College: The biggest scam we'll ever buy

This is such a shallow mush of generalities, that it's pretty much worthless as a critique of higher education.

"these benefits cannot completely justify a system where creativity and genuine learning isn't properly rewarded."

Anyone who has ever taught at the college level will quickly realize how wrong that sentence is. Any undergraduate who shows the slightest amount of spark, imagination, initiative, and hard work gets rewarded (as they should) with good grades. The ones who get punished are those who game the system by trying to get the highest mark for the least amount of work. These latter are usually the ones who complain that creativity (i.e., their own rank laziness) is not being "rewarded properly" (because, ummmm..., the school isn't making the next Steve Jobs... or DaVinci, or someone like that...).

You want your creativity crushed and your initiative smothered? Try working in a job. School is an absolute blast compared with what the rest of your life will feel like.

To add to the chorus: college is what you make it. I haven't finished my degree, financial reasons caused me to pause (27 now, going back will be weird). But I'll be back. Honestly, even when I graduate I'll probably still pop in for the occasional literature course or odd class I hear of that's interesting. College is a great place for discussion, flexing new ideas, and just general growth as a person. But, it's not for everyone.

I've seen a few articles like this pop up on HN and it always reminds me of this article I read a few years ago:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-b...

I think it's worth mentioning that many of the reasons I enjoy college, and college classes, are the same reasons I love coming to HN. I am not a programmer, I do not work for a startup, I'm actually a literature student working in a support role that has little to do with technical skill. I come to HN because I enjoy a forum filled with intelligent discourse, where most visitors understand that intelligent people can disagree.

edit: I should also add to that list of reasons I like to keep up with computer and technical news, too :)

>Not everyone can be expected to "do something so cool that your eventual grade is rendered irrelevant," to transcend their peers in order to gain value from their degree; that's a contradiction.

Not everyone, but those who plan to be mentioned along with "Steve Jobs, Alexander Flemming, and Adam Smith" certainly can.

I had the opposite experience. It was nearly impossible for me to get an interview with a low GPA. Companies have so many applicants that they just throw out all resumes with a GPA below X, where X varies, but is usually 3.0 or higher.

When I left my GPA off my resume at one job-fair every single recruiter asked for it, from companies varying from a 10 person start up to Cisco.

At one company that I interviewed at because I didn't put my GPA on my resume, I had passed their technical evaluation, we had discussed salary ranges, when I could start, etc. put on the brakes when they were filling out a form for out-of-college hires that required GPA, and I told them.

In the three months from that interview living with my parents to when I got a job offer, I seriously considered whether I should have just lied to them about my GPA.

I ended up in a job I love though (at a company that didn't ask for my GPA), so it ended happily.

God, college was fantastic! Talk about the greatest 4.5 years of my life. Here's why:

I was in Engineering, where they drill math into your heads for the first 2 years, and you don't see a lick of a practical application for it, but looking back, that was incredibly useful.

I found more creative outlets then I could possibly imagine. I had friends in the fine arts who could teach me how to paint, and let me play around in the photography darkroom. I dabbled in getting a minor in philosophy (but found the meaning to life, and decided I didn't really need to go any further in it..) I planned practical jokes and embarked on poorly thought epic adventures with roommates. I wrote in my spare time (inspired to write out thoughts by my philosophy teacher) I met friends who played guitar as well, and we made wrote goofy songs that annoyed the neighbors, to blow of steam.

The social aspect was AMAZING. I participated on two club sports teams, joined philanthropic causes and met some of the most inspiring people from all walks of life, I threw the greatest parties and after-parties in the history of life, (I was somewhat shy in high school though, THAT changed) I now have more friends than I know what to do with, and an available couch to crash on in every major city in the Northeast (and several in the Midwest and CA)

I was free. It's not like most of real life, with serious financial responsibilities. No day was the same. If life sucked, in four months a new semester would be here, and it would be different.

Lastly, it opened doors. I have a career that pays well (thanks, valuable engineering degree) I have connections (be it social or business), and it was so damn tough (at least at times) it gave me the confidence that if I put enough effort into something, I can build it, and succeed. Priceless

edit: I didn't build anything awesome in college, or get a startup going, or discover the cure for cancer, but it gave me tools to do so, the rest is up to me.

edit #2: I spent a semester in Florence, Italy. I sat in museums and sketched, I took a history and culture of food class, I was exposed to so much diversity in thought/way of life/culture. I became exceedingly good at picking up non-verbal communication, which is VERY useful in real life (Took my first Italian class while there...). It was my first time living in a city, now I travel frequently, and move with comfort in a city. Sans travel expenses, it wasn't any more expensive than my public school tuition and room and board.