I want to drop out of college

[Socketosis]

29 minutes ago, Elektranine said:

You don't need any degree for IT as pretty much anyone with good troubleshooting ability can do tech support.

IT is quite a bit more than just tech support though.

[Rassah]

Since OP is in another country, this may not apply. To the rest with the same issues, check this out https://discoverpraxis.com/

 

Seriously, screw college. People will actually pay you money to drop out of college it's so bad now. Get actual work experience instead. And I don't mean flipping burgers

https://youtu.be/2CmbJzPmQ-M

[Toshabi]

1 hour ago, Elektranine said:

So much of what you said is not true at all.College is only as useless as you make it. Taking a major that has no demand is your own fault. Majoring in Art or music is a very good way to secure a job at Starbucks but not so much at Microsoft.

Uh, you see all those billboards and advertisements that are kind of all over the place? You see this fancy website your'e running on right now? You see all those websites everywhere that you use every single day? That's graphic design. Already, you're sounding like a moron that doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

1 hour ago, Elektranine said:

College loan repayments are currently capped at 10% of your income so $500 a month payments would entail making $60k a year. Not a financial stress at all.

Except that that's not the case when you have private loans that needed to be taken out to pay for housing and other educational expenses. Mind you, this was all to also pay for my old degree pursuit in Computer Science that swapped over to graphic design/web design. Add that 160 dollar stress onto my 350 from regular debt and you get a nice $510 dollar repayment. 

 

And living in California with my own place trying to pay off this, car payments, car insurance, health insurance (Which, Affordable Healthcare means I HAVE to pay 300/mo towards health insurance I'd rather not be spending money on due to Lolbama), rent, renters insurance, food, utilities, internet, phone, gas, ect, it REALLY starts to add up. Are you not aware of the other expenses that go on with trying to live on your own? Or are you one of those furries that live with mom and dad and love going on forums trying to make a statement about things they have no idea what they're talking about?

 

 

1 hour ago, Elektranine said:

And no IT is not the same as Computer Science. Really the difference is akin to a nurse vs a doctor. You are a nurse. The difference in pay is there too. I know people who's very first job starting out with a bachelor's degree got them $98k salary. You don't need any degree for IT as pretty much anyone with good troubleshooting ability can do tech support.

So database repairs, software maintenance, patch builds, and on-sight server setup may not be what comp sci is about, but seeing how a lot of these are entry level jobs to move on up to further stuff in the tech field is a thing, it's sort of a necessity, considering how shaky job situations are these days. 

 

And I'm loving this "LOL WELL PEOPLE I KNOW GOT DUGREH AND R MUKIN MILLIUNZ WUTZ UR EXCUZ XD". Cause that's the scenario for everyone and people being unable to pay back student debt and live on their own is totally not a problem these days =)

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Elektranine said:

 Majoring in Art or music is a very good way to secure a job at Starbucks but not so much at Microsoft.

Hi! I would like to kindly remind you that most things you enjoy have some kind of art in some capacity. "Art" for you might be fine art, like painters and the like. Even then, they can find work. @evan can speak to you for the music part, but I'm in graphic design, and general art industry. Its absolutely bursting. People need textiles, and pattens, and ideas, all sorts of shit. People need products and solutions. Even illustrators for posters and childrens ventures and clothes are needed. What ISNT needed and should be discouraged are things like games, comics, personal books and such. Those are the things certain kids go to school for that find out the hard way that its not needed, nor can you really make money out of it. That may be the "art" you're thinking of. But do not dismiss art and support STEM fields only. Art is lucrative if you know what you're doing, and know how to apply yourself. 

[Rassah]

There's a lot of art everywhere, but there are also a lot of artists. Enough so that art just doesn't pay much

 

@Toshabi if you have to pay $300 just for health insurance to avoid fees, and want to try to save money, look into libertyhealthshare.org. As long as you don't smoke or need an abortion, that may be a cheaper option. Or not.

Also, why are you torturing yourself living in Cali?!

[Toshabi]

22 minutes ago, Rassah said:

There's a lot of art everywhere, but there are also a lot of artists. Enough so that art just doesn't pay much

 

@Toshabi if you have to pay $300 just for health insurance to avoid fees, and want to try to save money, look into libertyhealthshare.org. As long as you don't smoke or need an abortion, that may be a cheaper option. Or not.

Also, why are you torturing yourself living in Cali?!

Currently in the process of trying to move out of state. The fiance and I are sort of in a small bind till we can afford the move into a new place. Just atm, we're soaking in some job experience. It's livable, but it won't due good for long term.

[Zeke]

On September 20, 2016 at 9:21 PM, Toshabi said:

So much of what you said is not true at all.College is only as useless as you make it. Taking a major that has no demand is your own fault. Majoring in Art or music is a very good way to secure a job at Starbucks but not so much at Microsoft.

Some fields now require you to have a Liberal Arts Degree at most and start around 40-60K. At least, doing programming and stuff with local and state government. Hell, even libraries are asking for people with Art Degrees now that they are expanding their spaces to include makerspaces and other art-related departments. 

Graphic arts designers are also in demand for websites and logo designs. 

There are also IT still working bottom retail at Best buy or Staples because they do not have the drive or the needed "Foot-in-the-door" through work-study. Just because you have a degree in that field doesn't mean you are 100% certified to get the job you went to school for. 

[Toshabi]

8 hours ago, Zeke said:

Some fields now require you to have a Liberal Arts Degree at most and start around 40-60K. At least, doing programming and stuff with local and state government. Hell, even libraries are asking for people with Art Degrees now that they are expanding their spaces to include makerspaces and other art-related departments. 

Graphic arts designers are also in demand for websites and logo designs. 

There are also IT still working bottom retail at Best buy or Staples because they do not have the drive or the needed "Foot-in-the-door" through work-study. Just because you have a degree in that field doesn't mean you are 100% certified to get the job you went to school for. 

W-wait why did you quote ME saying that?!? >:[

[Zeke]

11 hours ago, Toshabi said:

W-wait why did you quote ME saying that?!? >:[

Reinforcing what you quoted, senpai.

[Toshabi]

6 hours ago, Zeke said:

Reinforcing what you quoted, senpai.

the quote formatting threw me off. I drank that night and was like "wtfff did I really say that"?!

 

Gomenasai Zeke-kun

[Pignog]

On 2016-09-19 at 6:53 PM, Toshabi said:

Having a degree in anything from any college is enough these days. Go for whatever joe schmoo college that can get you a degree with the least amount of debt is what you should go for OP. None of this hard work stuff tbh. Apply for an entry level job at whatever it is you're going for and work your way up there, because honestly? College feels more like a big ass scam these days for the most part. Even after attending a college for a specialty and doing well at it, the amount of debt you incur for that knowledge is going to hit you like a freight train. 

 

Either or, everyone in my job is on debt from getting a degree in comp sci and here I am with a graphic design degree, earning the same amount as them in the same exact position because I simply had an entry level tech support job back at my old college.

 

Entry level jobs/Work experience > college. Just go for whats cheapest or apply for entry level work for a profession (thats not super specialty) that you wanna work for. 

 

(hurray for double posts)

I think we basically agree, I was just saying that if the person had to choose between sticking with their degree and dropping out, they're more likely to find employment and earn a higher income with a degree.

Whether university is substantively worth it is a different question. University education used to emphasize training in a discipline, a broad general education, and developing core competencies that are useful regardless of where you go in life. If you wanted job "skills" you'd go to a trade school or an employer would take you on and actually train you. We've all become obsessed with having the right set of "skills" and education's only purpose now seems to be preparing students for the workplace. It's a tragedy because, like you pointed out, we're putting large debt loads on students while producing neither good citizens nor skilled workers. I think it's a scam right now but a reformed system would improve things.

Entry-level jobs/work experience is absolutely better for job training than university. One problem is geography -- in most of the regions I've lived the only jobs available are dead-end with no room for advancement, with or without education. Yes, people can move but there's a high opportunity cost. I've seen uprooting one's life for work compared to throwing darts, with the goal to "throw enough until one sticks." That's fine, as long as people admit that each dart costs $2000, takes months to land, and the player is making minimum wage as they save.