My ideal career is as a musician, but I don't know if that'll work out. I might go to university to study music, art and teaching, so I can be a music teacher or something.

No. I don't plan on going. I want to either be a mailman or a secretary, which I can accomplish without school. If I change my mind in the future, I change my mind. My entire family and friends have always tried to tell me to go. I'm 22. I just don't see the point right now. But I may change my mind.

I feel there are people who definitely need to go, and I feel there are LOTS of people who feel like they have to go. Obvious, right? Well, maybe not.. almost everyone I know has either regretted going or felt pressured into it by parents/whatever. I don't see college as being a bad thing at all, but I do think high school doesn't really prepare a person at all for college. I could go on a whole other rant about how high school for me was pointless and it seemed like most of it was just a review of everything I learned in 8th grade, but I'll spare you all.

I don't find it to be a necessary part of life, but I'm proud of people who go and make something of themselves... but no one should feel like they have to go to make something of themself. My girlfriend goes and she hates herself for going and she hates going there every day, but her mom and dad pretty much forced her to go. Well, she feels forced... actually, they'd probably kick her out if she wasn't going. Tough love? I dunno. She wants to be an animator but they pressured her to do chemistry. She talks about quitting every day. And when she gets out of school, she'll definitely be able to use that degree for some good -- but she'll also owe a shit ton of money that her parents didn't pay.

Some rich kid I knew said something along the lines of this to me once... "college is a way to get a job that maybe pays a dollar more than working at Wal-Mart your whole life -- but it's probably a better than working at Wal-Mart your whole life." I know plenty of naive people that think just having a degree is the way to be a fucking millionaire; guess what, you may have a degree in something but so do thousands of others, also trying to get the same job as you. College gurantees nothing.

I think life is too short to spend it in school, but if it's something you're passionate about go for it.

thank god im getting degrees that will guarantee that i will be broke my whole life
literature
musicology
and i am planning on getting my masters in ethnomusicology

I'm going to uni in just over a month, to study Fine Art. I payed my deposit for accomodation today, so the wheels are in motion. To be honest, I really can't wait, I know it will financially cripple me, but at the same time it will teach me how to budget, a skill I've... er.... not yet learnt. I also don't EXPECT it to help me in my career, however, as I want to be a teacher, it is somewhat important to have a degree. At the end of the day, it may be a stupid thing I will regret fininacially in the future, but it will be great fun, and I'll enjoy every minute of it.

I guess my thing is, I've saved nearly $10,000 up living at home (which some people don't have the luxury or PATIENCE of doing) and plan to work at a decent job making good money without the need of a college education.

I just couldn't handle the stress, the financial burden, and the various difficulties of college and feel that it'd be more trouble than it's worth.

But I'm proud as hell of people who go!!

I went to college in order to learn, not in order to get a degree. With that in mind, I have satisfied my goal. Was it worth the money? Can you put a dollar sign on pure education? Still, I'm satisfied and I feel that it has made me a far more intelligent person than before I attended. However, my future career path is just as uncertain as before I attended. I have no delusions about that, again that is not why I attended.

Word, pbradley. I think everyone who goes, whether they like it or not, comes back with something good from their experience.

So.. awesome.

atsonic: if you're thinking of going back, don't wait too long. it does get harder to break back in the older you get, for many reasons. but i also agree that many people have no idea what they're doing in college.

I'm stuck at the moment, I just finished a national diploma electrical/electronic engineering, but it has left me slightly overqualified to go for apprenticeships and underqualified to get a trainee position somewhere. I decided I wasn't going to go to uni to get a degree in this field, but my local college is just starting to do a degree course, so I'm going to go for it and really try and focus.

I went on a music course when I left school, it was a complete waste of time and my tutor was a major tit at times. I really wish I was thinking more clearly around the time I left school.

I would travel if I were you.

Even if you don't go back to school right when you get back from your trip, you can always go back sometime.

I agree that if you travel you'll probably learn more.

I'm very glad I went to college because I like learning, but it's not for everyone. It certainly isn't helping me get a job.

The problem (and I'll say this as someone else who did the world's most useless bachelors) is that a lot of people take that learning and forget it in a year. Personally, I don't regret my (largely worthless degree). I have a burgeoning career elsewise, and I worked in offices throughout my degree, so I've got a fairly good CV (certainly better than it would be if I'd stayed in a call centre and wait to climb the ladder). Ultimately I'm going to go back and do another ostensibly pointless degree next year, and following that I hope to do a massively pretentious PhD - at the end of the day though, I'm happy enough (at whatever age I am) to say that this is something I personally want to do. Hopefully, it'll lead to a prosperous/ lucrative career, but if not, c'est la vie.

There's a strong impetus on people doing it when they're young, and there shouldn't be. I think if you want to learn, it's going to be the same desire when you're 35 as much as it is when you're 18. I have good friends tickling 40 who've done degrees. It's a bit difficult (with the jobs/ mortgages/ kids) but significantly easier than raising kids (I imagine). I was lucky enough that, in amoungst the workshy gobshites at my Uni there was a few older students, all of whom had absolutely no problems with drinking and handing essays in on time.

Although I may forget much of what I learn in college, through people I've met, connections I've made, habits I've picked up, and sources I've found while in college, there was definitely a point in going. The actual information gained is infintesimal compared to the increased ability to both learn and apply knowledge, and I think that that gained at a younger age increases the acceleration at which learning takes place throughout life.

yeah, in defense of starting college younger, there are certain opportunities you will only get in a traditional college age bracket. (In the U.S. anyway) If you really think you're a small liberal arts college person then in general you won't be able to get in much past 23. there are exceptions to this, but in general.

i think also there is pressure to start young just based on probability. As long as you don't drop out, your degree shows if nothing else that you've accounted for those years of your life - which is always helpful in establishing yourself as part of society.

not that someone that is working isn't establishing themselves, they are too; its the risk of just doing 'nothing' or doing something that unfortunately isn't very helpful or explainable on a resume.

on the other hand, going back older, you'll bring your own experience from whatever it is you were doing in 'the real world' into academica, which can potentially help you cut through some of the bullshit. you just might not have as many options for school and maybe have to study a bit longer than you thought or relearn some academic skills.

you just gotta do what you gotta do, and even though dolling out advice like i'm a champion seems a bit fucked, i guess i gotta'd do'ed it.

how old r u? i didn't start uni until i was 24, albeit it is alot cheaper in australia than it is in the us. i would definately recommend going to university and travelling. you can combine both, and some courses at least here in australia have grants available for travelling while doing your degree. you should look into every aspect possible. and don't under estimate what going to university can do for you if you want a career in photography. in my line of work as a sound designer and composer for theatre university definately opened up doors alot easier than would have been possible and/or alot more time consuming than otherwise have been. I have seen people struggle for years to try and get their feet in the doors but because of their education and networks they have been unable (sad but true). so i would not under estimate it. travel will always be there, and it is very easy to do, but university may become much harder to achieve as you get older and more financial pressures are forced upon you.

screamingskull-- What did you end up doing?

Wow, I never knew that this many people really just didn't want to go to college. I go to a very competitive college-preparatory school. I don't know, I never have really seen not going to college as an option. But I really want to go... I don't know, I feel sort of weird now.

I always saw going to University as being inevitable too.
I quit the first place i was at after a year and a half and i think that was because i didnt really think about what i was doing when i decided to go there, i just wanted to move as far away from home as possible. And the being away from home wasnt the prob, it was the uni.

At first I felt that way, but the more I learn about how it all works the more I realize it really isn't as inevitable as I thought. In fact, depending on what you want to go into, it can make certain careers more difficult. Most forms of art, for example. For acting, or dancing, or sometimes music, I think more and more that it's much better to skip the college shit and just jump into it.

I always felt college as the thing to do. When I first started it was a chore, because it had been two years after I dropped out of school. But I see myself going non-stop, there is no option for me.