Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Is college worth it?

Here is an article pointing out that half of law school students cannot find a job.

As a recent college graduate I feel qualified to talk about college.

For decades we have heard that going to college is necessary.  If you talk to a poor person one of their biggest concerns is saving money for their kid's college.  We have been told that you will not get anywhere in life without a degree.  We are told that a degree holder will make more in his, or her, lifetime. 

But we don't often hear the case against college.

Colleges have been run in order to make money.  I am not opposed to that at all, especially if they are privately funded.  But the colleges have spent too much time trying to maximise their short term revenue to think about the future.  People are spending tens of thousands to get a degree in areas like sociology, art, English, and business.  These are all pointless. 

Everybody is going to school and lots of people have degrees, but there are not enough jobs for those degrees.  How many recent graduated do you know have jobs that they got with the help of their degree.

If I were hiring today the things I'd look for are: experience, knowledge, and passion. 

At best school gives people a testing ground for responsibility and experience on their own.  But unless you take a STEM class you are totally wasting you time and money.

The advice I wish I had had before going to college is: Know what job you want now.  Look up job listings for that job.  Contact the employers and ask for unpaid internships and advice on weather or not a degree is really  necessary.

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