<p>I feel now that more and more people are going to college for the wrong reasons. For example to get a job or because society tells us to. You have the group that says if you go to college to get a job you're wasting your time. But isn't that or was the point of going to college? So that you can be more competitive. I mean what's the point of it all? I'm here because I will most likely be a M.D, D.O, or a P.A. And all three of those fields require a bachelors degree. How about you?</p>
<p>Going to college to get a job is not one of the wrong reasons. There are jobs that require the degree and you cannot get around it. They’re not going to hire someone who says he could do engineering without having taken any of the classes. </p>
<p>You don’t have to get a college degree to work as a secretary, sure. I believe people in general are a little more ambitious than that. For instance, I am a math major. Sure, I could study all of the math there is out there and learn it really well. But who is going to give me an interview for an extremely well paying job without any credentials? We do not live in a world where you can simply step into an office and take the job in my line of work unless you are Will Hunting. You don’t need to go to college to become a programmer. You do need to go to college for a physics degree. Where are you going to get all of that expensive lab equipment? Who are you going to be able to do research with that would take you seriously? You cannot do it all by yourself without proper funding and competing without a degree in a pool of people with prestigious degrees…what do you think the odds are of getting funded? There are always doors we have to open for ourselves and have other people open for us. Those require proof that people see as acceptable, i.e. the degree.</p>
<p>You don’t need a college degree to work as a cashier at Wal-Mart. You don’t need to get a bachelor’s to work as a mechanic. You don’t need a college degree to work as a garbage man. I think people in general are a little more ambitious on average because they want a good job, they want good pay. You must not forget that college is not just a place of academics but a place to network. If you know somebody and you have the credentials, it becomes easier to get a job compared to someone with the same credentials with zero contacts. Where are most young people who are going to be the future world leaders? College. There are a few people that break the mold, but the overwhelming majority will not be that successful without a college degree. People should not kid themselves that they could be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates. </p>
<p>You are going to college to become more competitive. You are also going to college for a variety of other reasons.</p>
<p>It depends on the major, if your an art major , why not just simply draw ?
If your a writing major…</p>
<p>But if you want to make money, with a HARD science, then i’d say a degree is needed .</p>
<p>A few reasons. Personal growth, learning more about the world, getting a job. I’ve been good on the first two, not so good on the last one. In fact I think college is pretty worthless if getting a job is your only goal. My school’s allegedly pretty great for the programs I’m in and yet I’m having a hell of a time getting even the simplest job. Meanwhile, my friend who barely graduated high school (he actually failed senior english and had to take a course at his CC to get his diploma) got a job pretty easily. He’s like a shift supervisor at a pizza place, he’ll probably be an assistant manager in short time. It’s not glorious and he’s not making tons of money, but hey he’s employed which is more than I can say.</p>
<p>tl;dr going to college just to get a job is a waste of time and money, join the military or go to trade school instead.</p>
<p>Like thismortalsoil said, I think there are some intangibles to college, like learning to become an adult, to be independent, etc. It can’t be just to get a job and live, you want to have ambition and…idk…do your best, maybe even impact the world?</p>