"going to college" In America questions

[Ympulse]

Speaking purely on anecdotal evidence. Any and all jobs here posted online or signed that pay more than 8.50/hr REQUIRE 4 year degrees in order to even be interviewed.

Shit you not, I applied for a security position with a 4 year military term on my resume. They told me to come back when I got a bachelors.

 

[Nannernade]

I go to a community college the education doesn't seem much different, the only difference that I'm seeing is I'm not spending 40 grand a minute to listen to some old guy yammer on about the history of something.

 

[Voration]

Speaking purely on anecdotal evidence. Any and all jobs here posted online or signed that pay more than 8.50/hr REQUIRE 4 year degrees in order to even be interviewed.

Shit you not, I applied for a security position with a 4 year military term on my resume. They told me to come back when I got a bachelors.

It seems America values academic attainment over experience. In the UK, University is important to many jobs but people take many other things into account when looking to employ. Also many places (eg supermarkets) won't hire you if you're 'over qualified,' I like this because it gives more people a chance to get a job even without an education

 

[Dags90]

so basically theres a stigma attatched to being a tradesmen or "blue collar" worker? thats jsut stupid

over here tradesmen are often very well paid and dont get me started about the people "working on the mines" big big money there ....well somtimes it seems a silly Idea to waste your time at university

There's a big pressure to be middle class in the U.S. Despite their earnings, trade workers are considered "working class" by default. My dad was pushing six figures before the economic collapse as a machine-tool repairman, but would have been considered "working class" and is considered a less esteemed job than middle management for about 2/3 the pay.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

so anyway having always been fed a steady stream of American TV it seems there's always this huge thing in america to "go to college" (same as university right?)

Not quite. A college is basically an advanced educational institution, whereas a university is a place where active research is taking place. It's a subtle difference, but one worth knowing.

Sooo...it would appear that my two (yes, TWO) bachelor of science degrees aren't too helpful in getting me lucrative employment, or getting me into graduate school. I don't exactly regret going to college, but degrees helping you get jobs isn't exactly true. You will get a higher salary with a BS or higher, of course, but obtaining employment isn't any easier.

As for community college, it serves as a stepping stone for some people to get into a 4 year university, or for obtaining associate degrees (2 year degrees) so they can earn more. They're pretty useful for both, but certainly no substitute for a 4 year degree.

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

Community college is the college for people who can't shell out ridiculous amounts of cash out of their bank accounts. It doesn't have a bad reputation, it's like not wearing name-brand clothing while your co-workers wear Abercrombie.

It's pretty much this. While going to a semester of college here can cost you about $30,000 a year (that's just an average for colleges I've looked at), I've been going to a community college for about $3,000 a semester.

It's a great way to start off your education and figure out what you want to do for a major.

Unfortunately, a lot of jobs here require a degree in order to get hired. But the advantage is that having that degree immediately puts you ahead of the game.

 

[Kuilui]

It is possible to make decent money not going to college in America but its a bit trickier. As far as I know my step dad has never gone to college. Yet he is a realitor a prison guard and works for the navy. Moneys decent for all three but he really had to work his *** off to get as far as he did. College is kind of like the far more expensive more opportunities way of doing things. Sure it may cost you 30-60k but it opens but far more opportunities typically. Unless you go for a degree in liberal arts.

End point you can go to a trade school and make good money. You can make it on your own but it will probably be a decent bit tougher without an education and will probably involve far more manual labor or less income stability. Either that or you can spend the amount of money that will haunt you for years but will basically open a lot of doors. Although like anything else it can backfire. I know this one girl who went to school to be a psychologist spent all this money and time but the problem is. Is that theirs about 600 psychologists within a thirty mile radius all going after the extremely small amount of jobs in the field. Guess who still doesn't have her dream job.

 

[Brawndo]

A four-year degree in the US is basically worth as much as a high school degree was worth 30-40 years ago. It's expected by most employers that you have a degree, but the value of many degrees (especially non-science ones) have been heavily diluted because there are too many schools and too many people in college.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Well, Here's some hard data on the subject:

You can see that having a college degree really helps with both employment and wages, especially with a bachelor's (4 years) degree and up. Below that, the changes in wages aren't generally significant, but the employment rate is.

Goddamn it, lol, I have a Master's degree and make less than half of what the average bachelor's holder made a week. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the whole "having to pay for all that tuition" part. To be fair, a degree is not required at my workplace.

 

[BGH122]

It seems America values academic attainment over experience. In the UK, University is important to many jobs but people take many other things into account when looking to employ.

Yeah, but that's largely because New Labour's decision to make everyone and their mother go to university has pushed the number of graduates (especially for BA subjects) so high that degrees are worth a lot less than they used to be in the UK. Of course, BSc etc are still worth a lot because a lot of the people attending uni are doing so to take BA courses as they know they'll never earn above the threshold to actually pay the debt back!

 

[BGH122]

Sure it may cost you 30-60k

Times that by a factor of ten for places like Harvard. I looked into taking Medicine at Harvard and then balked when I saw that it'd set me back 600k...

 

[Rednog]

College is simply a means of getting a better job so you can get a better pay in order to pay off the huge amount of debt one has accumulated in college.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

Well, Here's some hard data on the subject:

You can see that having a college degree really helps with both employment and wages, especially with a bachelor's (4 years) degree and up. Below that, the changes in wages aren't generally significant, but the employment rate is.

You can also see that even just a high school diploma is decent compared to lesser.

 

[Valkyrie101]

It seems America values academic attainment over experience. In the UK, University is important to many jobs but people take many other things into account when looking to employ.

Yeah, but that's largely because New Labour's decision to make everyone and their mother go to university has pushed the number of graduates (especially for BA subjects) so high that degrees are worth a lot less than they used to be in the UK. Of course, BSc etc are still worth a lot because a lot of the people attending uni are doing so to take BA courses as they know they'll never earn above the threshold to actually pay the debt back!

QFT. It used to be the case that almost anyone who went to university could walk straight into a graduate job or a profession and earn a decent salary from the word go. It was also free.

EDIT: Wooooooh, 3000 posts.

 

[Hader]

Sure it may cost you 30-60k

Times that by a factor of ten for places like Harvard. I looked into taking Medicine at Harvard and then balked when I saw that it'd set me back 600k...

I would have to transfer and go to another college with a good EMS program to get the degree I want in due time, and that involved quite the sum of money as well

Tis why I am going back home to a community college for as much education in emergency medical services as they can provide, then finish paramedic training at wherever the hell is cheapest at the time.

600k though...damn. Lol

 

[BGH122]

Sure it may cost you 30-60k

Times that by a factor of ten for places like Harvard. I looked into taking Medicine at Harvard and then balked when I saw that it'd set me back 600k...

I would have to transfer and go to another college with a good EMS program to get the degree I want in due time, and that involved quite the sum of money as well

Tis why I am going back home to a community college for as much education in emergency medical services as they can provide, then finish paramedic training at wherever the hell is cheapest at the time.

600k though...damn. Lol

It's times like this I'm glad I was born British. I get my medical license for 60k GBP (even with the Tory price hike) and then immediately take the USMLEE and go straight to the US for their ridiculous physician fees at one tenth the tuition costs!

 

[Hader]

Sure it may cost you 30-60k

Times that by a factor of ten for places like Harvard. I looked into taking Medicine at Harvard and then balked when I saw that it'd set me back 600k...

I would have to transfer and go to another college with a good EMS program to get the degree I want in due time, and that involved quite the sum of money as well

Tis why I am going back home to a community college for as much education in emergency medical services as they can provide, then finish paramedic training at wherever the hell is cheapest at the time.

600k though...damn. Lol

It's times like this I'm glad I was born British. I get my medical license for 60k GBP (even with the Tory price hike) and then immediately take the USMLEE and go straight to the US for their ridiculous physician fees at one tenth the tuition costs!

That's still quite a bit though but good luck with that

 

[Aur0ra145]

so anyway having always been fed a steady stream of American TV it seems there's always this huge thing in america to "go to college" (same as university right?)

I mean this obsession with college...well its not quite the same here in Aus, its not like you have to go to university to be a success (it would be a waste of time for alot of people) I dont really know much about America, it just seems that no college=failure, mabye a degree is a pre-requisite for more jobs

and whats this thing with "comunity college"? is that basically free/public college? I suspect it has somthing of a reputation, is it that bad? I dont think theres an equivalnt in Australia the cost of our education I think we pay back over time

anyway I dontknow why this interests me but after watchign alot of TV and movies its interestign to compare it to Australia

Why is college (university) a big deal? Well, because you move away from home, drink more beer than you knew existed and generally party all the time.

Bachelor degrees are required for a lot of different job positions. Also, it just looks better.

Community college is a more cost effective place to obtain college credits. Uh, they also have associate degrees with are 2-year, "hey, I went to some college" degrees. I went to a community college for 3 semesters, because it was just a lot cheaper, classes were easier, and it wasn't a very far drive. So, yeah, I have an Associates of Liberal Arts. AND an Associates of Science. I had a weird mix of classes from the university I went to prior and it ended up with me getting those.

University on the other hand is great. You can choose your classes, walk around campus, meet people, listen to close minded socialists protest, see the GLAD people telling other not to hate them, ROTC cadets wearing sunglasses, professors that believe they're god, black people step dancing or whatever, loud rap music, frat boys believing they are all that is man, people wearing stupid clothing, street musicians, etc.

See University is appealing the the "I am so smug and intelligent, you're a heathen for not listening or even considering my opinion, now I will verse you on the best thing to order from Starbucks, which is actually a reference to Moby Dick, which was about the drive of man kind..."

Yes, university is a place for people who could not normally get away with deviant or absurd behavior anywhere else. There is a rash of liberalism, double talk, fallacies and down right lies these kids use to argue with one another. Pretty much you can do or be whatever you want to an university, people generally don't judge you.

Therefore, kids flock their to escape the tedious lives they've lived in suburbia.

Did I mention philanthropist projects? They're fucking everywhere. You will be asked for money no less than 3 times when walking between classes. Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK! I'M IN DEBT, GAS IS EXPENSIVE, I HAVE TO EAT BEFORE I GIVE A FUCK ABOUT KIDS IN INDOCHINA EATING! Sorry, I really irks me as to the aggressive nature of the philanthropists are for you to give them money.

Though, thank the lord I'll be graduating with a Bachelors degree this summer. Then it's off to the military!

Honestly, university isn't that bad. I just want to finish school and get on with my life. I'm tired of people in the university setting claiming to be open minded and accepting of everyone when they really aren't. It gets very old. Also, I don't like kids not taking responsibility for their own actions.

 

[Caligulove]

After going to University, I would honestly say only half of the people going there are actually using it for stepping stone to some other goal- the rest have rich parents and are going to college but dont have much investment in it other than being yelled at by their parents- or they're people that go to college because all their friends are and because it's been put into their heads as what to do after high school- even if you don't know what to study, what you could do with a degree and really aren't prepared to leave with the gigantic student loan debt after they graduate or drop out.

Far too many people I know go to Uni for the sake of a title, or to say they went there later on in life but really squandering the education they could be getting. That or they should just wait and go to Uni when they have an actual goal and an idea of what to not only when they get into college but when they get out.

 

[BGH122]

Sure it may cost you 30-60k

Times that by a factor of ten for places like Harvard. I looked into taking Medicine at Harvard and then balked when I saw that it'd set me back 600k...

I would have to transfer and go to another college with a good EMS program to get the degree I want in due time, and that involved quite the sum of money as well

Tis why I am going back home to a community college for as much education in emergency medical services as they can provide, then finish paramedic training at wherever the hell is cheapest at the time.

600k though...damn. Lol

It's times like this I'm glad I was born British. I get my medical license for 60k GBP (even with the Tory price hike) and then immediately take the USMLEE and go straight to the US for their ridiculous physician fees at one tenth the tuition costs!

That's still quite a bit though but good luck with that

True, it is. However it's dwarfed by US physician fees and it's all debt. Plus I love biology and actually want to get to work in an allied field so it's worth the cost. I'm hoping the Tories get to pass this nonsense bill they've been debating back and forth where tuition fees would be mitigated by a post-grad tax. Good luck on collecting even more tax from your highly trained workforce when they, like me, flee to the US!