College - I am not completely stoked

[OneSevenNine]

It's weird.

I came back yesterday from orientation at the college I'll be entering this fall, and everyone I met there was sick of summer and ready for august already. The guy I ate breakfast with said he wanted classes to start that afternoon, and the guy sitting next to me when signing up for classes was frustrated that they wouldn't let him take more than 18 hours of class each semester (12 is the minimum, 15 recommended). I just can't get myself to feel like that. And I don't really have an amazing life here at home, either; all of my friends are out of town, it's too damn hot to do anything past noon, and since I can't drive I don't get out of the house a lot other than to go to driving lessons every morning--but despite that I seem to be the only person I know who isn't counting the hours until classes start.

All the orientation staff (as well as my parents) repeated over and over that college is harder, more demanding, requires more organization, and costs a shitload of money. I have no idea what I'm going to major in, so all I have is core classes in my future until I have some kind of epiphany. Yet everything that breathes seems to tell me that I should be more excited now than I ever have been in my life. In contrast, high school sucked, but I slept in my own room, didn't have too bad of a workload, didn't have to worry about paying for it, attended classes that had less than thirty people, and was generally content. I've got to be missing something here, right?

Advice/Thoughts/Ridicule?

[squibbles]

college is harder, more demanding, requires more organization, and costs a shitload of money

From my experiance, the only things true there are the last two. As long as you manage the organisation, you're gold.

Also, I'd suggest making friends that feel similarly. They'll be more fun to be around, and really, collage is all about the fun. ;D

[capt_weasle]

Unfortunately I'm in the "can't wait for school to start" boat, but trust me, college is great. My advice is to look at ratemyprofessor.com as you register (though it seems you have already?) for classes; this will be of help regarding work loads and whether you really need a textbook for class (hint: you don't) and a small feel for the teacher. Other than that, maybe you could take a walk around your neighborhood? Just see what's around. Or get StumbleUpon. Then school will be here before you know it, though you may never go outside again.

[Vyacheslav]

After you get your license, you become so much more free and independent. What college are you attending?

[Destiny]

I am dreading the start of classes. I always do in the summer holidays. This is my favorite time of year. It's nice and hot outside, the sun shines 90% of the time, the rain very rarely shows up, and I have absolutely no responsibilities. I can waste the days away doing whatever the hell I want to do - which for the most part involves playing guitar, playing N, casually browsing the web, watching anime, and reading books and writing my novel. Oh and I go out with my friends every now and then. Tomorrow we're all going to meet up in the local park, and i'll jam with my other friend who plays guitar. Apparantly she just got a new one, so that should be fun.

But despite all this i'm not dreading the coming of classes as much as I usually do. I'm starting university this year (= college for you americans) and so i'll be moving out and living on my own for the first time. I'll be taking on a lot of responsibility, and It's going to be something of an adventure. I'll meet new people there and for the first time in my life i'll be taking a class in direct relation to what i want to do when i'm older - games programming. I can't lie though, i'm a little nervous about living on my own. What if I get put in a flat with assholes? What if I turn out to be bad at programming and need to rethink my whole life plan? Playing guitar without annoying everyone else in my flat will be a pain. Not to mention i'm leaving every single one of my old friends behind. None of them are going to my university. Fortunately, my girlfriend is only one train station away, so that's not so bad. I'd hate for fate to seperate us after four happy years (Only two arguments in four years, not bad eh?).

Overall, i'd like this interlude in my life to last as long as possible. It's going to be a very happy time for me, and I hope that it will spawn some of my fondest memories when I look back on my life.

All you people who can't wait for classes to begin, get a hobby. Have some fun.

[SlappyMcGee]

I don't think you should go to college. Most should not.

[Rose]

I'm taking summer courses so I have a lighter workload in the fall. Not a good idea. It sucks; I want more free time ;_;

Though, since my college is literally five minutes away from home, I'm still living with my parents so I don't have to pay for living expenses. This also means I get to keep my own room :D My parents were smart enough to do this pre-pay thing where you pay the expense of college at the time of the pre-pay and it covers the expense of college when it comes around, regardless of inflation. They put me on that plan in the early 90's so... yeah. A lot of money was saved. My grandparents also let me buy one of their cars for $200 because they are amazing.

My point is that while college may not necessarily be all fun and games (and depending on your situation, it's pretty expensive), the independence, ability to choose your major, and many other factors make it a hell of a lot better than high school. I mean, this is like a transition period between being a kid and the real world. Enjoy it before it gets worse, you know?

[blackson]

I don't think you should go to college. Most should not.

Why is that?

[OneSevenNine]

I don't think you should go to college. Most should not.

But if I don't go to college, how will I stave off reality for another 4 or 5 years?

[SlappyMcGee]

I don't think you should go to college. Most should not.

Why is that?

A'ight.

The reason the institution of college is so pervasive is because, at some point, it's reputation eclipsed it's benefit and everybody decided that you needed four years of slowed down learning in order to be qualified to do any job that didn't require big muscles. Everybody wanted to go to college, have college parties, and eventually, have a piece of paper that says, "Yes, I took half a year to learn a quarter of calculus which might have taken a reasonable person a couple of weeks. Please give me a job at your bank."

I'm not saying that all college/university is a waste of time; doctors, physicists, even computer programmers as well as a myriad of jobs need a) a criteria which they can base their employment on (because many well-spoken dumbos could probably pass themselves off as knowledgeable for a while) and b) have genuine shit you can learn that takes time and teamwork. But there are creative arts courses, communication, liberal arts, pop fucking culture, and shit like that. Moreover, courses like Medicine teach you calculus, even if you just want to be a practical doctor. The system is fucking broken. And here's my opinion as to why:

If they taught people just what they needed to know for a given field, then some fields would have remarkably less to learn. Astrophysicists might spend the whole four years learning. Psychologists definitely would not. Moreover, the institution of university has some inherent flaws, mostly pertaining to education as a whole: people do not learn at the same pace, and there is no compensation for that. Essentially, university degrees eventually equate to : Yes, I am at least competent, and yes, I have spent hundreds of hours doing courses that are related to my field.

Which means that universities are not institutions necessarily to teach us how to do our jobs (re: internships and apprenticeships), but merely endurance testers that suck so much fucking cash out of our wallets.

And with the internet and textbooks widely available, you shouldn't ever be paying 60,000$ for information. And you aren't, I guess. Really, you're paying that amount of money to have the opportunity to get certified as competent and willing to work long hours. And I guess you get a teacher, although class sizes are so large that you would be better off buying collections of lectures from professors of better schools than those you could go to.

And then somebody says that they are going off to college and they do not even know what they want to do? It infuriates me that people think they should go off to college, and that's just something they should do. You can go to parties and have fun while genuinely working in a field that interests you, as long as it does not require a degree. If you are in college because the field you like needs a degree, then I feel for you, because I know neither of us can change the system. But if the reason you are upset that you can't find something at college is because what really interests you is making music, or mountain biking, or pool installation, there are careers to be had there that require you to apply yourself to that specifically, and not waste your time learning calculus.

[capt_weasle]

Which means that universities are not institutions necessarily to teach us how to do our jobs (re: internships and apprenticeships), but merely endurance testers that suck so much fucking cash out of our wallets.

Especially for my major (film), when you go try and get a job it doesn't matter what school you were taught at; it matters that you are good at what you do. I hate general education classes because I'm going to be relearning most of what I was taught in high school; and like in high school, I will forget 90% of the material two weeks after the course is over. Not that it matters, seeing how none of it will be remotely related to my major. So for the most part my time spent in college will be gaining experience in my field during production courses and doing a lot of networking.

[Tanner]

Especially for my major (film), when you go try and get a job it doesn't matter what school you were taught at; it matters that you are good at what you do.

With all do respect, no it doesn't. Not particularly, that is. As in all these sorts of fields (film, journalism, business, radio, music, theater, etc.) it matters less what you do and more who you know. That's not to say that being good at what you do won't enamor you of the people you need to know but that is not the bottom line. You're going to school to meet people, plain and simple.

[SlappyMcGee]

Especially for my major (film), when you go try and get a job it doesn't matter what school you were taught at; it matters that you are good at what you do.

With all do respect, no it doesn't. Not particularly, that is. As in all these sorts of fields (film, journalism, business, radio, music, theater, etc.) it matters less what you do and more who you know. That's not to say that being good at what you do won't enamor you of the people you need to know but that is not the bottom line. You're going to school to meet people, plain and simple.

The unionization of nearly every industry in film means that that is mostly false, Tanner. If you want any job outside of director or actor, you'll find work in North America as long as you are competent.

[smartalco]

and the guy sitting next to me when signing up for classes was frustrated that they wouldn't let him take more than 18 hours of class each semester (12 is the minimum, 15 recommended).

This guy is dumb.

I just can't get myself to feel like that.

So?

it's too damn hot to do anything past noon,

Is it peaking 105 F? (40 C)? Because if not, you have no room to complain. I am working outside in 90 F+ heat for the entirety of this week.

All the orientation staff (as well as my parents) repeated over and over that college is harder, more demanding, requires more organization, and costs a shitload of money.

Each individual class is more demanding, yes, but then you have to realize that you are taking 15 hours of class a week, compared to the 35 hours you were in in high school (under the conventional american system anyway). I have found the average intelligence of this forum to be higher than average, and you have to realize that the classes are catered to the average dude. My gen-ed classes were dead easy, it was just my engineering classes I had to think about.

I have no idea what I'm going to major in, so all I have is core classes in my future until I have some kind of epiphany.

Welcome to college! Have fun taking two years worth of gen-eds! Really it means you have two years to decide on a definite major, at which point you can dive right in to specialty classes and have your gen-eds out of the way.

In contrast, high school sucked, but I slept in my own room, didn't have too bad of a workload, didn't have to worry about paying for it, attended classes that had less than thirty people, and was generally content.

Dorms aren't bad actually, you'll meet a lot of new friends rather fast, and its cool to be able to walk down the hall and yell 'FOOOOOD' and have an entourage of 8 guys to go eat with. I covered the workload thing. Student loans, you don't have to pay for it until after you're done! Gen-eds have huge classes (which is fine because they are easy, see above), the harder and more specialized the class, the smaller the class size gets.

Advice/Thoughts/Ridicule?

I think I covered those.

[capt_weasle]

Especially for my major (film), when you go try and get a job it doesn't matter what school you were taught at; it matters that you are good at what you do.

With all do respect, no it doesn't. Not particularly, that is. As in all these sorts of fields (film, journalism, business, radio, music, theater, etc.) it matters less what you do and more who you know. That's not to say that being good at what you do won't enamor you of the people you need to know but that is not the bottom line. You're going to school to meet people, plain and simple.

So for the most part my time spent in college will be ... doing a lot of networking.

Also, what Slappy said.

[Rose]

You can talk about how the university system is broken all you want (and I won't argue that), but the fact of the matter is you have to get a college degree if you're going into anything that isn't liberal arts, communications, etc. Regardless of whether you think college is necessary, your employers will, and that's what matters.

[SlappyMcGee]

You can talk about how the university system is broken all you want (and I won't argue that), but the fact of the matter is you have to get a college degree if you're going into anything that isn't liberal arts, communications, etc. Regardless of whether you think college is necessary, your employers will, and that's what matters.

There are a near infinite amount of jobs that do not require a college degree. And indecision as to what college program you should be in implies to me that your interests fall outside the scope of college.

[T3chno]

I'm in the same boat as 179, in the fact that I'm heading to college this fall. However, I'm pretty excited - mostly for the fact that I'm moving away from my parents for the first time and am about to attend one of the best party schools in the US. But I also know my major, as I'm going into engineering (a field that does interest me, mind you).
While it does strike some sadness into me that I'm going to be living long-term outside my hometown for the first time and away from friends, I think the chance to meet all new people for various parts of the country is going to be great. As you guys have said before, it is about networking. While it is good that you get that degree, having people linked up to you is a must. I was talking to my dad and a recruiter-type/engineer person from Northrop Grumman came to his restaurant and asked if I wanted to do an intern next summer. He was going to let me skip the entire process of applying, then interviewing, straight-up giving me a paying internship position. He didn't want to know my qualifications or anything. So yeah, knowing people could/will get you places.

[OneSevenNine]

So?

So I'm jealous. It'd be nice to be excited instead of being... not excited.

Is it peaking 105 F? (40 C)? Because if not, you have no room to complain. I am working outside in 90 F+ heat for the entirety of this week.

I think it hit 103 a few days back. Does that count? (Also, it's so humid it feels like the air is sweating. But I've been staying inside most of the time, so you win the heat contest automatically.)

There are a near infinite amount of jobs that do not require a college degree. And indecision as to what college program you should be in implies to me that your interests fall outside the scope of college.

That's what I'm afraid of; I really don't want to spend four years of my life learning something that only marginally relates to what I'm actually interested in, but forces beyond my control (starts with "par," ends with "nts") have decided the course of the next four years of my life. I'm trying to get in touch with some people who have gotten a Major in Music Composition to see how much in that program relates to the kind of music I already enjoy composing (See sig.) Worst case scenario, I end up doing all my composition on guitar and piano and end up having to relate it to experimental/electronic/electroacoustic music on my own. Or I could major in computer science or electrical engineering or something and relate that to composition on my own. I'm hoping there's some kind of in-between for undergrads I haven't found yet.

[epigone]

Dude. Get 'stoked' as soon as you can. College is awesome, hands down the most fun time EVAR. When I first went to college, the first couple of weeks were rough. It's a bit of a culture shock, especially if you leave home far behind when you go. Where I am, nobody from my high school went. But you'll make friends, totally awesome ones that you'll be friends with forever, even if you think you won't, I promise you will. One thing I recommend is not changing who you are to make friends though. Don't be a fake. You won't be happy if you are. But be yourself, hang out with people you think are cool, and don't be intimidated by what will seem like a lot of stuff going on at once (being organized is key). Trust me, you'll love it in no time flat!

[Rose]

You can talk about how the university system is broken all you want (and I won't argue that), but the fact of the matter is you have to get a college degree if you're going into anything that isn't liberal arts, communications, etc. Regardless of whether you think college is necessary, your employers will, and that's what matters.

There are a near infinite amount of jobs that do not require a college degree. And indecision as to what college program you should be in implies to me that your interests fall outside the scope of college.

Okay, then let me rephrase: the majority of well-paying jobs require a college degree. College is kinda like an investment. If the number on your paycheck doesn't matter too much to you, then you're right; paying tens of thousands of dollars for an education you probably won't use is not a good idea. This is why I'm always a little curious about people who go to college just to major in liberal arts, music, etc; if you want to go into these fields, why are you going to college in the first place?

In my case, I want to go into a financial career. You know, accounting, financial advisor, etc. My uncle is a financial advisor, incidentally, so I've already got a head start on connections :p But regardless, I know I need a degree in finance or business if anyone in that field is going to hire me.

[SlappyMcGee]

You can talk about how the university system is broken all you want (and I won't argue that), but the fact of the matter is you have to get a college degree if you're going into anything that isn't liberal arts, communications, etc. Regardless of whether you think college is necessary, your employers will, and that's what matters.

There are a near infinite amount of jobs that do not require a college degree. And indecision as to what college program you should be in implies to me that your interests fall outside the scope of college.

Okay, then let me rephrase: the majority of well-paying jobs require a college degree. College is kinda like an investment. If the number on your paycheck doesn't matter too much to you, then you're right; paying tens of thousands of dollars for an education you probably won't use is not a good idea. This is why I'm always a little curious about people who go to college just to major in liberal arts, music, etc; if you want to go into these fields, why are you going to college in the first place?

In my case, I want to go into a financial career. You know, accounting, financial advisor, etc. My uncle is a financial advisor, incidentally, so I've already got a head start on connections :p But regardless, I know I need a degree in finance or business if anyone in that field is going to hire me.

Many degrees go unused regardless of the field. It's no longer a bankable investment because everybody goes to college.

[smartalco]

Many degrees go unused regardless of the field. It's no longer a bankable investment because everybody goes to college.

My mom has a freaking art degree, and that has still helped her get the two jobs she has been at for the last 20+ years. They aren't related to art at all (or about as well as a comp sci degree is related to skydiving)

[Tanner]

Many degrees go unused regardless of the field. It's no longer a bankable investment because everybody goes to college.

My mom has a freaking art degree, and that has still helped her get the two jobs she has been at for the last 20+ years. They aren't related to art at all (or about as well as a comp sci degree is related to skydiving)

Essentially, university degrees eventually equate to : Yes, I am at least competent, and yes, I have spent hundreds of hours doing courses that are related to my field.

Which means that universities are not institutions necessarily to teach us how to do our jobs (re: internships and apprenticeships), but merely endurance testers that suck so much fucking cash out of our wallets.

Way to read the thread, smartalco.

[Rose]

Many degrees go unused regardless of the field. It's no longer a bankable investment because everybody goes to college.

Which is another reason why you should go to college. If you don't, you're going to be much further down the hire list.