Comments on: Is College For You? http://thegreatofficeescape.com/is-college-for-you/ Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:17:23 -0700 hourly 1 By: trade/vocations vs philosophy/science http://thegreatofficeescape.com/is-college-for-you/comment-page-1/#comment-128 trade/vocations vs philosophy/science Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:17:21 +0000 http://thegreatofficeescape.com/is-college-for-you/#comment-128 It seems to me like this isn't a debate of *if* college is right for you. It's a question of what program is right for you, but I really don't think you can compare trades and vocations to that from the land of philosophy and science. Who would trust a lawyer who hadn't been to law school? (How would s/he pass the bar?) How do you know a self-taught graphic designer knows the difference between sans and serif fonts? Colleges and higher education get you in the door. The school and program you come from implies the knowledge you already have. If you choose off the wall subjects, such as ancient societal politics, you do so knowing that there's not a lot of doors for you. There will always be trades work available, always. You'll always need a plumber, electrician etc. If that's what you want to do with your life, fine, you can go the journeyman route, learn everything "old-school" and do just fine or you can go to a trade/tech/vocational school. But if you go to school and choose a degree at random because you can't think of anything else then your heart isn't into it then you'll never be satisfied and probably did waste the time there. ---- Don't forget Person C (age 25): Person C goes to solid 4 year university, studies hard and graduates with a pair of degrees in related fields. He then proceeds to advance his education to the Master's level, indebting further. Choosing to enter the workforce, his advisor assists him in finding the dream job using all his degrees with a starting wage over $66k/yr, making the debt payments trifle. It seems to me like this isn’t a debate of *if* college is right for you. It’s a question of what program is right for you, but I really don’t think you can compare trades and vocations to that from the land of philosophy and science.

Who would trust a lawyer who hadn’t been to law school? (How would s/he pass the bar?) How do you know a self-taught graphic designer knows the difference between sans and serif fonts?

Colleges and higher education get you in the door. The school and program you come from implies the knowledge you already have. If you choose off the wall subjects, such as ancient societal politics, you do so knowing that there’s not a lot of doors for you.

There will always be trades work available, always. You’ll always need a plumber, electrician etc. If that’s what you want to do with your life, fine, you can go the journeyman route, learn everything “old-school” and do just fine or you can go to a trade/tech/vocational school. But if you go to school and choose a degree at random because you can’t think of anything else then your heart isn’t into it then you’ll never be satisfied and probably did waste the time there.

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Don’t forget Person C (age 25):
Person C goes to solid 4 year university, studies hard and graduates with a pair of degrees in related fields. He then proceeds to advance his education to the Master’s level, indebting further. Choosing to enter the workforce, his advisor assists him in finding the dream job using all his degrees with a starting wage over $66k/yr, making the debt payments trifle.

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