11 ms·

I don't think you read the article. It's telling people to defer a year because of coronavirus, not the usual college is not worth it schpeel. That being said,

by lilt 6y ago

I don't think you read the article. It's telling people to defer a year because of coronavirus, not the usual college is not worth it schpeel. That being said, I disagree with your advice in two cases: 1) Most top schools offer free tuition if your family income is below a generous threshold (like $150k). If you can get into Stanford and meet this criteria, it's cheaper than your local community college. 2) If you are studying a technical field, even if you are average, a degree has greater ROI than just about anything else. You can pay off your debt in the first few years out of school and continue earning dividends for the rest of your life. If you are an average student and studying a non-technical field, then the decision is not as clear.

frankbreetz 6y ago
I read the article and I am saying instead of deferring a year of college go to community college. You should do this regardless of the covid.
- DennisP 6y ago
  Yes if, as he says, you're satisfied with your community college being mostly remote classes, because that could well be what you end up with.
pfranz 6y ago
> 2) If you are studying a technical field, even if you are average, a degree has greater ROI than just about anything else. You can pay off your debt in the first few years out of school and continue earning dividends for the rest of your life. What's the downside to going to a community college? Where I grew up the credits were transferable. They did say, "Most people spend the first two years figuring stuff out". I went to college knowing I wanted to study computers, but didn't know what specifically. If I changed fields I'd still have the first 2 years to pay back. I wish I had gone to a community college first. I overpaid for a worse educational experience. There was too much competition for core classes. So you had to wait semesters to get in. When you did get in the class sizes were much larger. Equivalent, transferrable classes were available, cheaper, and had smaller class sizes at nearby community colleges.
- lonelappde 6y ago
  Some people take community college level courses at university, payit inflated prices for the false prestige of a mid tier school like American University. That's a waste. If you start University at a level above community college (which many people here did), and get a decent price, it's good.
  - lilt 6y ago
    If you can do both at the same time, or get basic classes out of the way in the summer at a community college, then it may be ok. But delaying electives for two years would put you at a significant disadvantage in technical fields, imo. Not to mention the basic classes (math, physics, etc) will be a joke at a community college so you will have a weaker background.
    - jimmaswell 6y ago
      The basic classes had good teachers and content at the CC I went to, on the same level as the university.
- kurthr 6y ago
  The downside is that you basically won't get into Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale... or most any other "top" college after going to community college. I know of one counter example, and I know of many very smart capable people who would have been capable and profited from such a degree, but missed their chance... which in turn made it VERY difficult to get any advanced degree. Maybe that doesn't matter in CS/programming, but it does in lots of other (e.g. Engineering/Science) disciplines.
  - derangedHorse 6y ago
    And where are you getting this information from? Just anecdotes of people you think are smart, went to community college, and got rejected?
  - ng12 6y ago
resu_nimda 6y ago
2) If you are studying a technical field, even if you are average, a degree has greater ROI than just about anything else. You can pay off your debt in the first few years out of school and continue earning dividends for the rest of your life. He said the first two years. In a lot of cases you can still get the same 4-year degree with two years of CC if done properly, which would actually result in a higher ROI.
cameronfraser 6y ago
> 1) Most top schools offer free tuition if your family income is below a generous threshold (like $150k). If you can get into Stanford and meet this criteria, it's cheaper than your local community college. This is only a few private schools doing this and they account for well under 1% of all people attending university in the US so not really relevant. > 2) If you are studying a technical field, even if you are average, a degree has greater ROI than just about anything else. You can pay off your debt in the first few years out of school and continue earning dividends for the rest of your life. You're still getting a degree. I work/have worked with people who went to MIT, Harvard, Yale, etc. and the degree only mattered for them in the case they wanted to do research or for their first job. Beyond that it has very little value in the job market. The fact that I got to the same place they did without a degree also says something. tl;dr you're choosing to disagree with good general advice because it doesn't account for 0.02% of americans

by lilt 6y ago

frankbreetz 6y ago

I read the article and I am saying instead of deferring a year of college go to community college. You should do this regardless of the covid.

DennisP 6y ago
Yes if, as he says, you're satisfied with your community college being mostly remote classes, because that could well be what you end up with.

pfranz 6y ago

> 2) If you are studying a technical field, even if you are average, a degree has greater ROI than just about anything else. You can pay off your debt in the first few years out of school and continue earning dividends for the rest of your life. What's the downside to going to a community college? Where I grew up the credits were transferable. They did say, "Most people spend the first two years figuring stuff out". I went to college knowing I wanted to study computers, but didn't know what specifically. If I changed fields I'd still have the first 2 years to pay back. I wish I had gone to a community college first. I overpaid for a worse educational experience. There was too much competition for core classes. So you had to wait semesters to get in. When you did get in the class sizes were much larger. Equivalent, transferrable classes were available, cheaper, and had smaller class sizes at nearby community colleges.

lonelappde 6y ago
Some people take community college level courses at university, payit inflated prices for the false prestige of a mid tier school like American University. That's a waste. If you start University at a level above community college (which many people here did), and get a decent price, it's good.
- lilt 6y ago
  If you can do both at the same time, or get basic classes out of the way in the summer at a community college, then it may be ok. But delaying electives for two years would put you at a significant disadvantage in technical fields, imo. Not to mention the basic classes (math, physics, etc) will be a joke at a community college so you will have a weaker background.
  - jimmaswell 6y ago
    The basic classes had good teachers and content at the CC I went to, on the same level as the university.
kurthr 6y ago
The downside is that you basically won't get into Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale... or most any other "top" college after going to community college. I know of one counter example, and I know of many very smart capable people who would have been capable and profited from such a degree, but missed their chance... which in turn made it VERY difficult to get any advanced degree. Maybe that doesn't matter in CS/programming, but it does in lots of other (e.g. Engineering/Science) disciplines.
- derangedHorse 6y ago
  And where are you getting this information from? Just anecdotes of people you think are smart, went to community college, and got rejected?
- ng12 6y ago

resu_nimda 6y ago

2) If you are studying a technical field, even if you are average, a degree has greater ROI than just about anything else. You can pay off your debt in the first few years out of school and continue earning dividends for the rest of your life. He said the first two years. In a lot of cases you can still get the same 4-year degree with two years of CC if done properly, which would actually result in a higher ROI.

cameronfraser 6y ago

> 1) Most top schools offer free tuition if your family income is below a generous threshold (like $150k). If you can get into Stanford and meet this criteria, it's cheaper than your local community college. This is only a few private schools doing this and they account for well under 1% of all people attending university in the US so not really relevant. > 2) If you are studying a technical field, even if you are average, a degree has greater ROI than just about anything else. You can pay off your debt in the first few years out of school and continue earning dividends for the rest of your life. You're still getting a degree. I work/have worked with people who went to MIT, Harvard, Yale, etc. and the degree only mattered for them in the case they wanted to do research or for their first job. Beyond that it has very little value in the job market. The fact that I got to the same place they did without a degree also says something. tl;dr you're choosing to disagree with good general advice because it doesn't account for 0.02% of americans