Post College Disillusionment - a rant

[CF9]

It might just take you some time to find your niche. I got my undergrad degree in probably the most worthless discipline ever--Political Sciences. But then again, I decided early on I was going to law school. Funny thing is, I had no goals beyond law school. Sounds ridiculous now, but I never actually ever wanted to practice law. During my second semester, I fully, consciously realized I did not in fact want to. Being that I'm stubborn, I stayed the course & got my degree. I did a judicial clerkship for 6 months right out of law school, then I kinda walked around aimlessly for 2 years, traveling (which I could afford to do).

I never did sit for the bar exam, but I am at least "play acting" as lawyer now as a litigation manager for a financial services company owned by one of the most respected holding companies in the world. I guess all I'm saying, in a long-winded way, is that you need to come up w/ goals and find your niche. It'll happen for you...

 

[dot]

I can design a birthday card and I know that Python is a programming language even though I stopped learning it a while ago.

I have no idea what I'm gonna go to college for. I'm good at math so I was thinking engineering, but now I'm thinking screw the boring ****. Maybe I could go to college and learn selling skills which is more of what I need. I bought "Selling for Dummies" and it kinda helped.

And yeah, you don't need any books or classes to teach you how to make a website or do graphics. Maybe one book if you want some direction, but even that's not necessary. I learned Photoshop by messing around and going to Good-Tutorials to learn techniques that would teach me about things in Photoshop, and now I make cards for my parents like it's nothing.

 

[backbreaker]

even programming languages can be learned with some want to without going to college. I know most lanaguages.... some to a greater extent than others...all form reading and having to do **** my self in the beginning.

lol, I remember when we were taking appliations and this one guy had a adegree from Univesity of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) In I think Computer Information Systems. applied for a PC tech position.. okay.. so we put a pc in front of him... put it together. We come back 30 mintues later.. the parts are still there on the floor.

So we say hey.. maybe just hardware isn't his thing. okay...let's see if he can troubleshoot or something.. I mean we wanted to hire the poor guy. this dude barley knew how to open Microsoft word, let alone troubleshot a PC. One of the few times I ever got pissed, because I had been interviewing dumb asses all day I said out loud to a female friend who was in my office "what the **** do they teach tense mother****ers at school these days?" Do you honestly expect to get a computer job and you hardley know your way around a computer?

My dad, in the mist of the Dot com era got an MCSE certification and doesn't know the difference between Win 2000 pro and Windows 3.1. He calls me asking "hot to setup email" and simple **** like that.. I'm like how the **** did you pass the MCSE test? I have that same certification.. it's not the hardest thing on earth but it's not THAT damn easy

 

[dot]

Wow.

What should you look for in a college then?

 

[backbreaker]

it's not what you should look for in a college, it's what you do while you are IN college.

 

[PeterNorthisawesome]

i mean it's an accomplishment, however everyone has one.

Go to college not just to go, go if you are specializing in something.

Is International Business with minor in Chinese (3rd language) and Psychology (Want to keep med school as option) diverse and specialized?

 

[dot]

it's not what you should look for in a college, it's what you do while you are IN college.

elaborate please..

 

[backbreaker]

Is International Business with minor in Chinese (3rd language) and Psychology (Want to keep med school as option) diverse and specialized?

damn right it is

 

[backbreaker]

elaborate please..

in other words.. do you treat college like one big epoisde of kelly the coed? If you do, you are wasting your time.

People care about real world experience. College is supposed to be for HIGHER LEARNING. if you aren't learning anything that can't be lerned by the avg mother****er on the street, what's the point?

Yeah.. my old oneitis just sent.. let's see.....6 years in college. Just walked state with a c plus avg. and is wondering why in the **** no one wants to hire her.

think about it like this. how many people graduate every year? let's say.... I don't know.... I am going to throw out a number because I don't feel like doing the research...300,000 people.

I hate to tell ya.. but there aren't 300,000 new high paying jobs opening up every year. Half the ones that do will go to people who are not fresh out of college, if not more than half. compaines will always make room for the best and the brightest, but everyone else is fighting for scraps.

You have to do something that sets you apart from the masses..what? I don't know. that's up to you. Make straight A's. Build some type of portfolio, do internships, write articles, ****, something other than going to sleep in class and keeping a B avg.

alot of college students, because my 7 year old sister can get into a college if she had enough money.. think it's just as easy to find a 50k a year job. NOT. Big difference. College makes money OFF of you. The real world makes money BECAUSE OF YOU.

Here I am... 3 years ago... tutoring my best friends, who were seniors in college on the difference between LIFO and FIFO accounting, and I have never stepped foot in a college. And they are wondering why they both are jobless... well one makes 10 bucks an hour answering phones. And both left school with mid 3's GPA wise but again... I don't care how good you can answer a multi choice question, I want to see you apply what you learned in a real world environment which you can't do.

Going to college is a waste if time if you let it. Have fun, enjoy the experience, but make sure that education is first and always foremost. The rest of your life will depend on it

 

[The Forms]

You just have a college degree?

No prior internship experience, no portfolio, nothing to show what you did in college?

Did you even bother asking yourself what you would do with a liberal arts degree in the first place?

They don't HAVE internships for a lot of liberal arts disciplines. I was too busy working at my job all week to be able to go work for someone else for free anyway. No offense, Kev07, but all your posts are about how you just graduated high school and love to grind on girls in clubs. So excuse me if I don't take you seriously in a thread aimed towards guys who have the life experience to maybe help out a little.

It's not that I don't have work experience. I payed my way through college throwing bags at the airport, and now I've moved up to being an Operations Agent (I sit in a room and run all the logistics for the airlines, like balancing the planes so they don't crash, assigning gates, telling the captains where to put their planes, keeping track of all my aircraft, et cetera). On top of that, I've been with the same company for four years now. I graduated with a respectable GPA, and I was in enough clubs and groups around campus to where I kind of felt like I had all my ducks in a row in terms of looking like an attractive potential employee, you know?

Yeah, it seems the only bachelor's degrees that are worth anything anymore are in engineering or chemistry.

This is my chief complaint. It seems as if employers don't care about education, they want college to be a four year trade school. And it works for degree like those listed above, but why does the employer even care if you're educated or not if they don't need an engineer or a chemist?

So is there anyone here on the boards with a liberal arts degree who can give me a little guidance?

 

[dot]

in other words.. do you treat college like one big epoisde of kelly the coed? If you do, you are wasting your time.

People care about real world experience. College is supposed to be for HIGHER LEARNING. if you aren't learning anything that can't be lerned by the avg mother****er on the street, what's the point?

Yeah.. my old oneitis just sent.. let's see.....6 years in college. Just walked state with a c plus avg. and is wondering why in the **** no one wants to hire her.

think about it like this. how many people graduate every year? let's say.... I don't know.... I am going to throw out a number because I don't feel like doing the research...300,000 people.

I hate to tell ya.. but there aren't 300,000 new high paying jobs opening up every year. Half the ones that do will go to people who are not fresh out of college, if not more than half. compaines will always make room for the best and the brightest, but everyone else is fighting for scraps.

You have to do something that sets you apart from the masses..what? I don't know. that's up to you. Make straight A's. Build some type of portfolio, do internships, write articles, ****, something other than going to sleep in class and keeping a B avg.

alot of college students, because my 7 year old sister can get into a college if she had enough money.. think it's just as easy to find a 50k a year job. NOT. Big difference. College makes money OFF of you. The real world makes money BECAUSE OF YOU.

Here I am... 3 years ago... tutoring my best friends, who were seniors in college on the difference between LIFO and FIFO accounting, and I have never stepped foot in a college. And they are wondering why they both are jobless... well one makes 10 bucks an hour answering phones. And both left school with mid 3's GPA wise but again... I don't care how good you can answer a multi choice question, I want to see you apply what you learned in a real world environment which you can't do.

Going to college is a waste if time if you let it. Have fun, enjoy the experience, but make sure that education is first and always foremost. The rest of your life will depend on it

I'm have somewhat of a portfolio but I'm need to build it. I'm in 2 interships and trying to get in another.

I'm still in high school, and it's like what you said. School never gives you real world experience.

 

[Bible_Belt]

www.globaltesol.com

your best option right now.

AF of mine did that. He's about 5' 4" and ended up with an attractive Costa Rican girl from a wealthy family. They've now been married about 7 years.

The pay is best in Japan, though.

 

[Master Bates]

www.globaltesol.com

your best option right now.

The best option for those with no options, eh? Yeah, my degree is pretty much useless and I have no idea what I want to do with my life, and I'm seriously looking into teaching english in japan. Japanese chicks love white guys, too.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I read a sosouave post about a guy who said that in Japan he always felt like the football hero who had just won the big game.

 

[spesmilitis]

Unless you do science or engineering, you need to work your ass of on internships and connections.

Everyone is impressed by the amount of work the sci&eng majors have to do. However, people in the non science and engineering majors who looked like they were going to be successful, they worked they ass off just as much.

I would recommend that people should major in science and engineering if they want to make money. It seems that there is just a lot more risk involved in trying to be successful with a liberal arts degree.

 

[Serialized3]

I would recommend that people should major in science and engineering if they want to make money. It seems that there is just a lot more risk involved in trying to be successful with a liberal arts degree.

Not even all the sciences. Probably the only 2 liberal arts and sciences bachelor degrees that are worth anything by themselves might be microbiology and chemistry (probably neuro programs, but those are rare). With pure math, anthropology, pyschology, biology, or geology, you have to do grad school in order to get into a serious position in the field.

Thats why I dropped my science major, picked up an econ major, and hopefully am going to get into a good law school in a couple years. I'd rather be making good money in five years than not much money in nine.

 

[~attrACTION~]

You know I read a lot of the responses in this thread, and I want to make a comment that hasn't been mentioned much or probably at all.

To those of you who can't find a job, it's your fault, what were you thinking choosing that major 4+ years ago? College shouldn't be treated like the continuation of high school.

If you can't find a job it really is your own problem. Stop blaming the schools. Sure, schools are a business, I think that's a given. But just because that business exists, it doesn't mean it their fault that you fail at finding a job. That's like blaming the DMV because you got in a speeding ticket.

It's called marketing yourself. The job won't fall in your lap. You may have to send out 300 resumes, get yourself out there. I haven't graduated yet and could care less for getting a job with my degree, because self-promotion is the name of my game. Most people don't really try.

It doesn't matter what you know or what your skills are. It doesn't matter if you studied liberal arts or engineering. It matters who you know, and how badly you want a good job. Skills are pointless if you don't know how to market yourself. The other day I was just browsing through my local CraigsList and noticed some web projects. I have enough going on but thought hey I'll just email this one. I made $300 in a day making a quick 5-page blog for someone. I'm sure there are other more qualified people out there. I know a couple people who are studying Graphic design or already graduated with it who have crappy jobs and barely find projects. But it's not like opportunities are not available.

I've noticed, in my opinion and experience, that people would rather complain than actually try and change.

edit: As for myself, I'm studying business/accounting in school. I could care less for the degree. Why am I doing it? Honestly, I thought about dropping out 2 years in, so I figured I should just finish it. School is an awesome place to network with other people, and it's very easy to find potential employees and employers, because you are going to classes with the future ______ of the nation, basically. Besides, there are so many great resources available, etc. so even if I don't care about the actual classes, I'm using the time there to the fullest. It's great.

 

[spesmilitis]

Not even all the sciences. Probably the only 2 liberal arts and sciences bachelor degrees that are worth anything by themselves might be microbiology and chemistry (probably neuro programs, but those are rare). With pure math, anthropology, pyschology, biology, or geology, you have to do grad school in order to get into a serious position in the field.

Thats why I dropped my science major, picked up an econ major, and hopefully am going to get into a good law school in a couple years. I'd rather be making good money in five years than not much money in nine.

What about physics majors? Those guys seem pretty dilligent.

 

[PeterNorthisawesome]

I read a sosouave post about a guy who said that in Japan he always felt like the football hero who had just won the big game.

Well it actually depends on your occupation... Japanese love doctors, lawyers and successful businessmen. Yes the pay is good compared to Europe and America... BUT everything is pretty expensive. The average Japanese businessmen will make 2 million in their WHOLE CAREER. If you walk down any shopping district you'll find brand name shops. However, Japanese-made products have excellent quailty and warrenty. If your foreign (Gaijin) the old people (WWII generations) won't like you obviously... but the younger more brainwashed generation will love you. If you're planning to have a fun time in Japan visit Tokyo! Then go to these places Roppongi, Shinjiku, Ikebukro (RLD) and Shibuya!

 

[Master Bates]

To those of you who can't find a job, it's your fault, what were you thinking choosing that major 4+ years ago? College shouldn't be treated like the continuation of high school.

If you can't find a job it really is your own problem. Stop blaming the schools. Sure, schools are a business, I think that's a given. But just because that business exists, it doesn't mean it their fault that you fail at finding a job. That's like blaming the DMV because you got in a speeding ticket.

People who are picking majors are still kids. They're still susceptible to other people's ulterior motives and bad advice, and they don't really know what they're doing. Plus they've had "go to college get a degree and you'll be set for life!" pounded into their heads since they were little. If they weren't lucky enough to be guided by someone truly helpful and "shown the light" of the real world and what they'll really need to be successful after college, it can be very easy to go down the wrong path. Not only these days do they have college/career advisors encouraging them to go get that psychology degree, but they have their baby-boomer parents who are passing on the antiquated notion that having a degree in anything from anywhere will open up a lot of doors because employers love those diplomas!

People need more education on college and the real world before they even go to college. I was a drifter, had a rough time in college both academically and socially, and had no idea what I wanted to do. So because of the reasons above, one day I woke up with a useless BA degree. If I could go back and do it differently, I would, and I don't even know if I'd go to college, which seems like a bizarre decision to me because I grew up being taught that getting a college degree is practically the most important thing in life.

If your foreign (Gaijin) the old people (WWII generations) won't like you obviously... but the younger more brainwashed generation will love you.

That sounds like a bit of a generalization. I've heard of many encounters of young white people with older generation japanese that were positive. I guess it depends on where you are and your luck as far as who you meet. Also, considering how oddly xenophobic and culturally close-minded the japanese can be, I wouldn't call the younger generation more brainwashed than the older.

I read a sosouave post about a guy who said that in Japan he always felt like the football hero who had just won the big game.

What was his experience, do you remember? What did he do in japan?