partier9

Kids go to college to get laid and get paid.

But mostly for the getting laid part.

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If I had a billion dollars?

1069

Hmm. I'm not too sure.
I chose not to go to college.
I could go anytime I want; the money's there.
I just hate school, is all. I always did.
I don't think my kids will go to college either, although the money's there for them too, if they decide to.
I think, more likely, they'll get some sort of trade school or tech degrees.

I don't see the point of it at all, personally.
I think one can learn a lot more just from reading and keeping one's eyes and ears open. Find smart people, and hang around with them until you've absorbed everything they know.
The only reason I can see that anybody goes to college is to get a better-paying job.
But money's not that important to me.
I've known a lot of people with Master's degrees who were still frighteningly stupid, so it's not like college makes one more intelligent.
It looks to me like anybody could pass, as long as they pay the money and physically appear in class. I mean, from what I understand, they have tutoring and everything and will basically ensure that you pass, as long as you actually try, as long as you make a show of putting your best effort into it.
I never heard of anyone flunking out of college because they were too stupid to keep pace with the curriculum. People flunk out of college because of drugs, because they party too hard, because they stop showing up for class.
Not because they tried really hard but just weren't intelligent enough to make it.

So I don't know.
I'm sure the point of it isn't just to learn, because if that was it, you don't even have to pay. You could just sit in on the classes for free, and claim you were auditing them.
The point is to buy the degree; that's what you're really paying for. And the point beyond that is to make a lot of money.

Probably, as another poster suggested, the children of the middle and upper class just go to college because that's the done thing. That's where all their peers are. That's what one does.
It's mainly a social thing, probably.

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Lightdemon: "Is 10 going to outer space or something?"
Jerry: "...yes, 10 is going to outerspace."

Tashah

I went to college because it was the best way to further satisfy my unending curiosity. No regrets whatsoever.

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128shot

Is that as dirty as it sounds?


kidding, of course...

Tashah

I guess it could be taken in that context lol. But no 128. My alma mater is definitely not a party school.

SFLRN

Sure, drinking and cannabis are part of the college experience, because intoxication and altered mind states are fairly new to kids. But it's something that many young people (college or not) enjoy doing with their new found freedom. As they mature it becomes less of a fascination (they drink in moderation, and usually stop smoking pot ).
However, it's not like all universities are this way. For example, at Columbia (not to suggest that I attend Columbia) I recalled hearing someone talk on their phone about how Ghengis Khan was a political genius, not a military genius. A friend of a friend lamented on the fact that her statistics class was so rudimentary. I've gone to meetings of the socialist club and discussed (disagreed with) ideas with other students. And it's not like Columbia students (as an example) don't party. They do, and some quite frequently. I often hear stories from my friends at Princeton about their partying exploits, but that doesn't mean they don't also study. I will admit that at a number of schools outside of the most prestigious colleges have kids that are less academically interested. However, that's because most people, in general, are not thoroughly interested in academics. It's not something that's unique to this generation. I visited Ohio State University and stayed a couple of days. I found very little of the same discussion I might find at Columbia, most of the conversation was un-academic. That's not something new to OSU, it's just the way most kids are.
That is still one of biggest reason people go to college. You simply do not have much flexibility (job wise) without a college degree. That doesn't mean you need a college degree to make a lot of money, it just makes it easier.
I'll agree that more parents would better serve their kids by putting them on some kind of budget, but most of them will quickly learn their lessons when they get out of college.

It is tough. Getting into prestigious colleges is harder now than it ever has been in the history of college admissions.
For example, here's Princeton's SAT Middle 50% score range (gives a general picture of the student body's strength)
"690 - 790".
College Search - Princeton University - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®
If you compare that to their IQ equivalents you
find that students of Princeton likely have an IQ of around 130 and up. Going off of the lower IQ, their IQ is at least the top 2.5% (it will generally be somewhat higher). SAT Percentile Rankings

Bodhisattva

If you were stupid then you wouldn't understand that you should go to college in order to avoid being poor.

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Bodhisattva

It seems that people think that the point of a college degrees is money... and this is right and wrong.
Right because that is one option
Wrong because money is not the only option
As Ten points out, money and degrees do not equal happiness.

So what is the point of a college degree then? Options. And lots of them.

IF you have a degree you have more options in life... plain and simple.
More options is better than less options. With more options, you can still work in a trade or anything else...
More options can mean more money, but not necassarily
One with more options can be a bartender for a while, or a clown, and then go make money.

The difference is that a mechanic with no college education will be stuck being a mechanic, or some other tradesmen while a guy with a college education could be in some professional field and if they so choose, they could become a mechanic... or not, and then leave the garage and go back to being a laywer or whatever...or switch fields, since most require a 4 year degree as a pre-requisite to even enter. The mechanic with no degree has less options.

RightinNYC

To make that skrill, son.

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People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

conman

I went because my dad constantly told me I wouldn't amount to anything if I didn't (even though nobody in my family had ever graduated before me). I have friends who didn't go to college who make more money than me, and enjoy their work more than I do. I do not regret going though, because I am proud that I was the first in my family to graduate, and I feel like my degree is something I can always fall back on (sort of a safety net).