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I am an engineer. Being five years removed from undergrad, the most valuable parts of college were not electives in mechanics or control theory. They were the

I am an engineer. Being five years removed from undergrad, the most valuable parts of college were not electives in mechanics or control theory. They were the professors I interacted with, the football games I attended in the student section, the liberal arts and writing classes I was required to take, and the friends I made.

csomar 16y ago
So you joined College just to play football, write essays and make friends? Can't you just make that within your network? (neighbors, clubs, events...)
- iskander 16y ago
  >Can't you just make that within your network? (neighbors, clubs, events...) Many of my friends who didn't go to college (or commuted to college) held on to whichever high school friends also stayed behind. They didn't meet many new people or do many new things. While it's theoretically possible to seek out the same level of novelty and excitement college gives you, it's also hard enough that most people won't do it.
  - maqr 16y ago
    I think you just proved his point. What a ridiculous price to pay for the benefit of networking, especially today with this internet thing.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
dustingetz 16y ago
did you pay for your 'education', or was it your rich parents? ps, i agree with you, and i didn't pay for most of mine.
krakensden 16y ago
Really? I never would have learned the math on my own, and liberal arts could cost you $1.50 in library fees. I grew up reading for fun though, perhaps that facet of education is harder for some people?
- potatolicious 16y ago
  > "and liberal arts could cost you $1.50 in library fees." Many subjects cannot really be learned from books. Regardless of how many history books you may read, for example, it will not shed the same insight as a profound discussion with a highly-experienced academic in the field. This is true for many aspects of the humanities. Which isn't to say self-study is worthless, but rather that it is a poor substitute for interaction with your professors. IMHO to claim that liberal arts can be just as well studied by oneself is myopic and tunnel-visioned, and about equivalent to me claiming that aspiring nuclear engineers should pick up some textbooks instead of going to school. IMHO the whole topic of the monetary worth of schooling is an interesting and worthwhile one - but discussions on it on forums such as this one is invariably tainted by the fact that many people in our field have incredibly arrogant and misguided superiority complexes about technical degrees over the arts. I personally tend to think that one ought to be responsible for their own academic spending, and that studies of the arts is a luxury that not everyone can afford - but I hesitate to voice this often, since many of my engineering peers hold this opinion out of disdain and trivialization of the humanities, and I really don't want to be associated with that kind of ignorance.
  - rsheridan6 16y ago
    >Many subjects cannot really be learned from books. Regardless of how many history books you may read, for example, it will not shed the same insight as a profound discussion with a highly-experienced academic in the field. This is true for many aspects of the humanities. My undergrad humanities courses were 100+ students packed into a giant lecture hall listening to a professor talk. There was essentially no interaction.
    - potatolicious 16y ago

csomar 16y ago

So you joined College just to play football, write essays and make friends? Can't you just make that within your network? (neighbors, clubs, events...)

iskander 16y ago
>Can't you just make that within your network? (neighbors, clubs, events...) Many of my friends who didn't go to college (or commuted to college) held on to whichever high school friends also stayed behind. They didn't meet many new people or do many new things. While it's theoretically possible to seek out the same level of novelty and excitement college gives you, it's also hard enough that most people won't do it.
- maqr 16y ago
  I think you just proved his point. What a ridiculous price to pay for the benefit of networking, especially today with this internet thing.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

dustingetz 16y ago

did you pay for your 'education', or was it your rich parents? ps, i agree with you, and i didn't pay for most of mine.

krakensden 16y ago

Really? I never would have learned the math on my own, and liberal arts could cost you $1.50 in library fees. I grew up reading for fun though, perhaps that facet of education is harder for some people?

potatolicious 16y ago
> "and liberal arts could cost you $1.50 in library fees." Many subjects cannot really be learned from books. Regardless of how many history books you may read, for example, it will not shed the same insight as a profound discussion with a highly-experienced academic in the field. This is true for many aspects of the humanities. Which isn't to say self-study is worthless, but rather that it is a poor substitute for interaction with your professors. IMHO to claim that liberal arts can be just as well studied by oneself is myopic and tunnel-visioned, and about equivalent to me claiming that aspiring nuclear engineers should pick up some textbooks instead of going to school. IMHO the whole topic of the monetary worth of schooling is an interesting and worthwhile one - but discussions on it on forums such as this one is invariably tainted by the fact that many people in our field have incredibly arrogant and misguided superiority complexes about technical degrees over the arts. I personally tend to think that one ought to be responsible for their own academic spending, and that studies of the arts is a luxury that not everyone can afford - but I hesitate to voice this often, since many of my engineering peers hold this opinion out of disdain and trivialization of the humanities, and I really don't want to be associated with that kind of ignorance.
- rsheridan6 16y ago
  >Many subjects cannot really be learned from books. Regardless of how many history books you may read, for example, it will not shed the same insight as a profound discussion with a highly-experienced academic in the field. This is true for many aspects of the humanities. My undergrad humanities courses were 100+ students packed into a giant lecture hall listening to a professor talk. There was essentially no interaction.
  - potatolicious 16y ago