College

[Pwnbroker]

Anybody else here spend 30k+ to find out that what they went to school for just isn't what they want to do? I'm on the verge of graduating with an associates degree in programming, and I think what I want to do is be a chemist instead. What should I do? Work a programming job for a couple of years and make enough money to pay off my student loans then go back to school?

I'm thinking the purpose of school is to propel you through a career in a field so you can burn out early and go into a totally different field before you're 30. College is only there to hasten the end result. What's your thoughts?

 

[BigJ]

You paid $30k to get an associates?

Find a cheaper school.

 

[FoBoT]

get a degree to get a job to get some money

 

[RallyMaster]

the purpose is to teach you that you should have used "its" in your topic summary.

 

[JungleMan1]

I'm with BigJ. Here's a bright idea: Figure out what you want to do, then spend money and time on a degree. Get a degree that you can get a job with, too. Programming and chemistry are both good, but some of these music and arts majors ramble on all day about how they want to "do what they love" but usually end up waiting tables out of college. I dont think that's what they had in mind.

Also, often times the degree is not so much about what you majored in but the fact that you're smart/dedicated enough to make it through college. That's why so many people end up doing stuff that isn't really related to what they studied.

 

[shuttleboi]

Isn't an Associates degree what you get from a community college (which are usually pretty dirt cheap)?

 

[ShotgunSteven]

These days, their purpose is to teach kids the crap they didn't learn in high school because the teachers were too busy teaching them what wonderful, unique, and special snowflakes they all are.

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: shuttleboi
Isn't an Associates degree what you get from a community college (which are usually pretty dirt cheap)?

Yes, I'd say 3k a semester, no more.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: amdskip

Originally posted by: shuttleboi
Isn't an Associates degree what you get from a community college (which are usually pretty dirt cheap)?

Yes, I'd say 3k a semester, no more.

The local CC (ranked 2nd nationally for CC colleges, so it's at least decent) was only $3,400/year. The 4 year school I'm at now is only $5300/year.

 

[masshass81]

I'm loving my BS in Business Admin. I landed a job in accounting. Within 8 months, I was promoted to a higher level than most of the other people in my department that have been with the company for years. They're not going far because they don't degrees, or what they call "paper" hahahahhaha They crack me up!

It's pretty much what jungleman1 said..

 

[shuttleboi]

What's a well-known listing for community college rankings? I searched for it, but many different rankings came up.

 

[Pwnbroker]

Well, thing is, it's taken me nearly 10 years to get that associates. Not that I'm stupid mind you, but I'm that special snowflake. I was 6 months away from getting my associates and landed a job. Job was too much so I took time off school and they dropped the degree I was working on, so I would have had to basically start from scratch to continue going to that school. That was 18k in debt. Then I went to a community college for a year and found out it sucked. Then I went to a private business college and now I'm nearly there, and nearly burned out. What I really want to do is quit my job I have now and be Mr. Mom. I have 2 kids and 1 on the way, so that's not really an option. Also, my wife has a double degree and her debt is added to mine, so together we both have over 50k in student loans.

Oh, and thank you Rally Master, I'm the one who is usually correcting other people's grammar. I need that shot of humility, much obliged.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: shuttleboi
What's a well-known listing for community college rankings? I searched for it, but many different rankings came up.

http://dev.ccweek.com/news/templates/pdfs/Top100/2006/CCW-Top100-AS.pdf

Looks like they're at #3. (Nassau Community College)

 

[Goosemaster]

The purpose of an education, especially a college one, is enlightenment, for the benefit of oneself, and the benefit of the whole.

as if

 

[FleshLight]

I think it goes something like this:

Elementary/Middle School: Very broad concepts like motor development, grammar, general history, spatial development, arithmetic, reading comprehension, cultural awareness etc
High School: More specialized concepts like geometry, foreign language, us history, poetic analysis
College: Specialized stuff like ocean biogeochemistry, mechanics of materials, fourier analysis

So basically college is the top of the pyramid except you learn a lot of useless crap like equilibrium reactions, chain rule, and rhetoric.

 

[everman]

Undergrad is for getting into post-graduate programs such as a masters, phd, md, jd, mba, dds, etc. Depending on what you do, there can be a significant pay increase for many of them.

 

[Pwnbroker]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
The purpose of an education, especially a college one, is enlightenment, for the benefit of oneself, and the benefit of the whole.

as if

Yeah, idealistically. But, if you have an Economics teacher like I had, you learn the real purpose of school. It's to increase their stock price. And to do that, they have to get students into the school. And to get students in to the school, they have to have a high graduation rate, relatively, of course. And to have a high graduation rate, they have to dumb down the curriculum. And, of course, we all know what dumbing down the curriculum does. Well, I guess this wouldn't apply to a community college would it. I did learn a few things in college, but I just have too many doubts about whether I'll get very far in a programming career; especially in my area of the country. Tech jobs here are scarce and low-paying.

 

[dr150]

Think of college as a Union Card to get your foot into the door.

You're no smarter than you were in high school, but you now have the paper to say that you jump the hoop set by the system.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: Pwnbroker
Anybody else here spend 30k+ to find out that what they went to school for just isn't what they want to do? I'm on the verge of graduating with an associates degree in programming, and I think what I want to do is be a chemist instead. What should I do? Work a programming job for a couple of years and make enough money to pay off my student loans then go back to school?

I'm thinking the purpose of school is to propel you through a career in a field so you can burn out early and go into a totally different field before you're 30. College is only there to hasten the end result. What's your thoughts?

I spent 7 years full time & 2 years parttime in post secondary institutions and hated my IT job that I was in for 5 years. Currently I'm still paying back the loan for my education by working in the trades.

Complete you education then gravitate to the field that you want to get into. It require some work but it is possible to take 3-9 credits per semester while you are employ.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: masshass81
I'm loving my BS in Business Admin. I landed a job in accounting. Within 8 months, I was promoted to a higher level than most of the other people in my department that have been with the company for years. They're not going far because they don't degrees, or what they call "paper" hahahahhaha They crack me up!

It's pretty much what jungleman1 said..

Wow!

A BS in business get you that far....around here it would land you a job flipping burgers at McD.

 

[Pwnbroker]

I guess ULTIMATELY, college is our countries slave labor camp. We train to be good dogs, so the country is ensured that they have a labor force. Otherwise, why would they set the cost of education so high and let so many people get so many loans. If college was for enlightenment, they would require you to pay in advance, because then they would know you were doing it in a purposeful manner, not just to get a lousy piece of paper.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I am about to graduate college and i think i have a pretty clear view of what its for, and its pretty much the same view I had going in. College is not for everyone, its not for people who hate school, and its not for people that want jobs that they dont need this piece of paper for. College is a place where you can figure out what you want to do, learn about some general subjects, the topic you like, and life in general. It might sound like bull ****** but college does help you grow up (if you use your time correctly) and become a more rounded person. On the topic of careers. For certain majors like Engineering, Computer Science, Accounting and so on...yeah the major matters, but for the most part the major isnt a huge deal. Yeah if you want to be a business guy ya a business major is gonna help..but it doesnt mean you cant get into an MBA program or get into business. Its just that first foot in the door that you need and that could just be knowing someone in the business to help you out. My dad graduated with a pysc degree and my mom graduated with a english teaching degree. My dad has been just about as high up as you can get in corporate america finance, and my mom owns here very succesful Jewelry store. Both TOTALLY unrelated to what they went to undergrad school for.

I think college is more of a test to see if you can teach yourself and get ****** done. While some majors are easier then others, getting it all done and not giving up and taking the easy way out shows something. By far the greatest skill i've learning in college is how to learn fast, and teach myself.

oh and spending 30k on an associates seems crazy to me.
I am graduating with a four year degree and its prob going to end up to be about 36k...total. While I am not at an Ivy league school..I will be graduating with zero debt

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven
These days, their purpose is to teach kids the crap they didn't learn in high school because the teachers were too busy teaching them what wonderful, unique, and special snowflakes they all are.

Amen

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Pwnbroker
I guess ULTIMATELY, college is our countries slave labor camp. We train to be good dogs, so the country is ensured that they have a labor force. Otherwise, why would they set the cost of education so high and let so many people get so many loans. If college was for enlightenment, they would require you to pay in advance, because then they would know you were doing it in a purposeful manner, not just to get a lousy piece of paper.

Uhh many people can get 4 year degrees from public institutions for less than a grand total of $25k. With CC and transferring to a 4 year, you can knock that down to $16k. Then with Federal Work Study and scholarships, you reduce the cost even more.

Nobody has to go to college. There are plenty of trades that make great money that don't require a degree, and people that have even a little drive can get promoted through retail to make decent money after getting into management positions.

 

[Pwnbroker]

I make more as a peon doing user support than my wife who is a manager at a retail store. Degree or not has no bearing on what the future holds for you. If you have charisma, charm, and even looks, plus drive and confidence, the world is yours. For the rest of us who have no direction and too much baggage, we are the world.