[sandman972]

After doing the military for 3 years, which by far was the best and most fulfilling life experience I had yet to date, I (24yrs) find myself back in school to finish my undergrad degree (2.5 years left).

Im the type of person that has a hard time doing things I dont care about, and when my heart isnt into something, I really dont enjoy myself. I realize that life isnt always about doing what you want, and sometimes you need to eat shit for a while in order to achieve something greater.
Yet, day by day, I ask myself what am I doing in college? Im not trying to get my PHD or study Law, so I am basically paying for slip of paper that says I graduated.

Will this really get me far in life?

I feel like college is holding me back from starting my life now. I have serious drive and motivation to make a great sums of money, and live my life how ever I desire. Yet these 2.5 years ahead of me feels like water thrown on the flame, and I get serious urges to just walk out of class, go straight to the tuition department and be done with this shit. I do not take interest in most of the courses, and its a day by day walk through the mud.

I have always been an over-achiever in life and made it places I never thought I would as a direct result of my work-ethic and drive. When I have a goal, I will achieve it, I have a fire that burns deep and I wont stop until I reach that goal.

I feel like if I wasnt in college right now, I could seriously get my life on track with work and making it. Yet college is the big thing that stands in my way. I cant spend the money I want because of school, which is a snowball effect on all aspects of my life and enjoyment.

We grow up in a society that shoves the idea down our throat that a degree will get you far in life. I dispute that claim. I know enough people who are successful and never went to college or university. One part of me just wants to drop out now, yet one the other hand, a degree on record will not be a negative thing for my future, and maybe I should just suck it up and grind through.

What is your guys's take on this? I would really appreciate some input and shared experiences if anyone out there has been in a similar situation.

[VolandoVengoVolandoVoy]

Is the government paying for it? Like the GI Bill or something?
If yes, then stay for sure.
If not, think about what you want to do, consider staying, then decide.
If you are looking to do something entrepreneurial, being in college is not a bad time to get started. You have a relatively easy schedule, have your expenses taken care of, and have an automatic network of contacts through other students, professors, and alumni.
Where you are going to college also matters a lot in terms of whether or not it's worth it.
Just because there's people you know who didn't go to college and succeeded, doesn't mean that not going to college was what made them successful.
On average, going to college gives you a much better chance of reaching a higher socioeconomic level.
Part of it has to do with the kind of people you meet and form relationships with in college, part of the reason is that almost any sort of decent professional job requires a Bachelor's degree or higher these days. Yes, there are exceptions, but generally speaking it's true.

[dark_g]

There was a show about this on CNN. I thought it was pretty good.
Here is some info http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/us/cnn-film-ivory-tower

[Sonoma]

Dont take this wrong, but if youre truly the over achiever you claim to be, then you can stack 12 hours of school a week with whatever career you want.

Also, the pussy access in college transforms lives

[jake1720]

Finance. Yes.
Medical. Yes
Engineering. Yes
Law. Yes

Anything else? Not unless you want to "waste" four years fucking girls and taking BS classes.

If you listen to any of the successful people they will say that college didn't really help anything (besides the Ivy league connections for startups). (Peter thiel, among others).

Those in mediocre jobs (And slightly above mediocre) will generally say you need a college degree.

Make your decision.

[The Beast1]

(12-19-2014 03:08 PM)jake1720 Wrote:  

Finance. Yes.
Medical. Yes
Engineering. Yes
Law. Yes

Anything else? Not unless you want to "waste" four years fucking girls and taking BS classes.

If you listen to any of the successful people they will say that college didn't really help anything (besides the Ivy league connections for startups). (Peter thiel, among others).

Those in mediocre jobs (And slightly above mediocre) will generally say you need a college degree.

Make your decision.

You forgot Comp Sci.

OP, do STEM or nothing at all. Is the government paying for it? If so, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[sandman972]

Good points boys, thanks for the input.
In regards to Sonoma, if that came off a bit narcissistic that wasnt my intention, but I think you got what I meant, and I agree with you.

Its partially payed for. In terms of pussy, there is a decent amount, but to be honest its no better access that what I have already in the city Im living in (my city has a huge ex pat community) meaning that wouldn't be my deciding factor.

[Sonsowey]

I graduated college in 2010. I have had a couple different jobs, nothing amazing, but then my degree was not really that amazing.

I would say college is definitely worth it if you plan on ever having any kind of "normal" job because 99% of people who hire will simply not consider someone who didn't go to college.

Graduating with a silly English or Sociology degree still grants you a degree of acceptance into "polite society" that never going to college simply won't.

But the best idea is to go to college, study STEM, get real skills, and use those SKILLS combined with your degree's prestige to really advance your life.

I wish I had studied something difficult in undergrad instead I goofed off, partied, and graduated in an easy program which doesn't help my career prospects much. I am correcting that now. You are still there, get a degree in finance or engineering or something where you'll actually make bank from your "normal" job afterwards.

[LINUX]

Get your degree, no matter what it takes. You're only 24 years old man. You got the whole world at your feet and 2 1/2 years passes fast as hell.

[Sonoma]

I've found that since graduating I work full time (60+ hour weeks) and still take 6 units a semester just to keep my mind fresh. Taking 12 would be difficult, but beneficial.

And as others have stated, there's definitely an exclusionary factor when it comes to the workplace and not having the degree- even if you get hired without it.

[dark_g]

Its not that you need the degree, its that so many others have a degree.

If you're applying for a job vs someone who has the same experience as you, but he has that degree. Chances are the degree will win.

I degree doesn't mean you are more qualified or smarter than someone. All it means is you've reached a certain level of education.
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[BasketBounce]

I partly disagree with the people that say major in STEM.

S=Science. Majoring a "science" other than computer science really only prepares you for graduate school or to work in a lab as a research assistant. It doesn't sound like you want to go to graduate school since you say you don't want a PhD. Research assistant is cool if you really like being in a lab all day and taking orders from someone who went to more school than you did.

T=technology. By all means, major in computer science, software engineering, etc. You'll gain a useful skill in coding, and by majoring in computer science, you will surround yourself with other people that are trying to code, so you can learn from them. However, it isn't really necessary to major in computer science to learn how to code. There are lots of resources on the web.

E=engineering. You're only immediately employable after college if you get an ABET degree; otherwise, you're looking at engineering grad school. Definitely worth it if you do ABET.

M=Math. Don't know much about the prospects for a Bachelor's in Mathematics.

Many people recommend majoring in hardcore sciences in order to get the most out of your education, but I contend that you are much better off developing a skill that you can market in the future. Instead of thinking about "what do I want to major in" the really important question to ask in college is "What do I want to accomplish, and what skills should I develop to help me accomplish that goal?" Our college years are a great time for searching for the answers to those questions.

I value college because it is just too easy to meet new people here. It's so easy to explore a new field and industry. If you don't like it, start all over again. So if you're in college and you're not paying for it, stay there and make the most of it. Like others before me have said, build relationships with a diverse group of people and always keep exploring. You might just stumble upon what you are passionate about.

Edit: Oh yeah, someone else said you need a degree to go into finance. That's true, and I'd say that is another good reason to go to college. That being said, all the major banking firms do not favor people of any particular major. You'd be better off majoring in something easy, getting a nice GPA, and just killing the interviews. Same thing with consulting; they don't really care about your major.

[The Beast1]

(12-19-2014 04:34 PM)BasketBounce Wrote:  

Many people recommend majoring in hardcore sciences in order to get the most out of your education, but I contend that you are much better off developing a skill that you can market in the future. Instead of thinking about "what do I want to major in" the really important question to ask in college is "What do I want to accomplish, and what skills should I develop to help me accomplish that goal?" Our college years are a great time for searching for the answers to those questions.

I value college because it is just too easy to meet new people here. It's so easy to explore a new field and industry. If you don't like it, start all over again. So if you're in college and you're not paying for it, stay there and make the most of it. Like others before me have said, build relationships with a diverse group of people and always keep exploring. You might just stumble upon what you are passionate about.

Edit: Oh yeah, someone else said you need a degree to go into finance. That's true, and I'd say that is another good reason to go to college. That being said, all the major banking firms do not favor people of any particular major. You'd be better off majoring in something easy, getting a nice GPA, and just killing the interviews. Same thing with consulting; they don't really care about your major.

No offense, but this is terrible advice. Are you still in school? Have you experienced the horrid job market? It makes the dating market look tame in comparison.

As someone who did graduate and faced the terrible job market with a BS (bull sh!t not bachelors) degree I faced a massive uphill battle getting into jobs that paid decently.

Finance and Banking jobs outside of being a teller at a local bank will only hire people with STEM degrees and some interned experience. You may be able to land some back office work with some fluff degree but you will never make the hard cash that the big guys with real degrees make. Pedigree is what rules finance and banking.

The only jobs that are hiring right now are the ones directly related to STEM period. If you do manage to get hired by some PR, advertising, TV, print, etc etc fluff company doing fluff work you will most likely be making 25-35k a year versus 60k for someone working in say IT or doing engineering.

If you're going to go to school, give it your all and push yourself. A 2.5 in computer science will open more doors than a 4.0 in English. You want to thrive in this era of "new normal" rather than be like every other schmuck who majored in some libtard arts degree and is barely struggling to make it by.

My story, I graduated with an English Literature degree with a 3.8. Little did I realize that the damn degrees is useless for anything.

Thankfully, i've been breaking and fixing computers since the dawn of time. I was even smart enough to take some basic programming classes for fun. Not to mention my part time campus job was in user support. These things were what got me my first job with a real salary and benefits. Nothing part time.

[jimukr104]

You be an idiot not to use the free educational benefits. My understanding is they will give you about 2300 a month housing subsidy if you go someplace expensive like NYC.

What you do is enroll in a NYC public college and rent a flat near the university in Brooklyn or queens. Afer rent you will have about 1100 per month to live on. You can basically live 4 yrs at the gov't expense while earning an education lol.

[dark_g]

Tax payers don't think that's funny.

[jake1720]

Mech e with a minor in petroleum.

Most choices imo. You can easily get into the oil industry.

In general meche is almost do whatever you want

[Inspired]

Go and finish the degree!!!! It doesn't matter what degree. Just have one!!! It opens up doors! It's easy to do. Just do it. Yes, it is bullshit and feels like a waste of time etc, but having that degree will make things so much easier.

As an example, I'm living in Europe and seeing American dudes with degrees come here left and right who are put in charge at large international companies making great money, and the work is easier in the rest of the world than the states. You can work in English, and everyone will accommodate you, and you are looked at as elite because you're American etc.

Look, I've been in the same situation as you. Get your head in the game, take your degree seriously, and hammer it the fuck out. No one can take it from you. Just checking this thing off the list will open so many opportunities for you.

[Saga]

College can be a good idea and it can be a very bad idea. It depends on the degree, on the institution and on how much you end up paying for it. All other things being equal, 'ticking the box' is better than not 'ticking the box', but at a certain point you have to ask yourself whether it's worth the investment of time, money and effort. In many cases (especially in liberal arts), it absolutely isn't.

(12-20-2014 06:08 AM)Inspired Wrote:  

Go and finish the degree!!!! It doesn't matter what degree. Just have one!!! It opens up doors!

Signed,
Your local bursar's office

Quote:

As an example, I'm living in Europe and seeing American dudes with degrees come here left and right who are put in charge at large international companies making great money, and the work is easier in the rest of the world than the states. You can work in English, and everyone will accommodate you, and you are looked at as elite because you're American etc.

No offense, but everything you wrote here is demonstrably false. Do you really expect people to believe that Americans get upper-level positions at "large international companies making great money" merely because they have a college degree? Which companies are these? Where did these apparently monoglot "dudes" get their degrees from, and in what subject? Which Western European countries even remotely view Americans as "elite"? These assumptions aren't just wrong, they have no relationship to reality.

Quote:

Look, I've been in the same situation as you. Get your head in the game, take your degree seriously, and hammer it the fuck out. No one can take it from you. Just checking this thing off the list will open so many opportunities for you.

OK, I'm game. Tell me what opportunities a sociology degree from Occidental College will automatically open for someone.

[MidWest]

(12-19-2014 03:36 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  

I graduated college in 2010. I have had a couple different jobs, nothing amazing, but then my degree was not really that amazing.

I would say college is definitely worth it if you plan on ever having any kind of "normal" job because 99% of people who hire will simply not consider someone who didn't go to college.

Graduating with a silly English or Sociology degree still grants you a degree of acceptance into "polite society" that never going to college simply won't.

But the best idea is to go to college, study STEM, get real skills, and use those SKILLS combined with your degree's prestige to really advance your life.

I wish I had studied something difficult in undergrad instead I goofed off, partied, and graduated in an easy program which doesn't help my career prospects much. I am correcting that now. You are still there, get a degree in finance or engineering or something where you'll actually make bank from your "normal" job afterwards.

What kind of jobs can you get with just non-stem degrees? I'm about to graduate with a degree in History, but I have no idea what to do with that. Too late to change my major. Does the career center help you out with jobs or?

[Saga]

(12-20-2014 06:57 AM)MidWest Wrote:  

What kind of jobs can you get with just non-stem degrees? I'm about to graduate with a degree in History, but I have no idea what to do with that. Too late to change my major. Does the career center help you out with jobs or?

A lot of it comes down to connections, but without having an 'in' somewhere, you're looking largely at applications to HR, PR, sales, administrative assistant and marketing positions. The trouble is the people who run those departments don't really value history as a degree, so it's a lot of uphill stuff and massively BSing through interviews (luckily that's one skill that liberal arts does teach). It's possible I'm missing something but that's been my experience at least, with a few unskilled labor jobs thrown in as well.

Career centers depend on the institution...some are helpful and some are pretty well useless. After graduation, I called up my career center to get some advice on my job search, and they told me that they no longer respond to alumni requests, instructed me to go to the (bare-bones) university career website and hung up the phone. Your place might be different, but I'd say to get all the help you can right now...once you're no longer paying tuition they probably won't lift a finger for you.

History does help with teaching, though. Certification varies from state to state and I never went through the process, but it's something to look into. From what I've heard from guys who've done it, it can pay well with decent benefits and good vacation time...and it also opens up doors to teach internationally (although most international schools state a requirement for a few years in-class teaching experience; also, if you're fluent in another language then you can look into the public systems of applicable countries). You can also theoretically start teaching at private schools without certification, but salary and everything will change vastly between individual schools. Personally, I'm strongly considering taking the certification route in a few years.

[dads]

Unless you have something else to do in which your two years of time and about 12-16 hours a day spent studying and going to class is not worth the opportunity cost, at $0, it is very much worth it.

[Monty_Brogan]

Do you want to work with your hands or in a cube?

I'm a 29 year old vet (0331) and decided the latter wasn't for me. It just wasn't. But, the grass isn't always greener as I'll lay out below, so really think this through. Since you're military I'm going to tell you a bit about the railroad. Or as I like to call it, "the oil field for people not in TX, ND, PA, LA"

I decided to take a job with the railroad as a Signalman (which I would recommend to any vet). The best way to describe being a railroader is: IT'S A FUCKING GRIND, PERIOD. Now this job has pluses and minuses which I'll lay out below and it's definitely not for everyone.

Pluses:

* 6 figure job. I know 6 figures isn't that much compared to what a lot of people pull down, but it's there for you if you want to put in the OT.

* ALL MEN. Out of the 200+ Signalmen in my company: NOT ONE WOMAN. They try to hire them all the time to meet BS quotas, but they can't cut it. They just can't. Starting out you'll be in a construction "gang," and it's A LOT of digging/laying cable/building/lifting and long hours outside in every weather condition. It reminds me of my days as an infantryman, other than the fact that most of my coworkers are out of shape.

* Can either work in a "gang" or as Signalman (maintainer) by yourself.

* Great time to get in because there's about to be a lot of men retiring (although they say the railroad has the most people who stay in past retirement out of any other industry, men get hooked), and they're going to have to hire A LOT of new men. Although it'll still be a good time to get in if you want finish your degree.

* Lot of Vets.

* Sense of pride and accomplishment after a day of building something with your crew. It's a brotherhood, it really is.

* RR (railroad) retirement. I also max out my 401k, so if you're smart and you do your 30 you can have both your 401k and get an amazing RR retirement. (Your wife gets paid too. she receives 1/2 of your pay in her own account).

Minuses:

* Maintainers are on call 24/7 (When you work construction in a "gang," you're not though).

* Long hours that take a toll on your body.

* Some men hide behind the union and are lazy cocksuckers.

You could finish your degree >> then come on as a signalman >> and then work your way into management. Being a vet and having a degree would open A LOT of doors in the RR.

There's also other non "tool" careers in the railroad to look at too. But I don't know what you're studying, etc. If you need any help or have any other questions, shoot me a pm.

Hang in there.

[Hades]

I don't know a guy who says "Don't go to college" who wasn't sporting a degree (or some college) himself.

If it's not going to screw you financially, just go for it, even if it's for a bullshit degree. Employers that hire you are generally dumb as hell and will hire anybody who charms them through an interview so you might as well have a bachelor's in something.

[iknowexactly]

(12-20-2014 06:47 AM)Saga Wrote:  

OK, I'm game. Tell me what opportunities a sociology degree from Occidental College will automatically open for someone.

The opportunity to be viewed as someone who can finish something that takes 4 years of toeing the line, doing what you're told and completing work.

Any college degree that's not totally mail order makes a person more attractive for any information work in my opinion. I think the research indicates humanities/social science degrees still make much more money on average than non-grads.

I would always favor the college grad, not least because it indicates less chance of a personality disorder. People who think they're smart and like to tell people to take a hike will be more likely to quit their degree program. And I don't want to work with them...

But wait! "That's cause they were connected to begin with"

Maybe. But that's a hypothesis, not a fact. The kind of difference you learn in college lol..

[Saga]

iknowexactly Wrote:

Any college degree that's not totally mail order makes a person more attractive for any information work in my opinion. I think the research indicates humanities/social science degrees still make much more money on average than non-grads.

I agree that a humanities BA can make one more attractive to employers, but that's different from what I asked about, which is that of opening up new opportunities straight out of the gate, especially when the job market is flooded with graduates in the same predicament. If you can get a humanities BA without spending a lot (which to me means less than $15k in debt when it's all said and done), that's great, just make sure you get good grades and try to make connections to build viable options before you graduate. If not, people should think long and hard about it. Don't forget that student loans are worse than housing loans in the sense that the former can't be discharged in bankruptcy. Taking on that burden simply in order to 'tick the box' is a very serious risk.

Quote:

Maybe. But that's a hypothesis, not a fact. The kind of difference you learn in college lol..

It's common to learn about hypotheses in middle school...but it doesn't make one particularly marketable. Being smart about what you can get out of college and for a tolerable cost, not trusting in any old diploma, is what's required. The days of "any BA will do" are long, long gone. Those who subscribe to that outdated notion not only run the risk of running in place for 4 years, but possibly being dragged backwards if they incur large debts.