How Do You Know If You Shouldn't Go To College

in #steemiteducation6 years ago


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As your students are about to graduate from high school, I am sure some would have consulted you on how their future. While some would be heading off to college, some are with the opinion that it is just not for them. Many of them are inspired by the many successful college dropouts.

I believe that there is more than one way to succeed in life. I would encourage my students to go to college if they think that is best for them. If they believe not going to college is best, I would encourage it too. However, I have always recommended three aspects to take into consideration before doing so.

The Road-map


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Many who did not attend college but succeed later on in life either had a plan. This plan is rather extensive and encompasses everything from short term to long term objectives. I would suggest to my students to consider the same. If they were to not go to college, they should have an idea what they would do in the next 5 years, 10 years and 15 years.

Students who have attended college would have at least 4 years of classes to have themselves equipped with the skills they need to be marketable in the future. Upon completion, they would be given some form of certification to indicate that they are qualified to work in the industry that they specialize in. This however is not the same for those who did not attend college.

It is important for those who will not attend college to equip themselves with the necessary job experiences to make themselves employable. This can be in the form of gaining the necessary experience and skills. One of the advantages that students who will not go to college is that they would have the choice to pursue a mixture of skills. At times, the choice of skill is driven by what the industry demands, instead of being limited to academia and theories. Students who will not go to college should be able to acquire practical, real life job experiences otherwise not available to the college students until their final semesters.


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Of course, that is merely the first 5 years after high school graduation. After gathering enough experience after the first 5 years, it is important to reflect and evaluate what are the pressing problems found in the industry that you have worked in for the last 5 years. That is because if there is a problem, many would likely pay for the solution. As such, your road-map should include some sort of plan to create a business out of solving any particular problem found in your industry.

An example of this is a friend of mine who did not attend college but found a job as a tuition teacher. After 5 years of working, he found the teaching of mathematics in high school to be lacking and rigid. Thus, he developed his own system of teaching that has helped him make a rather successful business out of it. He did so with the proper planning despite only having a high school education.

Calculate The Cost


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This is similar to planing your road-map but in the form of calculating the cost of not going to college versus going to college. There are a few things that should be taken into account:

i) What do you gain from not going to college? (work experience? promotion opportunities)
ii) Is it worth spending five years over?
iii) Do you have a plan B?

As you ponder the questions above, do take into account that most employers pay less for people with no diplomas or degrees. Thus, if you find that not going to college is worth it because there is potential for you to do extremely well, then I would say, go for it!

Have You Done Your Research?

If you have just completed high school and you are reading this, it can be rather overwhelming. So what can you do to know for sure if going to college is for you? For that, I would recommend conducting an unbiased research. Avoid using social media and avoid asking yes/no questions. To be sure, you need to ask as many questions as possible. You can do this by interviewing at least three people who went to college and three who did not. However, do make sure that each of them have similar socioeconomic standing. Meaning, they should all be holding a job. Furthermore, they should all be about the same age.

All this is for reliability purposes, you won't want a 60 year old to tell you about the good old days now, would you? After you have identified the people whom you are going to interview, prepare a list of questions. Your questions should be on 'how' and 'why' questions. Furthermore, your questions should allow these people to talk about their experiences freely. Here's an example:

i) Why did you choose to not go/go to college?
ii) How did you came to that decision?
iii) Did you regret your decision?
iv) If you could do it all over again, would you still go/not go to college? Why?
v) What is your current occupation?
vi) Would there be better opportunities in your occupation if you had/did not have a college degree?

Through the questions above, you should have a pretty good idea of what jobs require a college degree and if going to college will be the right thing to do.

Conclusion


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It is my hope that through this post, people who are at the crossroads of deciding if college is right for them, would be able to make a more informed decision as to what to do. While it is impossible to know for sure if the decision made is the right one, you can be sure that you would have made a more informed one. Even if things don't work out well, you can be sure that you would know for sure that you have done your due diligence and chose the path that worked best for you.

I hope this post was helpful. Do you think there are any other items that should be taken into consideration before deciding if college is meant for a person? Do let me know in the comments below.


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Not a simple problem, as you suggest. For many people, it is not a choice. They have responsibilities which force them to earn a paycheck. In that case, passing up college is tragic, but not irreversible. The future may offer an opportunity. For others, let me humbly suggest that college is about more than getting a job. College is about learning to think, to equip yourself to be an informed citizen who can participate intelligently in decisions each one of us must make about government and policy. College also helps if we have children--the more educated we are (every study shows), the smarter and more successful our children are likely to be. These words come from someone (me) who was offered college as a great gift, when I could not afford it. It changed my life, was a stepping stone not only to opportunities but also to larger ideas that helped me to evaluate everything else that has happened for me.
Of course, we are all individuals, with unique circumstances. This opinion reflects mine.

Definitely, but I was not trying to downplay the importance of college in any way. College is all the things that you mentioned but not it does depend on the career, your dreams and what you hope to achieve. I know many designers who do very well but never had a college education. Conversely, I know of those who did go to college but ended up not doing designing in the end.

Where are you from @agmoore? Perhaps things are different there as compared to my country. I find that there are many opportunities to think and better oneself in other countries (I studied in New Zealand). As for the local ones that I have been to, I think many have the wrong impression that college is a sure-fire ticket to a great job, only to be disappointed later that it takes more than a college education to do well.

Thanks for stopping by, appreciate your comments!

I'm from the US. Here, college is not necessary to make a living but it does offer dramatic advantage. I don't think it's always relevant to a job skill (often it is not), but many employers seem to use it as a filter, when hiring. I think attending college in the US cements class distinctions. The more well off provide it and those without resources cannot, so class differences become generational.
In my case, my family had no resources, but college was considered so valuable that when I was offered the chance to attend a quality university on scholarship (we call it a 'free ride here), one of my sisters helped to support me because this was considered a life-changing opportunity. When I finished, she went to school, with a little help from me.
After reading your comment and @wegirrl's comment, I believe my first remark may have been culturally ignorant. The passion for school comes from personal experience, which is not, of course, meaningful in all contexts. Thank you for helping me to expand my awareness and understanding of a different experience.

Good insight. As you stated, formal education like college works for you. It definitely did for me, too.
My take is based on me experiencing both a Malaysian and a US college education, and I honestly say that the learning experience is vastly different. At least where I graduated from (U of Alabama), students there as early as sophomore were already trained and groomed to be job-ready, with plenty of chances for practical training while studying.

Whereas at the Malaysian college I transferred from, we were inward focused, and grade-based success were more meaningful. Students have little chance for networking outside of school, and are sometimes reprimanded for being "too involved" in extra curricular activities such as volunteer or outreach work. So what happened was when many of them graduated, they were less equipped for the jobs they were suppose to be qualified for. I've been frustrated by Malaysian local university grads with cum laude honours whom, when asked to write simple business letters to the bank, drew blank faces and had trouble drafting one without me hand-holding them.

That's pretty much the gist of the issues of Malaysian tertiary education from my perspective, and is why I agree with many things @alvinauh mentioned here.

Thank you, for that information. I remember reading that, after WWII there was a glut of college graduates in Italy. So many well-educated people, and no work for them. The education was fine but it didn't help them provide for their families--it was irrelevant to their needs. Your point is well-taken.

You made some good points. A lot of people do not think it through and either go to college and shouldn't or do not go and should. Sometimes it is hard to even pick the right one because we are all so young at that age. I see people change their carriers later on when they grow up and figure out what they actually want to do with their lives. Thank you for sharing this, I hope it helps some people. 💚

"Sometimes it is hard to even pick the right one because we are all so young at that age. "

It is indeed very, may be expensive too. I spent 17,000MYR (Very big amount) to realize that my first choice was a bad decision. Took me few months to study in Google to figure what I like. Tough life. decisions. urgh.

Me too, finding that calling in life can be difficult, its fine to change mid way i suppose, but hopefully for better reasons instead of 'I don't feel like it'.

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Best to go college if you know you can't enter the field of your choice without a valid proof. For example, Doctor.

Best to go college if you have near zero connection to enter the specific field of work, for example, me and logistics and supply chain management field.

If I had tons of network and they can guaranty paying me similar pay as fresh Grads, I would just head to work :D Of course, after working for 2 years (most probably working from 18-20), then I'll head to college, I would excel in my course... Judging from my current internship experience.

Of course, if anyone doesn't know what they want, Just pick Logistics and Supply Chain because it's awesome and it's hard to learn all experiences from Google. - @notimetospace is pushing everyone to join her future "mlm" scheme

Well, that is true, but there are those who graduate with some really big dreams. Some are even equipped to create right out of high school. So I won't discount that. While connections are important, they could hustle and find connections.

You have an MLM? Cool! I suck at sales, so no selling for me

Should be "MLM" Logistics scheme that I don't know when will it happen. Missed out the Logistics word.

Same goes for me, that is why I choose to work behind the scenes D:

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