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College provides TIME with no or minimal responsibilities beyond your learning. That time for self improvement is the valuable resource that doesn't really exis

College provides TIME with no or minimal responsibilities beyond your learning. That time for self improvement is the valuable resource that doesn't really exist for most people outside of college. Not because college is wonderful, but more because you cant get unsecured loans to sit at home and read. (Also, pet peeve: these conversations often compare highly motivated and indepenhdent people who take the no college route to slackers who attend college. I never see anyone pointing out the fact that highly motivated and independent people who do opt for college often do much better than they could've without the degree. Often in tippy top status/comp finance, medicine, and tech poaitions. College doesn't make sense for everyone, but IMO it paradoxically makes the most sense for people who don't need it to enter technical fields like SWE. Because those are the ones who will end up on fast tracks after graduating that would be difficult to get on without the degree)

finder83 8y ago
I guess that the approach may matter a lot...I worked and paid cash for college (and still am with my graduate degree), so my time has never really been flexible while I'm taking classes. If I had time now to learn and do whatever I wanted, it'd probably be a huge time of growth with or without college. I guess that combination of taking courses of what you're interested in, and then also being able to study as a hobby, could be really useful.
H1Supreme 8y ago
> College provides TIME with no or minimal responsibilities beyond your learning This is only true for situations where you live on campus, and your parents give you an allowance for anything not included in tuition. Many, many students have to work while going to school. Classes + part-time work can easily add up to the same amount of time one spends on a full time job.
- throwawayjava 8y ago
  Even in that case you're still spending 20 hours a week on classes. I dont know about you, but I couldn't sustain 40 working hours + 20 working hours for 4 ywars. Also, there's a qualitative difference between a job and a part time gig. my part time jobs in early college were trivial and required no mental, no emotional effort, and no outside of work skills development. My part time jobs in late college were mostly tutoring, which was doubly good becayse I reviewed material and also I could do less of it because it paid well. In any case, at the very least the combo of part time and no mental/emotional/professional devlopment effort makes a huge difference. At least IME.
stale2002 8y ago
> College provides TIME with no or minimal responsibilities beyond your learning. That time for self improvement is the valuable resource that doesn't really exist for most people outside of college. Sure. But don't you think that there could hypothetically be better ways of doing this, without spending 10s of thousands of dollars per year? Maybe there is a better "not a college" - college type experience that is more effective at achieving these started goals, for less money.
- throwawayjava 8y ago
  Not really anything that scales, although that may just be a lack of imagination. College could be cheaper, though. It is in most countries. Not just at point of purchase but also in the absolute number of dollars spent sense as well
sodafountan 8y ago
College only provides TIME if you're part of a privileged class of people who: - Had parents who instilled strong academic achievement at an early age. - are between the ages of 18 and 22 with no family to take care of, no serious medical conditions, and really no major financial obligations. - are interested enough and have the mental aptitude to study a major that can justify sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. - are sound enough to make it through a sometimes very rough and volatile period of young adulthood and stay focused enough to actually learn the material. College is a privilege, historically that's what college was, only recently did college become a ticket to the middle class in the minds of most people. I really think that attitude needs to change. In all honesty, I make more than enough money now to go back and finish my degree and I'd probably get a lot more out of college a second time around - because I'd be there to learn, not to try to get the biggest paycheck. The incentives for college these days are all wrong. We need more young people spending their earlier years learning how to actually provide concrete value for the market, once they earn the money, then they can go and get that foundational and expansive education - most of which will certainly better you as a person but you'll never actually use in any concrete way in your day to day life.

finder83 8y ago

I guess that the approach may matter a lot...I worked and paid cash for college (and still am with my graduate degree), so my time has never really been flexible while I'm taking classes. If I had time now to learn and do whatever I wanted, it'd probably be a huge time of growth with or without college. I guess that combination of taking courses of what you're interested in, and then also being able to study as a hobby, could be really useful.

H1Supreme 8y ago

> College provides TIME with no or minimal responsibilities beyond your learning This is only true for situations where you live on campus, and your parents give you an allowance for anything not included in tuition. Many, many students have to work while going to school. Classes + part-time work can easily add up to the same amount of time one spends on a full time job.

throwawayjava 8y ago
Even in that case you're still spending 20 hours a week on classes. I dont know about you, but I couldn't sustain 40 working hours + 20 working hours for 4 ywars. Also, there's a qualitative difference between a job and a part time gig. my part time jobs in early college were trivial and required no mental, no emotional effort, and no outside of work skills development. My part time jobs in late college were mostly tutoring, which was doubly good becayse I reviewed material and also I could do less of it because it paid well. In any case, at the very least the combo of part time and no mental/emotional/professional devlopment effort makes a huge difference. At least IME.

stale2002 8y ago

> College provides TIME with no or minimal responsibilities beyond your learning. That time for self improvement is the valuable resource that doesn't really exist for most people outside of college. Sure. But don't you think that there could hypothetically be better ways of doing this, without spending 10s of thousands of dollars per year? Maybe there is a better "not a college" - college type experience that is more effective at achieving these started goals, for less money.

throwawayjava 8y ago
Not really anything that scales, although that may just be a lack of imagination. College could be cheaper, though. It is in most countries. Not just at point of purchase but also in the absolute number of dollars spent sense as well

sodafountan 8y ago

College only provides TIME if you're part of a privileged class of people who: - Had parents who instilled strong academic achievement at an early age. - are between the ages of 18 and 22 with no family to take care of, no serious medical conditions, and really no major financial obligations. - are interested enough and have the mental aptitude to study a major that can justify sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. - are sound enough to make it through a sometimes very rough and volatile period of young adulthood and stay focused enough to actually learn the material. College is a privilege, historically that's what college was, only recently did college become a ticket to the middle class in the minds of most people. I really think that attitude needs to change. In all honesty, I make more than enough money now to go back and finish my degree and I'd probably get a lot more out of college a second time around - because I'd be there to learn, not to try to get the biggest paycheck. The incentives for college these days are all wrong. We need more young people spending their earlier years learning how to actually provide concrete value for the market, once they earn the money, then they can go and get that foundational and expansive education - most of which will certainly better you as a person but you'll never actually use in any concrete way in your day to day life.