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Save Me Time: Don’t Go To College
Written by-Zach-
Since I’ve convinced you that not everyone should vote, I’d also like to convince you now that not everyone should go to college. It’s ok not to go to college. There are jobs out there and no one should feel bad about not going if they don’t want to. It should be a choice, not an expectation.
It all starts when we’re children and our parents tell us we can do whatever we put our mind to. That’s a lie, and when I was 4, I knew it. I specifically remember thinking “No matter how much mind power I put into lifting my house with my pinky finger, I will never be able to do it.” And the cynicism has continued ever since.
College is one of those things that guidance counselors are paid to tell you to strive for, but what they don’t tell you is that if everyone were to take their advice, finding a job would be a miserable and almost impossible experience.
College is commonly thought to be a place that is attended by a student hoping to learn skills for their future profession. This is just not true. College is actually a place that is attended by a student hoping to get a degree which will in turn set them apart from the average applicant when trying to get a job.
If everyone were to go to college then the people who want to set themselves apart in the job market, have to get more advanced degrees. This is what has been happening over the last 30 years. In the U.S. over 50% of high school graduates are now going to college. That’s not good. Now people like me who want to get a good job have to go another 5 years to get their masters or doctorate, as if 17 years of institutionalized education wasn’t enough. Keep in mind that these degrees have nothing to do with being smart, or having skills, it’s all about the appearance of being smart and having skills. I have to take classes like anthropology and “Legal Environment of Business”. They say it’s to make me a well rounded student, but at over $1,500 a course, we all know what it’s really about.
Since colleges exist to make money, and not to actually train people, it’s easy for colleges to lower their standards so more students can attend.
I have two other problems with college. The first problem is that Wikipedia is free. Doesn’t seem like a problem but it is. It’s a problem because what I’ve learned from 2 years of college so far, I could’ve learned on Wikipedia in about 2 hours. The fact that it is free is a problem because most people have to pay for college. I don’t, but if I did, I would think it to be an even bigger problem.
The second problem is that professors in college don’t like Wikipedia. As progressive as college professors think they are, they still think Wikipedia is some hacker’s thread. They say that they don’t accept Wikipedia as an academic source because anyone can post on it. The reality is that I posted an article this morning that was taken off in less than 3 minutes. This is it:
The fact that this was taken off so quickly is a perfect example of how Wikipedia is trying to show professors that it really isn’t so bad. If Wikipedia was full of hatred and contempt for college professors, which they have a right to be, they would have kept my article up, since it was such an accurate depiction. Despite the accuracy of the article, I didn’t cite any sources, so it Wikipedia took it off. It’s the rule.
Perhaps college professors are jealous of Wikipedia’s accuracy, broad mindedness, and true progressiveness. Or perhaps they are worried that if people knew how much absolute hogwash they spout out every lecture, that they will stop paying them and turn to the free and more available Wikipedia.
So it all boils down to a few things. Colleges should keep high standards so that people who really go to learn don’t have to spend 30 years on their education. If people don’t want to go to college, then they shouldn’t be expected to. And if we ever have the option to choose between going to college or Wikipedia, the answer is Wikipedia. Hands down.
Sources:
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.college-degree-fast.com/College-Degree-fast-Images/College-Graduates.jpg
Hey Zach. Doesn’t everyone know that four-year colleges are merely playgrounds for social experimentation? Wikipedia may be great, but can Wikipedia tell you how much beer you can really tolerate or what really happens in Cancun on Spring Break? I don’t think so. Four years of that sort of training is worth the time and money.
More on Wikipedia some other time, but it is demonstrably deserving of its place as a tertiary reference. I love Wikipedia and it is good enough almost all the time and good fun the rest of the time, but a peer reviewed journal it is not. I think, however, that most college professors are willing to accept your website (and mine) as thoroughly authoritative primary sources. People would call us out if we ever got something wrong (which we never do).
Stoogepie,
I think you’re right. We should just change our domain names to .edu’s.
You are exactly right!!! Not everyone should go to college
I am an RN….I have a 2 year associates degree that it took me 4 years at a local community college to obtain……that’s going full time!!
I’m pretty sure I’m done with higher education!
Ya, I’m sure you took a lot of classes that 1. you don’t use 2.you don’t need 3. you don’t remember.
I’m going to be in college for another 5 years at least to get my PhD. It’s ridiculous. That will mean that I will go to school for 20 years. That’s a long time. Apparently in Plato’s “Republic” he thought that people who become government officials need to have a 50 year education. Now we don’t even need an education to be president, and apparently only 8 years of experience in Senate. Last president from the Senate? 1969 *cough* Obama *cough*
hmmmm……..interesting. Sorry about the 20 years of education
YUCK!!!!!
This bitter opinion has nothing to do with your grade appeal, I’m sure!!!
You may not be paying for your education but I’m paying dearly. So much for my early retirement!!!
Love,
Mom
You’ve spearheaded an issue which I think is applicable largely to lecture based schools, which in turn brings us to a much larger issue: class size.
Crap, that was a pun.
Anyway, my point is this: of course you can learn everything from a lecture of 100 people just as easily from Wikipedia. But reduce that number to eight or nine, place yourself in a seminar with a professor who knows your name and more, and you’ve got what higher education should truly strive for.
It’s interesting the way a University, or better yet, a certain program within a University tends to work. Take the accounting department at a local state college for example. The accounting professors attend quarterly conferences where employers from within the accounting profession explain to the accounting department WHAT exactly they are looking for from the students. In turn, the accounting department will make sure that that is what they are teaching each individual. Now, if 40 well prepared students is all they can get per year out of University of Not Learn Good, and they get 100 students per year from University of Super Accounting Techniques, then it is quite obvious that the second university will get more funding. In turn, the accounting professors will get higher paychecks as hoped.
Personally, I don’t find anything wrong with this give and take system. It makes perfect and logical sense. However, market for higher education is an interesting one. After all, if you can’t apply anything you’ve learned on paper, you’re useful only to yourself.
Wikipedia should not be cited.
Stereotyping liberal professors as those who would rather complain than teach may be true in some cases, but still very wrong overall.
College is not necessary for all jobs. But the jobs that don’t require college are usually the jobs you wouldn’t want to spend a lifetime doing (exceptions in this also though).
Personally my stance is that we should put a fresh face on the k-12 schooling system. It’s practically a joke compared to European and some Asian counties education system. With our resources and National income we should have no problem stepping up our education system. If our grade schools were the level of other countries than we would have no need for college in a lot of jobs that require associates degrees.
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