A Word from The Loser.

[Lightwolf]

One always needs a General education as much as one needs to expand on their strengths through a series of more Specialized courses. Anything lacking too much on either side of the spectrum will just frustrate most people I think.

While I agree, you don't necessarily need an institution for either - unless a degree is a requirement in the field you want to get into.
I suppose trying a few things for a couple of years might make you look like a slacker, but can actually help pursue what you want with more vigour in the end.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[jasonwestmas]

I agree Lightwolf, you don't necessarily need a degree to be successful in your own hopes and dreams! I do have some general ed degrees in art, design and computers but that was out of ignorance of what I needed to know at the time.

Just today I got a general education about computer hardware with help from yourself and some others, it was grand

 

[Glendalough]

... My personal experience was, I had very little time, and therefore got very little out of the "overall" college experience (elective courses, college life, etc.) I worked a full time job during school and 80+ hours every week in the summers to get through college, and therefore anything that wasn't an efficient use of my time, was mostly a frustration, and not something I could be involved in, even if I wanted to. Additionally, had I left school and had trouble finding a job with my tens of thousands of dollars of loan debt...I would have been none too pleased. Fortunately I made a choice to pursue something that pretty much makes me "very" flexible and able to find a job, in almost any type of economy.

The vast majority of people don't end up this way, and this is most definitely a fault of the educational system itself. I see this every day, teachers, guidance counselors, administrators telling students "oh yeah, just go to college and see what you like, and take a broad range of things, and find out who you are" meanwhile 50%+ of these students don't make it through the 4 years and/or do, and come out and get the same job they could have gotten with no degree ...The worst part is, most of the students I see will have to work while going to school, will have to put themselves in debt to get through the whole process, and the people advising think nothing of this because they either a) didn't have to pay for school themselves or get much in loans or b) there is no accountability/visibility whatsoever once the student leaves the door and the administration has been able to check off some box that "such and such percentage is college bound".

This is just so true except it isn't really the educational system so much as the people who feed off it. Without the grant system as it was in it's prime, the original American idea (middle class dream circa 1930-60) of University doesn't make sense. When I went, oh so long ago, I wouldn't even hint, none of the students worked except on weekends. They usually had an old family car, no security guards on campus, no parking fees or fines etc. Some classes took place downtown in bars (philosophy). But actually, the standard of teaching was quite high and classes small and informal.

Now all the grants and entitlements have been removed and prices just gone way up through the roof. But the really depressing thing is, many of these very people who have benefited by all this, are the same people exploiting the present day students. There are a lot of people walking around the US who have 2 or 3 degrees which they never use or paid for, now kids can't even get one without being worked off their feet.