<p>"As well as the validation of their efforts, college-inbound students will also learn the benefits of career oriented socialization. Networking. From the gained alumni network to the more personal 1-to-1 knowledge from those higher up in the corporate ladder, the students at colleges gain a higher advantage than those with a self-studied education just because they went to college and applied themselves socially. "</p>
<p>Alternately, you can have my experience and end up socially traumatized by the entire college experience and end up effectively desocialized.</p>
<p>Sadly, I can’t get those five years of my life back. </p>
<p>That’s easy. It was a confluence of factors. </p>
<p>Relatively poor coping skills.</p>
<p>Relatively poor social skills.</p>
<p>Death of mother during college.</p>
<p>A view of college as a place to “win”, meaning get better grades than everyone else. I had no interest in actually <em>being</em> in college and no real idea why I was even there.</p>
<p>Extreme inherent intellectual ability which allowed me to cut through engineering “weed-out” classes like a hot knife through butter, meaning that I never needed any study skills, and when I actually needed to work, I had no idea <em>how</em> to work. See poor coping skills.</p>
<p>First roomate was an alcoholic felon.</p>
<p>In, I never adjusted to college life and just waited it out like a prisoner would await a release from jail.</p>
<p>^^^^that’s some pretty good insight you have, no parent would wish that experience for their kids. However, you did stick it out and I see from your other posts that you went on to a good law school. How was that experience?</p>
<p>@JonLaw: That was pretty impressed!!! Why did you choose law school??? Rumour sometimes has it, law is such dry major. Some people tend to avoid it!</p>
<p>Vegasmom. Glad to see you started posting.:)</p>
<p>Spouse and I have 3 graduate degrees between us. We are geared towards education.</p>
<p>Along comes artist kid. We tried to fit that round peg in a square hole by insisting on a college degree. No way would one of my kids not have a college degree. We could afford it and kid was capable…not not willing.</p>
<p>Wasted money.</p>
<p>Fast forward. Artist kid has always been able to piece together freelance jobs. Huge network of other artists and entrepreneurs. Artist kid is focused, hard working and big thinking. Currently building an online empire with other focused hard working and talented young adults some who have college degrees and some that don’t.</p>
<p>Artist kid has skills galore working with the public, writing contracts, pulling together a team of skilled workers, figuring out how to sooth big egos and help people work together. Kid can negotiate like crazy. Kid is learning to market the art.</p>
<p>Artist kid has some mad, mad skills that would have been postponed had the kid been sitting and languishing away in philosophy 101.</p>
<p>I only wish we had gotten it sooner and poured money into artist kids business rather than forcing what we knew…formal education.</p>
<p>We wanted the piece of paper for that kid badly. </p>
<p>Sax, these cases are very rare, obviously. In many of these cases the entrepreneur fails and has to restart the process. Of course the individual is responsible for a lot of the effort in the situation but much luck and coincidence is involved in piecing together such a life. It’s safer to have a college degree than not to have it. Look at it this way, maybe his college degree has helped him unintentionally and in ways not direct to his job. We cannot know how he would have done without it unfortunately.</p>
<p>I went for law because I figured that law (meaning, intellectual property law) would give me greater earnings over time while avoiding my having to work in chemical plants or around dangerous chemicals (my undergrad was chemical engineering).</p>
<p>I’m one of the few people who actually completed a degree in engineering having no actual interest in engineering or desire to be an engineer. That’s where my scholarship was, though, so I completed the degree rather than spend money on college.</p>
<p>From what I had learned at the time, engineers had problems with their careers around 45-50 where they tended to peak in earnings and be replaced by younger engineers.</p>
<p>The economic logic I used at the time doesn’t apply anymore given the nature of the legal employment market.</p>
<p>The question isn’t really well-formed. Earning the credential means getting an education - and if that’s not true at some school, that school is doing it wrong. My answer isn’t “both”, it’s “yes”. Yes, I want an education I will enjoy that will lead me to being able to do what I enjoy in job form. It’s a complete package.</p>