Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

cbsnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 121 posts

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#41

Post by bradlys »

sdinsn wrote: post #33
bradlys wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And it went against the guidance of my school counselors. They thought community college would hurt my chances at getting into "Prestigious Schools". I mean, they're not wrong. You will statistically be less likely to get into those schools. Once you're a transfer student, your acceptance rates go down significantly for prestigious private colleges. (And some public universities too) If your goal is to graduate fro…

> If your goal is to graduate from a top school But why is that always the goal that counselors push? The data shows that future income is most closely correlated to major, not school choice.

Maybe they're pushing people to get the best school for their major.

I think going to Stanford for CS will open more doors than going to Oregon State. There is a significant networking aspect to these top schools as well. I see it very clearly with my friends who went to CalTech and Stanford.

It's probably not a coincidence that many (most?) of my peers in the bay area are people who graduated from top schools and/or programs.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#42

Post by stargazing »

chaostheory wrote: post #9

From the article: "Most satisfied: Those with science, technology, engineering and math majors, who are typically more likely to enjoy higher salaries, reported more satisfaction with their college degrees. About 42% of engineering grads and 35% of computer science grads said they had no regrets. Most regrets: Humanities majors, who are least likely to earn higher pay post-graduation, were most likely to regret their…

Important to note the phrasing of this. 58% of engineering grads and 65% of CS grads still said they regretted their degrees - which isn't far off the numbers of those in the humanities.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#43

Post by leftyted »

I regret my degree (though I'm doing fine).

It's in History, but that's not the issue. The issue is that I wasn't mature enough or academically inclined enough when I was 18-22. I did very well in High School due to fear of disappointing my parents but I didn't do any work in college and now I regret it. I did learn how to program.

I have a coworker who worked in a kitchen for a year after high school which spurred him to get a college degree. I think that's a good fit for lots of people and possibly would have been a better fit for me.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#44

Post by bowlich »

takk309 wrote: post #26
not_a_moth wrote: post #4

I regret the four years part at least. I believe undergrad really only needs to be 2-3 years tops.

I have two Civil Engineering degrees (BS and MS) and have been working in the field for some time now and I think the opposite, CE should be a minimum 5 year program. The people I see as fresh undergraduates do not know enough to do the job but those with master's degrees do. I guess it is forcing those that do the hiring to select for those who have more schooling.

A fresh graduate also isn't going to be able to walk out with a PE until they've held some kind of industry role. I would think that this is a good indicator that a fresh graduate isn't supposed to be ready-to-go but ready to be trained.

It seems more like it's those doing the hiring who are slacking on their responsibility than the school.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#45

Post by redwards510 »

legitster wrote: post #13

In WA, there is a program where you can finish the last two years of high school at a community college and graduate with a two year degree for free. It was probably the best decision of my life. I basically got to trial and error all of my interests for free much earlier and cheaper than everyone else. And it went against the guidance of my school counselors. They thought community college would hurt my chances at g…

Running Start alumni here. It's an amazing program, but I often wonder if it was the right decision. Leaving high school at 10th (of 12) grade had a major impact on my life. I lost out on those long term friendships, prom, senior year, graduation, and the collective preparation for college, as well as missing out on freshman year OF university, etc. I don't have high school reunions to attend. In the end, it didn't catapult me to anything special, just saved my parents a lot of money on tuition.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#46

Post by metildaa »

bradlys wrote: post #41
sdinsn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If your goal is to graduate from a top school But why is that always the goal that counselors push? The data shows that future income is most closely correlated to major, not school choice.

Maybe they're pushing people to get the best school for their major. I think going to Stanford for CS will open more doors than going to Oregon State. There is a significant networking aspect to these top schools as well. I see it very clearly with my friends who went to CalTech and Stanford. It's probably not a coincidence that many (most?) of my peers in the bay area are people who graduated from top schools and/or…

OSU has quite a bit to offer that can jumpstart a CS career, like the OSU Open Source Lab: http://osuosl.org

Meanwhile, not really sure I think of Stanford as a CS school, unlike MIT & similar.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#47

Post by daveslash »

stargazing wrote: post #42
chaostheory wrote: post #9

From the article: "Most satisfied: Those with science, technology, engineering and math majors, who are typically more likely to enjoy higher salaries, reported more satisfaction with their college degrees. About 42% of engineering grads and 35% of computer science grads said they had no regrets. Most regrets: Humanities majors, who are least likely to earn higher pay post-graduation, were most likely to regret their…

Important to note the phrasing of this. 58% of engineering grads and 65% of CS grads still said they regretted their degrees - which isn't far off the numbers of those in the humanities.

Yeah, their phrasing is atrocious on this...

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#48

Post by rayiner »

redwards510 wrote: post #45
legitster wrote: post #13

In WA, there is a program where you can finish the last two years of high school at a community college and graduate with a two year degree for free. It was probably the best decision of my life. I basically got to trial and error all of my interests for free much earlier and cheaper than everyone else. And it went against the guidance of my school counselors. They thought community college would hurt my chances at g…

Running Start alumni here. It's an amazing program, but I often wonder if it was the right decision. Leaving high school at 10th (of 12) grade had a major impact on my life. I lost out on those long term friendships, prom, senior year, graduation, and the collective preparation for college, as well as missing out on freshman year OF university, etc. I don't have high school reunions to attend. In the end, it didn't c…

> I lost out on those long term friendships, prom, senior year, graduation, and the collective preparation for college, as well as missing out on freshman year OF university, etc.

The importance of these "experiences" is garbage baby boomers feed young people because they're the decadent generation. Most generations prior to them never had those things. (It wasn't until WWII that more than 50% of Americans graduated high school.) I skipped senior prom to go to a robotics competition. I assume I attended graduation, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you where it was or anything that happened. I have plenty of friends from college and law school. I missed my 10-year high school reunion because my daughter was born the same week, but as far as I can tell from the pictures it was in a large basement of some sort.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#49

Post by malandrew »

Hermitian909 wrote: post #35
sdinsn wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with zero information Zero information? Young people have so much information: government job statistics, job growth predictions, free career advice, peer-led career forums, etc. They just ignore all of it.

This is disingenuous, data you either don't know exists or lack the tools to parse is useless. Even if a young person does know it exists and can parse it, it is often the case that every authority figure in a young person's life is giving bad information. Often times your teachers, guidance counselor, school administrators, and parents are pressuring you to go to some middling 4 year institution. We spend 18 years t…

> This is disingenuous, data you either don't know exists or lack the tools to parse is useless.

If what you say is true, then we are failing our students far far earlier that when they are making decisions related to college and it's futile to address this problem before we address why they lack these tools by ages 17 to 18.

Re: Two-thirds of American employees regret their college degrees

#50

Post by rayiner »

bradlys wrote: post #41
sdinsn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If your goal is to graduate from a top school But why is that always the goal that counselors push? The data shows that future income is most closely correlated to major, not school choice.

Maybe they're pushing people to get the best school for their major. I think going to Stanford for CS will open more doors than going to Oregon State. There is a significant networking aspect to these top schools as well. I see it very clearly with my friends who went to CalTech and Stanford. It's probably not a coincidence that many (most?) of my peers in the bay area are people who graduated from top schools and/or…

> I think going to Stanford for CS will open more doors than going to Oregon State.

This concept stops being applicable the minute you get out of the HYPS tier of colleges. If you're cut out to go to HYPS and want to work in finance or top-tier consulting, then you should go. I understand the situation is similar these days with FANG companies. Once you're outside that tiny range of schools, save your money and go to the best in-state school you can get into.

Post reply on HN