This Is Why College Really Sucks

[Omega Centauri 316]

I've considered skipping college and trying something more ambitious, like starting a band, or my own business.

 

Also, was the the ridiculously photogenic guy?

[GXPBlast 597]

Well its that time of year again, finals week and I am dreading it. Too much to study and I think I am going to wing some of my tests as my brain cant handle any more studying as I have tests in like six hours lol

[Aly 77]

All about greed. The longer they keep you in, the more they profit.

[Dsanders 5,744]

Try having to take an elementary algebra course in community college. I was stupid for not having studied as much as I should have but I was more focused and still focused on finding an reasonable paying job. I didn't have much concern for the assessment test or college as a whole. I just wanted work experience first and foremost. Unfortunately due to family pressures, I have to go through with this bull crap.

 

I would like to teach English or do something in writing. Another idea of mine, incase the English degree proves to be worthless, would be to get into some trade jobs. I've also considered the idea of getting into construction, painting, and possibly even firefighting. I have always liked jobs that take you out of the house and force you to work your ass off. It's a pain at times but afterwards, you feel a great sense of accomplishment for the day. I've had some experience landscaping with a friend and I loved it.

 

I doubt I need college to obtain these sorts of jobs, but I have to go through it nonetheless because parents. I'm also jobless and without a drivers license. My plan is to get a simple retail job, get my damn driver's license, save up, take the damn two years at the community college, then move out.

 

I'm sorry parents but I need a freakin break after that. I need time to think and explore my opportunities before I even think about finishing the remaining 2-4 years at a university. -_-

Edited December 11, 2014 by Dsanders

[The Leafeon Pinkeh 3,602]

I've heard that the best option is to get pre-reqs done at a community college before going to a university, unless you get really good scholarships. Since I've heard this advice a lot I think I'll follow it, but is there any case where this isn't a good idea? Community colleges are cheaper and stuff..

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

Am I the only one here who doesn't mind going to college? Sheesh you guys...

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but I actually enjoy learning new things. Yeah, it's stressful, but it beats the hell out of sitting on my ass all day and playing Farmville or what-have-you. 

I've heard that the best option is to get pre-reqs done at a community college before going to a university, unless you get really good scholarships. Since I've heard this advice a lot I think I'll follow it, but is there any case where this isn't a good idea? Community colleges are cheaper and stuff..

 

Yes, do that. I did it and it would have worked out perfectly, except I went to a university in a different state, which had different entry requirements. So, I had to retake a class, and a few of my classes didn't transfer over. 

Edited December 11, 2014 by Regulus

[long gone 8,929]

 

 

Am I the only one here who doesn't mind going to college? Sheesh you guys...

 Nope, I actually miss going to college right now. Always gave me things to do. I've also gotten more out of two years of college than I did four years of high school.

 

Sure, doing those two years I dealt with a rather bad nerve injury, but I still enjoyed what I was learning, even if my body held me back from fully getting into the curriculum. Nowadays I can tell you more about network engineering than I could when I began high school. Sure, it's a bit stressful at times, especially this one quarter where I took 4 classes within a 3-day week (my grades suffered because of the stress put on me) but right now... I just want to be productive again instead of sitting around at my computer doing stuff on the Internet.

[Starflower 323]

I survived four years of college, and I just barely graduated with an Associates in Computer Technology. I didn't really have a good experience with college, primarily because my advisor was always guiding me to different paths, plus it was always hard to get the classes you need because they always fill up. I always had that problem. :s

 

I'm about to go through another two years of college at a university starting in March. I'm transferring, so I'll be able to obtain a Bachelors in that timeframe, and luckily I completed my general ed at the college where I just graduated, so now I can focus on the core classes I need for my major. Not a fan of reading textbooks and studying for exams, but my parents really want me to have an education, and I can't fail them. 

[MsMegan91 117]

I've graduated already. I had the most amazing time at college, I partied, joined a lot of clubs and made so many friends that I know I will have for life.

The degree part - total waste of time. With the economy as it is, so many of my class (myself included for a while!) have ended up in jobs that we could've got without spending three more years in education.

[DATA EXPUNGED 324]

The only thing I can honestly say that sucks about my current college experience is the fact that there is a mandatory "Liberal Studies Elective" which is total load of bollocks. Why would I ever need to consider wicker weaving when stabilizing a nuclear power plant? 

[MozillaToast 233]

Yes, this is exactly what I'm going through, after being disowned for being bi I'm really struggling to pay for my collage fees and may have to drop out. Not sure what I'm going to do if it comes to that...

[Dsanders 5,744]

Just wondering but should I get a Spanish or English degree? Which is more useful? Since I'm forced to go through with my two-year college, I at least want to try and learn something useful. I would like to teach English someday if possible.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

I have also comteplated getting into labor jobs such as construction, painting, or carpenting. I'm simple-minded when it comes to jobs and I would personally enjoy working hard outdoors.

[mars 4,861]

Just wondering but should I get a Spanish or English degree? Which is more useful? Since I'm forced to go through with my two-year college, I at least want to try and learn something useful. I would like to teach English someday if possible.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

I have also comteplated getting into labor jobs such as construction, painting, or carpenting. I'm simple-minded when it comes to jobs and I would personally enjoy working hard outdoors.

If you'd like to teach English, teach English. You can teach it as a second-language (or if you mean literature-wise, teach highschool/middle school literature). If you get a Spanish degree, you can teach Spanish. I'm not extremely helpful (I'm still lost on what I'd want to do). Why don't you take both english and spanish classes and see which one you like better? It's often that a two-year college takes more than two years, anyway.

[Rohinar 72]

Best.  Video.  Ever.

 

Yeah, my BA was a complete waste because I was not ready to make any life decisions.  I had no clue how to function because I was so used to my parents controlling my life and forcing me to do whatever they thought was right.

 

But I met my husband there!  So at least that's a good thing.  And my BA actually will come in handy for my current career change plans, which will require me to go to grad school.  So in the end, it worked out.  Was it worth the disturbing amount of money my parents paid?  Absolutely not.  We're still paying off my husband's loans ten years later.

[lomk 20,663]

What my mom told me was that college is basically a 4 to 6 year test of how well you can survive something.

 

And that's what college was for me. A degree is just a piece of paper that says "Look! I made it!" It doesn't say that you can do the job. I mostly faked it in school. I did end up doing something I like doing, but I never really studied much and I ended up graduating with honors. When I got my first accounting job back in August I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't use anything I learned in school. And I still don't know everything there is to know about my job.

 

So what she told me was that your college degree is your statement to potential employers that you know how to stick with something and see it through til the end. Because if you're willing to stay in school for at least 4 years and spend thousands of dollars just to get a little piece of paper, you're probably willing to stay with them and see their projects through to the end just to get some little green pieces of paper. 

Edited December 12, 2014 by Space Woona

[Twilight Dirac 720]

College is a great way to transition yourself into adulthood if you can avoid burying yourself into debt while attending it.

 

I think the main problem is people who have no idea what they want from college enroll in pricey Universities that really won't offer them anything beyond want a community college would.  As someone who has been involved in the University system for over a decade, much of the prestige of a University is based on its research activities, something you are unlikely to be involved with as a Freshman or Sophomore or even an undergraduate at all unless you are very, very ambitious.  Year one of college you are going to be learning the likes college composition I and calculus I, and you aren't likely to take anything more away from classes like these when they are taught at Harvard instead of community college, and community college might even do a better job teaching these subjects as the professors won't be involved in research that they think is more important than you.  Now once you get to junior and senior level courses that are highly technical in nature then having access to the best minds of a high ranking University matters, but that only does you good if you actually bother to enroll in such courses (I am talking things like special relativity and quantum mechanics here).  If you are taking softball courses just to get your degree, having the best and the brightest available as instructors doesn't matter if all your interested in taking are courses like "Chemistry in Modern Life".

 

So much like anything else you only get out of college what you put into it.  I know from personal experience that their are numerous bullshit courses available that can be used in place of calculus, chemistry and physics for general education requirements (not really familiar with how to cop-out of other general ed requirements because I never specialized in those areas), and anyone who is taking them is essentially robing themselves of part of the education they are paying for.  Take real college courses and even if you don't end up using them in your future career, you will have at least learned something and your life will be richer for it.

 

So basically unless you already have a very clear plan on what your going to be doing or have some awesome scholarships, community college and in-state universities are the way to go.  If you discover you are particularly talented in one area, you can often attend a better university as a graduate student, where the university's expertise  and reputation will matter far more, and where financial assistance actually becomes easier to acquire.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Twilight Dirac

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

That video was pretty hilarious and pretty accurate.  I got a general transfer Associates degree from a community college with the intent of going on for a Bachelors in Education to become a teacher.  But I didn't get accepted into the Bachelors program, so an adviser suggested that I get some other Bachelors and try to get into their Masters in Teaching program later.  I got a Bachelors in Social Science, which was pretty much making up my own degree.  I took classes in Psychology, Human Development, and English.  After that I was a little tired of school, so I did not to try for the Masters right away.  But after being out of work for a while, and then only being able to get a low-paying job that didn't even require a degree, I decided to do the Masters in Teaching.  Five years since getting my certification, I've had no luck finding a full-time teaching position.  I have only been a substitute teacher, which causes me a lot of stress and anxiety.  And more recently, I have started working part-time for a tutoring company.  Since I lived on student loans the whole time I was in school, I have more than 80 thousand dollars in debt that I have not even started paying back yet.

[Tameless 979]

I agree.

 

I was interested in college but I don't want to be in debt or struggle finding a job. It's so hard nowadays.

[Countess Noodle 607]

Currently transferring from one community college to another and wouldn't you know it, I'm already getting screwed over.  People losing my confirmation numbers, jerking me around by not telling me wtf happened, website that was supposed to send in application said they did and yet the college never received it. If I don't get into college this spring I'm gonna have to learn my shit on the internet through trial and error. I'm so sick of this shit.

Edited December 12, 2014 by NoodleBrony

[cuteycindyhoney 13,295]

My father told me he'd put me through any school I wanted. This thread is making me even more confidant that I made the right choice and said "No thank you." College is not for everyone, after all. People often think I went to college because I read so much. Most of the time I let them think it!

[Zoraxe 546]

Just wondering but should I get a Spanish or English degree? Which is more useful? Since I'm forced to go through with my two-year college, I at least want to try and learn something useful. I would like to teach English someday if possible.

 

In regards to Spanish, if you live in the US there's plenty of native Spanish speakers in the US and a whole Spanish speaking world just south of the border. As a degree it might not be very competitive. It all comes down to what you expect your degree to do for you.

 

The only thing I can honestly say that sucks about my current college experience is the fact that there is a mandatory "Liberal Studies Elective" which is total load of bollocks. Why would I ever need to consider wicker weaving when stabilizing a nuclear power plant? 

 

Liberal arts electives for STEM degrees exist for the same reason math courses are required for Liberal Arts degrees. Education is about broader understanding of the world and expanding the mind, not just career training. And if taking an ethics class or a humanities or English or something artistic or whatever in Engineering than that's good.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

My father told me he'd put me through any school I wanted. This thread is making me even more confidant that I made the right choice and said "No thank you." College is not for everyone, after all. People often think I went to college because I read so much. Most of the time I let them think it!

You're pretty lucky then. Basically with my dad the idea that I would do anything except go straight to college and not stop till I had a degree was inconceivable.

 

When I look back, I was really not disciplined or mature enough for college right out of High School, but I was not really given a choice in the matter. So now I'm a nearly thirty year old college drop out with no real experience or marketable skills in an economy where good jobs are very scarce.

 

Whoo!

 

The fact that I had a huge nervous breakdown that I'm still recovering from and that makes me nearly unable to leave the house seems to make a lot of sense when I think about it that way.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Andaasonsan

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

I was interested in college but I don't want to be in debt or struggle finding a job. 

 

 

 

Regardless of whether you go to college, I don't know of any way to avoid struggling to find a job these days.

[GXPBlast 597]

Regardless of whether you go to college, I don't know of any way to avoid struggling to find a job these days.

 

 

It sucks even more when you cant find a job if someone majors in very niche fields like in religious or cultural studies major to have racked up tens of thousands in debt lol.

[SilverDusk 43]

I've always been a firm believer in college being a complete waste of time 90% of the time. If you're studying medicine, law, sciences, etc. It makes total sense to continue your education. But so many people today go to college because they think they just have to, and for those people its a waste of time. Sure you get the "college experience" but you can meet people and get drunk anywhere else without going years in debt paying off student loans.

 

If you enjoy college, by all means enjoy yourself. But don't go to school/force yourself to stay in school if you don't honestly belive its nessissary for your career path. Because once you start working, your career history is going to carry alot more weight than your degree. My advice for life is:

 

• Get a job, even a minimum wage "burger flipping" job. And do that job with 1000% effort.
• Get a second job if possible
• Save, Save, Save
• Seriously, Saveeeeeeeeee
• Eventually better opportunities will open up to you, take those opportunities and ride them.

 

In my experience personally, that route is much better off then college.