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 Replies: 58 / Views: 5,035 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
College these days is way over expected of people...if I were to do it over again ( I have a masters degree) I would go to trade school.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Definitely agree with roller. Some jobs do need college some dont. The idea that everyone needs to go just makes schools more money and drives up student loan costs. I have a masters as well which is what a college degree used to be but I know a good amount of people that knew all along they wanted to go into fields that didnt require college yet went anyway and now they just have a lot of debt or had to go to trade school after wards to do what they wanted. I think wed be better off trimming down the amount of majors offered to eliminate the group that is willing to go just for the fun of it without thinking out the long term debt. Afterall if everyone has a college degree it becomes meaningless. I'm not saying not to go, but definitely think about whether or not its something required for what YOU want to do
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Pillar of the Community
Mexico
1304 Posts |
Totally agree with the above. I dodged huge college debt and worked my way though college. As a matter of fact, that was just a few years after the story I mentioned above. I was able to work two deals that ended up paying for half of my tuition, the other half being a grant. It wasn't a major degree or anything, but I definitely do not wish I had gotten more into debt. So many folks end up in fields different from their major.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1374 Posts |
Long term, I would invest in land with riparian rights. :D
Education has by far the highest return on investment. Never neglect opportunities for education at the expense of staying on the grind. Of course, if you don't take it seriously and get sub-par grades then you are most likely wasting your money. Maintaining a 4.0 at any educational institution should be very rewarding, not only monetarily but satisfactory as a maven.
But don't listen to me... my BA is in Economics and I'm pursuing a PhD in Forest Ecosystems.
But to answer your question directly, there is no answer.
Edited by Drsandman2
09/18/2012 02:44 am
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Valued Member
United States
141 Posts |
hey kid, this is a no-brainer, INVEST INVEST INVEST.
When I was a freshman in high school, I think gold was 600-800 dollars an ounce and I wanted to invest in one ounce into gold (because I had around 1500 dollars saved into a bank account) and those pamp suisse gold bars looked nice, but my parents discouraged me thinking I would throw away my money, or I was to young or something I dont know.
-fast forward 5 or 6 years later (sophomore) in college now (go huskies!) and gold is 1750 an ounce. Man do I wish my parents encouraged me :(
-And its not to late to get into the game either.
-My advice for you, hold on to that silver for the next 8 years, add more silver to your collection, keep stacking more and more and more. maybe in 10 years, you may be able to pay your college tuition with it. stash it away and dont worry yourself too much about speculators
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Pillar of the Community
United States
808 Posts |
I doubt anyone here is knocking a good education. Just be very careful with student loan debt.
Buying silver is a far easier recommendation to make. Buy a little, frequently, and don't get too worked up over price. Dollar cost averaging rewards the committed PM stacker.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
I agree with the other comments on this. College can be extremely rewarding but this is not guaranteed. In large part, what you get out of it is closely related to the time and effort you put into it. Don't count the money as putting something into your education because it isn't. That's just the price of admission. What really matters is what YOU do when YOU get there and what YOU keep on doing while there. I've seen many very smart kids fool around in school, getting very little out of it, while students with less aptitude but MUCH stronger work ethics get a great deal out of it. It is quite a shock to those who played at college to discover that they end up working for those who didn't. IMHO, college is best used by those whose chosen professions require it to even get in the door. Science, engineering, legal, and medical careers require college and sometimes a lot of it. It IS possible to do well in life even if you do not have an advanced degree. There is nothing stopping anyone from continuing to learn, study, and grow once they have left those ivy covered halls. I saw an interview on CNBC several months ago wherein a very respected professor of economics said that the US economy could absorb about 20-25% of our population into colleges and that more than this was a waste of their time. This seems reasonable to me. Not everyone wants, needs, or should go to a traditional 4-year college. There isn't a thing wrong with learning a useful trade. Plumbing, electrical, welding, etc. are all quite useful and can be well paying as well. They also allow people to move around to different areas of the country because they are not area specific. I have a 12 year old grandson who loves to tinker with machines to see how they work. I will encourage him to do anything he wants but will also show him that he can be an engineer or a mechanic or anything else that appeals to him. I will give him some info but the choice is then up to him. Don't want to be one of those parents / grand parents who try to force their kids to do this or that. Yes, we gave them life but the idea is to let them live it!  Quote:
Man do I wish my parents encouraged me :( The teen and college years are a great time in life, especially for self-discovery. Don't palm this decision off onto your parents. Yes, you asked them for advice and then decided to take it. It was up to you to choose this and you made that choice. Living with it is what comes after having made a choice. That, as they say, is the hard part. Live and learn. This was a relatively cheap lesson in the overall scheme of things. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
short term up, mid term down, long term back up.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
I was in no way knocking education, I just know there is a difference between going to school and being educated. In my opinion we are in something of an education bubble. It is really sad because we can not hire qualified people for my work. There are a lot of people who have diplomas but are not fit for the job. We have open positions we can't fill because no one is qualified. Even sadder is when we end up hiring foreign people who supposed to have less schooling than our American candidates but are better educated, smarter, harder working, can speak English better even though it is a second, third or fourth language... ("Sadder" as in a commentary on our education system).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
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I just know there is a difference between going to school and being educated. Indeed there is! Mark Twain once said, "Never let your schooling interfere with your education". Too many people see these as the same things but in many cases they are not. Quote:
can speak English better even though it is a second, third or fourth language... ("Sadder" as in a commentary on our education system). Yes, it really is. People in my generation were required to learn when we went to school. Consequently, most of us can read, write, and speak English coherently. Heck, we can even string long sentences into cohesive paragraphs! Listening to the younger generations who cannot do these things is heartbreaking. There is no reason whatsoever for any American to suffer through life with a 3rd rate education, yet so many of our people have exactly that. One of the biggest problems we have today is that so many younger folks just do not read books. Reading is a terrific way to learn how to write and speak English correctly because every book that is read is filled with examples of proper sentence structure and spelling. If you see words spelled correctly time after time, it sinks in and you start doing that too. This is how we know the difference between "loose and lose", "there, their, and they're", etc. We definitely need a reboot of the US education system. It just has too many problems and not enough solutions.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1411 Posts |
 with most of what you have said Ed. What I don't agree with is that reading helps you with writing as much as it sounds like in your sentence. I'm an avid reader (I read atleast 100 pages of a book a day, no matter what) who has problems writing. Windchild |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
There are aspects of reading and writing that are different. I did not mean to imply that all one needs to do is read and that this would then solve all of their other writing and spelling problems. It IS a great help, though. There are many skills that allow one to read and write properly and correctly. A lot of people simply do not read enough to ever get into it. Reading IS fun! At least, it should be. Remember... sliding your eyes over lines of text is not reading. Thinking critically about what you have read and remembering it is. Just my $0.02 worth of FREE advice and it really is worth every penny paid for it.  |
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Valued Member
 United States
176 Posts |
As long as I can pay off college within 5 years I'm fine with the expenses, because if I make $60,000+ my first year out, $80,000 debt shouldn't be too looming, plus my parents are helping  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
Rupre....that is a BIG "if".....takes a lot of years learning how to properly say "do you want to super size that" to get to $60,000+ a year.
Definite LARGE debt + Uncertain job opportunities = Impending financial doom if things don't work out perfectly.
I have always said...the best job is the one you create.... and for some reason colleges today don't advocate that...they would just rather make you think the best route in life is to go to their school, for four years optimistically, (as they pretty much structure things on purpose to make you have to go five ) then toss you out into to employment "meat grinder" hoping you can find some fulfilling employment and make enough to donate $10,000 a year back to them. It is so far beyond me why people donate to colleges and universities. They are businesses just like any other.....do you ever find yourself compelled to donate $10,000 to your local coin shop? Then why on earth would you do the same for a university? Seems like they have gotten you to "drink the grape kool aid" if you do. All ranting aside...college is a good route for those who are 100% dedicated to making it the BEST educational experience they can...but if you chase the diploma wading your way through college with the view it is a $20,000 a year social club....then save your $80,000 and go on one killer of a road trip with the money instead and use the leftover for a down payment on a new business. Just my personal life experiences here from someone who has been through "super size" school, 10 years of college, owned a business, and worked for corporate america. Learn from your elders...listen to their wisdom and critically think through YOUR best path in life. College is right for many, but society pushes too many that shouldn't be there into the fray and they pay dearly for it long term.
Edited by unholyroller
09/27/2012 10:02 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
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One of the biggest problems we have today is that so many younger folks just do not read books. After a statement like that Ed_B, I fear you may never be able to do any wrong in my eyes. Quote:
because if I make $60,000+ my first year out, $80,000 debt shouldn't be too looming Rupre07, I can't tell the number of times I have heard that. Believe it or not you are more expensive to keep than you think. |
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Replies: 58 / Views: 5,035 |
First Page
Posted 09/17/2012 11:57 pm
