Do you think college/university degrees are necessary?

[ViviTheMage]

Not always. My uncle is a CTO of a major telecommunications company and never graduated.

Yeah, this was the norm 15-30 years ago ... not very common now a days if you ask me.

 

[Red Dawn]

Not always. My uncle is a CTO of a major telecommunications company and never graduated.

He's also not just entering the job market. There's always exceptions the the rules or the norm

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

That's what a tech does. But thanks for playing.

Oh I forgot the pharmacist reads the warning label to the patient.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Not always. My uncle is a CTO of a major telecommunications company and never graduated.

Keyword is your uncle. Not your brother or your son.

 

[Regs]

College degrees reflect on a person’s motivations and general aptitude. It doesn't always have to be true, but I imagine someone with higher education is a lot more motivated to learn new skills than most high school grads.

 

[HAL9000]

Necessary? No. Useful? Yes.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I'll admit that 2 of my friends who have their Masters in engineering tend to have a greater understanding of Software architecture/design than I have. But, they also have about about 15 more years of work experience.

There are a lot of people with BS in Comp Sci or Engineering who are terrible in the real world.

 

[Capt Caveman]

My schooling and having a MBA has been invaluable in getting the jobs I have held.

 

[Numenorean]

Necessary? Yes. Useful? No.

Fixed.

They are only necessary as a way to pass the HR filter. They aren't really that useful, other than that fact about passing the HR filter.

I learned absolutely nothing in college. Though I may still go and get my masters. It's just a way to make more money.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Do I think they're necessary to do most jobs? No. Do I think they're necessary to land most jobs? Yes.

 

[Regs]

It's all supply and demand and scarcity. 25 years ago, no one had college degrees, so if you went to college you really stood out in the crowd. Nowadays you are nothing special for just having a college degree. Which is really sad, because you can be passed over on a job application only because of a piece of paper. It has little to do with your skills BECAUSE of the degree. It has to do with no one ELSE having a degree.

The problem is that this country does not place any value on trade schools, apprenticeships, or craftsman. You can work for 10 years in say, a machine shop, learning how to use every machine, learning the best ways of doing things, learning how to manage multiple projects, learning the technology, but guess what? Your company is probably not going to let you rise through the ranks and give you a job as project manager or financial manager because you didn't go to 4 years of drinking school. Instead they'll hire some ivy league grad because of his "connections."

I disagree on a few of your points. Craftsman, or people of a similar trade, especially if they excel at what they do , end up doing very well for themselves. Though, I can say these are by far the worst jobs you can get during any part of a recession. Profit margins don't just shrink up, but people simply don't have the disposable income to spend money on a specialty item. The private business owners always end up soaking up a lot of risk without reliable partners.

 

[Farmer]

A corollary to the commodification of college education in the US: a lot of degree-granting institutions in the US have piss-poor standards for who they admit and who they allow to graduate.

You don't need much to get into a college. You don't need much to graduate from college. So there is this notion that a college degree is worthless. Where you get your degree is also important.

I learned absolutely nothing in college. Though I may still go and get my masters. It's just a way to make more money.

Then you did it wrong. I've never learned more than during my 4 years in college. My "engineering position", by comparison, bores the shit out of me.

It shouldn't be surprising I am eager to return for higher degrees. Different strokes.

 

[HAL9000]

Fixed.

They are only necessary as a way to pass the HR filter. They aren't really that useful, other than that fact about passing the HR filter.

I learned absolutely nothing in college. Though I may still go and get my masters. It's just a way to make more money.

So it wasn't useful to you therefore it's not useful to anyone else?

I found my degree exceptionally useful. I'm doing another one because the first was so useful, when my boss hires someone he looks at if they have a degree in the subject if they do then he bumps their CV to the top of the pile. Useful.

"it's just a way to make more money"... And that's not useful?!

 

[Ricemarine]

Oh I forgot the pharmacist reads the warning label to the patient.

you don't a second shot! Well... unless you're wrong... then thanks for playing x2.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Do I think they're necessary to do most jobs? No. Do I think they're necessary to land most jobs? Yes.

This is the most general statement that works for college degrees. Reason I am going for my B.S. ... I don't need it, but would be a good back up if things failed.

 

[Numenorean]

Then you did it wrong. I've never learned more than during my 4 years in college. My "engineering position", by comparison, bores the shit out of me.

How did I do it wrong? By teaching myself everything that college would have taught before I got there? By paying attention in high school and taking honors/AP classes which for the school I went to was quite good and actually harder than most college classes that I've taken.

There just was not any new information taught in college that I didn't already know.

 

[Numenorean]

So it wasn't useful to you therefore it's not useful to anyone else?

I found my degree exceptionally useful. I'm doing another one because the first was so useful, when my boss hires someone he looks at if they have a degree in the subject if they do then he bumps their CV to the top of the pile. Useful.

"it's just a way to make more money"... And that's not useful?!

Beyond being a filter for HR and making more money, it isn't useful. MAYBE the masters will actually teach me something that I don't already know, but I'd be pretty surprised.

 

[HAL9000]

How did I do it wrong? By teaching myself everything that college would have taught before I got there? By paying attention in high school and taking honors/AP classes which for the school I went to was quite good and actually harder than most college classes that I've taken.

There just was not any new information taught in college that I didn't already know.

Not learning anything doesn't mean it isn't useful, it proves to employers what you know. That piece of paper is useful.

 

[Farmer]

How did I do it wrong? By teaching myself everything that college would have taught before I got there? By paying attention in high school and taking honors/AP classes which for the school I went to was quite good and actually harder than most college classes that I've taken.

There just was not any new information taught in college that I didn't already know.

You believe that all the information in the contemporary college curriculum is contained within honors level high school classes and AP exams?

I would disagree, totally. I went to a "fairly good" high school, as well. My freshman courses blew the shit out of whatever APs were available. Many courses, even just at the sophomore level, I had not even heard of in high school.

Maybe you were just a particularly enlightened high schooler, or I was an extremely ignorant high schooler, but within reason neither of those were true, probably.

 

[HAL9000]

Beyond being a filter for HR and making more money, it isn't useful. MAYBE the masters will actually teach me something that I don't already know, but I'd be pretty surprised.

So beyond helping you get a job and helping you earn more money it isn't useful?

You class that as not being useful?

 

[Texashiker]

Either get a degree, or learn a skill/trade.

Just because you have a degree, does not make you a skilled person.

Just because you have a trade, does not make you a skilled person.

I know people that dropped out of high school, never went to college, and pull in close to 100k a year. They are either working offshore drilling rigs, or working land rigs. A lot of it is how well you apply yourself.

 

[Numenorean]

You believe that all the information in the contemporary college curriculum is contained within honors level high school classes and AP exams?

I would disagree, totally. I went to a "fairly good" high school, as well. My freshman courses blew the shit out of whatever APs were available. Many courses, even just at the sophomore level, I had not even heard of in high school.

There wasn't anything really new in college. Same old shit that I had done the previous four years. Waste of time, other than to get the stupid piece of paper.

 

[HAL9000]

There wasn't anything really new in college. Same old shit that I had done the previous four years. Waste of time, other than to get the stupid piece of paper.

Then you should have studied something else.

 

[Numenorean]

Not learning anything doesn't mean it isn't useful, it proves to employers what you know. That piece of paper is useful.

All it really proves to employers is that you paid a shitload of money to a college in order to get a piece of paper that says you passed a bunch of worthless classes that mostly do not even apply to the working world.

As I said, it's only useful as a "look at me" type of thing. It did not increase my knowledge in any way.

 

[Farmer]

There wasn't anything really new in college. Same old shit that I had done the previous four years. Waste of time, other than to get the stupid piece of paper.

Why didn't you choose to take some classes you hadn't already taken. Or if you've already mastered it, why not place out and take more advanced courses? Or graduate early?

The AP curriculum does not extend beyond the freshman year at any decent college. Many schools don't even except AP credit as replacement for a course.

College, as with anything, is what you make of it.