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College / University Graduates - Do you Regret Ever Going?

Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky

Frumious Bandersnatch
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Do you regret going to college/university? If so WHY? If not then WHY?

I'm completely in the middle on this one because I took a Bachelors in Business Management and Marketing. Completely outdated course and basically useless.

However, those 4 years of my life were some of the best. I made friendships that still hold extremely strong to this day (10 years later).

BUT, I had a fucking huge student loan to pay off, which if I had sent that money on self-education would have taken me much further much quicker.

What's your opinion and if you're at college now are you thinking its worth it or not?
 
I went to university back in 1959-1963, paid my own way working nights and summers, got a solid engineering degree.

It was well worth my time and money, but I got a useful degree. Spending money on a literature or philosophy degree would have been much less useful. Friendships and contacts were really important, much more than I anticipated. I still get job offering even though I am well past retirement. I was never out of a job unless I felt like being a bum at the time.

The only suggestions I have to people:

1) Don't take out a loan on a degree unless it's one that pays off in increased job opportunities. One of the most important skill set one gets at higher education is the ability to teach oneself and do solid research. Once you have this skill you can learn whatever other studies you fancy at your own pace for little or no cost because you don't require certification in order to benefit from continual learning unless it is required in one's particular career. So get the one that pays more for certification and learn literature or philosophy later with no certification.

2) If you don't like school for some reason or another, consider entering into a trade apprenticeship. A good trade is as good or better than a degree.
 
Cheshire_Kat said:
I went to university back in 1959-1963, paid my own way working nights and summers, got a solid engineering degree.

It was well worth my time and money, but I got a useful degree. Spending money on a literature or philosophy degree would have been much less useful. Friendships and contacts were really important, much more than I anticipated. I still get job offering even though I am well past retirement. I was never out of a job unless I felt like being a bum at the time.

The only suggestions I have to people:

1) Don't take out a loan on a degree unless it's one that pays off in increased job opportunities. One of the most important skill set one gets at higher education is the ability to teach oneself and do solid research. Once you have this skill you can learn whatever other studies you fancy at your own pace for little or no cost because you don't require certification in order to benefit from continual learning unless it is required in one's particular career. So get the one that pays more for certification and learn literature or philosophy later with no certification.

2) If you don't like school for some reason or another, consider entering into a trade apprenticeship. A good trade is as good or better than a degree.
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Awesome your degree worked in your favour. I see fucking crazy degrees out there now. i think at one point in the UK there was a bachelor's degree you could take on 'David Beckham Studies'.

I think college/university degrees have their place 100%. Doctors as one example, and there are quite a few more where if you want to pursue that career you need a degree.

I'd say a really solid take home for people that are currently at college or university is surround yourself with the right people.

My first yeah I had 13% attendance, I literally spent time with a huge group of friends that weren't even on my course, we went out every night, smoked weed every day etc (usual college shit). Luckily the University gave me a second change and allowed me to take 1 year to basically retake the exams and write papers I literally didn't do because I didn't even now we had the exams or papers.

So I made it my mission the second I walked in that door on the first day of class (now completely different people because at this point I'm a year behind) to instantly make friends. Best thing I ever did. I got lucky in finding fucking hard workers but also liked to have fun when we had time (prioritisation!).

These guys are still some of my best friends to date and enabled me to get such a high standard of degree. Without them, I probably would have either quit or gotten kicked out.

The self learning part I completely agree with so much, this will help you in life to the end of your time. The ability to be able to learn is such an insane resource that many don't even think about.
 
Throwdown said:
Do you regret going to college/university? If so WHY? If not then WHY?

I'm completely in the middle on this one because I took a Bachelors in Business Management and Marketing. Completely outdated course and basically useless.

However, those 4 years of my life were some of the best. I made friendships that still hold extremely strong to this day (10 years later).

BUT, I had a fucking huge student loan to pay off, which if I had sent that money on self-education would have taken me much further much quicker.

What's your opinion and if you're at college now are you thinking its worth it or not?
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Interesting topic. For similar reasons, I am really happy I completed an undergraduate degree but not for the book learning aspect. I also made lifelong friends from being an athlete and even still have contact with one of my favorite professors 20 years later. I was on full academic scholarship plus had jobs, so didn't take out loans. I also enjoyed being exposed to mind expanding substances and other students from all over the globe. My favorite experience was study abroad where I spent a summer in central Mexico in a language immersion program. I changed majors so often that once I did finish, my degree was a BA in interdisciplinary studies (Spanish, Anthropology, Business Administration).

My big regret is when I went to grad school, I paid completely with loans :( We were actually advised by a professor to not work jobs in order to focus on studies and to take out loans. Big mistake. Although my Masters is in anthropology, which is relatively useless outside of academia, it's the debilitating loan debt that has held me back the most. The things I learned in grad school however, have helped me immensely. Like how to read and write properly, how to do research, critical thinking, how to teach, and even tutoring undergrads on how to write. If I had it to do over, I would not have taken out any loans. Also, if I had known I wasn't going to build a career in academia, I prolly wouldn't have gone to grad school at all. But life happens and things change. Que sera, sera.
 
Jerry Atrick said:
Interesting topic. For similar reasons, I am really happy I completed an undergraduate degree but not for the book learning aspect. I also made lifelong friends from being an athlete and even still have contact with one of my favorite professors 20 years later. I was on full academic scholarship plus had jobs, so didn't take out loans. I also enjoyed being exposed to mind expanding substances and other students from all over the globe. My favorite experience was study abroad where I spent a summer in central Mexico in a language immersion program. I changed majors so often that once I did finish, my degree was a BA in interdisciplinary studies (Spanish, Anthropology, Business Administration).

My big regret is when I went to grad school, I paid completely with loans :( We were actually advised by a professor to not work jobs in order to focus on studies and to take out loans. Big mistake. Although my Masters is in anthropology, which is relatively useless outside of academia, it's the debilitating loan debt that has held me back the most. The things I learned in grad school however, have helped me immensely. Like how to read and write properly, how to do research, critical thinking, how to teach, and even tutoring undergrads on how to write. If I had it to do over, I would not have taken out any loans. Also, if I had known I wasn't going to build a career in academia, I prolly wouldn't have gone to grad school at all. But life happens and things change. Que sera, sera.
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The study abroad sounds fucking awesome!

Yeah the loan aspect of it is obviously almost debilitating for some later on in life. In the UK things were a bit different, Universities were capped at how much they could charge per semester (I think it was either 1k or 3k but pretty sure it was around 1k), and there is 3 semesters per year. So the total for actual loan for my degree was around 12-15k. BUT I had to get what we can a 'maintenance loan' which basically every semester (or term) they give you a certain amount in order for you to pay rent and live. I worked a fair bit for 2 of my years there (I was there for 4 because I completely fucked up my first year as I was just partying non stop so had to retake). And then the 3rd and 4th years I sold substances that are deemed illegal - note this was 10 years ago and have no connection with that part of it at all.

But the year I finished the government basically lifted the cap on how much universities could charge, and it went fuuuuucking wild, every University at least tripled the price of the teaching. Now I can see it from their point of view. More money coming in means they have more to spend on facilities, lecturers etc. But the amount of debt the students get in now is just ridiculous.

My girlfriend is from the US, and she has crazy loans to pay back still. She lived abroad teaching for 8 years and hasn't been paying anything off (little silly I know). But the interest rates on the US student loans is madness from what I hear.
 
I have never regretted mine. Of course, I studied a major that I am very into, and which landed me a lucrative job (computer science), and I went to an is-state school that didn't cost a lot compared to most, and my parents paid for the majority of it, too, so I do not have any debt. Even if I did have debt, it would have been manageable, considering what I get paid. If I had gone to an expensive school and had to take out loans all by myself, and had gotten a degree I wasn't using, I'm sure I would regret it very much, though.
 
University should be free. It will take me over 25 years at my salary I get to pay off my loans. I got fucked by the system big time.

Do not get loans to study. Its a fucking straight scam they sell to young people who don't know shit about how the world runs and works.

The system is designed to fuck those who don't know shit. If your degree is not going to get you a 6 figure job don't even bother. They don't even teach you shit about running a business in business degrees.

Alot of poor phd's out there, who for whatever idk are so trapped in their insitutional way of thinking never branch out into industry and bootstrap a innovate business.

The entire structure of university needs a massive overhaul for this world its incredibly fucking outdated. They need to be getting people acutal experince, connecting you with industry leaders and developing innoviate design skills and thinking and business skills in all college majors and providing students with way more resources and workshop areas where you just do whatever own projects you want.

Instead you sit in a fucking lecture hall getting taught outdated as fuck ideas and information with some crusty old bastard who may or may not speak english with a heavy foreign accent you can't understand whos broke as fuck and drives a 1991 toyato camry to his work.
 
I regret doing my undergrads and first masters in Italy. I should have moved sooner to Scotland. I had a great time there doing my PhD when I was 26, imagine going there at 19 rather than rotting in my hometown doing smack....back in the days undergraduate degrees in Scotland were even free for EU citizens, but I did not know...anyway grad school really changed my life for the better and gave me a lot of opportunities. I miss Edinburgh more than I miss my hometown .
 
skipjames said:
I regret doing my undergrads and first masters in Italy. I should have moved sooner to Scotland. I had a great time there doing my PhD when I was 26, imagine going there at 19 rather than rotting in my hometown doing smack....back in the days undergraduate degrees in Scotland were even free for EU citizens, but I did not know...anyway grad school really changed my life for the better and gave me a lot of opportunities. I miss Edinburgh more than I miss my hometown .
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What's your PhD in?
 
I earned a BA in Psychology.
Want fries with that?


No, but seriously-- I do not regret going to college at all. My degree may not have helped me career-wise but I didn't attend for the degree, I went for the  college experience.
I generally took classes that sounded interesting to me and I thoroughly enjoyed most of them. I rarely skipped class because class was fun.

I also met all kinds of people from all over the country and from all over the world. That was probably just as educational and enlightening as the classes.

And of course there was the partying. I attended from 1977 to 1982, which were good years for high-quality drugs. Acid was plentiful and cheap (a hit of good blotter cost one dollar), the cocaine was usually fire, hash and opium were always available, really high-grade weed was hitting the market ($35 an oz) and there was NO fentanyl in anything.

Animal House opened in theaters in the summer of '78 and we all embraced the mantra "We can do anything we want. We're college students!"
 
Delmonte421 said:
what did you end of doing other a PhD in philosophy? teach?
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Well it s basically the ONLY thing you can do with it ( I know some people that managed to find a work outside academia or had already a job and just wanted to get a PhD out of intellectual curiosity but the majority of Philosophy Phd´s end up in academia or die trying...)
 
what did they do outside of academia? writers or authors of there own philosophy, is that a thing? im a scientist and I had a close friend who was a philosophy major but he didn't go past a BS.
 
Delmonte421 said:
what did they do outside of academia? writers or authors of there own philosophy, is that a thing? im a scientist and I had a close friend who was a philosophy major but he didn't go past a BS.
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Actually I can only think of two people I know, a guy who was a graphic designer before and during his PhD and now is a graphic designer with a PhD and another one who had a resort ( he did his PhD part time, 6 months studying 6 month taking car of his placet) and was not looking for an academic job anyway. There are some "independent scholars" out there but are generally seen as weirdos- fuck ups .
 
thats funny, is graphic design hot right now? Like corporate graphic design? what does your buddy specifically do? im curiose as I have a friend who is a graphic designer, but he's in management for a large company, that is sinking faster than the titanic and is having a TON of trouble finding work that is equal to there original pay 110K+ a year. Im assuming your friend with a PhD is doing very well for himself/herself if he choose that route, any advice for another graphic designer looking for work?
 
Delmonte421 said:
thats funny, is graphic design hot right now? Like corporate graphic design? what does your buddy specifically do? im curiose as I have a friend who is a graphic designer, but he's in management for a large company, that is sinking faster than the titanic and is having a TON of trouble finding work that is equal to there original pay 110K+ a year. Im assuming your friend with a PhD is doing very well for himself/herself if he choose that route, any advice for another graphic designer looking for work?
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The graphic designer is more an acquaintance , I used to see him around a lot at conferences and stuff when I was still doing my post doc and when I finally landed on a permanent job. he works for a chain of supermarkets here in Brazil , dunno how is doing really and the only job market I know is the academic one (pretty grim at the moment in Europe and in the US, that s why I moved to Brazil....) But @Delmonte421 I have just read that you are from Edinburgh! man I ve been so happy there, freakin amazing place...
 
Definitely but I lucked out .I double majored in History and English . Tried and hated law school and got a Master's in English because it occurred to me that of all the departments at any school English is solely the one all students must pass through. By the time I got my Doctorate the World War Two Generation was retiring I got a job at a tier one university and despite the politics enjoyed the career that I recently retired from . All the while having my fun within set parameters. Undergrad was paid for by family loans and scholarship funds and grad students are slave labor as Teaching Assistants. It wasn't always fun but looking at the toll that the jobs other professionals my age have taken on their minds bodies and spirit I feel fortunate to have had a job that took it's greatest toll on my eyes. It was worth it as it gave me a better life than the majority of us.
 
The short is I don't regret going.
I just wish my graduate institution would do more to help
I had fun especially in undergrad. It just got overwhelming legally with grad school. Too much flack for such petty drama.
My advice, you can go too far, or you can do too much and it can bite you in the ass.
 
I regret all the money I spent on school. Instead, I should have bought the most shitty tear down house in this city when I arrived here in 2006. I would be a multi-millionaire by now and living comfortably.

Instead, I have two degrees, a college diploma, a disability that prevents me from working a normal job, no hope of a good job anyway even if I wasn't disabled, and I live in government housing.
 
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