Right. That’s my question. I’m currently a junior in the International Baccalaureate program (like AP - very intense college prep program). Did 3 years of ‘pre-IB’ starting in 8th grade. I’m currently so sick of school, I’ve considered dropping out (although I probably won’t). And as I’m in a very competetive program, I’m expected to be on top of the college search.
I don’t really WANT to go to college. I AM going to take a year off (despite the ‘advice’ of just about everyone around me) to travel, do community service, and try and get some practical work experience. If I go to college, I’d probably major in International relations, poli sci, journalism, or peace/conflict studies. But I see no reason to go to college, really.
I know I’m a good writer, and I hate saying that, because it makes me sound arrogant IMO, but I know I am - it’s always been utterly natural to me. I’m not an expert in Spanish, but this is my 4th year of honors-level Spanish, and I know from experience I can hold my own in a Spanish-speaking country, alone, speaking the language. My math class this year has almost finished precalculus, jamming it into about six months. I’ve had a year of World History, and a year and a half of US History. I’ve taken intensive summer courses in philosphy, writing, a mock UN course, and a psychology course.
That’s really funny. I’m also a junior in college, and I’ve also started to wonder recently about why exactly I’m here. I’ll keep watching this thread.
I say figure out what you want to do, then go to college. Don’t wait too long though, because you’ll wedge yourself into a position where you can’t or won’t take time off from work for college, you’ll never be a candidate for grad school, and you’ll find yourself making less money than people in your field with degrees and kicking yourself for not listening to those who’ve been there. I finished my bachelor’s degree 5 years after high school, and I feel sorry for the people I work with now that are struggling to fit college into their schedule. You might be able to land a decent paying job without college, but your skills may not be portable, in which case you’ll have a hissy fit every time something doesn’t go your way at work because the prospect of quitting will scare the crap out of you.
True, but on the other hand, a lot of places won’t even look at you without a college degree - especially the federal government. Besides, college is much more fun than high school. My recommendation? Go to the other side of the country, Berkely, UCLA, Colorado, whatever and go to school there.
Well, when getting a job it is allways difficult to show what you know to the people interviewing you. Any college degree or simillar is a good thing to show them. It can also be great fun to be at college. What it sounds like to me is that you need a change of schenary to get back into the swing of things, so a year out would be a good idea. Have you considered going to college outside of America? Maybe Spain, UK, or Southern Ireland (Eire) would make college into an adventure you will enjoy.
Good Luck, and don’t be pressurised into doing something you don’t want to do.
Cheers, Bippy
really depends. Go to college definitely, because you will be kicking yourself in the head later on. Does that mean right after high school? No. Take as much time off as necessary, but probably start college before you’re 25… otherwise it becomes darn near impossible…
You will probably lose all your scholarships and stuff if you take a year off. It sucks, but it’s true.
Ah…well, when you graduate from the IB program you’ll probably have the equivalent of an AA degree, or two years of college education.
You can just not to go to college immediately after HS, take your time exploring things around, and go back to school (in a period of about 5 years, I don’t know if IB is like SAT where the scores expire after some time), and still finish the bachelor’s degree in less than 4 years (2, if you get most of the credits approved and place out of a lot of required courses). In fact, given that you will have the IB, you can go around, explore, come back, and graduate with two majors (still in around 4 years).
Or you can apply to the university right after college, see if you are accepted, and defer your entrance for one year. Many universities do that arrangement, although I think you have to explain your reasons for skipping that year.
Because as (I think) Bill Bryson once stated, it’s a ticket to make twice as much money for half as much work. It may not be the best way of learning, but it’s the most recognized, so if you want a job to support your inevitable family then that’s a reason. If you feel like leading a more bohemian and less capital driven life style, then good for you! Maybe then you can forget college, and do the admirable by driving down the road less often walked.
I’m in the same situation as you, which is the first year of pursuing the International Baccalaureate diploma (although I had to do it). Oddly enough, I’ve also considered courses such as international relations and journalism. Furthermore, I’m sick to death of school at this point in time and keep coming back to my vivid fantasy of discarding all my dirty capitalist possessions and disappearing into central Asia on something that looks like it was originally a motorbike. Why don’t I? I suppose it’s to honour my parents, because they’d be awfully disappointed if the last time they saw me before my untimely death was in the background of a fuzzy CNN image, reported from somewhere near Uzbekistan.
In summary, we’re going to college because we’re expected to. In the same way we’re expected to marry and have reproduce, comfortably finishing life behind the gates of some suburban closed community.
I can hardly wait.
NinjaChick, just in case you’re interested, my six IB subjects are English, (World) History, Maths, Economics (those four at higher), Physics and Italian (standard level). What are you taking?
Why do employers prefer hiring college graduates for certain positions, even if the course of study doesn’t match the job description?
Assuming the college grad has a decent GPA from a reasonable school, the diploma is a certification of cognitive ability. A grad will have experience in critical reading, communicative writing and self-learning.
Think about how much time at any white collar job is spent reading, writing or figuring out small things that nobody really told you.
Obviously, some college graduates are dumb as doorknobs despite their 3.5 GPA. And obviously, some high school graduates already have these abilities. But, if you were a company placing bets on the hiring line, you would bet with the college grad.
So, you go to college either 1) because there is some area of learning that fascinates you and you want to learn more about or 2) because you don’t want to spend the rest of your life having to PROVE to close-minded folks that you are just as good as a college grad.
(or 3) because those frat boys have some wicked bud.)
But, I don’t have any problem with you taking a year off, especially if you have a specific plan for how you want to spend that year. Are you travelling? Are you going to volunteer? Are you going to work a specific kind of job to see if that is something you like? Those are all good reasons and will probably improve the college experience.
Sitting on your parent’s couch and watching TV, or slaving away at the Kwikie Mart is probably not as valuable.
Take the time off, absolutely. Take as much time as you need, and if you fall into a life path that makes you happy and doesn’t require a college degree, go for it. College is not for everyone. (As a grad student who has taught a lot of college freshmen, I wish more of them had thought hard about whether it was right for them.)
However, based on what you’ve said in your first post, it just might be right for you. Unless everything you did in high school was your parents’ choice and not your own, it sounds like you have genuine academic interests, you’re just too burned out at the moment to enjoy them. Imagine what high school would be like if there were very few rules, plenty of opportunities to set your own hours and pick classes you care about (and to withdraw if you change your mind), less day-to-day drudgery, and a much friendlier social environment. That’s college. If it doesn’t sound appealing now, it probably will after a year of working nine-to-five. Heck, some of us like it so much we never leave.
Wow - how could anyone think you could possibly be arrogant.
I think college is a privilege that many will not have the opportunity to enjoy. My brother in law drives a city bus now. His plan was only going to take a year off too. He certainly has less capital, but I wouldn’t call it a bohemian lifestyle. Real life will come soon enough and it can be a bitch. College is a excellent opportunity to buffer that transition and become more prepared.
Also, college is nothing like high school. You can sign up to study abroad, or you can go part time, to a community college, etc. There’s so many options. Don’t cut yourself off now. You’re still young.
A college degree tells prospective employers two things: that you have studied and have experience in the field you majored in, and that you have the skills and attributes that may make you a good employee.
In the course of getting your degree, you need to study and pass tests, do research, write papers, work with others, work with professors, and so on. To do those things successfully, you’ll need to have good time management skills, note-taking skills, attentiveness to details, the ability to work with peers and superiors, reading and comprehension skills, organization skills, critical thinking and analysis skills, and memory skills. These are skills that employers value greatly.
While a college degree doesn’t certify or guarantee that a person will be a good employee, it does say that the person had to have at least some degree of those qualities; otherwise, they wouldn’t have earned their degree. Few other details on your resume can convey that as quickly or without further invesigation.
If employers consider a college degree a basic qualification, it may be worth the time, effort, and cost of going to college to keep you competitive with other job candidates. You can have tons of experience and hands-on acquired knowledge, but if not having a degree is enough to get your application tossed immediately into the trash can, why set yourself back like that?
That said, college shouldn’t be something you go through the motions of doing. You’d be wasting your time and money if you didn’t take it seriously. If you need to take time off in order to gain perspective and the desire for higher education, do so. Just be careful that you don’t dismiss college completely because you don’t feel like doing it right now. With time, you may change your mind.
Not only this, but a college degree shows you’re willing to play the Game of Life. The most important thing I learned in college was how the Real World works - things like beaurocracy, and having to acknowledge incompetent people as your superiors without succumbing to the urge to slap them when they say something stupid. Real life is a game of compromise, and of planning - skills you learn in college, moreso than any “official” skill. These are the things that employers find valuable, and these are the things that can’t be learned with company training plans.
College is basically a set of training wheels for life. It’s also a great place to learn non-job skills, and make friends, and meet the future Mr. NinjaChick. College has a lot to offer. It’s probably not for everyone, but it’s for almost everyone. If you decide it’s not for you, you may be right, but you may just be naive - unfortunately, it’s hard to tell until you get older. One thing that has been mentioned already bears repeating, though: If you decide to put it off, don’t wait too long; the longer you wait, the less likely you are to go, and the harder it is to make the transition if you try.
One more bit of anecdotal advice: I know many people who never went to college, and regret it. I know of not one who did go to college, and regrets it.
Jeff
I know I was stressed out when I was a junior in HS. When I wasn’t studying for history or writing a paper for English, I was stressing over my juries for orchestra or trying not to get caught skipping out of PE. And on top of all that, I was worrying about SATs and college!
Maybe your disdain for college is resulting from over-the-top stress at school. This is understandable. But I wouldn’t let your feelings for HS at this moment influence a decision that could affect the rest of your life.
You can always go to college and drop out if you like it. Getting your foot in the door will be easier two years from now than ten years from now, when you’ll actually have to hunt down people for letters of recommendation and all that. And don’t worry about going to a “top-notch” school. You may find that you like the “big fish in a little pond” feeling you can get at a smaller school.
My advice is to pick a feild of interest/ job/ goal based on all the info you can gather… including rate of pay- demand for employment- projections of that job for the future, and last but not least make sure its something you will enjoy- you might even have to research yourself for that part… remember: if you love your job, you will never work a day in your life… Then you find out what kind of degree/ major/ or training you will need to accomplish your goal. If your goal requires you to go to college, then do it! College in itself wont do you alot of good in the real world- you need to evaluate your goals and be able to use your education to achieve them…