Do you regret not going to college

Galwayguy35

Just wondering what other people who never went to college think about this.

College wasn't an option for me when I did the Leaving in 1992 as I come from a poor backround and you still had to pay to go at that time, and I only scraped a pass anyway.

I went straight into work and thankfully apart from being out for work for 3 weeks have always been able to get work and pay the bills.

But most people want to do better for themselves and earn more money and these days if you don't have a degree the chances of getting a well paid job are slim IMO.

bette

No!

Chattastrophe!

I think, if anything, most people would be sad that they didn't have the opportunity to go to college.

crazygeryy

no.
i wasnt intelligent enough but i got a job had money and watched how my student friends lived in poverty and no thanks no effing thanks.

Grayson

I'm annoyed I didn't make more out of my time in college. I dropped out. The thing is I am academically minded and whould be far more comfortable studying all day long then being in boring job.
I went back years later and am now getting my first degree this year. Following on with a masters. Then probably another masters.

It means I'm now working to pay my way through what has become an addiction to education.

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

My father would have loved to have went onto college but he didn't have the money, but he's extremely happy that he has the money to give me the education he never had. And I'll always appreciate that about him!

lazeedaisy

it was the mid 80's when i did my leaving and did not have the opportunity to go on to colllege - mind you my parents were happy enough since i completed my leaving - the only one of 5 to do so.

5 years ago i went to college and have completed a masters and am glad i got the chance -

Education is not for everyone but nowadays its common to go back as a mature student

oldyouth

No regrets. I don't think I would be where I am now if I had gone to college. I wouldn't have been able to apply myself, as required. The social aspect that my sons enjoy at college wasn't around to the same extent back then anyway

pragmatic1

I went to college but didn't do as well as I could have. Hopefully in a few years time I'll save enough money to go back and do my master. Then I'll be mature enough to get the best out of it.

Three Seasons

Grayson wrote: »

I'm annoyed I didn't make more out of my time in college. I dropped out. The thing is I am academically minded and whould be far more comfortable studying all day long then being in boring job.
I went back years later and am now getting my first degree this year. Following on with a masters. Then probably another masters.

It means I'm now working to pay my way through what has become an addiction to education.

Would you not just go to a library and educate yourself for free?

crockholm

As my body starts to tire,I regret not making the most of my brief stint in 3rd level education, I picked the wrong course for the wrong reasons(keep the ol man happy), I enjoy what I do(tradesman) but I also look back with envy and regret.

Only if the young lad is a complete doofus,will I encourage him to pick up the trowel.Otherwise,education,education,education. I'm not yet 34 and have tennis elbow in both elbows,a shoddy hip,lower back pains becoming more frequent,stiffness in the fingers(no jokes,down the back).

Like I said, I love my work,but for any young man full of hubris entering into the trades,just be aware that you will see broken men in their 40s and 50s,yet will soon be expected to keep working until 70+,be safe,take manual handling seriously,ask for help if something is heavy,don't take risks that could affect your health.

I regret going to college to be perfectly honest. I was always one of the top students in my school, got 570 in my Leaving and it was just assumed I'd go on to do well at 3rd level as well. But I started college as a very naive 17 year old, ended up hating my course but was too scared/stubborn to drop out, suffered from depression but didn't tell any of my lecturers for fear that they wouldn't believe me. Ended up with a 2.2 (not a terrible result but by no means good either) and now struggle horribly to find a job 'cause employers only want someone with a 2.1 or higher, or even someone without a college education but with plenty of work experience.

If I ever manage to find a job I'll consider working for a few years with the aim of saving up some money and going back to study something I actually enjoy or care about. Just haven't figured out what that is yet.

crockholm

Deleted User wrote: »

I regret going to college to be perfectly honest. I was always one of the top students in my school, got 570 in my Leaving and it was just assumed I'd go on to do well at 3rd level as well. But I started college as a very naive 17 year old, ended up hating my course but was too scared/stubborn to drop out, suffered from depression but didn't tell any of my lecturers for fear that they wouldn't believe me. Ended up with a 2.2 (not a terrible result but by no means good either) and now struggle horribly to find a job 'cause employers only want someone with a 2.1 or higher, or even someone without a college education but with plenty of work experience.

If I ever manage to find a job I'll consider working for a few years with the aim of saving up some money and going back to study something I actually enjoy or care about. Just haven't figured out what that is yet.

Hang in there man,work hard and don't lose sight of your goals.

token101

Three Seasons wrote: »

Would you not just go to a library and educate yourself for free?

I don't think "Went to library" would really hold up on a CV to be honest.

BillyMitchel

I regret leaving the education system! Back September for post grad so all is good

Mazeire

I think that you need a degree now. I worked as an admin/PA and got laid off in 2010 after 3 years. Prior to that you could get a job in that area based on your skill set (typing speed etc.) and your experience. Now they want you to have all of that AND a degree. It doesn't matter what its in, they just want you to have that piece of paper. It's an employers market out there. One of the down sides of that period of free education was that so many people are qualified to their back, teeth now. that employers really do have the pick of the crop when it comes to hiring. It is getting to a point that in order to function n Ireland you need some sort of degree. Hell even if you want to leave, your chances of getting a permanent visa are much better with a degree.
I think that anyone who has the means and opportunity to do so should go back to college.

Kinski

token101 wrote: »

I don't think "Went to library" would really hold up on a CV to be honest.

And you'll receive no teaching, no guidance, no assessments, no feedback on your progress, and public libraries don't stock the specialist literature required in academia.

kunst nugget

Three Seasons wrote: »

Would you not just go to a library and educate yourself for free?

I did that but apart from having the ability to shout 'Do you like apples?' at pompous people through windows it hasn't done me much good.

AnonoBoy

Three Seasons wrote: »

Would you not just go to a library and educate yourself for free?

Less parties, sexual and substance experimentation and all around good times at the library though.

parc

The question is "Do I regret not going to college?"

...which makes me question; does the OP know the kind of grades one has to receive in college to be accept to a top medical school? Or if he has the vaguest idea how talented one has to be to lead a surgical team?

I have an MD from Harvard. I am board certified in cardiothoracic medicine and trauma surgery. I have been awarded citations from seven different medical schools in New England, and I am never ever sick at sea.

So I ask you; when someone goes into that chapel and they fall their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn't miscarry, or that their daughter doesn't bleed to death, or that their mother doesn't suffer from acute neural trauma from post-operative shock..who do you think they're praying to?

So you go ahead and read your bible OP, with any lucky you may win that raffle, but if you're looking for God, he was on Afterhours at 10:45 22/04/2013 and he doesn't like to be second guessed

You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something...I AM GOD!

This side show is over...

Drakares

For those who do (seems to be a good few of ye) - There's plenty of evening degrees, some of which are better than full time degrees as everyone there wants to be there and it's mostly made up of adults who are doing it to better themselves, and not kids who had to pick something after finishing school.

Mazeire

parc wrote: »

The question is "Do I regret not going to college?"

...which makes me question; does the OP know the kind of grades one has to receive in college to be accept to a top medical school? Or if he has the vaguest idea how talented one has to be to lead a surgical team?

I have an MD from Harvard. I am board certified in cardiothoracic medicine and trauma surgery. I have been awarded citations from seven different medical schools in New England, and I am never ever sick at sea.

So I ask you; when someone goes into that chapel and they fall their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn't miscarry, or that their daughter doesn't bleed to death, or that their mother doesn't suffer from acute neural trauma from post-operative shock..who do you think they're praying to?

So you go ahead and read your bible OP, with any lucky you may win that raffle, but if you're looking for God, he was on Afterhours at 10:45 22/04/2013 and he doesn't like to be second guessed

You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something...I AM GOD!

This side show is over...

This post was proudly sponsored by the Colombian powdered pharmaceuticals society of Ireland.

ancapailldorcha

Don't know if I'd go so far as to say I regret going to College. I met some really cool people but now I'm employed in a lab as a glorified cleaner earning slightly more than my flatmate who works for a call centre. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to not be on the dole but I wanted to be in academic research and that goal is slipping further and further away. I'd have been better off as a bank cashier working my up I reckon.

parc

parc wrote: »

The question is "Do I regret not going to college?"

...which makes me question; does the OP know the kind of grades one has to receive in college to be accept to a top medical school? Or if he has the vaguest idea how talented one has to be to lead a surgical team?

I have an MD from Harvard. I am board certified in cardiothoracic medicine and trauma surgery. I have been awarded citations from seven different medical schools in New England, and I am never ever sick at sea.

So I ask you; when someone goes into that chapel and they fall their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn't miscarry, or that their daughter doesn't bleed to death, or that their mother doesn't suffer from acute neural trauma from post-operative shock..who do you think they're praying to?

So you go ahead and read your bible OP, with any lucky you may win that raffle, but if you're looking for God, he was on Afterhours at 10:45 22/04/2013 and he doesn't like to be second guessed

You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something...I AM GOD!

This side show is over...

The ego, irrelevant points and lack of empathy dripping from this post suggests only one thing to me:

Trinity lecturer

SEPT 23 1989

Sometimes,when business is slow and money is tight.but by the time i reached 6th year i was sick to the teeth of the "education" system

I Heart Internet

Not answering the OP because I did go to 3rd level. We (my siblings and I) were the first generation on either side of the family to go - that's not unusual in Ireland today I'd say. We came from solid working class background and, for better or worse, would now be considered "professional/middle class" I suppose.

For the most part I enjoyed university and think I made good decisions. Went on to do a master's abroad which really opened things up for me. Have had great opportunities due to going to 3rd level and, in particular, doing the master's. Am studying part-time (am employed) on another course. Interesting stuff and will open up other opportunities for me.

I do believe that, in general, the more educated (and by that I mean formal qualifications, I'm afraid) you are the more OPTIONS open up for you. If the **** hits the fan you can move on or move abroad with some hope of building a career.

But a good trade, followed well and enthusiastically, can be just the same for opening doors.

Might be a negative way of looking at things but, at the moment, I see it as being about making yourself "unsinkable". If you can't make a living for your family in Ireland you want to be able to be attractive abroad.

Galwayguy35

parc wrote: »

The question is "Do I regret not going to college?"

...which makes me question; does the OP know the kind of grades one has to receive in college to be accept to a top medical school? Or if he has the vaguest idea how talented one has to be to lead a surgical team?

I have an MD from Harvard. I am board certified in cardiothoracic medicine and trauma surgery. I have been awarded citations from seven different medical schools in New England, and I am never ever sick at sea.

So I ask you; when someone goes into that chapel and they fall their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn't miscarry, or that their daughter doesn't bleed to death, or that their mother doesn't suffer from acute neural trauma from post-operative shock..who do you think they're praying to?

So you go ahead and read your bible OP, with any lucky you may win that raffle, but if you're looking for God, he was on Afterhours at 10:45 22/04/2013 and he doesn't like to be second guessed

You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something...I AM GOD!

This side show is over...

I see you have seen the film Malice, maybe make up your own speech next time instead of stealing Alec Baldwins lines...

Syllabus

I never went to college. I got a trade which enabled me to work for myeslf the time i was made redundent until things picked up


I know of people my age (33) who are STILL in college!!!

How many diplomas/ degrees do you need to ask 'would you like fries with that?'

_Kaiser_

I went to college in the mid-90s but looking back I don't know how much use it was to me as most of what I learned (Computer related course) was out-of-date by the time I finished anyway. To be fair though in those days there was a new OS almost every year and hardware was changing rapidly too.

I then learned that the big multinationals (which lure you in with promises of training and qualifications) rarely provide these beyond the basics, and where they do agree to "sponsor" you it usually comes at a cost of x years of additional service or you pay them back - which is fair enough I suppose.

The downside then is I have over 15 years experience but very little paperwork as I've always worked in busy environments where the last thing you want to do after a long day is start studying IT stuff (especially if that day involved maybe 2 hours from home remotely administering server updates/reboots after hours). I'm also the type who prefers to learn by doing anyway.

Also, I think you get to a point in IT where if you want to stay "technical" you have to spend a fortune keeping current with the latest certs/tech or spend a fortune on a specialty that hopefully will reward the investment, and you're going to be up against college grads who already have the certs and who can do the job for maybe half what you'd want/need (due to them having no commitments like a mortgage, family, loans etc)

But I have to admit, it probably hurt me a few years ago when I was made redundant but I managed to find something anyway and now I've set myself a few targets in terms of getting some certification to back up my experience.

These days though I manage the team so there's not quite the same pressure to keep up-to-date on all the latest and greatest to the same level as I would have previously, but I still keep current and know my way around the latest server OS's etc as IT has always been a hobby as well as a career.

Slightly off-topic rambling ends here

stateofflux

don't regret it. it is not necessary for all professions.Also, at the moment having 4 years experience in a blue chip & no degree would probably be more advantageous in a lot of situations than vice versa.

KERSPLAT!

I wish I went to college straight from LC, instead I did an apprenticeship as an electrician. That was fine until work dried up but I'm back in college now and just coming to the end of my first year hopefully I'll have better luck on the job front next time!!

wolfpawnat

I only got in one semester of college. regret having to come out, but not why I had to (creche fees) I get dirty comments off the MIL now about not being educated. I never let her think it annoys me, but nothing annoys me more.

Then again my partner is in college and hates it, he just wants to be out working. So do a lot of those in his course. I think studying something can often take the grá for something away.

Kevhog1988

Like many others here I'm the first generation of our family on both sides to attend college. Spent 3 years full time and two years part time getting two honours degrees and im now working in the uk. However i can honestly say the happiest times i had during them 5 years was when i was working on building sites during the summers or days off. Is gone to the stage now where im well qualified with loads of experience in the construction industry but im stuck in the office 90% of the time fighting main contractors for money. Wasnt what i signed up for so im waiting until im 25 to do some re-training

Grayson

Three Seasons wrote: »

Would you not just go to a library and educate yourself for free?

having a structure is nice. It means you don't miss out on certain areas. Plus I'm also doing maths. There are times you need to sit there and have someone explain it to you.

And finally, I can't get an increase in paygrade without a degree. So work wise it made sense. (I should mention I started this course before i started this job. But i took two years out in the middle. So although starting college wasn't influenced by the paygrade thing, finishing college is )

djflawless

flippin delighted i didnt go to college.was all up for going but in the end, after a lot of thinking, i realised if i wanted to turn into a part time alcoholic snob nose like most of my mates that went for third level, i could have done it at home
not to mention the constant stress/costs of "free education"

Mr Benevolent

Most of the well-paid people I know didn't go to college. College is irrelevant now unless you want a defined profession. Many people do go back to college part time to further their careers in specific ways.

Three Seasons

token101 wrote: »

I don't think "Went to library" would really hold up on a CV to be honest.

But if you're repeatedly in education due to "addiction to education" then you are there for the education, not to put anything on a cv. You can quench your addiction a lot cheaper at a library.

If you are addicted to having numerous letters after your name that's another issue altogether.

AlekSmart

wolfpawnat wrote: »

I only got in one semester of college. regret having to come out, but not why I had to (creche fees) I get dirty comments off the MIL now about not being educated. I never let her think it annoys me, but nothing annoys me more.

Then again my partner is in college and hates it, he just wants to be out working. So do a lot of those in his course. I think studying something can often take the grá for something away.

Interesting post,wolfpawnat.

It segways nicely to a thread on Commuting & Transport which we both are involved in,and does,I feel give a little broader perspective to both threads.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056928201

Not quite sure what Mods could do,but there's a tie-in for sure

I have a deepening and somewhat dispirited line of thought that sees us as being a race not too well disposed to Education at all,particularly the hard,lonely slog which is required to really achieve academic results.

We know by now that Irish 3rd Level Institutions have gotten themselves into something of a bind on the issue of their grades.

Three years ago the issue finally made the surface,but,in reality the major Graduate employers had been Hmmmming for quite a while.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/john-walshe-rising-degree-of-alarm-at-thirdlevel-grade-inflation-26637073.html

Your point about your partner's attitude,and particularly your MIL's (:eek:) really does reasonate with me,as in my line of work I tend to see this on the faces and in the overheard conversations of the substantial numbers of Students I deal with daily.

I see the problem as starting far earlier in the education process,and it not being all syllabus related either.

We appear to have lost the ability to recognise,and offer alternatives to those who are not of an Academic bent,of which,I suspect,there are large numbers.

Just like the Country's current population itself,I'm decidely unsure whether Ireland can (academically) support the number of Universities we currently have.

It's not only in Property and Finance that we appear to have lost our way ?

Hoop66

Again, I did go to college and did post-grad too. I don't really use any of it in my current role, which I don't foresee changing.

I don't feel like I wasted my time or money, but I do think "what was the point?", other than to accrue academic qualifications.

I had more fun as a "dropout" in the years after college than I ever did at college, but that may the times - late 80s early 90s.

Hidalgo

Was fairly decent in school but never really pushed/applied myself in the Leaving Cert as I didn't know what I wanted to pursue at the time (2000). Also lots of work available so I wasn't bothered about college either way.

Always had it in my head to go at some stage as construction work was grand but never saw myself doing it till 65-70.

In 2007, it was either leave Ireland again or get a degree and leave, I chose option B and I'm lad I did, currently 2/3 of my through a masters, finishing in July.
I'm hopeful that the decision to go to college as a mature student will make it easier to get a job abroad (no interest in living in Ireland for now, even if the economy was good).

The one piece of advice I'll throw out there is that it's never too late to go to college. If circumstances allow you to and its something you want to pursue, go for it.

Andy-Pandy

Its never to late to go back to college, i'm just about to turn 36 and just about to finish 4th year. It's been a hard slog, but its been worth it.

bette

Hidalgo wrote: »

The one piece of advice I'll throw out there is that it's never too late to go to college. If circumstances allow you to and its something you want to pursue, go for it.

For the more learned, college educated, cream of the Irish workforce:

Advice; a wise man won't need it and a fool wont heed it.

_Kaiser_

Hoop66 wrote: »

Again, I did go to college and did post-grad too. I don't really use any of it in my current role, which I don't foresee changing.

I don't feel like I wasted my time or money, but I do think "what was the point?", other than to accrue academic qualifications.

Exactly.. I think you've hit the nail on the head there

A lot of college courses, like the LC, seem more oriented towards gathering points and paper qualifications than actually teaching people things that will be of use to them in the real world.

Even in my course, there was a lot of time spent on programming (although it wasn't supposed to be a programming course) and most of the tech (software/OS/hardware) stuff we did was already outdated when we graduated.

I joined one of the multinationals then as I said above and to be honest learned a lot more from just working away and having an interest in getting ahead than anything I did in college. I started on the phones and just worked up to where I now manage the IT support department in my current company.

I think as well that a lot of people use college as an excuse.. I know someone who was forever "going to college" in her 20s/30s rather than pushing herself in her career and then wondered why she wasn't getting anywhere.

That's not saying college isn't important/relevant at all, but I think that without drive and a desire to achieve beyond certs and qualifications it's meaningless

Hidalgo

bette wrote: »

For the more learned, college educated, cream of the Irish workforce:

Advice; a wise man won't need it and a fool wont heed it.

Surely there's someone in between those two pillars.;)

Grayson

bette wrote: »

For the more learned, college educated, cream of the Irish workforce:

Advice; a wise man won't need it and a fool wont heed it.

And if you do something you enjoy, you'll never regret the time.

ruthiepie

I'm actually working in a University at the moment and its amazing to see people who love their courses and genuinely love every second of the Uni experience. I only lasted 1 semester in college, picked the wrong course and really really hated it in that short amount of time. Luckily enough was able leave, do an ECDL and that was enough to get me started working. Over the years I've gotten so much different experience in workplaces that I think that does work in my favour BUT I'm currently looking to switch jobs at the moment and it does feel kind of sad that when they ask you what's your highest education, ah that would be my ECDL.

I don't know if I was suited for college though, I hated ever second of it, and even if I had taken a different course, I think it would have gone the same way. I would def be one of those people who wouldn't learn anything until the night before the exams so I don't think that would have worked well for me. As it is I think I made the right choice.

bette

Hidalgo wrote: »

Surely there's someone in between those two pillars.;)

There are many in between those two pillars. But what they do and what it means to them is a thousand shades of grey. What that means requires a masters of some sort...

wolfpawnat

AlekSmart wrote: »

Interesting post,wolfpawnat.

He wanted the degree, but his mother thought it a "dossers life" and "sure it's only cats and dogs" (veterinary) after years of listening to that, he finds himself resenting it all. That and there are politics within the course with certain students that just make daily stuff annoying too, but as he said, thats in ever work place and everywhere else in life too.

I get jealous some days, he's complaining about being in college, I complain about not being in college. Far away hills and all that I suppose. We always want what we can't/don't have.

Sleepy

I wouldn't regret my time in college at all: I had a blast.

I do, however, regret the lack of quality of my degree (B.Comm). While set up as a 3 year course, the level of material could have been covered in 9 months. There was way too much catering for the morons with the same type or rote-learning we'd done for Leaving Cert and hardly any actual academic analysis or thought encouraged. I remember a failure rate of over 80% when our management accounting lecturer set us an exam that tested whether his students actually understood what they were doing as opposed to simply knowing that figure A went into slot B.

We learned sound-bites from the great academics (Porter, Kaplan, Drucker etc.) but none of their texts ever featured in the reading lists: the lecturer's own publication summarising the various theories of these great minds was considered good enough for undergrads :rolleyes:

I had a handful of good lecturers but they were wasted on the courses they were assigned to teach us. A few, who hadn't been in the job long enough to become utterly jaded by it were great if they realised you had a genuine interest and would discuss theories with you over a coffee/pint (my favourite on discovering I'd read outside of his course took the opposite stance to the author I'd just quoted and debated with me over pints for a good two hours before concluding with his own opinion that neither of the viewpoints were correct as neither were nuanced enough). That was the standard I expected of a university education and I was sorely disappointed when the reality was that I was effectively in a degree mill.

I do sometimes wonder whether this was due to the demographic change in the student population brought about by the introduction of free 3rd Level Fees or whether the ideal of a University as a place for higher education has always been a bit of a put-on...

parc

wolfpawnat wrote: »

He wanted the degree, but his mother thought it a "dossers life" and "sure it's only cats and dogs" (veterinary) after years of listening to that, he finds himself resenting it all. That and there are politics within the course with certain students that just make daily stuff annoying too, but as he said, thats in ever work place and everywhere else in life too.

I get jealous some days, he's complaining about being in college, I complain about not being in college. Far away hills and all that I suppose. We always want what we can't/don't have.

I'm sorry but I don't understand. Could you explain that bit in bold.

So she's giving you grief for not having a degree, and then simultaneously giving her son grief about getting a degree because it's a dosser's life? And from what I gather he's training to become a vet, and she thinks it's "cats and dogs". If that's the case what constitutes as a valid life/career path in her opinion?

Sorry just want to be sure before I pass judgement on this woman

wolfpawnat

parc wrote: »

I'm sorry but I don't understand. Could you explain that bit in bold.

So she's giving you grief for not having a degree, and then simultaneously giving her son grief about getting a degree because it's a dosser's life? And from what I gather he's training to become a vet, and she thinks it's "cats and dogs". If that's the case what constitutes as a valid life/career path in her opinion?

Sorry just want to be sure before I pass judgement on this woman

She thinks Veterinary Medicine is a dossers life. 3am calls to pull calves, testing for 3 hours straight in the píssing rain and having to deal with hissing, clawing cats and kicking horses is all "dossing" to her.

He was in Medicine, but he went in for the wrong reasons and left it to pursue Veterinary, because that had been what he wanted to do since he was about 14 (he was 23 going back to college) She loved the bragging rights that came with having a child in a fancy course :rolleyes: regardless of his feelings on the subject. She felt it would be a cushier life as a doctor and that he would walk into a GP position (small town idiot who has not worked a day since she said "I do" with little knowledge of how academics and all that really work)