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Please convince me i should go to college.

cantthinkofone

cantthinkofone

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 25, 2004
1,285
0
Missouri, USA
So I'm twenty years old and I'm not in college. I took 3 night classes last fall and hated every second of it. I failed all three of my classes as far as i know. I didn't really look into it. I took a psych class, English class, and history type class. Two out of the three classes were taught by people who i had in high-school the previous year. So that just reinforced my fear of never getting out of high-school. Or being able to get away from it.

Psychology has always interested me, but i don't think its my thing. Maybe just self teaching would be best.

I work about 35-40 hours a week at a local chemical company. I work in a clean room coating glass for a fortune 500 company for R&D on the next gen LCD screens. Very boring stuff oddly enough :p. I don't see the job going much farther. I only make $8.60ish an hour. I think i should make more for what i am doing. All i want is $10 an hour. I think thats reasonable.

Everybody i work with says i should go to college. I tell them, yea yea i know i know. But i can't find a reason for me to go.

Yes i want a good job in the future, and i want a decent to nice income to live off of. I don't want to be rich, just happy in life.

My biggest argument, and probably the worst, is that i don't know what i want to study in college. None of the normal job professions interest me. I don't consider myself intelligent enough to become a doctor, layer, dentist, business person, etc etc. People tell me that i am more than intelligent enough i just don't care and wont apply myself. This is also a likely problem.

A good friend of mine, and probably the best friend a person could have hounds my ass all the time about college. Both of us procrastinate about things and then complain when things don't work out. He is taking classes at a local campus and then transferring to Mizzou this winter. I consider him a very intelligent person. I wish that i had half the drive, willingness, and ability to learn as he does.

Funny as it is, we have very in-depth conversations about things ranging from the optimum design of a car engine, all the way up to quantum mechanics when we are heavily intoxicated. I think we know more about engines, but i love talking about things that hurt my head. String theory, does time really slow down when you break the sound barrier, relativity, etc etc. I like to think i know about such things, but i really don't :eek:.

The last time we were drunk we started talking about how we could start a business. We also started talking about how i needed to go to college. I said i wasn't smart enough to go. And he firmly corrected me and said "God-dammit you're just as smart as me, if not more and you need to go" That sentence really impressed me and i sat on the floor and i thought about it for a long time.

Enough of that. If you have read this far thank-you.

Maybe this would help, a list of things i am interested in.

--cars. namely Ferraris.
--computers. i have taught myself from the age of 10.
--psychology. although as i said, i'm probably not very good at it.


I really don't want to take math, english, and science classes over again. Seems to me you go to school, then you go to school and have to pay to re-learn everything you already know. Then you spend the next twenty years paying it off. I hate the idea.

I want a solid road on which i can travel. I have no idea what degree i want. I am a firm believer that having a degree hanging over your desk does not make you qualified for the job you hold. I have MANY examples of this from all the phDs, and double phDs that work at the company i work for.
 
If you are interested in cars, ask the supervisor at some companies where they tend to hire new candidates from -- some of them do tend to take started from a specific pond.

Though you will likely be doing a lot of oil changes, tire rotations, and brake jobs your first year.

---

As far as retaking classes you took in high school, get over it.

First year of freshman classes is teaching you the things you should know, or have learned in high school.

Beats some tech schools where they are actually training people how to use a calculator and computer, and they are the ones that are going to run the machines the engineers design. Sort of scary. :eek:
 
Short answer: That piece of paper - DOES have bearing with a lot of companies, and while I've seen many idiots waving a nice degree around, they do tend to get better compensation than the intelligent individuals without a degree.

Not many people really know what they want to do for the rest of their lives - and those who "do know" - many of them will have a change of heart down the road. Everybody changes interests as they grow older, fast cars likely will shift to a nice house, or flying, even shuffle board. Some people don't change in that regard.

What I can say for sure - going to school will likely expose you to more environments and fields you wouldn't see otherwise - which may open your eyes up to something you're driven towards.

Plus, college chics are HOT.

Finally - it will NEVER get easier as you get older to get back into school, you'll only find more commitments you can't get away from and excuses as you age.

You work your @$$ off now, or you work your @$$ off later, but you have to do it at some point.
 
Do you want to make $8.60 an hour for the rest of your life?

If no, go to college.
If yes, continue with current job.
 
Oh wait, I just need to convince you to go to college.... That's easier.

Go to college and you'll get 40 virgins all to yourself.

If you don't go, I'm going to kick your @$$. Hard.

Does that help?
 
If you don't go to college and are entirely self-taught, I can see a career for you in automobiles, but only if you are extremely good (and lucky). On the other hand, I would think that you would need at least an undergraduate degree to pursue a degree in computers and likely a terminal degree to work in psychology.

Higher education is not for everyone, something that has been lost sight of in the last few decades. If you hated every moment of your short time in college, perhaps you wouldn't like the job higher education would train you for. A different career path would undoubtedly earn far less money but could buy happiness (I knew a lawyer who hated every moment at work--is this how you want to spend at least 8 hours of every day?).
 
Kashchei said:
If you don't go to college and are entirely self-taught, I can see a career for you in automobiles, but only if you are extremely good (and lucky). On the other hand, I would think that you would need at least an undergraduate degree to pursue a degree in computers and likely a terminal degree to work in psychology.

Higher education is not for everyone, something that has been lost sight of in the last few decades. If you hated every moment of your short time in college, perhaps you wouldn't like the job higher education would train you for. A different career path would undoubtedly earn far less money but could buy happiness (I knew a lawyer who hated every moment at work--is this how you want to spend at least 8 hours of every day?).
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to add that, steve jobs and other successful people do not have a degree, so don't think that you have to have a degree to be successful in life, but it helps.;)

i say follow your passions, and i would probably at least take a few essential college courses (or try full time for a semester if you can) and maybe it can inspire you to your path in life.
 
cantthinkofone said:
S
None of the normal job professions interest me. I don't consider myself intelligent enough to become a doctor, layer, dentist, business person, etc etc. People tell me that i am more than intelligent enough i just don't care and wont apply myself. This is also a likely problem.
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You're intelligent enough to be a lawyer, or in business.


I have an idea of what you think about school, but bite your lip and effing do it. Either you coast for the next few years and never get paid enough money for the rest of your life, or work your ass off for the next 4 years and coast a bit easier for the rest of your life. Financial strain isn't fun, especially a lifetime of it. Chances are, without a university degree, or even a high school degree, you're going to be earning very little money for the rest of your life. Giving up 4 years to get a degree is much better than working menial jobs for 50 years.
I'm not trying to say that a degree will make life easy. I'm saying that chances are, it'll make life easier because your financial situation will be better, and is one thing you don't have to worry about as much.

Do you honestly think we all walk into our classes and LOVE sitting there, listening to the lecturer drone on and on about a topic I have no interest in? No, but I won't have to listen to him in 4 years time. Toughen up and dive right in.

You want to do something with cars, but you don't like maths? Oh well, just suffer through 2 or 3 maths classes, knowing full well that you won't have to use all the irrelevent, abstract crap after you graduate.

Don't like some psych classes? Lots of psych students find that their classes are sometimes boring. However, taking the classes now means that in their 3rd and 4th year of uni, they'll be able to read up on the latest psych research, and perhaps participating in some area in their final year.

Business is the easiest. I would say that most of your classes will be boring, but you can go anywhere and do almost anything with a business degree. Just by knowing this is really inspiring. After you graduate, you'll never have to really know complex maths, understand complex graphs, know how to do menial accounting tasks like book-keeping, etc.

Life ain't kittens and candy.
You need to pay the cost to be the boss.
 
While you likely have the smarts to be the boss now, without an education and/or the ability to surgically attach your lips to your bosses ass -- you will likely watch dumber people than you rise quickly past you.
 
Go to school for computers, if that is what you like. Yes, you'll have to take math, english and a bunch of other crap you don't like, but thats part of the program.

If you are not self driven enough to start a business on your own, then you definitely need to go to school to teach your self how to work hard. How to be driven. How to learn. And basically just to prove to society that your not a total tard.

Oh, and college is actually a lot of fun when your not studying. :D
 
If you don't go to college, chances are good you'll never be the head of a multi-national corporation. And if you're not the head of a giant multi-national, you're not going to be paying literal mountains of money each year to have your annual and quarterly reports, 10-ks and 5-ks designed and properly filed.

I need those mountains of money for my gold-plated jetpack.
 
Talk to an academic adviser and they'll show you that one degree doesn't equal one job. Just because you major in Marketing, doesn't mean you have to be a businessman or manager, or whatever. While having a degree in the subject you want to work it always helps, it's not a necessity. You just need a degree and experience.

Verry few people make it "big" in life without a degree. Bill Gates dropped out, but how many people who dropped out of college can claim to have earned as much money as him? Luck is luck.

A college degree will likely ensure that you have a nice job and a nice income.

You can always major in something computer-related, and minor in psychology.
 
I have started and run companies and I never graduated high school. I have hired hundreds of people from high school dropouts to MBAs. What counts the most is attitude and passion. I have seen MBAs who couldn't open a beer bottle and dropouts that I appointed to manage a department.

If you are seeking to go the Corporate route, then yes, the degree is necessary to satisfy the HR types who don't have a clue. It seems that this is not of interest to you.

You have a passion for some things, those are the ones you should pursue. You are young enough to fail, and failure leads to success. Edison failed thousands of times. BTW, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates both did not complete University.

What I do suggest however, is that you read a lot on a broad range of subjects. I would suggest a magazine like The Economist.

Now on a practical level, you need to set goals towards achieving certain milestones, otherwise it will always be just talk. The goals should be yearly with monthly objectives. So, lets say that you set a goal that in a year from now, you will have achieved a certain goal. Then you write it down, and the monthly milestones you must reach in order to achieve that yearly goal.

Good luck
 
If you don't go to college, you should definitely pick up a trade or work for a company that will pay you, train you, and give you benefits.

One example is Verizon. If you get hired by them to be a lineman or service tech, you get paid about 12 bucks an hour at first but you'll be at about $40 with in a few years and they offer 100% tuition reimbursement (no matter what you study!) plus benefits.
I know someone who started at the phone company putting poles in the ground, they paid for his education to become an engineer and he ended up retiring as a very highly paid manager.

Another friend of mine with no degree (but some college) just got hired as a cop. In his contract, he will be making $90,000 base salary in 4 years, + overtime and great benefits!

Whatever you do, good luck!
 
cantthinkofone said:
I really don't want to take math, english, and science classes over again. Seems to me you go to school, then you go to school and have to pay to re-learn everything you already know. Then you spend the next twenty years paying it off. I hate the idea.
Click to expand...


Sadly, that's a part of college. I'm at UMR (Or MST or whatever the f**k our worthless chancellor decides to call this place next week) and have to take a bunch of English and Math classes that are completely useless to me, and will be paying out the ass for them for the next decade or two, but in the end, I think it will be worth it.

As far as what you want to do....I have no idea what's involved in becoming a mechanic. And a Ferrari one at that. I'd hope a lot of college, because, no offense, I wouldn't want someone without a LOT of professional training touching my Ferrari if I were lucky enough to own one. But I have a feeling, even with training, it would be tough getting that job. Everyone wants to be a Ferrari mechanic, so they can drive the cars.

Computers? Depending on how good you are and where you apply, you might get lucky and get hired without a degree. At the very least, get a professional certification in whatever field of computers you want to work in.

Psychology? Yeah, that's 4 years of undergrad and a couple years of grad school to become a psychologist and really be able to do anything with your degree.

My advice is to go to college and get a degree in something (and something that interests you and you're good at). You may think 10 bucks an hour would be good now, but that's probably below poverty line...
 
Here's your motivation:

Chicks (and decent employers) dig people with ambition and perseverance - something which is easily stated in having a degree. You'll regret not having one more than you will having one. Do it. "Good enough" really isn't good enough in most situations.
 
I went to college for three years. Hated every major I tried and didn't like any of my classes. It sucks knowing that I won't make as much money as all the idiots with degrees (I'm not that disappointed knowing the people that deserve it will make more than me), but whatever. I'm smart enough for college (a slightly above average 3.6 gpa in high school and 27 on the ACT--for those that never heard of the ACT it goes up to only 36 I think and 18 is average), but I don't have the direction or the money to continue (yes, I wasted three years' worth of tuition). I never believed I could make it in anything and I don't have a competitive personality.

The cold hard fact is that some people aren't made for college. That doesn't mean you're not smart enough or can't handle it. It's up to you to decide if college is for you.
 
Don't go to college if you aren't ready.

I was ready to party at 18. So I pledged a frat, skipped classes, and bombed my way to less than a 1.0. I stayed in for a few years, unmotivated, passed most of my classes, but not well enough to pull up my GPA. I almost joined the Coast Guard at one point.

At least you're working. That's good. I didn't have the motivation to do that.

Ten years later, I finished my first degree. It was so much easier being an older student. Ten years after that, I finished a Masters in Teaching and am now teaching high school English. I'm happier than ever. I don't regret not teaching earlier in life, or any part of the path I took.

Do what's best for you. Most importantly, take care of your finances at an early age. Invest what you can. Your portfolio will be huge when you retire. If you're really good, it'll be huge when and if you want to go to school and you can live off that!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)
 
Not everyone is made for education. My brother, whilst being a very smart chap underneath (very good at puzzle solving and math) chose not to go to college. Course he has a terrible job right now, I've just graduated university and am looking to make double his weekly wage on part time hours. That's just the way it goes.

You can be rich and successful without it. You don't need college or university to get money. It just helps is all.


Personally I love being in education. I've got 2 degrees at 21 and about to start up a teaching qualification too.
 
Thanks for all the replys. And thank you for not telling me how stupid i am and i should just go walk in-front of a semi. I was really expecting that from somebody. Guess all the opinioted people are over at the OS X threads :rolleyes:

I spent a few hours last night thinking about college. I started thinking that if i only worried about college that maybe it wouldn't be so hard. I would like to waste away days studying about a topic that interests me. But its the topics that i don't find appealing that i have problems with. I don't know if anybody else has that problem, im sure there are a few. If i am not interested in a subject it is very hard for me to learn and comprehend.

I can do math if it makes since to me. But trying to prove a circle is a circle with 2 pages worth of gibberish just makes me want to have a conniption. But trying to find X and Y and applying it to the rest of a problem makes since to me.

Getting a Ferrari is probably my life goal. Aside from living to see 40 :p. Becoming a Ferrari technician would be my dream job. I would really like to work in the factory in Modena building them, but since i'm not 100% italian odds are slim to nill. Yes i would like to drive thme, but i can make one phone call and drive 2 hours and drive one. One of my relatives owns one.

I actually called the dealer in Chicago and talked to a guy there about become a technician. He said really all you do is apply for the job. If you are hired you are a apprentice for a year and learn from the journeymen. He said going to school for autos does help, but isn't necessary.

I was thinking there was a secret school some where you go to become a technician.

Going to college is very hard to do when i have a full time job and making money. I'm not to sure if my parents would pay for me to go back after i failed all three of my classes last year.

I still need to go take the ACT. Wish i could score a 27 :cool:.
 
But trying to prove a circle is a circle with 2 pages worth of gibberish just makes me want to have a conniption.
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That's one good thing about college. It can teach you how to stop sweating the small stuff and grin and bear the things you don't like as they can still be useful skills. Also, it's good training on how to do all the crap you don't want to do but you'll have to do in a real job.

And thank you for not telling me how stupid i am and i should just go walk in-front of a semi. I was really expecting that from somebody.
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There are a lot of phD's that are stupid and should go walk in front of a semi. That's not limited to the uneducated. :p
 
I think the answer is pretty easy:

1 - did not do well in college and hated it

+

1 - has no desire to go back and needs convincing from strangers on a anonymous net forum to even bother

=

2 - you're not ready for college

Take some time to figure out your goals and how to achieve them. I find that mature students tend to do much better because they understand the value of a good education and are usually paying for it themselves.

What I dislike are those people that mope around, waste their life away, and talk about how smart they really are because their friends and family tell them so. Even if those people are that smart, few are going to be able to tell the difference between them and the next slacker. No one is going to hand them the keys to a Ferrari. They have to work for it. But many of them do not want to try because then they may prove that they are not that smart. They'd rather live with the delusion that they are misunderstood, brilliant people rather than make a go of it. It's sad/pathetic that I know a lot of people like this.
 
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