Anyone else regret going to college?

Post Reply New Topic

Where are you from Lene? Is it actually China?

Nope, that's just to throw people off the scent Wouldn't mind moving there though.

I regret taking 10 years to finish a 4-year degree, majoring in something that makes between $28,000.00 and $35,000.00 at the most, but cost me over $70,000.00 in student loans. I will never make enough money for it to have been worth it. I will most likely be in debt the rest of my life.

If anyone is considering going to college, they should make sure they have a very clear career path from the very beginning, and if your primary goal in going to college is to increase your earning potential, make sure to do adequate research and major in something that literally pays off.

The university and student loan industries profit off of people who believe that college is the way to fulfill the American dream (or any dream for that matter). It can be, but it isn't the only way. Most people I know who didn't go to college, but learned a trade or went into the military, are doing much better in life than I am.

I try not to dwell on past mistakes, but it is good to be able to vent sometimes.

I never went to college. Never even completed an application form, though i did start a couple. I just could never figure out what i was going to college for. If i were going to study something specific that i was passionate or curious about, that would be one thing, but at the time i was torn between computers and art, and i suspected that i wasn't much of an artist, and was certain that the CS courses offered at the time did not play to my strengths.

This comes as a surprise to some people because my father is a professor and very well respected in his field, and my mother holds multiple degrees, but it turns out that professors who have real teaching to do are bitterly cynical about all the bored students who waste their time in required entry level courses.

My father is, and has been as long as i can recall, quite outspoken on his opinion that the assertion that a university education should be required for every person is patently absurd and a tremendous waste of their money and his time.

I had a coworker 11 years ago who had the most interesting response when i told him i never went to college. He specifically asked if i went to the university my father teaches at.

His response when i explained was, "I went there. I had a GREAT time. I didn't get much of an education - I knew then what i know now - but i had a really good time."

So, now, I wish my parents had sent me to a cheap state college that is just far enough away from home that i would have had to move out. The social experience would have been valuable.

Edit: And i make plenty of money. More than many in my field, which is software quality assurance. Not more than most of my high-school chums, but that sample is skewed because i went to a private school and it turns out that i used to hang out with a bunch of venture capitalists and intellectual property attorneys.

The problem is that many young students just think that getting the degree and grades will increase the probability of gaining employment and living the "dream life." Achieving good marks in classes really only qualifies the applicant for further schooling. The world outside of school doesn't exactly work this way. Promotions are done mostly by popularity(Re: office politics) and employers don't care if you studied and got straight A's if you cannot do the job which is expected of the applicant. In fact, society has seemed to be ingrained to think that doing good in school is the only way to be successful in the American way of life. People need to wake up and start actually thinking instead of mindlessly following the diploma system and being corporate drones.

Here's the thing: I did my "rubbish" job already. I graduated college in 2005....not at typo! I worked that job for over two years and hated it so much that I went back and got my master's. Now, I can't even find a job that's as good as that "rubbish" job I had before grad school!



I have a feeling this is true in a lot of places, the aggregate statistics be damned.



Actually, even though I'm American, I'm a perfect example of this theory. I received free tuition in undergrad and grad school. I did have to pay for books, but that wasn't too much I've never had student loan debt.

Yet I still regret my decision? Why? Because I lost out on six years work experience! Not to mention the lost earnings. Employers, in this economy at least, only care about experience. If I had more work experience, I'd have a much better shot at a job than I have with degrees.



What's your degree in, if you don't mind me asking?



I thought this for a long time. Maybe I was foolish, but all my life, parents and teachers said that if I just went to college and made good grades, I'd be set for life.