Anyone feel like college is a waste? Options

[Coomer]

Does anyone here feel like college is a waste of money, time, and effort?

To me, it's seemed like that since before I started. I've now almost got my AA, and I've learned some stuff, but not much that I really care about, and almost nothing that has helped me.

And if I go forward with my plans to go to Central Washington University and get my BA in computer science, I'm sure I'll learn a ton about computer programming and databases and stuff like that. But the problem I see is that I don't want to be a computer programmer or a database engineer.

I want to develop websites, and have my own business doing it.

I've got the knowledge to develop sites now, and what I don't know very well(OOP, ActionScript, etc.) I can learn on my own. I've always been able to learn on my own with the internet or a book, and I actually prefer it to learning in a classroom.

And as far as the business side of things, I'm confident that I can handle that too. I've invested a few hundred dollars over the last couple weeks buying books and such about the subject of web development businesses and business in general. And again, what I don't know, I don't need a class for. I can learn fine from reading.

So yeah, college seems pointless to me. Anyone else feel the same way?

[Drocay]

to be honost i think it feels the same to me sometimes, but then i figure even though it seems like this now it might come in handy.

[creis]

I agree with you coomer, In my current job my boss and the people I work around say that wile a degree is nice, it has no real power, at microsoft all they really care about is certefications and exsperiance, anyone can go to collage and get a degree, I work with people who either have a big degree from a good school, as well as people with no degree, I gata say some of the people there are down right dumb and clueless about computers (hardware and software) I mean clueless, wile others who went the independent rout know a huge deal.

Its all about the want, I want to learn/ go into the same feild your talking about, and taking english and science classes in collage are not gana get me there, If I spent the same amount of money and time buying books I wanted to read I would be far better off. Plus I learn so much faster when I'm the one doing the teaching.

now if only my parents felt the same way.

This post has been edited by creis: May 10, 2005 - 10:52 PM

[darksecret]

I didn't go, I was S-M-R-T so I joined the Marines, yeah college is well worth everything. Especially beer college, j/k.
EDIT: I agree with creis on the computer thing, some of the best programmers are self taught.

This post has been edited by darksecret: May 10, 2005 - 10:54 PM

[Coomer]

Drocay and creis, what careers do you plan to do after college?

And creis, do you parents force you to go to college? Mine don't; They want me to go, but it's my choice.

[Drocay]

my field is computers too, i think i won't go with full BA , once i get my MCSE and some other certs i'll be done. a guy who graduated with same degree i'm going for Network Security Managment is making 65k a year first year out with associates degree working for lockheed, the school got him the job as well as 6-10 others.

[97sccelica]

i see GE classes as a complete waste of time.

im currently in CSU Pomona, but i am gonna sign up for a bunch of online classes and get my GE's done and over with so i can focus on real classes that will help me and i will actually be interested in.

[creis]

force me, no, but I was kinda cut-off when I decided I would put it on hold durring this porject for work.

I'm kinda spilit as to what I want, I really like spending time working on my site, and would love a job in that, however I would also like to go into server administration, and datacenter administration as I work with many people in those current carrers and its something I would like doing. plus its also something I think I'm pretty good at.

[Jeremy1210]

I just graduated, and I honestly think that college is not all that important. I think I learned 1 thing from each class. Most of the College Plan courses that each college has for their students are a complete waste of time. I mean when the hell am I going to se "Greek Lit" or "Art history". Most of my actual classes for my major just overlapped each other. Could done without half of them and saved lotsa cash.

My personal opinion is that since people have gone through the b.s. themselves they believe that its only fair if other people have to do it.

Oh and for those in college or about to enter. GPA doesn't mean jack when it comes to finding a job, so get a life make some friends and don't worry about that 3.5 crap

[darksecret]

I don't have a degree, but I do specialize in computer repair, it's a d*** job though it's midnight and i've been here since 9am. I just got finished working on a Pavilion 4455, probably the worst HP i've ever seen, went to reformat and ran into the vmm32.vxd missing error and the vnetbios.vxd missing error and it kept entering safe mode. When it comes to computers, I wouldn't recommend college, a certification is good though since you do not dedicate as much time or money and you need to constantly update your education to adapt, especially with programming and security.

[ILuvMyCelica95]

My 1st semester was a total waste of time IMO... but now that i'm in this one year program im much happier because im taking classes that actually have something to do with my major.

[creis]

the funnyest thing about my old collage is the requirements to get into higher level computer classes, its a joke, I had a hard enough time getting into a beginners HTML class that I sleep though, and after that I was able to get into a web administration class that hardly covered the basics, and to take the next level up (the highest level) you have to get a 3.0 or better in calc, as well as pass the first one with a 3.0 or better. I do way more complicated things with my own server/site and there is no way I would pass calc with a 3.0 plus there is no way to test into a higher class you have to take the beginnner stuff like "Beginning Word Processing" or the 240 level class "Internet Protacol"

[ghostdog]

depends what you want to do. but its always nice to have a BA to fall back on

[BlackCelicaGT94]

i hate to see someone say this cuz i would do anything to be in school full time! unfortunetly its very hard for me to work full time and go to school. School was never my thing. Business is my thing but unfortunetly now days you cant really get anywhere without some schooling! so i hope to go back soon!

[dustin15brown]

gimme a few yrs to get to college and i'll agree

[boosted_K2]

yes and no, the careers that schools try to place you in and guide you towards are worthless, you just have to look at what you are working on and say, is there any way to relate this to what I WANT to do? if not, get it done any way possable and move on to something that does correlate with YOUR career path... my school sux because they they place you in boring uninteresting career jobs, the only way to make it through is to not fall victim to a preset career path they try to instill on you.

[mikew04]

I agree with boosted, you have to figure out what you want to do, then decide what will get you there. Depends on the school and the program as to how well it puts you in a relavent career path. Ive learned a good amount in my first year, and i think it not only helps you learn about what you want to do, but also what you might not want to do. The only thing i dont agree about with boosted is the fact that hes from m*chig@n

[orvillescelica]

I disagree completely. College is not just learning what you want to do, its refining the way you think. It gives you exposure to things that you may not necessarily think about, even in the field that you are in. Exposure to learn from those who know more than you could ever learn in a lifetime. It gives you a good basis, and the rest you will have to learn on your own and teach yourself. Its about thinking, rather than learning.

This is a difference between our higher learning system in CS and those in India. In India they teach you how to code, create programs, and make them do what you want them to do. They can crank code just fine, but they are not taught anything more and thus there is very little advance in the field there. There is little innovation because they were never thought to think abstractly or ever encouraged to.

Sure you can learn to build a mouse trap, but can you build a better one? Maybe i guess people are right, it does depend on what you want to do. But if anything, a degree will give you credibility and your foot in the door.

[x_itchy_b_x]

college is gay.... put that 40k in ur car

[macavely]

take it from someone that has 2 college dgress and is working overnite security COLLEGE IS A WASTE of time and money .. espically if u already know what to do ... coomer go for urs .. u can do great things if want to start ur own buisness...

[CoSo]

I find college to be quite helpful, since, well, if I don't attend there's pretty much no way I could enter into my chosen profession.

I'm studying Engineering/Commerce, btw.

[ILuvMyCelica95]

i hate to see someone say this cuz i would do anything to be in school full time! unfortunetly its very hard for me to work full time and go to school. School was never my thing. Business is my thing but unfortunetly now days you cant really get anywhere without some schooling! so i hope to go back soon!
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^^ I hear that Nat, I work all week and i go to class every other weekend Sat & Sun 9-5, it kinda sucks but i know it will be over soon

[orvillescelica]

I find college to be quite helpful, since, well, if I don't attend there's pretty much no way I could enter into my chosen profession.

I'm studying Engineering/Commerce, btw.
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This is true. I couldnt do what i want to do without college. There is no possible way one could become a lawyer, doctor, teacher, or any proffesion in the science fields without a college education. But lets say you want to own your own business or get into real estate sales or development. A college education will help, but it is not always needed.

[BlackSTX]

Yep, it completely depends on what you want to do. Coomer, if you don't care about databases and programming, don't go to school for it. The other computer related majors are for either business or engineering from what I've learned. I think Graphic Arts programs are more designed for web design. I thought college was a waste my first time around, but that's because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I went back to school to study accounting, and that's exactly what I'm doing now.

[nik]

BIG WASTE OF MONEY i spent 30,000 on 2 years at ITT for my AA and unless you have a construction back ground your not going to design houses thats why im stuck desgining roads and bridges i need to jump over to the mechical drafting i can do that and i have 8 years of auto back ground in forms

[coustoe]

Does anyone here feel like college is a waste of money, time, and effort?

To me, it's seemed like that since before I started. I've now almost got my AA, and I've learned some stuff, but not much that I really care about, and almost nothing that has helped me.

And if I go forward with my plans to go to Central Washington University and get my BA in computer science, I'm sure I'll learn a ton about computer programming and databases and stuff like that. But the problem I see is that I don't want to be a computer programmer or a database engineer.

I want to develop websites, and have my own business doing it.

I've got the knowledge to develop sites now, and what I don't know very well(OOP, ActionScript, etc.) I can learn on my own. I've always been able to learn on my own with the internet or a book, and I actually prefer it to learning in a classroom.

And as far as the business side of things, I'm confident that I can handle that too. I've invested a few hundred dollars over the last couple weeks buying books and such about the subject of web development businesses and business in general. And again, what I don't know, I don't need a class for. I can learn fine from reading.

So yeah, college seems pointless to me. Anyone else feel the same way?
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maybe youre getting the wrong degree or not specializing in the right classes? I got my degree in comp sci, but this is only if your going to be doing system level software development (currently do Backend database webbase development). The stuff youre interested in is more Computer Technology related courses, maybe you should change your degree to computer technology or information technology. Though a comp sci degree is more flexible in the job market and will give you a better core understanding of applied computer technology no matter what you decide to do.

Also you can specilize in higher level comp sci courses in software engineering and usuability engineering (big for web development)

though I agree with you for a lot of software development a degree is not required, especially for web front end development, but it does help, I work with a lot of people who never got degrees in comp sci, and there is a gulf of basic understanding, things you just take for granted, like design patterns, tcp/ip, data structures. etc..., but they are still very good at what they do.

This post has been edited by coustoe: May 11, 2005 - 10:42 AM

[Pali_playa]

i also think it is a waste....in most cases. in some its not. but i belive that going through college not only teaches u stuff, but it shows employers u can do time management well, u can handle alot of work....or u really good at cheating.

[Digndoug]

I think depending on what your doing it a watse. For some of my friends that are just taking random clas's to do it. its a watse.. but thee stupid girls.

for me, I kinda think its a watse, cause I hate spending 90 hours on one project for one cla and have a the teach spend 5 mins looking and grading it, and thats it.. But i have leanred a good amount, but not much more then i have learned from my dad, which is an architect.

I cant decide if i wanna just go into the field with an AA or get a BA right now i could be a manager at CC making around $45000 a year, in like 3 months.. which is a cake job.. just dontt think i would wanna do that as a career


Also working is not an excuss for not doing any schooling..
I work 40 hours a week and do full time, its hard, but i can do it any one can.

This post has been edited by Digndoug: May 11, 2005 - 12:52 PM

[Mr2_Joel]

i view it as both a waste and a benifit. You develop yourself personally and college is a great time of self discovery. If you don't know what you want to do w/ your life, a liberal arts school is a good choice. If you do know, specialized schools are good as well. College is also a good time to relax before you work the rest of your life, if you want to. My college time has had its ups and downs, but overall I'm glad I'm here. I'm learning as well. But the upcoming years will get better as I start to focus more on my degree. I wouldn't be at college if I had to pay though, that's for sure. Be in some service somewhere.

[Rjb23]

Ok first off I am 3 classes away from getting my BA in Information Technology, basically computer science with more business thrown in.

Coomer if you want to do web design that is cool, but do you actually think that you can make a business's page without using a db backend? Do you really think you can put together a large project with out using project management tools, like UML and other modeling languages? A lot of places will not even talk to you if you don't have a BA, or at least some experience.

[nik]

the bad though

even if you have a BA or AA that might get you an interview then it comes down to experience and who you know if you dont have either of those most of the time its a long shot to get it I know from personal experience

THE WORLDS NOT FAIR but thats life so make the best of your situation I'm trying

[Rjb23]

the bad though

even if you have a BA or AA that might get you an interview then it comes down to experience and who you know if you dont have either of those most of the time its a long shot to get it I know from personal experience

THE WORLDS NOT FAIR but thats life so make the best of your situation I'm trying
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Yes that is also true. Here is another truth. Not to be racist or sexest or anything like that so if this offends anyone sorry didnt mean to. If you are a caucasion male you are pretty much screwed. I know of a few places around here that they will be looking for a female, hispanic, african american or so on, they will interview you but you have no shot at the job.

If you are just coming out of college companies don't expect you to have much experience, but yea a BA is not just going to guarantee a job. You have to interview well and show them that you will bring value to the company. Soon though a BA is going to be like a GED or HS diploma and a masters is going to be what you are going to have to get.

The funny thing is that in my school there is the speed school that has the computer science degree, then the business school has the computer info systems degree which is what I am about to get. The speed school guys try to make fun of us because we are in the business school, but one day we will be there bosses lol.

This post has been edited by Rjb23: May 11, 2005 - 10:15 PM

[juBz86]

i hate school!

[ArizonaRed]

I can get a job making anywhere from 70k to 120k a year right now I would just have to relocate out of Georgia. Im going to college right now to just waste time I guess. Im getting full tuition. Ill probably just get my government job out of state when im done with college. College is bull****, the military can be way better as it is in my case. Just sign up and you get everything for free. Only bummer is getting shot and blown up.

[Crzybakerdog]

idk about you guys, but im finishing my first year as a comp sci major with a partial scholarship and i can say that i have learned more in my first year of college than i have throughout my 4 yrs of high school combined. now that isnt saying much to some people but to me basically relearning C++ all over again I can honestly say ive learned quite a bit about my major again and why i chose it, cause of the challenege. I will agree about the general classes being a waste of time such as english but since this is my first year i will be done with english and most of bulls. classes that are required and starting next semester i will be taking 3 out of the 5 classes towards my major and i can only see good things to come from that. plus in college life, I am not a very social person but i have met some really good friends and i am going to be living with them in a house next year. so the good times can keep rolling. Coomer i would agree that making websites with your own business in mind is probably not college bound but it probably wont hurt to take some business classes or at least talk to some business owners about their success and strategies that have helped them and you can learn a bunch from someone who has been there and gone the whole 9 yards. just my 2 cents

[Rjb23]

English is definatly not a waiste. In order to design a system you have to be able to write clear enough instructions for someone else to follow. Honestly there is not much money in programming, but there is a lot of money in analysist positions. Every system that you design if it is large enough you must provide documentation for. A simple search engine that we wrote for Colgate Palmolive that they are in the middle of implementing now, we had to write a document that was about 150 pages long, with diagrams, installation instructions, and basically how the system would work and be coded before we even coded the project. If you can't write in a clear and precise way your document will be useless to anyone else, basiscally the idea behind it is that if I gave the document to a programmer they could go through and code the thing according to the document.

I can understand if you are just writing a simple web page for a company but when you get into larger projects you will need this stuff. I thought all my business classes were a waiste until I got into analyzing businesses and making recomendations on what they should do to increase profits, now I wish I would have paid more attention.

[brianforster]

i love college, i love it.

i might not be leraning anything, but the social aspect is worth it in my opinion.

the information you learn is just a bonus.

college should be about learning about yourself , who you are, making new friends.

oh yeah, and getting a degree, which is like free money. people want to see degrees. it doesnt make any sense, but thats how it works.

the point being: go to college to have fun, and celebrate leaving childhood with a bash. get your degree, and you'll get a nice job.

[celicaboy04]

As someone who has absolutely no support from his parents financially, and having to make it on your own, it can be very hard.

I went to college for my first semester last fall and worked two jobs (about 60 hours a week) and had 15 units.

IT SUCKS!

Not to mention the 5k I spent in one semester taught me absolutely nothing.

Ive decided that college isnt necessary or required for everyone, though I think I want to teach theater in highschool or work for Lucasfilm (I live in bay area) and I know a lot of the local schools have programs that can get you a job working for Lucas because he is very pro-community.

I guess I just hate myself sometimes because most kids got it sooo easy, they go to school, dont have to work, and parents pay for EVERYTHING, and here I am struggling to make it on my own and it seems like I am getting nothing out of it.

I agree very much so with what you said Nik, life isnt fair, but it its up to you to decide how you feel about it and what you do to make yourself enjoy what there is in life.

This post has been edited by celicaboy04: May 12, 2005 - 3:51 PM

[coustoe]

basically computer science with more business thrown in.


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not true. maybe if you were talking about computer and information science (CIS)

[Rjb23]

basically computer science with more business thrown in.


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not true. maybe if you were talking about computer and information science (CIS)
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And you would know what my course work entales how?

I agree computer science you get more into binary crap and stuff like that. But basically I can do anything that has to do with computers, any programming, networking, even repair I dont know why I would want to do that tho.

This post has been edited by Rjb23: May 13, 2005 - 11:09 AM

[chucho]

problem w/ school is they are now out to make money. Seeing how they act and how many fees they charge it has become a business. Considering how much "public" state funded schools charge.

On the other hand, you have to have a degree for job security...because in today's society there is no security. & its alot easier to find a job with a degree. My two cents...

But all i want is a stable job where I can support a family and not have to sell my celica

[Crzybakerdog]

actaully its not the schools out to make the money. its the government that actually raises tuition. they are the ones who are taking your hard earned money to go to college. plus my college has had a 50%increse in tuition for last 3 years making it arguably a more expensive colleges to go to now in wisconsin.

[Sev408]

YES YES YES YES,

ahh for 27,000 $$$ for my college which is around 110,000$$$ in DEBT when i graduate to maybe 150,00$$ for a masters, i could play some bastard at Yale to forge a piece of paper saying i graduated from there.


its a damn waste of time for me, since i want to be a stock broker and well they dont have classes for that, and i know what im doing.

i dread going back there.

[Andason]

i believe in the computer area you dont really need a degree, but it is a lot easier to make yourself learn when you are being graded on it. everything you learn in college you could learn on your own from reading...

college just means youre more of a slave of doing what you are told.

[prpnum1]

Um, i dropped out of college after like 3 months and i had barely graduated from highschool. Only reason i didnt drop out was for my mom. I am in the television industry. (cameraman) I have never once been asked to provide a degree or even a resume, and neither has anyone i know. In this business it's all about WHO and WHAT you know. So the worth of college all depends on what field you plan to work in.
In my opinion college is worthless because iit provides a lot of worthless information but does nothing to increase skill.

my .02

This post has been edited by prpnum1: May 14, 2005 - 9:48 PM