Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time
Wall Street Journal ^ | 13 August 2008 | charles Murray

Posted on 08/13/2008 6:42:34 AM PDT by shrinkermd

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260261-276 last
To: moehoward
I can’t think of a single job/career that can’t be mastered with some ‘study at home’ and a spell as an intern.

I'm guessing that you have not finished either a B.S. or higher degree in the physical sciences or engineering and attempted a highly technical profession. As one who has done these things, I can tell you that my undergraduate and graduate studies prepared me in ways that home study and on the job training did not. I have never seen someone at the top of one of these fields without an advanced degree.

261 posted on 08/13/2008 7:35:22 PM PDT by RochesterFan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: redgolum
College is not about knowledge, it is about getting your ticket. Pay your dues, play the game, and you get a ticket to the middle class. But the game is ending. There are to many degreed idiots out there.

Sounds like you have no idea what you are talking about. College gave me skills I have been using all my life to advance my career, my life and provide you with electricity.

262 posted on 08/13/2008 7:36:34 PM PDT by ColdWater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 258 | View Replies]

To: vamoose
The evidence is on Murray’s side. Only 4 out of 7 people who enter college graduate within 6 years.

50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Are you inferring that marriage is a waste of time?

263 posted on 08/13/2008 7:38:41 PM PDT by ColdWater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 260 | View Replies]

To: ColdWater

Well put. I’d love to see one of these folks that think college is a joke try Physical Chemistry, Differential Equations, Solid State Physics, and Fluid Mechanics. The ‘problem sets from hell’ in any of these classes would turn them into quivering lumps.


264 posted on 08/13/2008 7:41:40 PM PDT by RochesterFan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 262 | View Replies]

To: ColdWater
Only 4 out of 7 people who enter college graduate within 6 years.

Too many that are poorly prepared and lack the 'fire in their bellies' to persevere and finish start anyway. A good 30% of the folks in my freshman dorm did not come back after Christmas.

It is actually best to flunk out early if you're going to flunk out. Too many of my son a daughter's friends drifted for years and accumulated loads of debt. I encourage every rising student to read both The World is Flat and Generation Debt. Then spend a few minutes perusing the horror stories on StudentLoanJustice.org.

The solution is to be both highly motivated and make prudent decisions.

265 posted on 08/13/2008 7:50:54 PM PDT by RochesterFan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 263 | View Replies]

To: jude24
Law, for another.

Not sure I agree, and I'm a lawyer. Much of what one does as a lawyer could be learned through an apprenticeship with a lawyer or judge.

The top tier of lawyers would still go to law school, but I wouldn't be opposed to letting people learn to be a lawyer by clerking or apprenticing.

266 posted on 08/13/2008 7:51:44 PM PDT by Citizen Blade ("Please... I go through everyone's trash." The Question)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 257 | View Replies]

To: RochesterFan

The solution is to starve. My good pal, who attended an American university on a cheap ass stipend from the richest nation on the globe, yes, I mean Switzerland, finished his four year studies in less than two and a half years, drinking Mickey’s Big Mouth,when he could afford it. Then he headed back to Zurich where a job waited for him. But that’s another story.


267 posted on 08/13/2008 7:59:27 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Are you ready to pray for Teddy?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 265 | View Replies]

To: ColdWater
Engineering, hard sciences, and even law need a structured environment to learn. But those don't even count for 10% of college grads.
268 posted on 08/13/2008 8:23:56 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 262 | View Replies]

To: RochesterFan

You guess wrong.


269 posted on 08/13/2008 9:29:57 PM PDT by moehoward
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 261 | View Replies]

To: RochesterFan
Well put. I’d love to see one of these folks that think college is a joke try Physical Chemistry, Differential Equations, Solid State Physics, and Fluid Mechanics. The ‘problem sets from hell’ in any of these classes would turn them into quivering lumps.

Those folks have no idea what these classes mean to their life. HDTV (technology) is just a black with a remote and they like it that way.

270 posted on 08/14/2008 6:05:30 AM PDT by ColdWater
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 264 | View Replies]

Go to a military school. Based on a pretty strict honor code, you will learn how to review a situaton and then act within a set of defined parameters.

To translate, it means you can look at any rule, and come with 50 different ways around it. Thus, attaining your goal through “fair play.”

Try smoking pot on campus and not getting caught. THAT taught me more lessons than any MBA course I ever took!


271 posted on 08/14/2008 6:10:37 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (I am not from Vermont. I lived there for four years and that was enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 270 | View Replies]

To: ColdWater
50% of marriages end in divorce

Yes, but that stat is deceiving as well. Yes, of ten marriage ceremonies five might end in divorce. But the more interesting statistic is that of those five failures, a pretty high percentage are second and third marriarges. A more accurate statistic would be to look at the number of people that get married and stay married. THAT figure is pretty decent.

272 posted on 08/14/2008 6:13:59 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (I am not from Vermont. I lived there for four years and that was enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 263 | View Replies]

To: Citizen Blade
A resume with the words “University of Michigan Engineering School” on it goes to the top of the pile, while others barely get looked at.

Don't forget that some companies only recruit at certain schools. That's how I was hired. Someone from another, lesser-known school might still have all the requirements to be successful, but it's an example of a door that opens much easier when you're in a formal university, as opposed to hustling your way into a position.

273 posted on 08/14/2008 10:19:54 AM PDT by Lou L
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 190 | View Replies]

To: Lou L
Don't forget that some companies only recruit at certain schools. That's how I was hired. Someone from another, lesser-known school might still have all the requirements to be successful, but it's an example of a door that opens much easier when you're in a formal university, as opposed to hustling your way into a position.

I saw that in law school. Certain law firms will only recruit or take resumes from certain schools. Unless you are at the top of your class at a lower-ranked school, your resume automatically goes into the trash.

Employers are playing the odds- they know that if they interview 10 graduates of U of M engineering school, for example, a large percentage of them will meet the needs of that employer simply because they have been pre-screened by the school for intelligence and work ethic. With someone from a less prestigious school, or who does not have a degree, they aren't getting that pre-screening process.

274 posted on 08/14/2008 10:34:12 AM PDT by Citizen Blade ("Please... I go through everyone's trash." The Question)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 273 | View Replies]

To: Marie
I just ran across this in an article about Solzhenitsyn and was reminded of this thread.
Solzhenitsyn's argument is that the two kinds of courage are not separate but connected. A decline in the ability to control fear of pain leads to a decline in capability for self-defense and to "the dangerous tendency to form a herd," thus becoming subject to fashion. If we all think alike, we will all be safe without having to defend ourselves. This part of the Harvard speech appears to anticipate what we call political correctness.
Have your daughter read the address.
275 posted on 08/16/2008 11:22:22 AM PDT by cornelis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 227 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt

Especially among Catholics. : )


276 posted on 08/16/2008 11:27:49 AM PDT by cornelis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 272 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 201-220221-240241-260261-276 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson