How to 'Hack' the Education System - Beat the Scam (Advice/How To/Life Pro Tip)
I never finished high school properly. I've got a partial diploma from it but it basically is a piece of shit that says I failed everything, my average was somewhere in the sewer pipes, and I wasn't eligible to attend college or university. Teachers and administrators have tried to kick me out of school or make me repeat grades pretty much through my entire elementary to high school journey. I've only properly attended half the grades I should have, and that's being generous.
Why? I hated school and my home life was garbage. It wasn't conducive to homework and I couldn't afford to participate in any extracurricular activities. I was typically focused on being hungry and tired and anyways; when I showed up I did little and when I didn't show up, well, I didn't show up.
Regardless, I currently hold a master's degree. How? Well, since I can't really talk about this publicly, let me share a few tips with you.
The System
The education system is designed to steal as much money from you as possible while getting you hooked on crap like 'social life' and 'causes' in order to, you've guessed it, steal even more money from you. Remember how the compulsory education system is meant to teach children how to sit in one spot for hours a day basically practising automation? The post-secondary system doesn't care if you sit there or not. In fact, they want you to fail. If you fail you've still paid and are now either vacating a spot or are mandated to pay even more.
If you abstain from getting an education you've only handicapped yourself. You don't know what the future holds, you don't know how well your business will hold up, you don't know what will happen to your inheritance or your parents' money. It's an investment but just like any investment, it's a risky one. The way I see it its akin to diversifying your portfolio by investing in yourself.
Leverage
Take whatever credential you have and use it to get to the next step. The steps are small steps, keep this in mind. If you have a half-assed high school diploma or equivalency diploma, use it to take a few individual courses at a community college. To save money, look for online options (I'll go through money-saving tips later in the post).
Take the results you've received from these courses and package them into your application for a community college. Pick a subject you actually like, even if you know it won't make you much money or you don't see yourself doing as a career, but make sure it's something technical. Do not take 'Business' or some other crap.
If you don't have a high school diploma just wait until you qualify as a 'mature student'. Take some free or random courses in the meantime to build up an educational history.
Remember three things:
Subjects that have certifications attached are best. A certificate, even if it's something like Bar Tending, will give you a chance to work in that field should you need to.
Many community colleges are feeder schools for universities. This means you can get a few years off from university for particular degrees for attending the college. Research this in relation to the schools you're looking at since university costs a lot more than community college does.
Anything with co-op or a practical side to it will only help you in the long run.
Money Money Money
While you're attending your community college, preferably online, save your cash for university. Set some aside for certifications as well. Invest it if you know how or just put aside the cash. "But putting cash aside is stupid!" you may say. It normally is but if it will prevent you from taking a loan in the future, the savings, even with the lack of profit from investment, will be obvious.
I mentioned before that you should strive to attend school online only. There are several reasons for it:
Parking costs a fortune at campuses and even if you take public transit, it will add up.
You will end up eating out while attending class, wasting more money. Let's say you have classes twice a week, so that's eight days of attendance, and you spend about $5 on a coffee and bagel or a pizza during those days. That's $40 a month and $240 over a six month period. If you're a Starbucks fan, then forget it. You just broke your bank.
You will be entrapped into social activities at the campus, which are pure rubbish and designed to entertain retarded children while distracting them from studying (as we all know, schools don't care if you pass or fail as long as you pay). Social activities will waste your time and money.
You may be foolish enough as to think that living in residence is right for you. It is not. It's the dumbest thing you can do with your life. If you want to live with other sweaty guys, go ahead and get into prison. At least your education will be free that way and you won't be enslaved to the banking system with a giant loan.
No one cares if your diploma or degree was online.
Grants and other forms of free money apply for online studies just the same as they do for in-attendance studies.
When I was attending university (I physically attended as I didn't know better) I was working two jobs, one of which was full-time. All programs have myriad courses to pick from. Select ones that can be stacked into a convenient time-table. Work on the weekends unless you have children. School does not take much time; it's NOT a full-time job.
Next Level
You've finished community college and got your diploma. Now use that diploma to apply for university (preferably one that allows you to take the first year off). Most universities on the planet now offer programs that can be done purely online or at least a portion of the coursework that can be done online. Shove your resume into your application as well and make it professional looking.
If you don't have enough cash saved up or will not be able to pay the instalments without going into debt, wait.
Don't take any courses that you feel "unsafe" about -- aka courses that you think you may fail. The topic of your degree should roughly be in the field you want to be in but even that doesn't really matter. Just don't take something that people normally laugh at in society -- don't take "women's studies", take "political science" instead. You'll be able to do the courses from your desired "women's studies" program in "political science".
Life Pro Tip!
The best thing you can do, once again, is pick as many practical courses as possible. Ones with an internship, co-op, or any kind of a physical activity undertaken in research or in the workplace are best. They help your resume and often will pay you.
Go For The Gold
Once you're done your undergrad, find an online master's program. Take your time, don't screw it up, and finish it. Pay cash as you go, same as above.
Remember that dbag teacher from high school who told you you'd never amount to anything? Well, now you have a better education than her.
Issues (Mental and Otherwise)
"School is for sheep" -- No shit. But those stupid pieces of paper are very useful in the long run. They give you credibility and leverage.
"I'm lousy at school" -- Here's a pro tip: Connect to all your professors online via LinkedIn to make 'friends' with them. E-mail them and ask them for help or advice. They will mark your stuff better than some chap's who they don't 'know'.
"I want to party at school" -- You're clearly a moron then and have no viable reason to attend school in the first place. Your parents are secretly disappointed in you while paying for your tuition and otherwise waste of time.
"Books cost a lot" -- Don't buy them unless 100% necessary. Use Google Books and Google Scholar (on Google Books you can use the search function to keep reading parts that are hidden).
"I don't have the discipline to learn online" -- If you have the patience to post on Steemit, upvote posts and reply to comments then you have what it takes to complete online courses.
"I don't have money" -- If you said that then you clearly have no job or desire to get one or you've done something stupid like waste your money on socialising, got a new car with financing or on lease, drank it away, smoked it away, blew insane cash on gadgets, etc. Look at where your money is going.
"I don't have time" -- Yet you have the time to play CoD and Warcraft? School does not take as much time as you think. It is NOT a full-time job; that's a myth the educational system keeps pushing to get you further in debt.
Image Credits
All images are of Oregon State University, which offers a solid list of online degrees. I've heard good things about it but haven't tried it myself. Regardless, in order of appearance in this post, credits for these images go to:
Title Image or Image #1 - The OSU Photo Blog - Campus by Shawn Obrien
Winter Image or Image #2 - The OSU Photo Blog - Winter Storm by someone named 'Coffee Chick'
Grad Cap or Image #3 - The OSU Photo Blog - Commencement 2010: Cap Design by Kegan Sims
Fall Campus or Image #4 - The OSU Photo Blog - The Colors of Fall by Adrienne Allardt-Wong
Stadium or Image #5 - The OSU Photo Blog - Stormy Reser by Grant Brady
I couldn't agree with you more! I graduated from a continuation school and everything I learned was pretty much useless except for the social skills and that's it.
Exactly, useless rubbish but still needs to be done.