<p>The problem is not with me. I don’t need a few years to “mature” and then I will be set to go back in there and finish the job. Some of you do not realize I am fundamentally questioning college’s purpose. I won’t be persuaded by arguments like “Oh, just get it” and “My friend is really depressed since he dropped out of college at your age”. </p>
<p>Let me ask another question, since asking questions seems to work nicely. Is is more true that a degree guarantees a better job or not having a degree puts you out of the running for a better job?</p>
<p>You just have to figure out what you want to do and is a college degree typical for that career. It may not always be required, but if a fair number of people in that field have a degree you’ll forever be passed over for advancement. </p>
<p>Some career paths will have some entry level postions that don’t require a college degree. So, you can always start your career and go to college later. Doing it that way will be harder than it seems as once you get a job and the lifestyle that accompanies it, it is harder to go back and live the student life again. Working and going to school at the same time is tough also.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to go to college, don’t. But a college degree and a decent GPA/track record in college means something to a lot of employers.</p>
Nothing is guaranteed, but there are certain careers where it is understood that your own natural intellect is not alone sufficient, so they require that you have been college educated.</p>
<p>I was assuming that the OP was not going to be an engineer, doctor, lawyer, etc. Those fields REQUIRE a college degree. In fact, the college degree is just the beginning for those professions.</p>
<p>I admit I haven’t read through every single answer, so I apologize if I overlap.</p>
<p>Very interesting point you bring up. College is not the only way to achieve success. I know plenty of people who have achieved success without a degree, and maybe you will be one of them. Kudos to you if you can make it work. I know plenty of mavericks in my family and circle of friends who have made their own path.</p>
<p>I think the thing to be aware of, though, is that without a degree, your choices will be limited. Many employers will not call someone in for an interview for a job if they have not gotten at least a bachelors degree.</p>
<p>You may do fine for awhile if you don’t have a degree. Maybe you will find a job, or build your own company, or work in a field that doesn’t care about that. Or you can invent new things or build an idea that changes the world. That’s great. </p>
<p>But if down the line you choose to go for jobs that need a degree, you will have to go back and get your bachelors before you even begin a masters or higher program. My husband had some college, but because he never got his bachelors, now that he’s looking for work, he would have to go back and complete his bachelors before going for a masters or above, and it feels very overwhelming to start the process over again at his age.</p>
<p>If you are interested in the arts, or entrepreneurship, or physical labor fields, or service fields or a variety of other fields, you may well find a job without a degree if you have talent. If you can sell yourself and your talents, you may never need a college degree. Truly.</p>
<p>Just be aware that you don’t know what life opportunities will open up down the line, and you might want to be best prepared for the widest employment possibilities for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>I’ve have had read every post with interest and I actually felt for the OP. My daughter is having this same philosophical dilemma right now. She has successfully completed three years at a very selective school, but is now questioning the worth of her future degree and of college right now, total dissatisfaction with everything and uncertainty of the future… So I was sympathetic toward the OP. But now I am thoroughly convinced that the OP is not being sincere and is just throwing questions around. He offers no insightful information of his situation, does not answer anyones inquiries and responds with more questions, like he is doing a research project.<br>
If he wants to be taken seriously, which I’m not convinced he really cares, then be sincere.</p>
<p>Could you tell me what contributes most to your success? Is it being</p>
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<p>All of the above. Mostly, I think not letting an opportunity pass me by, because of lack of effort on my part. Also, “who I know”, that I have a “good” reputation with, counts for a lot. "Good " varies with the circumstance, but includes THEIR version of being me “good at what I do.”.</p>
<p>Among the experiences was changing high schools, from a private to a public with a vocational track, so I could get a job as a nurses aid at age 16. Decent money when you’re sixteen, but during the bus and train commute back, my back hurt SOOO bad… and I was working with people who would need to depend on their backs forever!</p>
<p>In retrospect at least, “school” seems like the “funnest”, easiest thing ever!</p>
<p>So I am betting most of the posters here had SOME twinge of the OP’s feelings while in college. I know I did. I knew that some of the classes I was taking would not be relevant in the long run (and they weren’t). And, like geeps20, I have a business degree from a big 10 school and run my own business. However, I do find some of the classes useful (accounting, finance, computer science, and marketing sometimes come into play with what I do). And some of the other courses I took are useful when I read the news or a book, and I have the background to understand the context.</p>
<p>But fundamentally college is also about “punching a ticket” that the majority of employers would like to see you have before they hire you for a job where you work more with your mind than your hands. It costs a lot to hire someone new and train them, and employees can be hard to get rid of. They want to know you (1) have some basic level of intelligence, (2) have some basic reading/writing/analysis skills, and (3) have some persistence. A college degree should provide some guarantee of those things. So employers use that as a litmus test; it is a quick, easy way to separate out applicants likely to meet their criteria. </p>
<p>I do think the OP is playing with us. He knows perfectly well that he can’t get a job as an engineer without an engineering degree because he will not have the fundamental skills taught in college for that profession (it was his major for a while, so I know HE knows this). He also knows he could get a job in construction swinging a hammer or pouring concrete without a degree. And he can read statistics as well as we can – he knows that his odds of a higher paying job (or full employment) are a lot less if he does not go get that degree. No idea why he thinks this is a useful way to spend his time, except maybe he is procrastinating on either getting a job or going back to school.</p>
<p>He is probably one of the very kids on this thread whose parents are in despair because he is laying around in his bedroom all day, not going to school or working. Note that he has not asked one question about whether he should change majors (and what to) or what field he should enter if he doesn’t get a degree. He is just stirring the pot. I think he really is out of school, but he is not actually looking for advice.</p>
<p>Entrepeneurship is the way to go. The OP could create or invent something and/or create and run his own business. </p>
<p>I have not read the previous 110 posts so probably someone already said this, but if so, i will say it again: Often a non-professional position requires that for young person have bachelor’s degrees to qualify for the position not so much because of what the young person learned while earning the bachelor’s degree but because of what earning a bachelor’s degree ways about the person’s self: “I was respectful - I did what my professors required. I had the foresight to plan what credits I would need to graduate. I was diligent enough to earn the credits.” </p>
<p>If I were hiring a 22-year-old to work at my business and there were two candidates that were equal in other ways, I would pick the one with the degree.</p>
<p>I would also say that a degree from a decent college–a degree in any discipline–also indicates that a person has a certain basic skill set. He can read with understanding, and write decently. He probably has at least a basic understanding of math. He can work with other people, and can produce work product that is favorably evaluated by adults. A high school diploma reflects a lesser degree of these skills (and may not mean much at all, depending on the high school). Without the degree, a potential employer will have to do extra work to determine if a candidate has these basic skills. And since he has a big stack of applications, why should he do this extra work? If you were looking to hire an assistant manager for your Radio Shack, and you had forty applications, why would you bother reading the ten from people with no college degrees?</p>
<p>P.S. I never worry too much about whether the OP is ■■■■■■■■ in a thread like this–there are plenty of real people with this same question, more or less.</p>
<p>We’re at the end of the spring semester and the OP can go out and get a job with no risk of terminating college (he or she can always return in the fall and jump through some more hoops). So hit the job boards or figure out a business to start. We’re going through this exercise right now with our two kids - they could both find work and and just keep working through the fall if they want to or they could go back. It wouldn’t be a problem for me in supporting them either way.</p>
<p>You have options and those options don’t even hurt your options for the fall right now.</p>
<p>IF you are really as smart as you say… be an actuary! Starting salary for an FSA is more than 100k since no one in the world has gotten an FSA and then get a job (everyone graduates college without even anything and work 3-4 years to get to FSA). BUT if you are that smart, pass all 7 exams (the last 2 exams cost $1025, 6 hours long, and covers over 2k pages of material) and other reqs. in half a year. Then you are GUARANTEED a job b/c FSA are so rare and supply/demand causes them to be a good job.</p>
<p>I am a H.S. junior and well I passed 1st exam last month, and taking 2 more this month, finishing my VEE/FAP reqs during summer, and taking last 4 exams in Nov. There is no point going to college after you pass all these reqs and be an FSA b/c you can already go find a job. Entry level jobs are all people with less than 3-4 exams, but if you have 7 exams and FSA credential, then obviously you WILL get a job, even if you have no college degree.</p>
<p>Agree with all of the above who have made very good points.</p>
<p>You could go into a field such as food service without a degree. Many fast food franchises (or convenience marts) hire people who become “managers” 6 months later by dint of hard work and showing up every day, which puts them head and shoulders about most of the employees. I’m not sure what these “managers” make however. If you like the field and really believe in the company you could probably advance above that but I would think you’d eventually have to go to night school for some sort of business degree.</p>
<p>Do you really think people learn nothing in college? That the diploma is just a piece of paper proving you put in 4 years?</p>
<p>I know I know nothing about business. They speak a whole different language over there. Would P & G hire me to do anything but answer the phone?</p>
<p>I know some German, a little French and even less Italian. Why would I think I could get a job teaching or translating when someone else spent 4 or more years studying the subject to master it?</p>
<p>So do what you want. I hope eventually you’ll see for yourself (instead of taking our word for it, which you don’t seem inclined to do) that you need training (or natural genius if you’re a Bill Gates) in SOMETHING, to get any kind of decent job.</p>
<p>I have been a hiring manager myself for over 10 years. A resume without a college degree won’t even pass the HR recruiter so it will never land on my desk. Sorry, this is the reality.</p>
<p>If you present the case in that you couldn’t go to college because of financial limitation but as soon as you have means, you went back, I will probably want to listen (just listen) and consider. But seems like you just didn’t like the college. In one’s life, there are many things we don’t like but we live in a social setting so we learn to self adjust. </p>
<p>My biggest problem with folks with your case is how can I make sure he likes to work for me or my company? Where is the discipline & commitment? Yes you can probably do the work, but the working environment is so much more than just being able to work individually.</p>