I read an article once that suggested that colleges and universities are part of a mafia-type organization that extorts parents/students to pay high tuition fees...otherwise the student won't be able to get a decent white-collar job as an adult (the whole college degree required deal)
College is a waste of time and money for kids
21–30 of 72 posts
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#22I've taught myself math and computer science topics by myself from books, and I've learned math and computer science in classes, and I can say that you make much faster progress and have far fewer foggy, unclear areas if you have access to a professor. That's assuming you really take advantage of the teaching assistants, professor, and books out there. If you just party and take sociology classes, sure, college is go…
If by access to a professor, you mean someone who knows the material extremely well and can help you with questions or steer you in the right direction, you can get that for free from IRC.
I've been leeching off my friends' college educations for years, and although I'd agree that it would be impossible to learn some things (like advanced programming topics) strictly from books, someone who knows the material and exactly how to explain things to me is just as good as a traditional instructor.
It's also better training for the real world, where I don't have time to take a course on everything I need to know.
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#23I've found that college is great for the 'pluggers' in life. Those kids you remember from high school who asked question after boring question and spent hours on their home work while you spent class time hacking your graphing calculator and spent study hall exploring your high school's network. Sure they got better grades than you, but instead of an A on your test you got a B- and worked 10x less to get it. College…
Believe it or not, you can learn, get decent grades, party and get laid, and have scholarhips all at the same time. Those people that skip this, are soreley missing a great experience of their life. Remember, work will be there for the rest of your life. Don't just rush into it. From 24 to 64, that's 40 years or working for most people. you can start your startup just as well as 25, as you could at 20, but probably y…
it amuses me that people advocate the importance of college -- supposedly an educational institution -- based in part on parties and sex. and in part based on avoiding work.
if you can pay for college, you could pay less to not work or go to college. and still party and have sex, if that's what you care about.
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#24I was with him right until he say not to travel. Travel is the single biggest step in developing a proper perspective of life in this world, and what part you'll choose to play in the future. At 25, you can tell if someone has traveled or not by having a 15 minute conversation with them. The traveled ones are always much more rational in thought, and open in mind, and aware of the possibilities. Non traveled folk ten…
the internet has made travel obsolete :)
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#25College gives kids thousands of other kids to hang out with, at a critical point in their lives when they are just entering into adulthood. College gives kids a chance to create their own social identity, as seen through the eyes of their peers, rather than their parents. If you are a social recluse, and spend most of your college years hiding behind your computer screen, then yeah, you might as well not go. If you r…
True. It's easy for me to look back and say that college wasn't that useful, but that's because I have the maturity and experience that came from going to college and then leaving for the real world! You can bet for darn sure I'd get more out of college if I went back now.
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#26I've taught myself math and computer science topics by myself from books, and I've learned math and computer science in classes, and I can say that you make much faster progress and have far fewer foggy, unclear areas if you have access to a professor. That's assuming you really take advantage of the teaching assistants, professor, and books out there. If you just party and take sociology classes, sure, college is go…
If by access to a professor, you mean someone who knows the material extremely well and can help you with questions or steer you in the right direction, you can get that for free from IRC. I've been leeching off my friends' college educations for years, and although I'd agree that it would be impossible to learn some things (like advanced programming topics) strictly from books, someone who knows the material and exa…
i agree. btw it's possible to get actual professors to give you advice and help learning stuff, if you contact them and ask interesting questions, or make friends with them.
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#27Look. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to live. People need to stop focusing on the black and white and become aware of the greyscale.
thank you.
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#28As you peeps have pointed out, 400k is ridiculous. I go to an expensive private college, and it's on the order of 120 for 4 years (though it's actually a 5-year school).
And if his kids are really entrepreneurial, as he claims, then they'll have the motivation to apply for scholarships like I did. I have received absolutely no financial help from my parents, and yet have accumulated very little debt.
I have learned most of my knowledge by teaching myself, and generally goof off during class if I even go (and no, that doesn't put me into the B group). But I've also been exposed to an incredible variety of people and built a huge network of friends and acquaintances in almost every industry.
Another point he seems to be missing is that to make a Facebook or Myspace app go viral, you need an initial network of users, typically your own friends. I hope his kids have fun trying to promote their app to all their high school friends who have gone off to college and lost contact.
I think what makes me most upset about this article, though, is that he's not using his views to make his own decisions, he's using them to make his kids' decisions. I feel really bad for his kids.
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#29I've taught myself math and computer science topics by myself from books, and I've learned math and computer science in classes, and I can say that you make much faster progress and have far fewer foggy, unclear areas if you have access to a professor. That's assuming you really take advantage of the teaching assistants, professor, and books out there. If you just party and take sociology classes, sure, college is go…
If by access to a professor, you mean someone who knows the material extremely well and can help you with questions or steer you in the right direction, you can get that for free from IRC. I've been leeching off my friends' college educations for years, and although I'd agree that it would be impossible to learn some things (like advanced programming topics) strictly from books, someone who knows the material and exa…
for free off IRC? not the things I wanted to learn.
Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids
#30If all you want to get out of college is to learn to program or other "trade" skills, then yeah it's probably a waste of time, but that's not what college is all about (unless you go to a vocational school)