College: a Socialist Perspective

[Rocky]

Back when I was a youngun, I was taught again and again to "go to college or else you will be living off the streets!", or something to that nature. However, is it really that important to attend college and to get a degree?

My cousin is extremely smart and graduated from college last year (with honors) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He interned for a year, then found an entry level job in his field. Great success right?! Well, turns out that the company did layoffs, so guess who got the cut, yeah he did. With his bright mind and all, his counselors/teachers/parents/etc encouraged him towards what he wanted to do, which was in engineering, and now my cousin can't even find work within his career field anymore, so he became a farmhand for my uncle and his family. The only thing is, my uncle doesn't owe a shitload of money to the government for student loans, etc. Is it really fair to my cousin who spent time getting a college degree to be making the same that my other cousins are, when my other cousins chose to not attend college? With the economy so bad, he can't find a job within his field anymore, simply because there are people halfway around the world that are willing to do what he does, except at below the US poverty level. Bluntly put, he got screwed.

The fact that many people to college makes the kids think they have a surefire shot to land a cushy job in whatever their degree allows them to do. However, students don't understand that college isn't about getting good grades. It's all about networking, getting yourself in the door, etc. My cousin firsthand realized that even with all of his college training, it couldn't prepare him lifelong eternal unemployment because it prepares you for an ideal world that doesn't exist. Sad, but true.

My question still stands, is it truely important to go to college? Many people chose not to, and still make a comfortable lifestyle for themselves. Do people go to college for the wrong reasons? Is there something wrong with our education system? Is there something wrong with Globalization?

I have brought up many great points for you all to discuss because I'm amazing irl and on tff, so please feel free to give your input.

[loaf]

I DIDN'T GO TO COLLEGE AND LOOK AT ME.

If the economy wasn't bad he would have a job, most of us would. Most of all the problems in this country is because of the economy. I've been unemployed since September, I look at least every day if not every other day for work....still nothing.

Go to college if you want, it's all your own choice now IMO.

[kupo]

with the economy how it is today, it dosen't seem to matter if you went to college or not. i know people who either never went to or never finished college who are quite successful and had a great paying job. i mean, really, if one expects to get a cushy job because they have "college graduate" on their resume they're way too optimistic.

B It's all about networking, getting yourself in the door, etc.

i think you pretty much hit the nail on the head there. college is all about exploring your options and making connections. im going to use my personal experience as an example - in college i was a film major with a photography minor. in the film business its all about having your connections....thats just about the only way you can land yourself a job. on the last day of class the head of the dept. handed all the graduating seniors a list of contact info of former students of his that have gone on to be successful in the film industry (indie or major productions) so we can get our foot in the door and make a living.

Do people go to college for the wrong reasons

some. all of us who have been through/currently in college have seen the students that are only there because 1. they want out of their parents house and they feel like this is the only way or 2. PARRRTAAAAAYY by the time their in their sophmore year they get a swift kick in the bum from reality when they get kicked out for failing too many classes.

[Jin]

Sorry, where's the socialist perspective?

Anyways, the idea that university is only for the sake of improving one's eventual salary is bull crap in my opinion. I'm incredibly biased, of course - I'm a history major that will likely never make a good wage - but I still think it's crap. Maybe it isn't the same for someone taking science or commerce courses, but my eventual salary, or lack thereof, can never take away from what I've learned studying history. It has been instrumental in getting me where I am today on my intellectual journey, corny as that sounds. The way in which I see the world I owe in no small part to what I've learned by going to university and in the end, that's all that matters to me.

But yes, these things can be learned elsewhere. There's certainly no objective proper way to move in one's intellectual journey, so university isn't a necessity, but it is an opportunity to be exposed to other viewpoints and worldviews. That's its most important contribution to one's life, I think, not improving the prospects of one's future salary. Granted, the comfortable middle class kid may change his tune when faced with actual financial responsibilities, but I don't think I'll ever regret it.

[Furore]

When a person is resourceful and can do their research, college is just one path to making a good deal of money. There are many avenues towards making big money open to people who haven't gone to college but people have to show the initiative and look into them.

Shit, I didn't go to college and am making over a couple grand some weeks.

[RagnaToad]

If you go to college, you just have more choice. If you study to be an engineer, you could become an engineer, but you could also still do other jobs people without college degrees have. So theoretically speaking, more education means more freedom to choose.

I disagree college is about networking though. It is about learning, whether to increase your chance of getting a job you want, or because you are genuinely interested in something.

So I fully agree with Jin's post. University offers more than a possible higher salary.

I think society pushes its members too much sometimes to do certain things a certain way, but there is usually a logical reason for it. Parents want their child to be happy and education can be seen as a means to increase your chances of being happy.

[Sean]

Meh....

I wasted time and money to get halfway to a degree in Culinary Arts before I realized that

A. I was better at my job and the coursework than the people who already graduated from the program.

B. It wouldn't get me more money in the field.

C. Culinary graduates were, overall, a looked down upon bunch for being, stereotypically, stuck up, egotistical ****wits with little-to-no working knowledge and more often than not had their applications tossed out upon initial receipt.


So in that particular field, I capped off at $28,000/yr, which is where my buddy, an amazing chef in his own right, with his 6 years of college and $70,000 student loan debt with an associates in culinary arts and a bachelors in hotel and restaurant management finds himself; making $28,000 a year.

So for culinary; no. College is not necessary.

I've been attempting to break into the IT field, since I'm close to finishing my associates, but finding it harder and harder to without 3+ years of experience in the field or a Bachelor's degree, so in the case of the industry I want to switch to; College is necessary.

Just from my standpoint.

[Unknown Entity]

I want to go to University. I really do, even though my mother isn't convinced I do. But I look at the whole concept as trouble waiting to happen, or something that will help, but certainly will **** me over in some form later on.

I've already been messed about enough being at college (UK college - not the university Americans call college). The name of my course has been changed many times, some of the units have been stolen from other courses (we're a software development class, but one unit is for a media class... wtf), and my tutor failed to tell my class that some top universities don't take BTEC students. If I'd been told that, I'd have picked A-Levels instead.

If I do go to uni, I'll have to take out a loan. Which I don't want to do, namely because there's not even a guarantee I'll have a job at the end of it - in this climate, people are looking for experience, and not necessarily qualifications. Besides, if you can get somewhere because of your experience, then all the more for you - some qualifications are too easy to get.

So chances are, I won't get to see an experience at university, but I'm not worried. I know many friends and relatives who didn't go, and they're leading happy lives and enjoy the job they have. Who says you need to go to uni to get a job when you can get one without going? Someone needs to explain that to my mother...

[Rhaps]

I think it all depends on the career path, like with Sean's example, culinary didn't really require one, but in my situation it's completely different. I aspire to become a Neurological Surgeon. Hence, I'm going to have to be in school for close to 12 years of my life. The program I'm in will knock two years of college out of that, but I'm still going to need a lot of college work to prepare for this. I really hope that transfers and scholarships work ok. Anyway, in some cases, especially in this economy, most jobs want experience and not bookwork, while some need just the opposite. So, college is highly vital to me, but not others.

[Maridia]

It all depends on what you want to do. My father made it a big deal to go to college. But in reality I don't fully know what I want so how can someone say to just go out blindly ad blow a few grand. Most people who don't know just go for communications. Kinda like all professional athletes haha. Personally I'd rather wait til i find something I truly want to engross myself with before I get into it.

And I love music but as in writing and playing it, not enough to try to play in a ****ing school band or anything. Those people are the biggest dweebs you could imagine. It all depends the situation.

I do agree people think that just cause they have a degree it's easy street. I've met alot of people who had harder times getting jobs cause then lesser jobs wouldn't hire them since they knew the job would be temporary til they could find something better.

[DragonHeart]

It may not be necessary for what you want to do but it never hurts to have multiple options. The problem I'm running into right now is that I never went to college and thus have no degree. I can't find even a half-decent job and the one I have now is literally the bottom of the barrel in terms of pay and benefits. That is why I'm going to enroll, hopefully this year. I don't know what I want to do but anything is better than what I'm doing right now. A degree isn't a ticket to easy street, it's a tool for getting to where you want to be. Besides, if nothing else I'd rather be doing a job I hate for good money than doing something else I hate for basically no money, as is the case right now.

~DragonHeart~

[Heartless Angel]

College is definitely an advantage, but not really nescessary. Connections mean more than education in the working world anymore. My first job was at a restaraunt not too far from here. It was a great place to work, fairly high-end establishment, meant high tips most of the time. Everybody knew this, and so at any given time like 10 people were looking for jobs there. I'd never worked a day in my life before this place, yet I got the job over like, 6 other people who'd worked in other restaraunts. Why? Because at least half of the people working there were friends of minew ho recommended me. Does education HELP? Yes, absolutely. But it's not the make or break point of success. It's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know that matters.

[che]

In the US at least, a college degree can increase the salary you start out at. But people are still looking for experience. A degree without experience can be worthless to some employers. I've also seen places where experience is worthless as employers want you to prove that you have a degree. For specific jobs, like becoming a teacher, it requires a certain education and a teaching license, so without a college degree you would never get that job.

So it just depends on your options, and what kind of job you want to do. At least that's how it is in the US.

The best option is to work while going to school, preferably in the starting position of the field you want to get into. Some employers may even pay for your school.

I've seen plenty of people grab jobs with higher salaries than people who went to college. I see people say this all the time, and I think it's a dumb way to look at things. Sometimes people are paying for that college degree to do a job that requires one, even if it's less pay. Because at the end of the day, it's not entirely on how much money you make, it's about coming home from work and being satisfied instead of depressed.