How many of you have an education, was it worth it? Are you working in your "field"

I'm just gonna throw in my 2cents from experience.

I'm a 3rd year aerospace engineering major, specializing in aerodynamics and propulsion (can't decide which one I like more). The thing I keep hearing from people in the industry is that I'll only use about 10% of what I learned in school, but I can say that I would not be able to teach myself the material at home, so in that aspect it's been really useful.

Also last year I had an internship with Pratt & Whitney, which was only possible because I was in school, because they don't accept applications unless they're through a university, the school acts as a sort of reference for you because it adds validity to any claims I make. You've had professionals grade you and verify that you do in fact know the material, which is something that you can't get without a degree. If a school is willing to put their name behind you, it makes it easier for a company to hire you. In my case, P&W has worked with my school and altered the curriculum to better cater to the needs of P&W, in return for guaranteed internship positions for students over the summer. My schooling has been the best preparation for the work force because I know i'm being taught exactly what companies what us to know. School is an investement that will pay off in the future even if it doesn't seem like it now.

College taught me about life. I might not be using my degree, but it was some of the best times I've ever had.

I'm currently in college and I feel like college is worth it "DEPENDING" on your degree. I find it hilarious to see all the women majoring in Psychology/Communications, both of these degrees are kinda a joke. You can learn the stuff they teach you in these degree's through reading a couple books with a basic high school education. Not only that but when you graduate your not going to find work because your now competing against hundreds of thousands of other Psychology/Business/Communication degree's.

I don't have to worry about student loans because I was in the Military so I get the GI Bill. But we had a saying in the Marines, "If it was easy, everybody would do it". Meaning most people take the easy route in life, it's a select few who actually put in hard work/determination and the same goes for college. Take a easy degree, then don't expect to get alot from it. Take a difficult degree, and the rewards are well worth it.

College is very important if your going into any of the Science/Engineering fields. You can't simply pick up a book on discreet mathematics or any upper level 500+ MATH/Programming courses and "teach" yourself. Well maybe a few people can, but it's very high level stuff that requires a professor to break it down and explain it.

If your going for business, I would say save your money. Otherwise switch your degree to something that will actually get you a decent job afterward.

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Originally Posted by RobotNinja

I'm currently in college and I feel like college is worth it "DEPENDING" on your degree. I find it hilarious to see all the women majoring in Psychology/Communications, both of these degrees are kinda a joke. You can learn the stuff they teach you in these degree's through reading a couple books with a basic high school education. Not only that but when you graduate your not going to find work because your now competing against hundreds of thousands of other Psychology/Business/Communication degree's.

If your going for business, I would say save your money. Otherwise switch your degree to something that will actually get you a decent job afterward.

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I kind of disagree with this...in my line of work, a business/communication degree will net you around $80-100k (in Phoenix, anyway) fresh out of school. You're looking at half of that without the degree. If you plan on going into a business field, the communication part is very important. You can't prepare yourself enough for communicating in the business world, you're entire life is taking people out to dinner, playing middleman between retailers and clients, and writing emails. If you want to make some real bank in the business world, learn Chinese. Being able to talk directly to the factories is a huge plus.

Everything is different though, of course you can't just pick up Nuclear Physics For Dummies. College is really what you make of it. If you don't plan on going to class and putting in the time, its most likely going to be a waste of time and money.

Whether someone values a degree or not is largely going to depend on the hiring practices they have been faced with. Someone who applies a lot to large enterprises with large HR departments who have no idea what the actual work really requires is going to face a lot of closed doors without a degree.

Someone who works for a lot of small businesses where they can get in on the ground level is going to maybe get an opportunity to at least speak with the hiring manager and sell themselves based on their experience.

Yes it was worth it and yes I am using my degrees in electrical and computer engineering. I'll agree that the education system is horrendously flawed and I had to spend a lot of time doing completely irrelevant stuff in order to get my degrees, but I certainly wouldn't be living as comfortably as I am now if I had never gone to college. Even if I somehow acquired all the same knowledge on my own, the companies I've been with probably wouldn't have even given me a chance to prove that if I didn't have any formal education.

If you have the means of going to school do it! I have no college education and it is a tough world. I've worked my fingers to the bones to get to wear I am now, but that doesn't guarantee me someone just as driven as I am, with ANY college degree, couldn't replace me at anytime.

To be able to make it in this world you need structure- some are born into it, some need to learn it. In most fields a degree is just a sign of structure in your life.

Well, it all depends on what you want to do with your life, I guess. My outlook is probably quite different from most of the other guys in this thread. I studied some rather peculiar stuff from the field of humanities, so my only perspective is pursuing an academic career (the other option being starting over and doing something entirely different). Working on my PhD at the moment and you obviously need degrees in academia (which is quite a strange world, to say the least).

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Originally Posted by DigitalDevil

Yes it was worth it and yes I am using my degrees in electrical and computer engineering. I'll agree that the education system is horrendously flawed and I had to spend a lot of time doing completely irrelevant stuff in order to get my degrees, but I certainly wouldn't be living as comfortably as I am now if I had never gone to college. Even if I somehow acquired all the same knowledge on my own, the companies I've been with probably wouldn't have even given me a chance to prove that if I didn't have any formal education.

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Also I should add that I also know quite a few people that managed to survive school and get an engineering degree but don't know what they're doing and still can't get a job in the field years after graduating, so there's more to it than just getting the degree.

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Originally Posted by RobotNinja

I'm currently in college and I feel like college is worth it "DEPENDING" on your degree. I find it hilarious to see all the women majoring in Psychology/Communications, both of these degrees are kinda a joke. You can learn the stuff they teach you in these degree's through reading a couple books with a basic high school education. Not only that but when you graduate your not going to find work because your now competing against hundreds of thousands of other Psychology/Business/Communication degree's.

I don't have to worry about student loans because I was in the Military so I get the GI Bill. But we had a saying in the Marines, "If it was easy, everybody would do it". Meaning most people take the easy route in life, it's a select few who actually put in hard work/determination and the same goes for college. Take a easy degree, then don't expect to get alot from it. Take a difficult degree, and the rewards are well worth it.

College is very important if your going into any of the Science/Engineering fields. You can't simply pick up a book on discreet mathematics or any upper level 500+ MATH/Programming courses and "teach" yourself. Well maybe a few people can, but it's very high level stuff that requires a professor to break it down and explain it.

If your going for business, I would say save your money. Otherwise switch your degree to something that will actually get you a decent job afterward.

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I would agree with some of this, but overall its not good advice.

I have a strategic comm degree with a business minor and I'm currently working in NYC in marketing and doing well. Although its not the exact industry (specialty imported foods) I want to be in, it is the field I aimed for. Your degree is just one factor that determines your eventual career. Prior experience, internships, and NETWORKING all play roles in going where you want to be.

Want to go into business? Don't bother, you can get that by reading a couple of books. :laugh: Sorry, but that is asinine.

If I could go back and change a few things regarding college...would I? Absolutely. I would have gone for international marketing and minored in a language. I'm sure a lot of people would change some things about their past education if they could, but hindsight is 20/20.