College Is A Waste Of Time - Agree or Disagree?

[Uturn]

It's all about getting an education in some way, shape, or form.

I think the lucky ones hook up with millionaire mentors who are willing to take someone under their wings and teach them how to really rake in the dough.

Everyone thinks/works differently at the end of the day. We all need to learn, some ways different.

People should be very careful with the degrees they choose today though. There are so many degrees you can even teach yourself i.e web design, business (you can start your own, get real experience).

I think in the UK they care more about which university you attended, rather than your grades. A 2:1 at a credible university you have a good chance at getting a job in your chosen field. But others; its not worth the paper its written on.

I must admit, if I had a degree and couldn't get a job I'd be rather pissed off. Especially the debt that comes with it. I can understand why people are not prepared to start at the lower pecking order after studying 3 odd years. You'd expect to gain something out of it.

Experience is very relevant to enter the best companies. I've always found the word 'Experience' tends to pop up with a lot of things. Experience means a lot and that is in life too.

[MindBat]

Everyone thinks/works differently at the end of the day. We all need to learn, some ways different.

People should be very careful with the degrees they choose today though. There are so many degrees you can even teach yourself i.e web design, business (you can start your own, get real experience).

I think in the UK they care more about which university you attended, rather than your grades. A 2:1 at a credible university you have a good chance at getting a job in your chosen field. But others; its not worth the paper its written on.

I must admit, if I had a degree and couldn't get a job I'd be rather pissed off. Especially the debt that comes with it. I can understand why people are not prepared to start at the lower pecking order after studying 3 odd years. You'd expect to gain something out of it.

Experience is very relevant to enter the best companies. I've always found the word 'Experience' tends to pop up with a lot of things. Experience means a lot and that is in life too.

No doubt. In the states, if you own a from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Upenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Stamford, or MIT, you're pretty much in like Slim.

[MindBat]

Everyone thinks/works differently at the end of the day. We all need to learn, some ways different.

People should be very careful with the degrees they choose today though. There are so many degrees you can even teach yourself i.e web design, business (you can start your own, get real experience).

I think in the UK they care more about which university you attended, rather than your grades. A 2:1 at a credible university you have a good chance at getting a job in your chosen field. But others; its not worth the paper its written on.

I must admit, if I had a degree and couldn't get a job I'd be rather pissed off. Especially the debt that comes with it. I can understand why people are not prepared to start at the lower pecking order after studying 3 odd years. You'd expect to gain something out of it.

Experience is very relevant to enter the best companies. I've always found the word 'Experience' tends to pop up with a lot of things. Experience means a lot and that is in life too.

No doubt. In the states, if you own a degree from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Upenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Stamford, or MIT, you're pretty much in like Slim.

[-Kev-]

It depends what you do with your time there and if you use your college experience to your advantage and get in to internships and jobs pertaining to your professional field, or other fields for that matter. Also the friends you make and the professors, contacts you get is definitely worth it. I say this as a college student myself.

Some people just don't know what they're doing in college, they're just going hoping to get a piece of paper in the end, indicating that they are smart and you should hire them. Others really work hard and go that extra mile even in college, they don't get comfortable and they understand their chances of getting a good job rises but it's not automatic either. You have to work hard anyway you put it.

[-Kev-]

No doubt. In the states, if you own a degree from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Upenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Stamford, or MIT, you're pretty much in like Slim.

Lol damn, those are Ivy League though.

My dream school is Cornell or Baruch. Cornell too hard though, and i'm a lazy f-ck. Baruch is also highly selective. Their acceptance rate is 22%.

[-Kev-]

On the subject of accounting: That is what i'm majoring in. It is boring as hell, but i'll stick with it. I do not want to work for a large firm or anything like that, I want a government job like the DCAA or the IRS.

[Hitman932]

If you interview well and can effectively demonstrate your value to potential employers it almost doesn't matter what degree you have.

What this guy said ^

A majority of college graduates don't know how to communicate professionally regardless of their education. A lot can't even put together a decent resume to present.

I did not go to college out of High School, have not finished by degree yet, and I always planned it that way. I was able to get a good job because I can communicate my value in an interview in a way that a piece of paper cannot. I found an employer that appreciates that and also pays for continuing education. I am provided $3000 a semester and will finish my degree this summer with 0 debt. when I was 18 years old I had no idea what I wanted to do and I wasn't going to finance my future without a plan.


I work with people who have Master's Degrees and I outperform them month after month. A fancy education gets you in the door but only results get you promoted.

The one benefit of the degree that cannot be argued is that not having one will definitely get you screened out of certain positions by companies that place a greater emphasis on education.

[sukhenkoy]

You made the right choice to stick with ECON. If you play your cards right and work on your masters you can make a lot more money in that field. Yes, accountants make a ton of money but that's to start your career. Overall, kids that graduate college with accounting as their major make more than most BA students of other fields. The problem with accounting is the pay flatlines and there isn't much more advancement unless you plan on one day opening up your own firm. The average accountant after around 10 years is gonna top out around 80,000 bucks(good money nonetheless).

ECON majors make way more than that. They might not make that amount of money right off the bat(without a masters) but they will end up with much more. Of the richest people in America, the 1%(people making over 300,000 a year), ECON professionals represented higher than any other business major.

You couldn't pay me enough to study that though. Good luck!

I don't know if I agree with your statement about accountants having a salary cap. One of the firms that I got an offer from has a salary growth rate where you can be earning around 125k a year after 5 years, provided that you really show the drive to succeed.

Accountants themselves might see their salary plateau around 80k, but with around 5-10 years of experience, you will slowly work your way up the management ladder. Managers and managing partners of CPA firms can make around 150k a year.

Also, it depends on the area that you live in.

[paulf]

Too many people do that with expectations of coming out of college and immediately gettin a high paying job to pay that debt off. This is due to complete lack of common sense. Lets say you get a 50K job right outta school, it will take you more then 3 years to completely pay off a 150,000 loan and that if you ONLY pay your loan and nothing else

Yes that is another issue. Head bartender at my job graduated from college six years ago, but by the time ge graduated he was making $500 a week bartending. He briefly left and got a job in his field, but since the pay was only $9-$10 he left after six months to return to another bar and wait for a better opening.

That was five years ago. A while back, he left his position at the bar to enter management at restaurant he'd been working at. In other words, he waited to long and at the point he may as well not have gone to college.

Graduates need to be taught what an opportunity cost is. It's the price of the opportunity sacrificed to go with one choice over the other. By taking the $500/week mostly tax free money to stay at the bar, he not only passed up the 340ish/week he'd have been making after taxes to start a career in his field, but also passed up all the opportunities for growth that sticking with the lower paying job entailed. Not to mention the mental costs of doing something you hate as opposed to something you're interested in.

And he has to pay off all the student loan debt with income from a job he only needed a high school degree for.