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  1. #1

    To the high school students and college students...

    This is a very good article for you to consider as you're trying to decide not only which college should I attend, what should I major in but how am I going to pay for my education and ensure that my education costs don't end up having a negative impact on my financial stability post graduation.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20663550

    I have a BA in History with a focus on early colonial America, my choice of degrees was large in part in my wanting to experience college in a way that made partying easy and getting decent grade easy. I'd chosen economics and moved to aerospace engineering and finally history, because frankly history required very little effort and didn't interfere with partying.

    The problem was that after I graduated I have no real job skills, I'd limited myself in the types of jobs in which I'd be able to use my degree but I'd had a fucking lot of fun in college. Then the problem with how do I pay for all that?

    I am all for a person seeking a career in doing something they enjoy and makes them happy but you can't expect others to have to bare the brunt of your poor academic choice when you can't pay for the loans because either you didn't plan well or you picked a career that doesn't pay well.

    Think before you leap..

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Although I'm not in college/university yet, I'm pretty sure in Scotland we get to go for free, so I'm fine.

  3. #3
    It makes me happy I was in the military and now my tuition is 100% free (for the first 4 years at least). There are always other options, I know a lot of the officer recruiters for the military will offer to pay off your student debt as an incentive to join.

    Also, as far as enjoying your career goes.... That's only able to going so far in my mind. Like your example - degree but no real job demand. Take something in Medical or Computer Science/Engineering and do what you 'enjoy' as a hobby. I suppose it's all about how you view it though, loving your job is a plus, but so is making a comfortable living. I couldn't help but feel a little sad when I was doing my orientation and they called off majors for the tour and over half the hall got up when they said "Liberal Arts".
    Last edited by NoRest4Wicked; 2012-12-11 at 06:52 PM.

  4. #4
    I got a real laugh put of this post because i dropped out after one year because i saw this as where i was going. Attaining debt for a degree i could never pay back. Seriously though some people are meamt for better things some are not. Learn who you are and of you dont want to go or you just want to party get a trade and go to work. Dont put yoirself on debt so you cant climb out.

  5. #5
    Titan vindicatorx's Avatar
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    I live in the US and I only owe $25,000 I had 2 grants that really lowered the amount I needed to borrow. The majority of mine is from housing my grants pay for the school part and I borrow to pay for room and board. My brother who has a PhD owed 130k when he graduated but then again he makes 110k a year so it was worth it for him.

  6. #6
    The Lightbringer Toxigen's Avatar
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    Here's a tip for high school and early college students:

    Go into a trade. I don't care if its carpentry, electrician, plumber, machine programming (CNC, wire EDM, etc), whatever...the number of kids becoming apprentices is shrinking every year. Starting pay in these fields will continue to increase. You'll never have to worry about not having a job, and one day (with enough ambition and a little bit of capital), you can work for yourself.

    Go to college for 4+ years and study liberal arts, good fucking luck to you.
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  7. #7
    Meh, i get money for going to school. I would probably hang myself if i had to pay 100k for my degree.

  8. #8
    The 4 year, spend 200k on private college, and get a worthless BA model that so many buy into these days is a huge scam. It's alright if you get good financial aid or are well off, but community college and state schools get you so much more for your $ in most cases and avoid debt. It costs me about $1000+books (chegg ftw) a semester after FAFSA aid and I'm probably getting a better education now than I was during the year that I spent (still spending.. ugh) $37k on private college. Majority of my high school friends who graduated from a 4 year college are working similar jobs right now to what they had while they were in high school.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Toxigen View Post
    Here's a tip for high school and early college students:

    Go into a trade. I don't care if its carpentry, electrician, plumber, machine programming (CNC, wire EDM, etc), whatever...the number of kids becoming apprentices is shrinking every year. Starting pay in these fields will continue to increase. You'll never have to worry about not having a job, and one day (with enough ambition and a little bit of capital), you can work for yourself.

    Go to college for 4+ years and study liberal arts, good fucking luck to you.
    Couldn't agree more.

    Amazed me all the hipsters whining and bitching at the OWS movements that 'they have a degree' in some obscure bullshit and they aren't getting offered jobs starting on good money. Like really... And people continue to study obscure stuff with shit job prospects even though the economies are still bad.

    I understand that it's important to study what you enjoy, but you also need to be practical.

    My cousin was an apprentice welder 5 years ago and now he's working contracts in Canada in the oil fields earning more than a top surgeon/consultant does in the UK.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Arlon View Post
    Meh, i get money for going to school. I would probably hang myself if i had to pay 100k for my degree.
    Very few people ever come close to 100k, and no, you're not getting paid to go to school.

    Getting scholarships that pay for the schooling itself isn't the same as getting money in your pocket for doing something.
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  11. #11
    Pandaren Monk Slummish's Avatar
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    The world needs scientists and mathematicians and engineers and people with real skills and a clear understanding of particular fields of study that pertain to modern life. If you earn a degree in history, sculpture, philosophy, political science, etc., don't be surprised when you cannot find a job.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Simmeh-chan View Post
    Although I'm not in college/university yet, I'm pretty sure in Scotland we get to go for free, so I'm fine.
    Righteous.

    ---------- Post added 2012-12-12 at 01:08 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Redriot View Post
    It makes me happy I was in the military and now my tuition is 100% free (for the first 4 years at least).
    Good for you.

    Pick something that happens to pay off and make each year of free tuition count.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Arlon View Post
    Meh, i get money for going to school. I would probably hang myself if i had to pay 100k for my degree.
    You get money for attending college? So someone pays you, pays all your bills (housing, food, books, labs, utils, car payment, insurance and the other normal bills one has) and pays for your college education? You're a lottery winner.

    I'm one of the lucky ones in that I have been a nerd my entire life, so when I knew I couldn't do jack shit with a BA in history I had technology to fall back on. It is possible to develop a good career being self taught within technology. However, and this is just my opinion, it becomes more difficult to advance through management without advanced degrees.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Redriot View Post
    It makes me happy I was in the military and now my tuition is 100% free (for the first 4 years at least). There are always other options, I know a lot of the officer recruiters for the military will offer to pay off your student debt as an incentive to join.
    With your military tuition do you know if it limits what courses you're able to take on their dime? I only ask because I knew a guy in the Air National Guard who got his school paid for, but had to either major in Electrical Engineering or Criminal Justice so as to develop the skills he would need for his post, just curious if this is a regular thing or a case by case basis.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Simmeh-chan View Post
    Although I'm not in college/university yet, I'm pretty sure in Scotland we get to go for free, so I'm fine.
    I think you may have missed the point. Even if your college education is "free" if you make poor choices while in college you will still hinder yourself later on in life. IE having no marketable skills when you go into the working world.
    Last edited by lordmatthias; 2012-12-11 at 08:37 PM.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Toxigen View Post
    Here's a tip for high school and early college students:

    Go into a trade. I don't care if its carpentry, electrician, plumber, machine programming (CNC, wire EDM, etc), whatever...the number of kids becoming apprentices is shrinking every year. Starting pay in these fields will continue to increase. You'll never have to worry about not having a job, and one day (with enough ambition and a little bit of capital), you can work for yourself.

    Go to college for 4+ years and study liberal arts, good fucking luck to you.
    It isn't as "easy" to get into a trade skill as much as people claim. I'd know. I got tired of seeing what I thought were awesome paying jobs in CNC; so I did a lot of looking and searching to find out how to go about getting into the field. Let me tell you, it was a shit hill to climb and it wasn't free.

    A great deal of people who are in trade fields "lucked" into them, in my experience. This is usually done thanks in part to their high school and "who someone knows" sorts of ties. Further more, the way the insurance scam works in the USA, it's really difficult for companies to higher people who don't have special certifications and or degrees in something related.

    I will agree with your last comment though and it's something I'm getting really fucking tired of. I'm really fucking sick of people getting Financial Aid and student loans to take shit degrees which are NEVER worth the fucking cost and then defaulting on those loans. This all derives from America trying to be too god damn British about things.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Slummish View Post
    The world needs scientists and mathematicians and engineers and people with real skills and a clear understanding of particular fields of study that pertain to modern life. If you earn a degree in history, sculpture, philosophy, political science, etc., don't be surprised when you cannot find a job.
    Art, literature and history are just as important to society as math and science, though the impact is much more subtle.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by drukai View Post
    Art, literature and history are just as important to society as math and science, though the impact is much more subtle.
    Only if the society in question is intelligent enough to understand. Which in the USA, they certainly are not.

    Infracted: Please don't post in an inflammatory way against other nations.
    Last edited by Wikiy; 2012-12-11 at 11:32 PM.

  19. #19
    I don't think it is necessarily a question of whether or not these fields are important, I believe most people would agree that they are. I believe the question is why so many people choose to go into those fields, and realistically how many people those fields can actually support.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by lordmatthias View Post
    I believe the question is why so many people choose to go into those fields, and realistically how many people those fields can actually support.
    Yep that's the real issue. History and the humanities are a very popular choice for sports players, if for no other reason because they can play varsity, travel, party with the team, etc and still complete the degree. It's hard to find students that will double down with football + biochemistry, or baseball + engineering, just because there isn't enough time in the day to do that for most people without burning out.

    Not to say that's the entire root of the problem, just my anecdotal experience of my brother's college varsity baseball team almost entirely consisting of History or "American Studies" majors.

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