[Rich_E]

CEO of Microsoft?

[MoralSense]

Nonsense. Learn to talk well, learn the principles of a given field, dress well, and you can sell anything. You'll end up driving a Porsche while your teacher is...still teaching.

[PrivateIdaho]

Janitor in a cheese factory.

[damnlimey]

Democrat party leader

[jgrubbs]

I'm the Internet Development Manager for a publishing company, I don't have a college education. Colleges weren't teaching anything in regards to the Internet when I graduated High School, so I did "homeschool college" and taught myself a trade.

[meandog]

Are there any decent jobs or careers out there that do not require a college degree?

The answer is Yes: Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Lawman, Firefighter, Paramedic...the list goes on, and on...

[freedomson]

First lady.

[kellynla]

A college degree is a key to a successful future. It is not mandantory but the discipline of accomplishing a degree will certainly help. Most of the high paying manufacturing jobs of the past have gone south and overseas. Get as much education as you can while you are young. The only regret you will have later is if you didn't.

[Sir Gawain]

Is your last name Kennedy or Gore?

[freedomson]

Member of FR since Monday and already your posting new threads!

Congrats!

[Illbay]

Sure. You can make a great living posting trivial Vanities to conservative websites that are supposed to be there for posting actual NEWS items.

[End Times Sentinel]

I’d concur with MoralSense, you can certainly do sales if you can present yourself well. Having the degree does open a lot of doors though.

The REAL argument for college was put best on South Park- “There’s a time and a place for everything, it’s called college.” You could be missing out on the best time of your life.

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[otterpond]

There are a ton of floks with MCSE, MCP, MCT, CET and A+ certifications doing just fine.

[tcostell]

I have a degree from an Ivy League university. With that said, I don't think having a degree will make you any better at any job, but it will give you the credebility to get the job. On wall street, companies are only interested in recruiting the brightest people. They use a person's education as an indicator of that. They don't expect you to know things persuant to your job, they'll train you for that. They only expect you to stand out from the crowd through your educational accomplishments. It's not an education you're after, it's credibilty.

[SP67]

I hate to sound like Oprah, but I suppose that depends on what makes you happy. What would make you look forward to jumping out of bed every morning, and give you a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day? If you followed what makes you happy, there wouldn't be a lot of room for second-guessing.

Of course, if you don't have plans to improve your skills or enhance your perspective on life with a college education, you'll probably be very frustrated in life, unless you decide to become a porn star or a lifeguard, or an embittered fast-food worker who's condemned to saying "Do you want fries with that shake?" for the rest of your life .

[HairOfTheDog]

If you skip college you may end up with a good job eventually, but you would miss the time of your life. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I'm a computer software Engineer and do some hardware engineering as well. I don't have a lick of college.
Experience is the key. In many cases a prospective employer would rather see related experience rather than a degree. That's how I obtained my current position with a market leader. I know it's a Catch-22 but you've got to keep your eyes and ears open and ingratiate yourself into situations where you can pick up the experience.
Many years ago I was selling for a company when they were switching over to a new point-of-sale and inventory computer system linked by a WAN. They outsourced the setup and install but hadn't made any plans for a system administrator. I volunteered and taught myself UNIX and learned the applications and before you knew it...I was indispensable.

[meandog]

Non-college degree--Bill Gates; college degree--Bill Clinton
Non-college degree--H. Truman; college degree--H. Clinton
Non-college degree--Ted Williams; college degree--Ted Kennedy
Non-college degree--Jesse Ventura; college degree--Jesse Jackson
Non-college degree--Kathy (super model) Ireland; college degree--Patricia (bull dyke) Ireland
Non-college degree--Barbara Bush; college degree--Barbara Streisand...

You tell me whose smarter?

[mitchbert]

While I would not discourage anyone from getting a higher education outright, a few points to consider. Unless you are planning to study a field which will give you a specific skill (doctor, engineer, etc) a general university degree can be a very expensive luxury, and while it may pay off down the road there are few things more useless than a general arts degree, especially from a minor college.

See post number two above. The ability to speak confidently, especially in front of a group, is one of the most important skills you can develop. So is the ability to write clearly and correctly. These two skills are sorely lacking in the modern workplace and a degree will not guarantee you mastery of either. The poster's other point about becoming knowledgeable about a specific field is key as well. Many people make the "mistake" of jumping between industries, fields, etc. It can take a decade or more to really get on a solid career path and folks that hop from place to place often find themselves in their forties without having ever really moved above the basic eschelon in an organization.

Take stock of fields that interest you. You're probably going to be working a long time and believe me when I say if the company you work for deals in a product or service that turns your crank your work life will be far more pleasurable and ultimately more rewarding. I took the tack of picking a large company whose products I loved and hounding them until they gave me a job...any job. Once in the door and with some wins under my belt I was able to begin setting out on a career path that has led to a very high profile position with oodles of responsibility after just more than 10 years. It's challenging and on paper way over my head but I love it. And no, I don't have a degree. In fact, I was tossed out of university in second year because I found way to many distracting things to do that had nothing to do with going to class. Fortunately the discipline came along in its own time once I grew up.

Good luck and, most importantly, stay positive in your outlook and don't ever burn any bridges. You never know when you may want to cross them again.

[Kaisersrsic]

The only decision worse than not going to College is going to college if you are going to do poorly because you don't want to be there. Don't waste tuition dollars on college if you are not committed to studying and doing well. Think about making a plan to take a couple of years to serve your country or improve yourself in another way. Then, if you go to college you will be ready to benefit.