The College Bubble

I don't think it works like that. Finding & landing a job isn't a dice roll.

 

Yeah I've been pretty vague. My brain is fried right now.

With college costing so much (partly due to government subsidies, like I guess many of you are discussing) yeah you do have to do a kind of cost-benefit analysis.

I probably wouldn't be going myself if I had to take out huge loans, this is true. I was fortunate to get a decent scholarship etc..


What I meant by the "right" major (which I concede is just my opinion) is one that will leave you with a very particular skill set. Part of the reason I chose accounting is I am learning skills that are in demand, and that (in relative terms) not a whole lot of people have.
Thereby, I presumably will have job stability.

Salaries do come into play, but its not like Im going to be loaded when I get out of college, Ill just be comfortable with plenty of room for advancement, which is all I can ask for.


Lets say marketing, for example. What they teach you is vague as fuck, and everyone and their mother thinks they can market something. You'll have to pretty much take whatever job you get (if you can find one) when you graduate.


I guess when I say the "right" major it is biased because it is in accordance with MY goals:

Live comfortably immediately after college (over 50k). Have job stability, and a lot of room for advancement.

Not to mention I enjoy it.

I think too many students just pick a major not having a realistic idea of where they're headed.

 

Sort of my point in fewer words.

 

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I agree with most of what you said. I would posit that many people do not go to college to find (what I would call) a career and that not everyone has the same values as you.

I think this is part of the reason why work experience is essential before deciding on a career.

 

What about doing what you love, too much people are herded into picking the "right" major spend a ton of money and later come to find they don't really want this, that's the real problem.

 

Isn't it a bit sad that in this day and age education itself is seen as pretty much meaningless, except as a means to get some particular job that society deems as particularly valuable?

 

Yes, and that is because it costs a ton money, and like everything else is a commodity. Lots of people are making bank off of higher education, and it is something that is kind of just beaten into the heads of high schoolers as what to do next. Not that i don't enjoy learning, but the system needs to be reformed. If anyone should be bailed out of debts it shouldn't be big industry folk it should be students.

 

Yeah this is actually pretty sad.


Kids who sleep in class and don't realize how blessed they are to be getting educated.

 

I got plenty of good sleep during some of my classes.

 

Is the fact that many legitimate areas of study are being considered 'fluff,' and a de-prioritization of many of these legitimate areas of education, the result of larger social and governmental controls over society and the economy?

 

Well maybe you spent other time of yours learning what you could.


A lot of kids just want to pass and graduate.

 

Which is why college is mostly a waste for a lot of people because the benefits are meaningless when not adequately applied. I have an associates degree but I feel it was a waste, not because of my major, but because I think I want to start my own business.