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> for the average Joe a solid education is a much better bet and you are doing them a disservice by spreading these second-hand anecdotes. I agree with everyth

by csa 7y ago

> for the average Joe a solid education is a much better bet and you are doing them a disservice by spreading these second-hand anecdotes. I agree with everything you said up to the above quote. I’m not sure how you characterize “the average Joe”, but I assure you that the 50th percentile of college age people by any reasonable measure of aptitude will not be able to finish college with any degree, and they will certainly not be able to get a degree that will likely lead to (relatively) high pay like engineering or nursing. About 32% of 24 year olds (maybe 25 yo) have an undergraduate degree. If you have a casual conversation with the 20%-32% folks (spitballing this number), you would probably be shocked about how little most of them know about anything, including their “major”. These folks were basically socially promoted through an undergraduate degree. This happens a lot more than many folks would like to believe, and it boils down to ability to pay. If you need some anecdotal evidence of this, I strongly encourage you to teach or be a TA for a required freshman writing course (esp. at a lower competitive university / junior college). The inability of many of these folks to write a coherent short essay or even a coherent paragraph would make your brain explode. These are the average Joe’s you are referring to. College, at least in its current form, is not the answer for these folks.

tsss 7y ago
Haha, I am a TA actually for several classes. It's true that most of my students are dumb as fuck and incapable of basic tasks. You'd assume that a computer science student would be able to install a development environment on their own, but apparently not. But at the end of the day many of them still get a degree and (somehow) get hired and there are plenty of universities here that are far easier than mine. You don't need to be smart to get a college degree, all you need is discipline to torture yourself through these mostly pointless exercises. Whether or not they learn anything at college or just waste time is not the point. The fact of the matter is that a college degree helps you to get a job that is usually more comfortable and pays better. I'd argue that those people who can excel as a tradesman and actually rake in the money would also do the same had they gone the college-route instead and for those that don't, an office job with college degree is clearly the better option.

by csa 7y ago

tsss 7y ago

Haha, I am a TA actually for several classes. It's true that most of my students are dumb as fuck and incapable of basic tasks. You'd assume that a computer science student would be able to install a development environment on their own, but apparently not. But at the end of the day many of them still get a degree and (somehow) get hired and there are plenty of universities here that are far easier than mine. You don't need to be smart to get a college degree, all you need is discipline to torture yourself through these mostly pointless exercises. Whether or not they learn anything at college or just waste time is not the point. The fact of the matter is that a college degree helps you to get a job that is usually more comfortable and pays better. I'd argue that those people who can excel as a tradesman and actually rake in the money would also do the same had they gone the college-route instead and for those that don't, an office job with college degree is clearly the better option.