<p>Is it because you want to increase your earning capability?</p>
<p>Do you enjoy what you're going to be or already majoring?</p>
<p>How important is this almost 10 year investment in our human capital?</p>
<p>Do you enjoy learning a certain subject? If so, then which subject?</p>
<p>Why do we strive to be the "best"?</p>
<p>Yes I want for college to increase my earning capability. I do enjoy what I’m majoring in, chemical engineering. Investing in oneself is very important. I personally strive to be the best because anything else means unfulfilled potential.</p>
<p>10 year investment? Not quite…</p>
<p>Where did you get 10 years from?</p>
<p>I don’t care about return on investment or job prospects or whatever. I want my kids to be college-educated so that they will have an informed philosophy of life and a deeper understanding of the world, politics, literature, science, religion, culture, as much as they can absorb. Education is valuable beyond job training. It’s an opportunity to broaden your mind, and your understanding of yourself and the world around you.</p>
<p>I go to college because I want to learn how to think more intelligently and make better and smarter decisions in life.</p>
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If that is truly what you want for your kids then college may not even be the best option that will fulfill desires for them. </p>
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You’d be surprised of the dependency of education and experience. One cannot learn on information alone. </p>
<p>Not meaning to pick apart your post, but I simply don’t agree with it and feel you fail to see that there are better options than college based on your criteria.</p>
<p>Such as???</p>
<p>For me, I love learning in general. Then of course there’s the fact that I’m majoring in areas that I absolutely love. The increased earning potential once I’m done is just icing on the cake.</p>
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You said you “want [your] kids to…have an informed philosophy of life…deeper understanding of the world, politics, literature, science, religion, culture…” Why not send them backpacking throughout the world? Why not have them travel and live within those various cultures. What is knowledge without experience?</p>
<p>To deem “college-educated” as proof to have worldy knowledge is not something I agree with. Many college graduates may pass through without taking a single philosophy or literature class or having a cultural experience.</p>
<p>In my opinion, part of a good college experience is to travel and live in other places and cultures. It helps to gain some background knowledge and language skill before you go. </p>
<p>Even while at college, you will meet people from other places and cultures, especially if you choose a college far from home, or one with many international students. College provides a structure for these experiences, plus critical thinking skills to more fully understand the politics, history, and cultural differences of other peoples and places. </p>
<p>Sure, I could send my kid off with a backpack, but then he might just end up bumming around, sampling the beers and wines in different cities. He might learn a few phrases in different languages. He would probably meet some cool people, make friends, have fun. It would be a good experience, but far different from the college experience. </p>
<p>I think the ideal time to do something like that would be right after college, after you’ve developed foreign language skills, become more independent, possibly made some international friends you could travel with or visit, might even have employment options, and can better understand the places and cultures you are visiting. </p>
<p>I have nothing against traveling for a gap year before college. But I don’t think it could possibly be a replacement for four years of guided study at a good school. But college isn’t for everyone, and people are different and want different things.</p>
<p>Since you asked what is the point of going to college, I told you what I view to be the most important aspects of it. Can a person skate through and accomplish little? Yes. If that’s your plan, I would say it would be better to skip it and save your money. But for those who choose the right college for them and fully apply themselves in all aspects of college life, it can be the most stimulating, intellectual, exciting, mind-broadening time of your life.</p>
<p>Marked marked</p>
<p>Paraphrasing the words of Buzzfeed’s President, ‘college makes for a better adult’.</p>
<p>No matter what my kids do for a living, they will have a college degree.</p>
<p>When I was growing up, everyone I knew had a college degree. Sadly, this is changing.</p>
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<p>What if what your kids want to do doesn’t involve a college education? It’s a waste of money to par for a college education if a kid doesn’t actually want to get one.</p>
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<p>What? People are getting degrees more now than ever.</p>
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<p>If you send your kid off to a new town and they choose to bum around and sample beer, then they’re going to do the same thing at college - party and slack off. If you send your kid off to a new town and they take in the sights and culture, they’ll do the same at college. Forcing a kid to go to college doesn’t mean they’ll value it the way that you do.</p>
<p>sooo… much anti-intellectualism on the cc board now.</p>
<p>^^^Very true, snugapug. It used to be that being a well-read educated citizen was valued. Now apparently, the point of college is to become a narrowly focused money-making machine.</p>
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<p>So much more snobbery from your part, you mean. (btw, actually replying to comments instead of making vague statements is a good thing to do).</p>
<p>It’s a very elitest idea that everyone must go to college- that’s just not what everyone wants.</p>
<p>When I went to college (and dropped out), it was because I thought I “needed to learn more about business”, but learned that the “business” I was being taught was less hands-on and more accounting, finance, and related. Not a bad thing, but wasn’t what I was looking for.</p>