In college?

[Clutch City1993]

Of course, most people consider college a must. While others either can't afford it, settle just to go straight to work, or aren't under the impression that college is important at all. I myself, in my 2nd year of college, find myself wondering if 3 more years will be worth it in the end. So my question is how many people on the board have graduated or are currently attending college? Why? and has it made your life easier?

[DonnyMost]

meet chicks

[OrangeCounty,CA]

meet chicks
I just graduated after 5 years at Cal. State U. Long Beach, the single best university that I know in terms of sight-seeing (if you know what I mean) ;)
Did you know that the average ratio of female to male students is 60% to 40%. That's 1.5 girls per a guy like me. :cool:

Besides, I'll be earning a better income because of my education too.

[A_3PO]

Just the fact of having a college degree will affect the way people feel about you. I'm not saying this is right but it's the truth. You will definitely have better opportunities in the job market because some companies won't even consider you without a degree. I would advise anyone currently in college who is on the fence about finishing to get off the fence immediately. 5/10/15 years from now you may have serious regrets about not toughing it out.

My degree (Chemical Engineering) has little to do with how I make my living now (sales) but without it my income and job would be much less.

To get better advice: How old are you, what is your major and what do you want to do for a living? If you left college now, what would be your next step?

[Astro101]

I go to Baylor, so hot chicks abound! You'll get more opportunities in the work place. And when else are you gonna play beer pong as a sport among friends?

[rhino17]

My uncle recently ran into a problem about his lack of college degree. He is in his 50s and he makes a pretty good amount of money for someone only with a high school degree, but he gets lay off a lot. He recently had a job interview. They like his resume and the work he had done in the past. The last question the interviewer asked him was where he got his college degree. My uncle said he didnt have one. The interviewer said, "Then why am i talking to you?" and then he left the room.

[rimrocker]

Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

(Stick it out... you'll be glad you did.)

[ima_drummer2k]

has it made your life easier?
I'm not really sure, but it sure was fun.

My advice is to put off graduation for as long as possible. It's all downhill after that.

[pgabriel]

the one thing I've learned in the last five years of life is that you don't need college to make a lot of money. if you just want to make a lot of money, I would advise you to open your eyes to other options as well as college.

[Blake]

Of course, most people consider college a must. While others either can't afford it, settle just to go straight to work, or aren't under the impression that college is important at all. I myself, in my 2nd year of college, find myself wondering if 3 more years will be worth it in the end. So my question is how many people on the board have graduated or are currently attending college? Why? and has it made your life easier?

I would highly recommend getting your degree. It will open up a lot more doors than just having a diploma. I would stick with it...especially if your parents are paying for it (even if you are)

However...it really depends on what you want to do with your life. There are definitely careers where a degree is worthless and lots of people do very well without one.

[Realjad]

I'm one who feels that college is highly overrated. However that might be because my field is aviation and you can earn 55-100k+ with only having a g.e.d... and if you want, only having to work 14 days out of the month and having 14 off.. in a ROW, not to mention how fun it is.

Also the field is booming since the vets are going away and the demand is as high as ever, the job opportunities are plentiful as with the location options. Yep, screw college, the helicopter industry is the way to go. :D

BTW I am in college getting a film degree.. as a fun hobby though, not for future career opportunities.

[weslinder]

I'm also a chemical engineer, and my job is much better and pays much better than anything I think I would be able to get at 25 without a degree. That, and nothing beats getting a piece of paper that certifies my entrance in to geekdom.

[Asian Sensation]

There's a lot of educated fools out there. Make sure you have a plan. If your plan includes needing a college degree to get to where you want to be then by all means go for it.

[Shroopy2]

Complete the coursework. Definitely get the degree.

Even if its not necessarily the most accurate gauge on a person's ability to work and create money making opportunities. There's no way around it but my minor complaint with college is it can be a career in itself if you let it. But its still the best standard out there to go by.

And its a decent esteem booster when completed. "College dropout" and "working on my masters" leaves 2 different impressions on others and yourself.

[Cannonball]

It's not always the case, but in general, having a degree leads to more job opportunities and higher salaries than a non-graduate would have.

My mother only has a HS diploma. She worked while my dad went to college. Then they divorced and she was screwed. Whenever she has to look for a new job (about every 7-10 years), it sucks. The lack of a college degree really hurts her.

I'm a musician and my degree doesn't mean jack but the knowledge I attained in college is invaluable. My degree will give me a higher pay grade when I enter the Navy. And I'm going to get my Master's and probably my Doctorate and get a college teaching job (they all want Doctorates).

[randomdude]

If you want to make a decent amount of money and don't have anything else going for you (music or personal small business), then a college degree is extremely important. However, make sure you get your degree in something there are job opportunities out there for.
I am at McCombs at UT majoring in Finance and Accounting, but I have seen tons and tons of ppl at UT who are majoring in stuff that they don't get paid much for after graduation. Most of them do it for the love of that particular field so all power to them. As for me, I like my field and more importantly I want to make money after I graduate. I just finished my second year and college has already started showing results by getting me a decent internship and hopefully more opportunities are ahead.

HOOK 'EM

[XxShadyPinkxX]

meet chicks

:o He has enough.


You better stay in school you loser. It's not fair, and you should know it would be worth it. It doesn't cost you anything but time.


Love ya!

[Poloshirtbandit]

The cougar redvolution starts here.

[pradaxpimp]

School gives u time to grow. It also opens a lot of doors if you don't exactly embrace the life of an entrepreneur.

[thelasik]

Another chemical engineer here. With tuition soaring to new highs every year, more and more people are considering whether or not attending college is financially viable. Many people can get by in the early years without a degree, but I think it eventually catches up to them if they don't plan ahead, get laid off, or don't have a stable job, as mentioned earlier in the thread.

To the other ChE's on the board, how many of y'all have gone into refining?

[conquistador#11]

At MHS, there used to be this evil economics teacher named Mrs. Miller. Legend had it, that she intimidated Michael Dell to the point where he wanted to drop out of High school. Years would go by,and not a single donation was ever made to MHS. As soon as Mrs. Miller was fired in 2002,the dell shipments came flying in.

The point is.... if you are a genius, then you don't really need college. However, I feel that college is a place to discover yourself, a place to become a better person. Stay in school and always wear protection! :)

[Harrisment]

I work in IT so I'm in one of those fields where a college degree doesn't mean nearly as much as experience. I'm really glad I quit college after a year and got into the work force. That was 8 years ago and I don't regret it one bit. I think it depends on what you're looking to do for a career. If it's IT, I'd say quit right now and start working. If you want to be a teacher or doctor, well you should probably finish school. ;)

[Poloshirtbandit]

I work in IT so I'm in one of those fields where a college degree doesn't mean nearly as much as experience. I'm really glad I quit college after a year and got into the work force. That was 8 years ago and I don't regret it one bit. I think it depends on what you're looking to do for a career. If it's IT, I'd say quit right now and start working. If you want to be a teacher or doctor, well you should probably finish school. ;)

I kinda wish I had done that. I have a degree in IT now and in one way it feels great, in another way it sucks because I have no real experience so I've been looking for non-IT jobs.

[bejezuz]

The thing about a degree is that by the time you're in a position where you really need it, it's almost too late to get one. I was lucky I could finish mine. I was doing the IT thing and saw no reason to get those last few credits, but then I decided I wanted to go to law school. D'oh, had to finish the degree. It sucked.

My advice, suck it up and finish. The real world ain't all that and you're missing nothing by staying in school. You never know when you're going to have that perfect opportunity, and not having a degree will keep you from obtaining it. Besides, the way things are going, not having a degree twenty years from now will be like dropping out of high school today.

[Harrisment]

I kinda wish I had done that. I have a degree in IT now and in one way it feels great, in another way it sucks because I have no real experience so I've been looking for non-IT jobs.

Yeah man, that does suck. I know so many people that got a Comp Science or MIS degree, and since they have no experience they have to start off on the help desk just like everyone else. Experience is everything in this field.

[pouhe]

Of course, most people consider college a must. While others either can't afford it, settle just to go straight to work, or aren't under the impression that college is important at all. I myself, in my 2nd year of college, find myself wondering if 3 more years will be worth it in the end. So my question is how many people on the board have graduated or are currently attending college? Why? and has it made your life easier?

If you're good at sales, social networking, have leadership skills, or have some mechanical or artistic aptitude, have a financial support system (ie parents) and, on top of any of those things, have a clear plan about what you want to do, then you can skip college or any other type of trade school. Otherwise, it might be tough getting a decent paying and rewarding job before 30. On the flip side, I think something like 60% of high schoolers are going to college now, so my little Cougar High BBA woun't be worth diddly soon enough.

Your problem is not college, it's not knowing what you want to do afterwards. Look at your interests, even your most frivolous (sports, pop culture, music, politics, fashion?), I GUARANTEE YOU there's a major and career field that accomomdates that. There's also probably a book, magazine and newspaper dedicated to it, and you should be reading all of them. And you should be online every day looking for internships. Every day. And you should be tweaking your resume for different industries, and writing and re-writing cover letters....

[A_3PO]

To the other ChE's on the board, how many of y'all have gone into refining?
I'm into refining in a very very very indirect way. What I do has benefited tremendously with the increase in oil prices. I got my degree at a midwest university and petroleum was the farthest thing from my mind.

When people in my industry first find out I have a BSChE, they look at me like I'm crazy. Makes me laugh. My career path is bizarre to say the least.

[Poloshirtbandit]

Yeah man, that does suck. I know so many people that got a Comp Science or MIS degree, and since they have no experience they have to start off on the help desk just like everyone else. Experience is everything in this field.

Yeah, I'm working help desk right now and it sucks the life out of me.

I hated programming and am horrible at it, I have no idea how I made it through college. That seems to be what most of the jobs are these days.

[Harrisment]

Yeah, I'm working help desk right now and it sucks the life out of me.

I hated programming and am horrible at it, I have no idea how I made it through college. That seems to be what most of the jobs are these days.

I hate programming too. I work on the infrastructure side, not development. There are plenty of systems admin type jobs out there, you just have to work your way up to them. I started in 99 doing desktop support and didn't get up to the well paying admin type jobs until I was working for 4 years.

[weslinder]

To the other ChE's on the board, how many of y'all have gone into refining?

I worked for a little refining company that is owned by the Venezuelan government for my first 3 years out of college. I recently changed companies and got into commodity chemicals. (By the way, I do process control, so changing industries isn't hard.)

[dntrwl]

i'd honestly rather be a ball boy for the rockets and make 40k a year rather than sit on my butt and do computer stuff for 100k

[Supermac34]

People with college degrees, on average, earn about $1 million more over their lifetime as people with high school education only.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

I started working on enterprise and financial data warehouses right out of college in the IT field as a developer. Of the 50 or so people I work with regularly with now, only 3-5 have no college degrees and all of them but one are admin assistants. The one that got hired with no degree got in because she knew someone, and while she is fairly competent, her earnings are much lower than everyone else.

[Invisible Fan]

Well, the best solution for a guy in your situation is to goto the career center and let them help you find an internship or part time job. If you hit it off from there you can become a part time student or quit altogether.

The IT intern horror story is because those people didnt go out to find work or research projects to go along with their learning.

Ive been there. You need work experience if only to put your abstract learning into real world exp. Then you can better plan your decisions from there.

[Mr. Mooch]

I just graduated after 5 years at Cal. State U. Long Beach, the single best university that I know in terms of sight-seeing (if you know what I mean) ;)
Did you know that the average ratio of female to male students is 60% to 40%. That's 1.5 girls per a guy like me. :cool:

Besides, I'll be earning a better income because of my education too.
Yeah same thing in Miami...except it's year-round.

[FlyerFanatic]

good question. i'm in college now...it can be very frustrating, i have found myself a few times asking myself why am i doing this? i've switched majors a few times, which isnt to big of a deal. it might make me be in college another year...but it happens. also just thinking about how much i'll owe back in loans is frightful as well. i also know a few people who have jumped right into the workforce...and it seems to be working out for them. then again they're still with parents and arent making the greatest sum of money...still at times it seems it would be better than school.

all in all i've decided i need to stick it out, and take the advice from people who have stuck it out and just go from there.