you learn not just some particular skill, but the whole related area.

> There are plenty of stories about people who owe $100K

Recently, there was a thread on Reddit from a guy owning 1mil in student loans. 100k is not bad at all by today standards. Get ready for the bubble to blow.

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#64

Post by zimpenfish »

lordnacho wrote: post #60

Well, naturally everything you learn in college is well-known and available very cheaply. The question is how are you going to know what there is out there? I was pretty set on Engineering, and I knew it had something to do with math and something to do with technology, but there's plenty of things that I hadn't seen until I started: Control Theory, Materials, etc. It's also not easy to know which things are consider…

> Now it's 9K GBP

That's 9K GBP a year, don't forget. Bloody ridiculous.

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#65

Post by nickysielicki »

I want so badly to leave college.

It's very difficult to stomach the $20k it's costing my parents. I'm not having fun. I'm not making many connections. I'm not learning much in the classroom at all. I feel unchallenged, I feel bored, but the worst of it is I know I could be working harder somewhere else, and learning more in the process.

I should have had the foresight to know the interest I had in highschool for programming was not going to be shared by all of my classmates. I should have taken a year off and grown a bit. I should have tried to take a chance and get an apprenticeship for some startup and see where that took me first. But really, I (like many HN readers, I'm sure) come from a conservative upper middle class town. College for the most part WASN'T a decision. It was a step. And I wish I had the sense to realize that it didn't have to be.

I WANT to be working my ass off. I'm 20 years old. If I'm not working as hard as I can now, what will I really be able to produce at the age of 40? I have one youth. I look around at everyone and their pacifiying drug use. And truly, I was looking forward to partying coming into college, but I grew bored of it in a single semester. It wasn't any different than highschool, just drinking and smoking with kids I barely know and didn't really care for. Reminds me of the underlying feeling in the Great Gatsby; you can be lonely together at many of these parties. I want to be like Nick at the end of it, I want to damn it all to hell, and go move far away to focus on myself and my career.

I'm only in my third semester and I consider it a mistake. I can't imagine it getting much better, I've taken most all of my CS classes and now I'll just be taking random classes completely unrelated to my major to get a piece of paper. I'm discontent with the slow flow of learning that college creates. I feel constrained, and that bugs the hell out of me.

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#66

Post by hackuser »

waps wrote: post #38

The author's linkedin page : https://www.linkedin.com/in/levinotik Education Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University I wonder if he chose his field himself, or if his parents picked for him, and now he rolled into software development by himself, resenting his parents' choice. Quick creative application of the legal principle called "Cui bono".

It's interesting how many people who advise against college are so well educated themselves. I've seen Michael Bloomberg and Rick Santorum discouraging college or playing down its value, but I bet their kids go to college and probably graduate school.

When people say 'college isn't for everyone', they mean it's for them but not for you. You can see this play out as college becomes more expensive and the province of the wealthy.

AFAIK, the U.S. used to lead in the number receiving college educations; we've stagnated and other countries have passed us. Consider which of those countries will attract more skilled jobs.

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#67

Post by JoeAltmaier »

hackuser wrote: post #66
waps wrote: post #38

The author's linkedin page : https://www.linkedin.com/in/levinotik Education Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University I wonder if he chose his field himself, or if his parents picked for him, and now he rolled into software development by himself, resenting his parents' choice. Quick creative application of the legal principle called "Cui bono".

It's interesting how many people who advise against college are so well educated themselves. I've seen Michael Bloomberg and Rick Santorum discouraging college or playing down its value, but I bet their kids go to college and probably graduate school. When people say 'college isn't for everyone', they mean it's for them but not for you. You can see this play out as college becomes more expensive and the province of t…

Isn't that sort of obsolete thinking? We don't have any skilled jobs for our current crop of college graduates. Why train more, just so they can drive busses?

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#68

Post by uniformlyrandom »

wil421 wrote: post #11

Try listing Kahn Academy or free open online classes/certificates on a resume. The only reason I went to college was so I could be taken seriously and offered a job in my career. Before graduating I had 0 calls backs, after I started listing a completed degree I had many many call backs. College may be a poor choice for some, but if you dont want to get stuck waiting tables or making coffee then its a sure bet with t…

> Try listing Kahn Academy or free open online classes/certificates on a resume.

I list Coursera on my resume. I understand it bears about the same weight as 'hobby' section, but I think it still tells my potential employer more about me than 'hiking' or 'skiing'.

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#69

Post by drivers99 »

nickysielicki wrote: post #65

I want so badly to leave college. It's very difficult to stomach the $20k it's costing my parents. I'm not having fun. I'm not making many connections. I'm not learning much in the classroom at all. I feel unchallenged, I feel bored, but the worst of it is I know I could be working harder somewhere else, and learning more in the process. I should have had the foresight to know the interest I had in highschool for pro…

I was going to say, you might be exposed to more things in higher CS classes, but it sounds like you've already taken them up front. That's impressive. If I might be so presumptive as to give advice, can I suggest talking to your advisor about exactly what you said. I'm sure there is a way to get more out of your college experience for the remaining time.

Re: Why College Is a Poor Choice for a Lot of People

#70

Post by aaron-lebo »

nickysielicki wrote: post #65

I want so badly to leave college. It's very difficult to stomach the $20k it's costing my parents. I'm not having fun. I'm not making many connections. I'm not learning much in the classroom at all. I feel unchallenged, I feel bored, but the worst of it is I know I could be working harder somewhere else, and learning more in the process. I should have had the foresight to know the interest I had in highschool for pro…

You are obviously driven. But you are also just 20, you don't have to be working as hard as you can (or don't have to be doing so in a job). You do just have one youth, as you said, and the truth is once you get a job and have demands, you won't have the freedom that college allows, and you might miss it. You can either realize that you will be spending the rest of your adult life after college working and take it easy on yourself for the next couple of years, or you can use that extra time you have to work really hard on learning things you won't be able to devote yourself to after college. Either is understandable and acceptable.

As much as college sucks sometimes, it will be good to have that piece of paper to fall back on, and to have finished something, and you can have an opportunity to use your time now if you look at it this way.

Best of luck.

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