4 ms·

My single working mother had no bandwidth to help me with getting into college. Neither of my parents had a dime to give me. Despite both my parents being colle

by psyc 9y ago

My single working mother had no bandwidth to help me with getting into college. Neither of my parents had a dime to give me. Despite both my parents being college educated and emphasizing its importance, they had little practical advice or assistance to give. I knew nothing. I ended up applying to one state university, in-state, commuting long distance, not taking any loan, and working 30 hours a week to afford it. I dropped out after a semester from the unmitigated strain and sleep deprivation. I owe my quite exceptional career to our industry being lax about degrees.

sotojuan 9y ago
Most advice parents or anyone who went to college before say, the mid 90s or before is fairly useless anyway, unless it's study advice. The job market, costs of college, and many other factors are incredibly different. Just as an example, I had a friend in your situation but whose parents encouraged him to go to an expensive school and not worry too much what to study. You can probably guess what would've happened if he didn't end up doing his own research instead.
- lallysingh 9y ago
  Like anything else, they should be able to teach you to fish. I.e. find out where to get the info you need.
  - sotojuan 9y ago
    Most middle class parents who aren't first or second generation immigrants won't even know the answer to this. To them, the answer is "high school counselor" or another similarly uninformed high school individual. Maybe millennial parents will be the first to recommend internet forums or similar. Again, for them, it was a very different world.
nurettin 9y ago
Industries use degrees as a comparison level when there is nothing else to compare. Through luck and skill you may have ended up in an incomparable position, but many white collars in the industry end up better off and more respected just on the merit of having a doctorate in a field.

by psyc 9y ago

sotojuan 9y ago

Most advice parents or anyone who went to college before say, the mid 90s or before is fairly useless anyway, unless it's study advice. The job market, costs of college, and many other factors are incredibly different. Just as an example, I had a friend in your situation but whose parents encouraged him to go to an expensive school and not worry too much what to study. You can probably guess what would've happened if he didn't end up doing his own research instead.

lallysingh 9y ago
Like anything else, they should be able to teach you to fish. I.e. find out where to get the info you need.
- sotojuan 9y ago
  Most middle class parents who aren't first or second generation immigrants won't even know the answer to this. To them, the answer is "high school counselor" or another similarly uninformed high school individual. Maybe millennial parents will be the first to recommend internet forums or similar. Again, for them, it was a very different world.

nurettin 9y ago

Industries use degrees as a comparison level when there is nothing else to compare. Through luck and skill you may have ended up in an incomparable position, but many white collars in the industry end up better off and more respected just on the merit of having a doctorate in a field.