You may not be surprised to learn that i am currently going to college and wanted to post a poll.

I am a Junior who will probably graduate within 4 years from a California state college unless something goes wrong. I think it is a good experience although i feel like i've kind of had enough and just want to graduate already. And i have a 2.95 GPA currently but im trying hard to make sure i graduate with over a 3.0.

I went to Uni in the UK. Got a 2.1, but I'm not sure how that relates to the US GPAs. I had a great time and it had an immense effect on me - not just academically but also growing into myself, becoming more confident etc. My degree helped me advance in the company I worked for while I was studying, and if/when I leave that company the academic qualification plus working experience will definitely help me.
I know further education isn't for everyone and you can be successful without it, but it definitely worked for me. Good luck with getting that 3.0! :foodndrink:

I'm rather torn. For one, I am a hobbyist in the field that I wish to pursue a career in, so all of the major-related courses I'm taking are teaching me things I already know. The idea that you have to prove what you know by taking courses on it is, in my opinion, flawed at best. Also, I understand not a single minute of any of this will guarantee me a job. It could, very well, be a huge waste of four years of my life. Honestly, I just don't want to do anything else. The classes are easy, I'm learning and meeting new people. My experience with work left a horrible taste in my mouth and I dun wanna go back! It's all true.

Yep, I too have had enough. I now dread writing papers. I think I've written over 1000 pages by now, literally. Also, I have to work nights every weekend so I don't get all the good stuff in "the college experience." I'm a senior, and I've been drunk/partied maybe two or three times. Also, I have to worry about all my bills and things and don't get government aid, so college is having a really stressful job that doesn't pay and a second, time consuming and exhausting job that I hate. I have received a valuable education assuredly however, and have performed quite well. My GPA is 3.6 and I'm a double major in finance and political science. I'm interested in investment banking, venture capital, and film finance. And it's fin-ants, not fi-nance .

I am a finance major also. I have some student loans but my parent are paying for a lot of my college and i have a part time job now so i will have minimal debts to pay when i graduate. Im going to try to get an internship at a bank this summer and also get into investment banking hopefully in the future to make some $$$

Yes, I'm currently working on scoring an internship with an investment bank in Beijing. Got a friend who knows a guy who knows a guy.

How far along are you?

I firmly believe that the overwhelming majority of college goers are simply wasting their time and money. If you want to be a doctor you need to go to Medical School, a future lawyer should go to Law School ect. However I have spent my entire working carrer with people who went to college and got degrees but have never used them. I even had a coworker who got 2 Masters Degrees in finance only to be a credit underwriter, not that there is anything wrong with underwriting (very far from it) it's just not what you do with double majors. But at least that person got a job in their chosen field, I work at a bank and am surrounded by writing majors, political science majors and even a Masters in anthropology.

I never went to college. I don't regret it at all. If there is a subject I want to know more about I head to the library and check out a few books. Its cheaper, less stressful and I get to apply my knowledge right away instead of cramming for a test.

I'm currently in my 2nd year at a junior college. College has some worth to me. Most classes have no connection to want I want to do in life but being screwed out of money for the first two years is what I expected. My GPA is around a 2.5 as I did really poorly my first semester and I'm particularly lazy.

Yep, that's me...one of the 10+ years to complete a degree.

Dropped out twice, joined the army, then knew what I wanted and breezed through the remainder. I wasn't ready for college the first time, didn't know what I wanted to do the second time. Twelve years total. They say that those who go to college but their parents didn't, have a harder time. Maybe that was the case, but I did it.

After that I breezed through a masters and another 2 years for another undergrad with a few years in between each degree.

I think the key is to know what you want. That way, you'll have the drive and passion to do your best. I'm also a firm believer in taking a couple years off right after high school to gain some real world experience and build the bank account. :nod:

I'm also a firm believer of not going to college if you don't want to. My brother in law was the youngest train engineer for his company and only has a high school diploma. He makes double what I make.

I've tried to go to collage one time, I've might have done alright if things on the homefront (at the time) where better. The good thing I got out of it was I did pass that damn ASVAB...to bad I got nothing back for that effort due to a picky recruiter.
I understand the military's need for a fit person to enter but at the time I was fit reguardless if I was 30 pounds over that could have been shead in days while in basic trainning so there's no excuse. But that's in the past now---moving on <_< .

Alas, I attend an English college, completely different to colleges in the states.

I only went to college so I can earn a degree in science and use it. Currently I am using it, though I need to plan long term.

Went to the University of Michigan for five years, graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and a 3.4 GPA. About to finish the Master's portion of my Doctoral program in a little over two weeks, which will give me a Master's in Industrial / Organizational Psychology. And then, onto my Doctoral program for another four years, and then, if my dissertation goes well, I will be Dr. Reneer.

I very much enjoyed the years I spent at the U of M - I learned a great deal and found my calling in the process. The friendships I made while in college, while not numerous, have been lasting ones. I fully believe that college is an experience that most people should try at least once, if they are financially capable of doing so. College is certainly not for everyone, however - if you want to learn a trade, go to a trade school. If you want to become a medical doctor or a lawyer though, you do need to go to college. The point of a four year undergraduate program, from a Law or Medical School's point of view, is to weed out those who can't hack it. That's why undergraduate students take pre-law or pre-med courses, so they can have a chance at getting into Medical school or a good Law school. I can't think of a Law or Medical school that isn't being run out of the back of someone's van that would simply let in a random person off the street who didn't have a four year degree or some (really) fantastic skills.

Currently at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Polytechnic_State_University and trying to graduate in 4 years with a computer engineering major. And that's about it. :shrug:

Junior at the Maryland Institute College of Art. No idea what the hell it qualifies as, so I put it down as "private." Going for a BFA in Illustration, with a Game Arts concentration and an Art History minor. 3.8ish GPA, don't remember exact number of the top of my head. Barring some catastrophe, I'm graduating in 4 years (so 1.5 years to go).

For me, college has totally been worth it and a great experience. Not that it hasn't been a horrible, torturous experience, too. Long nights, crappy schedules, ridiculous work load, anxiety, stress, self esteem issues, etc. etc. But that's part of what I'm paying for, I think. My field relies mostly on portfolio, rather than the actual degree, so I could theoretically have spent the past 3 years just building a portfolio. But the degree makes me work like I would in the real world, under schedules and limitations and despite everything, which is just as important as having the technical skill. The chance to be taught and critiqued by working professionals, and the opportunity of having a huge number of other artists to be critiqued/inspired/taught by/interact with, is well worth the money. For one of my classes this semester I've basically been working as a real concept artist would on a team (except with the added stress of 4 other classes). I could theoretically have learned all the technical stuff on my own, but the experience is irreplaceable.

I'm currently getting my Bachelor's in Biochemistry, and right now I'm looking at medical school to become a pathologist. I still have a lot of stuff to do before I decide what I want to do, and once I'm in med school I may not even want to be a pathologist, once I start taking various classes :shrug: I'm currently getting a 3.69 as my GPA.

The year and a half I've been in college have probably been the best in my life. I'll have nostalgic memories for careless days of high school, but I've grown up so much and become so much more mature and advlt in the short time I've been here. The friendships you make in dorms stick with you for a lifetime, apparently, and from what I've seen they probably will. College is one way to grow up financially, too (depending on how you pay for college). I learned a lot about money and budget once I got here.

It can be argued that people can learn all this stuff in their own home, but college to me has been an all-inclusive time where I can be on the path of what I want to do, and learn and develop as a person when I couldn't at home.

The poll questions don't make a lot of sense for those of us who are in (or have gone to) grad school, so I answered them in reference to my undergrad degree.



Hey, I got a master's in I/O psych too! Are you still at U of M, or are you getting your doctorate at a different school?

I got my master's at Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville) and am now working on my Ph.D. in Human Resource Studies at Cornell U.

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I agree with most of your points, however I do not find it to be a waste of time and money. I think it is an excellent avenue to improve the 'soft' skills that makes most successful people successful, such as presentation, charisma, leadership, confidence, teamwork, networking, etc. It does this with relatively small pressures, whereas in a job situation a major mess up or loss of composure means termination. Technical skills are where it sometimes becomes a waste, because most jobs will have a specialty that you will train in, while college tends to present more of a survey of a whole field. It's also a testament to one's ability to keep on keepin' on, and therefore strength and willpower, which are also valued qualities in job candidates. Finally, and most practically, it is a standardized way to more easily sort through individuals on the basis of qualification. Sure, the library is free, but I doubt that any job will take a candidate's word that they know their stuff because they read. And even if they did, they most likely did so on their own and so never received any constructive criticism, so they could be applying their knowledge all wrong. College is a way to counter this.

I think where we see students with degrees unemployed and or working in fields unrelated to their degrees, it mostly has to do with the lack of real world skills gleaned and lack of drive. Due to economic conditions, I find that most enrolled students are living off their parents or the government. It seems like there are smaller and smaller amounts of kids working their way through college (and I mean really working. Not working just to have fun money or save or whatever, but working to pay the bills), and those who are tend not to do as well. I am enrolled in the honors finance program, which accepts only the top 28 or so students out of the business finance program which comprises thousands, and not one of my peers, all of whom have at least a 3.7, works. All are from well-off families or at least those who saved for college. I do work to pay the bills, and I am on the lowest end of the spectrum GPA wise because I simply do not have the time. However, I am more likely to get hired over many of them because of the real world grit and ability to converse with anyone that I have gleaned from my life outside of school.

Basically, I'm saying that many students go to college simply because they feel they have to, and they spend more time on 'fun' than seeking out their passions and developing themselves, which they figure they will decide later. But then later comes, and they end up unemployed or at a job they don't care for and/or didn't study for, because they didn't make sure they got the most from their experience. However, for those who truly value their educations and made the most of them, it is likely they will end up exactly where they want to be.

There must be some reason why nearly every major career requires a college background, after all.

I went to the British Columbia Institute of Technology(BCIT) last year for a 6 month first year course for an apprenticeship and loved it. I had to wake up at 4:30 every morning, spend an hour taking a train, a bus and another bus and complete about 135 smallish tests over the course of six months, but I absolutely loved it. The instructors were awesome, the shop was very well equipped, the ones who stayed in the class after the first month all became friends, there was a good campus pub and I met a girl...it was a good six months.

I have gone to a few career fairs so far but no offer yet. Or even an interview, but after talking with the internship advisor at my school she said that a lot of companies, including a specific bank she has connections with, havent posted their offers publicly yet, but have told my advisor they want students from my college for the programs.

Its just a matter of waiting for the offer to be public, then talking to my advisor again to try and get my foot in the door then hopefully land an interview. its not a for thing at all but that is my current plan and i will jump on another oppertunity that comes in path also.

Have you had or scheduled an interview yet with the investment bank?

I just know when I'm out of school, I am going to owe a whole lot of money.

I'm at a small religious Liberal Arts college, studying the liberal arts. I plan to go to graduate school for Classics. I'm very passionate about the liberal arts, and am willing to put myself into serious debt to receive this education. I do agree though, that many kids waste time and money at college/university, for a variety of reasons. But nothing could be better for me than what I'm doing.

Currently on my third semester of a 4 year Bachelor's degree for Computer Science at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Its a good experience, but definitely not for everybody. There are a lot of folks who would rather just go out and start working, of course, they may regret it when they're in their thirties with back problems, but they still want to do that. Me? I enjoy what I do at college. I like learning things, and I enjoy my professors and my classmates, who are really nice folks.

Music major! woo! Kind of regretting it because of all the Music theory classes and ear training classes I am going to have to take, but once all my G.E. (which I think is a total waste of my time and precious money) classes are done, all I have to do is focus on the music classes. Thank goodness. I honestly don't know why I have to take science classes or math classes when I am a music major and my major doesn't require any of them...

Unfortunately the U of M doesn't have a Doctoral-level program for I/O Psych - Wayne State does, but I had some.. issues with them and my visual disability. I'm currently enrolled at the University of Phoenix in an online Ph.D course. While I certainly miss the level of interaction at brick & mortar schools (especially considering my wonderful undergraduate years) there is something to be said for doing classwork while laying on a beach in the Caribbean.

I have this crazy idea in my head that once I get my Ph.D done in I/O Psych, that I will try and get a Master's / Ph.D in Clinical Psych from the U of M.