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You don't need to rack up six figures of debt to make human connections or gain experiences. There are a number of ways to accomplish this without all the debt
by and0 8y ago
You don't need to rack up six figures of debt to make human connections or gain experiences. There are a number of ways to accomplish this without all the debt and in arguably more useful ways than memorizing things you'll never have a chance to use. Off the top of my head, I can imagine volunteer work or, better yet, New-Deal-style programs with actual financial incentive would offer the same ~magical experience~ of fraternity.
- neuromantik8086 8y agoIt doesn't make sense to go into debt, sure. But if you can get someone else to pay for college (i.e., a generous scholarship) it's well worth it, and the tuition costs pre-tuition spiral would definitely be worth it as well. It's difficult to think of a better way to cultivate personal relationships than college. Presumably you've chosen classes based off your own interests, so the people you meet within those classes are good candidates for friendship (via homophily). True, you could use subreddits to find folks with similar interests, but in my experience those don't lead to the same kinds of relationships you develop when you physically encounter other people. Building a state park a la the New Deal CCC doesn't really create the same sense of shared interest since no one's actually interested in the art of bricklaying for the most part, and volunteering has a lot of turnover (mostly due to folks using it as a resume item). If you're at a SLAC, the number of people you see is limited so there's less competition for attention when forming bonds and a lot of mere exposure effect. The value of college (at least at a SLAC) is arguably less about the classroom lessons and more about having a decent method for finding other people you can grow with.