Should I Get Back Into School?

[TellerMorrow34]

College is overrated. I'd be making even MORE money now if I hadn't gone to college and just got a decent job and moved up. Now, I know some old **** is going to quote this and tell me how dumb I am, but I don't care. College is overrated.

I'm not going to but the work force is going to tell you just that.

More and more often you see jobs requiring at the very least some college if not a degree of some sort to even look at you.

I guess if you want to work McDonalds or in construction or something like that (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with these jobs, BTW, so don't think I'm saying they're terrible jobs) then people more and more often better start thinking very seriously about getting college in or they're going to find that their options are becoming less and less.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Shoot. Let me say something. I graduated in the bottom 10% of my class. I went to parties, drank, had lots of "girlfriends"... and I waited 10 years to go back to school because I was making plenty of money after I graduated. The market was hot, but things soon changed. But through the good years I partied because I could afford to. I got by on my personality and the fact I like to chat, so I was in sales for most of my young, adult life.

At 27, I got sober.

Later I enrolled in community college, took some remedial math classes to get up to par, and aced everything else I touched. So I ended up with a 3.9 at ACC.

Then I transferred to UT-Austin. There I found so many genius people and professors that it started rubbing off on me. I started thinking in different ways, seeing the whole world quite differently. The more you hang around smart people, the smarter you'll be....

So make education a priority. I still have a shot at a law degree. Obviously, my life has had some ups and downs. But it doesn't all suck. And that's mostly because I like to learn. Life is to short not to learn all you can.

My advice is get your diploma as fast as you can and just get into college. You seem like a bright kid.

This is how I feel, I absolutely love learning.

 

[theogt]

As a medical student, trust me when I say that you absolutely must learn the basics prior to medical school. They expect you to know basic biology, biochemistry, cell biology, etc. and operate on the assumption that you know it from day one. I would have been absolutely lost my first year without a very thorough knowledge of the undergrad sciences.

And statistics show that students who study in certain fields as undergrads perform better in law school.

Success is business fields is helped greatly by a graduate degree in business, and there's a reason that the business programs at schools like UT and A&M are so coveted and competative.

I have about a half dozen close friends who have been through med school. They're take has been that you can do just fine having taken the basic requirements.

I'd wager that every single person who's been to law school in the past 20 years would agree that there's not a single college course that's necessary for law school. Certain people may be predisposed to wanting to succeed in law school and those people may take certain types of classes in college. But nothing prepares you for law school.

Again, LOL @ business. You can try to switch your argument to grad business school, but this discussion was exclusively about college. Of course grad schools are helpful. That's precisely where you should be learning something useful.

 

[burmafrd]

my advice (which is worth what you pay for it) is to get your GED and enlist in either the Air Force or Navy. You will learn discipline and structure; and time to save money and think about things. And being in either one of them there is very little risk you will ever be anywhere near a combat zone.

 

[Future]

Hmm....I disagree. Unless you're an engineer, no one goes to college to learn anything particularly helpful in their career. The goal for college is simply to get into the best college you can get into (so you can have prettier resume) and then somehow manage to grow up and become an adult (barely) by the time it's over. The problem for most kids nowadays is that when they're 22 they still act like they're 16, so they're virtually unemployable or when they do get a job they screw it up and have no chance of upward mobility. This is largely because they've been told from day 1 that they're special and they can do whatever they put their mind to (not actually being told that "putting their mind to it" actually means really hard work and endless dedication/drive).

:laugh2: Wow, i disagreed with almost every single one of those sentences lol

 

[theogt]

:laugh2: Wow, i disagreed with almost every single one of those sentences lol

That doesn't mean any of them were wrong, of course.

 

[Future]

That doesn't mean any of them were wrong, of course.

Well I mean depends on what you study and maybe where you go. But I think the vast majority of fields prepare you for a job...not just engineering.

English majors go on to teach English
Journalist majors work for news papers
TV/Radio people go into tv/radio
Digital art majors do graphic design
Accounting majors turn into accountants

That's a really general list, but I think you get the jist.

 

[Doomsday]

Most people change careers at least 3 times over the course of their lives. In my opinion having a degree is more important than what the degree is in. Mainly because your upward mobility is limited without one.

Obviously some careers require specialized degrees but that is more the exception in my opinion.

Some one with a business major who is good at graphic design and gets experience in that field can be just as successful as some one with a degree in digital arts. You can only learn so much in school, they dont teach cognitive learning skills that are essential to be successful in the real world.

As a small business owner I would rather higher some one with little experience who loves doing something and is willing to learn than some one who views their skill as a means to an ends. If you are passionate about something you are usually driven to be successful at it.

 

[Hoofbite]

If you are home schooled now and are doing well and think that you will have more problems when you go back to public school you should stay home schooled. As for playing sports, you can still play HS basketball with your local high school. It is your parents rights as a tax payer to that school district to allow you to be in extra curricular activities.

I think Cajun is right on this one.

I remember home-school kids coming into the school to do various sports and such back in high school.

DO NOT JUST QUIT TO GET A GED!

If you do that shows potential colleges that you don't have what it takes to complete something and future employer the same.

Colleges care about tuition.

This so reminds me of a George Carlin quote.

"That's what they do in a lot of schools now, they lower the passing grades so more kids can pass. More kids pass. The school looks good. Everybody's happy. The IQ of the country slips another 2 or 3 points and pretty soon all you'll need to get into college is a ****ing pencil.

Got a pencil? Get the **** in there, it's physics."

You can get accepted with a GED. A kid in my graduating class flat out dropped out and enrolled in a good college a few weeks later. Of course, going to high school for him was a waste of his time because he was so smart and waiting out the year and a half wasn't something he wanted to do.

He'll get into college if he gets a GED. May not be some grand college but you can get into a CC and take some of the basic prereqs and then go from there.

 

[Hoofbite]

Most people change careers at least 3 times over the course of their lives. In my opinion having a degree is more important than what the degree is in. Mainly because your upward mobility is limited without one.

Obviously some careers require specialized degrees but that is more the exception in my opinion.

Some one with a business major who is good at graphic design and gets experience in that field can be just as successful as some one with a degree in digital arts. You can only learn so much in school, they dont teach cognitive learning skills that are essential to be successful in the real world.

As a small business owner I would rather higher some one with little experience who loves doing something and is willing to learn than some one who views their skill as a means to an ends. If you are passionate about something you are usually driven to be successful at it.

Bingo.

Unless you work for a very small successful company or own your own company, you'll always take the slow track when it comes to moving up. Almost anyone with a degree with get higher consideration because of the degree regardless of how successful and hard working you are.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Most people change careers at least 3 times over the course of their lives. In my opinion having a degree is more important than what the degree is in. Mainly because your upward mobility is limited without one.

Obviously some careers require specialized degrees but that is more the exception in my opinion.

Some one with a business major who is good at graphic design and gets experience in that field can be just as successful as some one with a degree in digital arts. You can only learn so much in school, they dont teach cognitive learning skills that are essential to be successful in the real world.

As a small business owner I would rather higher some one with little experience who loves doing something and is willing to learn than some one who views their skill as a means to an ends. If you are passionate about something you are usually driven to be successful at it.

Your upward mobility is limited only by you.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Yes, absolutely go to school.

Some things in life are complicated, but this isn't one of them. Get into the best school you can. Then once you're in, make the best grades you can.

Don't listen to any naysayers you know who may try to dissuade you. Just do it.