Did you waste college?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Nope. I lucked into picking a school that was a perfect fit for me and had involved and helpful faculty. As a result, I excelled in my major, had plenty of summer research opportunities, and was able to get into a top-tier graduate school in the field I wanted. I also met my husband and a bunch of people who are still close friends.

Obviously I could have been a little more productive and dedicated, as I think it’s the rare person who gets the maximum benefit from college, but what I got out of it vastly exceeded even my wildest expectations.

22

I have a lot of regrets. I should have left my hometown for college, but instead accepted a full scholarship to a mediocre local university. This had its benefits, of course. But I missed out on the “college experience” by staying at home. Also I chose an easy major (journalism) when I should have done something more challenging.

23

No.

I loved college. It was the first time I was around a lot of intelligent people my age who wanted to talk about interesting things. I had a wonderful time.

I did have a hard time with getting everything out of college that I should have, because I was so ill-prepared. My HS was horrible, and I wasn’t really equipped to do the work properly, nor did I know where I was missing important skills. So I think a lot went over my head. I didn’t even know to attend office hours; I was convinced that I wasn’t important enough for a professor to want to talk with me.

So while I don’t think I wasted my time–I didn’t do all that on purpose–I could have gotten more out of college if I’d had a few more clues about it. I’ve been playing catch-up ever since and plan to teach my own daughters better about how to do things (why and how to attend office hours, how to behave professionally in class, how to write papers, etc.).

24

You know, when I was in school, people would say things like, “Have a good time! No one ever looks back on college and regrets not having studied more.” Uhh, yes I do!

25

I feel the same way about how I handled college. My whole world went to hell just as I was starting my first year, and it really affected my outlook and attitude. My parents were starting a very bitter divorce with me in the middle, while my emotionally abusive boyfriend decided it was too much of a hassle to keep me around if I was going to be bummed about my parents, so he started nailing other girls and not even trying to be subtle about it. I was very quiet, withdrawn, and would often go entire days without speaking to anyone except for ordering lunch somewhere. Had I started making the right connections then, I may have had a different path.

I didn’t waste the education, though - everything I learned was worthwhile. I am sometimes upset with myself for not getting more involved and finding a way into more research earlier, because I think I would have really enjoyed working in medical research and making a difference that way. I remember my cardiovascular physiology class and how completely blown away and fascinated I was by capillaries, and I wonder what I could have done with that. But I’m still in a medical field, and it’s one where I can get a job really easily, so I’m not too broken up about the path my career took.

26

That *would *be great. Sadly, we are all too busy and broke and tired by middle age. At least, *I *am.

I got an average education at an average college; I don’t think any resources went untapped by me. *Nothing *I learned there was any use to me career-wise, but I would never have gotten a lot of jobs without that degree.

Socially, college was invaluable, turned me from a sheltered teenager into the worldly sophisticate and cocktail-party *habitue *you see before you now. I am still close with a lot of my college friends, too.

27

No.

I loved college. I loved getting to choose what I wanted to study and what classes I would be taking. I had plenty of fun, but drinking and acting stupid just weren’t my ideas of fun.

The other thing was, while my parents paid for tuition and books, any extra spending money for anything came from my job. I worked hard. I liked my job and I liked having money. Since I had to work for my fun money, I didn’t waste it. I graduated from college with a decent bank balance, no debt, and three years of full time work on my resume. My college years were anything but a waste.

28

I did the first time around (ages 18-19). I was depressed and didn’t know it, thought I knew what I wanted to study but didn’t and just generally had no clue.

Second time around (ages 26-27) I busted ass. I don’t really use the stuff I majored in, but my degree got me my job, which I love.

29

I’m another yes and no. I genuinely enjoyed the learning aspect of college and picked up a great deal of education, both in terms of breadth and quantity. Occasionally in quality ;).

The flip side is that I ultimately treated college as a hobby and despite accumulating an assload of credits, enough for at least a couple of bachelor’s degrees, I never actually finished any of them after a decade plus. I regularly blew off lower division requirements because I had no interest in them for upper-division courses I had no need for and at least when I was younger I could be as cavalier about grades as any feckless youth. I was the guy who was good at studying twenty minutes before an exam and pulling a B, rather than buckling down to get that A - on the plus side low stress, on the downside no Dean’s List for me.

All in all I have only moderate regrets. My life turned out fine and I’m more financially stable than most. But I really should have finished at least one of those programs. It wouldn’t have been that hard. Now, like Eve said, I’m too old and burnt out to want to go back. Maybe for a lark after I retire.

30

My one and only goal in college was to get into graduate school in astronomy. I spent almost all my time on achieving this goal, and anything that didn’t lead to that ran a very poor second. My GPA was higher than the number of people I dated during college. The only parties I went to were Society of Physics Students (or a similar organization) events.

The idea was that I would become a professor of astronomy. I ended up leaving grad school with a master’s degree. The work I do now is also done by people who were a lot less single-minded in college, and had a lot more fun.

OTOH, I originally contacted Mr. Neville by email to ask about grad school at Berkeley. I might not have met him, otherwise.

If I went back in time and told myself as an undergrad that one of the main benefits of going to grad school in astronomy would be meeting my future husband, my past self would have puked on me.

Life’s a funny thing, I guess.

31

I got a lot out of college, but I could have gotten more. For three years I was working full time and taking courses part-time (9+9+3+3 = 24 credits/year) and I obviously didn’t have time for much besides working and studying. So I gravitated towards courses that required little or no studying (for me that meant mainly math and science). After the third year I got a partial scholarship and the rest as a loan. For the fifth (half) year I got a TA-ship and taught calculus.

Obviously I did get a lot out of it. But I wish I had really gotten fluent in at least one foreign language, maybe studied some linguistics (the school had a super linguistics dept, the one where Chomsky got his start) and so on.

32

Haha.

I’ll be able to completely answer this question in another four or five years once I’ve completed college, but as a current junior college student, I wouldn’t say that I’ve been wasting anything (yet lol).

Seriously, at this point in my life (20 year old male here), I’m just thrilled to be in school at all. I almost went to a Public Ivy once I got out of high school, but many circumstances largely beyond my control got in the way of that ever happening, so I spent the next few subsequent years working and saving up a ton of money for my eventual college enrollment. Now that I’m here, I’ve got a lot of cash in the bank and it’s very likely that I could end up securing my degree with an excellent GPA and little (if any) debt. I’ve got the highest grades in all the classes I’m taking and I still hold down a job; I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way.

Check out one of my earlier threads if you’d like to know more.

33

I majored in Psychology, so the answer by default is “yes.” But generally speaking, I’d still have to say yes, because for some reason I was obsessed with getting out on time instead of appreciating all the resources I had right in front of my nose. I wish I’d used the opportunity to take more courses in fields that interested me, or cultivated closer relationships with my teachers, even if it meant staying an extra semester. One of my biggest regrets.

Not the quarry, but the chase; not the trophy, but the race - I should have listened.

34

I thought I had wasted college, but I was wrong. I had a good GPA, and didn’t screw up any classes, but I felt that I didn’t really know anything when I graduated. But I had taken a graduate level class my senior year, in which I got interested in an area which got me a good RA job in grad school (plus a halo effect) and I discovered that I had learned how to learn very well.
I also met my wife in college, which is worth a whole bunch of As.

35

Academically no. Went to Oxford, did well and deliberately chose my research project in the lab of the smartest, meanest chemist in Europe. He was close to retirement but it was still a world class environment - put me on the right track of serious research and I’ve never looked back.

Socially though it seems like such a missed opportunity. Wish I’d gone with more of an open mind, been far less up myself and cool and just was friendlier to people. Never really felt comfortable there, and the friends I had were similar. First couple of years we used to tan the bevvy (I mean really tan the fuck out of it) out of almost anger at our dislike of the place.

The academic side was a great stabiliser though - the last year in the aforementioned ogre’s lab was a happy time and felt more like a ‘normal’ college experience.

36

Another yes and no. I was totally unfocused for the bulk of my undergrad and spent 7 years to attain a four-year (General Studies - Ha! COMPLETELY appropriate degree for me) degree.

The upside was that I took pretty much any course that interested me. Detective Fiction, Philosophy of Science, Business classes, Astronomy, etc. I got a broad range of experience and enjoyed the bulk of my time there.

The downside was that I was always on the edge of academic expulsion and I had no idea of what I wanted to do with my life. I spent a lot of money on classes that I mostly took for fun. I really wish I had taken a year off to discover what I wanted to be before going to school.

Anyway, I finally figured things out once I met my eventual wife. I went on to grad school, which I treated like a job, and have gone on to a great career.

I wish I had been more focused, but I really enjoyed myself and have few regrets.

37

Not at all. I went to an Ivy League school that I’d been dreaming of for years, and I got every bit of education they were willing to give me. It took courses from legendary professors, and also from some who were the best at teaching. I’ve mentioned my first semester classes on this board before: a Philosophy seminar; History of the Bible; Astronomy; and Italian. I studied whatever interested me, took two novels classes almost every semester, and learned how to read and how to write. While my degree didn’t necessarily prepare me for a specific career, my college experience prepared me to work hard, think on my feet, and do the research necessary to find the information I need. If anything I didn’t take enough advantage of the social opportunities college offered, but I did make some lifelong friends.

38

Did you misspell something? :smiley:

39

Yes. And yes. And no. And yes. And no.

I had far, far less of a social life than I could have. I went to college with the intention to study and kept to myself. I made a few friends who I’d hang out with, but I never went out on dates and none of the friends turned out to be very long-lasting.

Academia-wise, I originally went into the Business college. I don’t even remember what major I was trying for, Business Administration or something with a focus on international business. The way the U of A Business college was set up at the time, you spent two years in “pre-Business” getting a basic grounding in the various subjects like accounting, management, and finance, then after two years you had to apply competitively to get into the actual coursework for the major you wanted, which involved setting up a resume and having an interview with folks from the department.

I did not get in. It was possible to try again the next semester, but that would have meant cooling my heels and wasting time. I wanted to be out in four years. The rejection disillusioned me pretty hard, and I wondered why I was wasting my valuable college time on how to be a better employee when I’d have decades to do that. So I switched colleges and went into Linguistics, which was a vastly more interesting field of study IMO. I’d already gotten rid of most of my general education coursework, so I was able to focus almost entirely on Linguistics courses. I pushed hard, took a summer class, and got the necessary courses I needed to graduate with a BA within four years.

Sounds great, right? I got to do something I wanted instead of what I was “expected” to study. Except that by cramming everything into two years, I didn’t get as much of a solid, steady education in Linguistics that someone going in as a freshman would have. I feel like I barely scratched the surface of the field, and what I did learn didn’t take as well as it might have. I paraded around my degree for a year or two after that, including on this board, and it did help me get my current job, but there’s times I don’t feel like I learned what I should have.

Taken as a whole, though? The general education courses were fantastic, I do have a degree in Linguistics I can leverage if needed, and although I don’t have credentials for the Business courses I took, I did take them, which gave me an excellent grounding in Business that a typical BA student wouldn’t have. As a specialist, I’m a failure, but as a jack of all trades, I think my college education did pretty well for me. The trick now is just making use of that.

40

Yep.

First, by foregoing some scholarships I was offered to attend some pretty prestigious private institutions and attending my local state university instead.

Second, by dropping out of said university after sinking a lot of time/money into it.