What is the point of school?

[Farmerboy]

WND TV

This guy has an interesting take on college in today's world...

[rmroberts]

That is a myth. Certain jobs, yes, do require degrees and in others it is preferable, but there are many, many, many (often overlooked) jobs that require no degree at all yet still over good salary and benefits.

Very few of my friends have degrees, and they are all doing just fine. Many of them (like myself) are even able to work part time and still make a full living.

That's true. But I'm considering being a teacher (what I'm going to get my masters in) and naturally you have to have a degree for that. I guess really it's more about keeping my options open than necesity.

[learflyer]

My wife is a magna cum laude law school grad from Suffolk Univ in Boston. She is very edumacated. She wasa commercial real estate atty for several large law firms until well...we all know what happened with real estate. Now? She makes about 40k per year teaching at a small university. Me? I'm a hs grad making 81,000 teaching at a simulator facility that trains pilots. At least until I was laid off again last week.:mad:

So...it's a matter of luck and who you know. don't get me wrong, you're better off with a degree, but it's not required for success. BTW obviously since i'm here I find it very important to have one. Especially to check off that box. And......to get hired at a decent airline or corporate flying gig someday.

[Katterina]

My degrees were both sought primarily to "check the box" with my federal employer. My degrees could be in Llama Pajama Marketing for all they care. I've had conversations with my co-workers about what the piece of paper really means to the Fed, and this is what we came up with:

1) The recipient has the ability to learn new skills
2) The recipient has written language skills that are needed for many positions
3) The recipient is capable of abstract and critical reasoning skills needed for problem solving
4) The recipient has the tenacity to make a plan and follow it through to the end

Of course, none of these things are guaranteed by a degree, but the odds may be better of finding qualified applicants by requiring it. Plus HR would have fewer resumes to sift through for single vacancies.

That said, I studied a great deal of social and natural science in my formal education because these subjects are of interest to me. So, I feel I gained much intrinsically from the experience. I may or may not pursue another master's or a doctorate in the future, but I will always endeavor to continue my understanding of the human mind and the world around me. To me, formal schooling is just one avenue to the pursuit of an educated mind, but ultimately the student will only take out of it what they put in.

[rebeccal]

Like many others, I'm doing this to check off the box/get the piece of paper. I've always been a life-long learner, so I'm not sure I'll learn a whole lot more than I would if I didn't get a degree, though no doubt some learning will take place that would not any other way. For instance, I may have to take certain classes/tests that I'm not that interested in, so in those cases I wouldn't study them on my own just for the fun of it. In that sense, the education will force me to be more well rounded.

I'm a simple administrative assistant. I'll soon be 50 and actually like where I work, so I don't have huge plans for a new career. However, where I work, admins are put into 3 categories -- admin 1, 2, and 3. Without a degree, I'm "stuck" in the admin 2 category, since a degree is required for admin 3 positions. The lack of degree limits my options for promotions since some admin positions are admin 3 positions. Also, my payscale is lower as an admin 2 than it would be as an admin 3.

Additionally, if I did find myself out of work, a degree will open certain doors that may otherwise be shut.

On a different level, I've always been a bit embarrassed by my lack of education since most of my friends and colleagues are college educated. So it is a self-esteem thing as well. It's actually a bit humbling to go back to school at my age because many people assume that I have a degree, and when they find out I'm in school, they know that I don't.

[Levi]

WND TV

This guy has an interesting take on college in today's world...

Great video! It's about time somebody said this...

[skyfall123]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Farmerboy
WND TV

This guy has an interesting take on college in today's world...

Great video! It's about time somebody said this...

I make these comments as someone who at one time made a few hundred thousand doing video production work. While it is true that in his field, it might be wiser for some/most people to put the time money and effort into getting an internship, self teaching, investing in equipment instead of spending $40K a year going to a "Full Sail" type of school with no guarantees on the other end.....whether an individual can earn a living or have a great year or a great decade without a college degree, does not in any way make the case against getting a degree.

In reality, he is doing exactly what he accuses Big Education of doing..only his message is that you don't need a degree. The reality is that at this current time, HE doesn't need a degree. It's like the used car salesperson who promises not to apply pressure, then turns it up...To try and substantiate his claim that a degree his unnecessary, he mentions Bill Gates. He is not Bill Gates or Michael Dell nor should he even mention himself in the same conversation with those guys.

He has enjoyed some success. Big Deal. There are probably hundreds of people on this forum that have enjoyed six figure incomes without a degree....but for how many years, and what guarantee will they have in twenty years?

You should wisely choose your field, and you should spend the time and money that you put into a degree wisely.....but to adopt an attitude that a college degree isn't necessary based on one or two or ten years of high income is in my opinion shortsighted.

[Maniac Craniac]

That video summed up some of the reasons why I didn't go to college straight out of high school, and why overall it is very low on my list of goals, indeed. That said, I value structured learning with assessments and milestones, and one can't deny that having a degree is at the very least, better than not having one. Of course, that doesn't mean that going to school is better than not going to school in an absolute sense. The problem is that guidance counselors and the man in the video both make great generalizations about what is good for everyone, or at least, most people, when none of them are in the position to make the assertions that they do.

Of course your teachers will tell you about how wonderful school is- THEY'RE TEACHERS!!! Of course a successful person who never went to college will tell you that you don't need to go to college to be successful. However, none of that applies to me at all, and I, as all others do, need to assess my own situation.

[Farmerboy]

Geezer, I agree with most of what you said. For me I don't like the fact that college has become expected of everyone and that most people view a diploma as a barometer of success. I appreciate Molotov's perspective from another angle....

[skyfall123]

Geezer, I agree with most of what you said. For me I don't like the fact that college has become expected of everyone and that most people view a diploma as a barometer of success. I appreciate Molotov's perspective from another angle....

I understand the overall concept....but also know that nothing lasts forever. In my twenties, I worked my way up from a salesperson at an electronics store to a buyer, then a district manager overseeing 9 stores and 250 employees...however to move to another company I had to compete with college grads with business degrees. There were no options such as the "Big 3" back then. My option was to start my own business.

I have survived as a small business owner without a degree since 1988. Like Molotov, I have traveled to Europe 20+ times, Asia, etc...I could say the same thing he does....but I don't because I am a little older and a little wiser. NOTHING lasts forever. It's all about having options. A degree at the "Big 3" is an inexpensive and relatively easy way to provide yourself with additional options.

My oldest son is 26. He decided to go to Oktoberfest last year. He met a girl, fell in love and decided to move to Germany. I MADE him enroll and finish a BSBA CIS from TESC. Just yesterday he called with the news that he was offered a job here lsespace.com [Home]

The job will utilize his technical skills (Cisco) that he learned on the job in the Telecom industry. Without a degree, then no interview and no job. Is it just a piece of paper ? Maybe....but it opens doors and options that may otherwise never be available. Could he get another job without the degree? Yes. In the Aerospace industry in another country? No. It's all about options.

BTW Molotov begins with a false premise. No College=No Future is a statement that HE created... which he then attributes to "everyone else" or "big education".