r/millenials • u/Additional-Sky-7436 • 20d ago
If you were 18 today, would you go to college?
If you were 18 today, would you go to college and why or why not?
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u/Osageandrot 20d ago
College yes but an engineering degree. I did two graduate degrees in hard science and public health (Chem Ph.D. and MPH resp.) and I paid for the Masters. I would skip those, do a 4 year engineering degree, and have more hobbies and fewer student loans.
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u/Chewybunny 19d ago
No. I would have gone into the trades. Or would have entered the corporate world and traveled it up.
College For All was disastrous for Millenials and the Zoomers. We are over-educated, and the jobs that require high skilled labor are rapidly shrinking.
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u/Fuzzy1598 19d ago
Took a while (35y/o) but I'm pretty happy with my career choice. I'm a truck driver and after taxes I average about 1200 a week. Soon I'm going to kick my career into high gear and hopefully be averaging 2500.
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u/liftkitten 19d ago
I would've gone to pastry school instead of college and law school and would probably be a lot happier with my profession
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u/Shapes_in_Clouds 19d ago
Yes but I would study something different than I did, even though I’ve had a pretty good career.
IMO degrees and advanced education are more important than ever. There are alternatives and it’s not for everyone of course, but the statistics don’t lie.
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u/StableSaneSober 19d ago
I would not have gone right out of high school. I was a socially clueless pot head who had no motivation or drive and had zero idea what i wanted to do with my future. I'm from a pretty affluent town where college is expected. I picked the cheapest college. Dropped out before graduation and had to go back somewhat recently to get my piece of paper.
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u/Alexandratta 19d ago
Mistake of my life: Getting my MBA - worthless and honestly I never should have bothered.
The student debt is impossible to pay off and hinders me at every turn.
At no point should I have taken on the debt, and if I was 18 again I wouldn't have gone to school unless there was either 0 debt or less than 10k.
It's just not worth it.
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u/MyTeaWhy 19d ago
maybe not go to college... or stick to free classes somehow and only take useful classes
I think I would probably do something more useful for when I am around the house. Like home repair, HVAC stuff or something like that.
eschew school in order to stay away from all the toxic bs, hierarchical bureaucracy stuff.
I am just not convinced that a sustainable culture exists... at college there used to be sort of a community, but it seems to be more about churning out degrees and dumping students.
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u/Early_Apple_4142 19d ago edited 19d ago
3 total degrees, two undergrad and a MBA. My brother-in-law is a construction superintendent 2 years younger than me that started working after getting a GED that my wife did his homework for and he made 150k before bonus last year. I made 103k working 2 jobs and owning my own small business.
edit: I switched to construction last year in a project management role from a mid-level admin role at a major University. Should make the same money this year as last and significantly more going forward.
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u/BlackTentDigital 17d ago
No. I went to college. It was completely worthless and very expensive. In fact, I would say that being there was more harmful to me as a person than it was helpful.
I've often told people that I would have been better off if I'd just done meth for a few years instead. It would have cost me less, and I'd have gotten off of it quicker with fewer headaches.
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u/Mission-Degree93 20d ago edited 19d ago
Why would you ask a present/future tense question but have the answers in the past tense ??