Topic: What Do You Think of College?

well where my cousin is (one of the best community colleges in florida) He finds the work easy. For another cousin that goes to the same school he likes it and finds it medium diffculty. Hopefully if this whole Obama thing works out with the first two years of community college being free, I'll make the move to there, work at least two jobs (I already have the offers) and start mega saving up for after I get my first two years in I'll transfer to something bigger! Kinda scary being a senior at the moment >.<

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And the key to getting over depression is to further isolate yourself by working night shifts alone, right? Gives you more time to read manga I suppose?

And the poon comment was more said in jest as the guy was worried about going back to school in his 20's. He should enjoy himself and have a good time if he can. If I could do it again, I would still rather go back to university in my 20's than as a teenager. Unless you look like an old man, nobody outside of any friends you make are going to really know how old you are. I also lived in residence the first year, and that was a blast as well. Nobody cared that I was older than them (got teased by my roomies about being an old man or calling me 'dad') and it wasn't even brought up in conversation really.

Because there is only one way to have depression.

For the record i'm not depressed or Introverted. I play up being a awkward nerd at times, but I tend to be pretty easy going and extroverted. My game tends to be on point, expect if i'm not actually targeting a girl I tend too be Oblivious to someone hitting on me. (I once walked away from a threesome because I couldn't pick up the hints.)

College parties rule.

Never been a fan. Actually, that's an understatement. I hate them. I don't see what's to like about the stench of alcohol everywhere, loud awful dubstep music, and overly dense crowds.

What do I think of it? It was the best nine years of my life.

That's been one of the centers of my thoughts as of late. The huge amount of money I'd have to get always concerned me. However, I figured that as long as I have the Internet, at least some of the things I want to succeed in have the information there for me to study.

Well, the work I'm being given already isn't much of a problem, but it is sort of small, so maybe I might have trouble with that.

Well, I've already got a fondness of instruments and have made some music in my spare time, so I'd like to become a freelance professional musician. There are also some other fields that I'd like to go towards, such as animation, but with school in the way, I'm not too sure if I should work towards them now. I'd like to study them now, though. I mean, I've worked with instruments, a bit of drawing, and a simple Flash animation, and as long as I used the Internet and practiced, I got some considerable results over time.

Wow, that's pretty neat. It sounds like a pretty good reason to take the class, but I wonder, would you say the degree in music would be worthwhile in the job world?

From my own experience hiring, even this is a rosier picture than the truth these days. For a lot of big city jobs this is more the way things were 20 years ago. These days it not just having a degree, but having a degree in a useful field for the profession. Example, looking for a job in investment management/banking (my career path) you'll get you foot in a lot more doors with an MBA, a degree in Physics/Maths/Computing than other degrees. If you have a degree in a field that's not directly related, you'll need to sell it, e.g. want to be an analyst after doing Psychology and not liking it? then point out you did a significant amount of stats in the degree which would be useful (how I did it, but follow up doing a Maths BSc. & MSc. via distance learning once I'd started to get to the top of the pile). If you've got a degree in history you'll be treated as if you don't even have a degree (unless you have connections already) since it's not much use to the industry and there are 1000s of applicants to each junior level position.

Bottom line, a degree is not what it once was as so many people have them, doing it in right field is just as important too these days (perhaps that's obvious, it just wasn't to me when I did mine).

If you can afford to go to college, go to college. There's three primary reasons:

• The Paper: What you actually learn in college is only part of why it helps you find a good job after finishing it. The other parts are arguably more important, in that it shows employers that you can a) learn, and b) see a project through to completion.
• The People: You're more likely to get a job via networking than any other possible route, and college is fantastic for building a network of peers, mentors, and contacts. The value of this network simply cannot be overlooked, it's invaluable. It's also far more likely that you will carry the friends you make there through adulthood than those you had in high school.
• The Fun: This isn't K-12, where you have to build a foundation for everything. While you will have a set of core classes you'll need to take, your major should be filled to the brim with classes that youenjoy going to. Being able to spend hours every day at it is something that shouldn't be passed up if possible.

The only major reason I can see not to go is if you'll need to pay for the entire package using loans. As awesome as the above are, the next decade of your life can be spent doing better things than paying back student loans.

This second part is something you shouldn't think, in my view, employers do not think this anymore. The problem is everyone applying to decent jobs these days have a degree, it therefore can't set you apart in this way since all credible candidates have one and it's expected by employers. I think this view was correct 20+ years ago, but the world of today means it's not the case (a PhD might do this since it will show you can do original work largely unguided, in a reasonable timeframe and stick at it as well, but again is the subject useful to the job?). This is why I feel subject is very important these days, just having a degree doesn't mean much anymore, you need to have it in a subject that is useful to the employer (if you're solely doing it for your career, you may do the subject for your own enjoyment of it - just don't expect the world to open up from doing it).

I remember on a TV show I saw about 6 months ago about youth employment where a recent graduate was working at Starbucks moaning that he couldn't get a job and was the world's most over qualified barista. Turned out he did a BA in History, he didn't seem to realise that this subject is not of use in most business areas and therefore he might as well have not had the degree for the jobs he was applying for, it didn't set him out from the crowd. As a result he was overly entitled and arrogant in his interviews and was getting nowhere.

Depends on a lot of factors. I know it's very expensive in the US. And in the UK as well nowadays.
I went in the UK back when it was about 1/8th of the current price, so it was a no-brainer. At the current cost in the UK or the US, I think I'd only go if I knew what I wanted to do and thought a particular degree would help me get there. I wouldn't just go for the sake of it though and do a subject that you think sounds vaguely interesting.
It also depends where you go. I was lucky to go to a very prestigious university but that meant a hell of a lot of work. Not much time for fun really. Whereas some subjects at some universities are really just an excuse to go to parties and all that. Which is great, but probably not worth paying for.

My own personal opinion so I'm not saying this is 100 percent gospel here, but I honestly think it's best to not go unless you are really sure what you want to go for. I live in WV, so there isn't many options for al that many interesting jobs anyway. It's just not worth the money here unless you already know what you want to do, and where you can do it.

So I'm going to be meeting with the academic advisor at my school sometime in the next two weeks to start to prepare for the summer/fall semesters. As I've said before anyone worried about the cost of college should look into community college since the cost to entry is far less than what it would be at a four year university.

These days, *** not *** having a degree will certainly set you apart, and make it almost impossible to get the good jobs. You absolutely want to think about the degree you're getting or you'll end up the over-qualified barista. And you don't have to take on lots of debt to get a 4-year degree.
1. Take the first two years at a community college that's affiliated with a state school. If you do it right, all the credits transfer and you only need to pay for two years at full cost (and if you're a resident of the state, that cost is not prohibitive, at least not where I live). And with Obama's new plan, that first couple of years could be virtually free.
2. Work hard - high school, summers, etc. You can put a lot of money away in a summer of serious work, especially if you're keeping your living expenses low (e.g. living with parents).
If you're talking about a medical or law degree, the cost does become very high very quickly.

In college I made some of the best friends I've ever had and had a blast. Plus I learned how to talk to girls without crying and soiling myself. Now I can almost make it home before that happens!

A couple things in regards to cost.

1. As @Shingi_70 said, community college is reasonable.
2. Public state schools in your state tend to be more accessible in terms of raw cost, and some states have programs that will pay for some or all of your tuition depending on your grades in high school.
3. Depending on your family's financial situation, private schools with large endowments can sometimes be a better deal due to financial aid. My school pays nearly full tuition for students below a certain income threshold. However, some of these schools can be difficult to get into (most Ivy League schools fall into this category)
4. If you aren't really getting much in regards to aid (in a public or private institution), scholarships do exist, and they can be merit-based, need-based, and/or culturally specific.