the value of a university education

i am just wondering why such pressure is put on a university degree, as form experience most of the people with degrees learn 99% of the things they need to know working. if one is going to study economics, chemistry, or similar fields where the theoritical knowldege will be useful in the said job that they wish to aquire. but now you have people that have studied 3 to five years in uni applying for jobs that one should give to a person that has an internship (a rough translation) in a company that only last 3 years and gives the person more practical experience.

Originally Posted by scarphe

Click to expand...

i am just wondering why such pressure is put on a university degree
Because the people doing the hiring want to you to have one.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Click to expand...

Because the people doing the hiring want to you to have one.

+1

I started making pretty good money before finishing. My degree in no way helps me perform my job, yet without one, I'd probably not make it past some HR departments. I was really sick of school but elected to finish it for that reason, and in the process, I switched in to something I enjoy that has absolutely no practical application in IT, because all that really matters is having the piece of paper. My job experience speaks for itself.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Click to expand...

Because the people doing the hiring want to you to have one.

that is part of my problem though i can see the degree is important for certain positions, and frankly i only request degrees for those positions, but for general positions i simply prefer people with knowledge of the area and time in the field. i fail to see the practical need for a degree.

Absolutely worthless unless you decided to enter the professionals, which all require a bachelor degree of some sort.

Study Engineering and Philosophy. You'll know everything and have all the tools to live a succesful and commendable life.

It's a maturing, and weed out stage. You learn a few interesting things along the way, but you are right, very little will be directly useful for your job. It's frustrating too. I'm in dental school and spent the last 2 nights learning biochemical pathways that nobody will remember after the boards. Of course in dental school, all the clinical work is actually very relevant. But it's the game you have to play. I studied econ in undergrad so I understand the useless degree.

I will say this... if you don't go to certain schools, or major in certain things, you might not see any financial return on college. If your goal is to make a good living, a history degree from State U will get you nowhere, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Journeyman electricians and plumbers make $40-$50/hr where I'm from. History grads work at starbucks.

Originally Posted by makushin

Click to expand...

I'm in dental school and spent the last 2 nights learning biochemical pathways that nobody will remember after the boards.

I had no idea that's required for tooth pullers.

I have to disagree with some of what has been written. I think when a person studies one of the hard sciences; math, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics. they change as a person. This change also happens with other majors but it is most vivid in those that study the sciences.

No doubt there are many college grads working in fields not related to their studies. I would venture to guess the more difficult the major the less you see of this - I can't imagine many engineering grads working retail.

I studied communications as an undergrad and am perusing a graduate degree in a highly quantitative discipline. The change I am noticing in myself as a person, as a being, is stark. I think, I hope, the tools and outlook I take from this experience are highly desirable by employers. And if not, I'm a hell of a lot smarter for the journey and that is truly priceless!

Originally Posted by scarphe

Click to expand...

i am just wondering why such pressure is put on a university degree, as form experience most of the people with degrees learn 99% of the things they need to know working. if one is going to study economics, chemistry, or similar fields where the theoritical knowldege will be useful in the said job that they wish to aquire. but now you have people that have studied 3 to five years in uni applying for jobs that one should give to a person that has an internship (a rough translation) in a company that only last 3 years and gives the person more practical experience.

Because getting a job is about competing with everyone around you, not actually knowing something. If only 20% of people graduated high school, you wouldn't have to go to college to get a job.

Originally Posted by mafoofan Jr.

Click to expand...

I had no idea that's required for tooth pullers.

2 semesters of biochemistry required.

Most degrees are completely useless. I'm in IT and I majored in classics (and took a lot of other stuff). When I'm designing a network, having read The Aeneid is really going to help me... It really depends on the field though. I've applied stuff I learned in business classes to my job before, even though I'm a computer nerd. I get requests from my bosses to help with analysis that is totally outside my job description, so it's been useful. My knowledge came to light because i wrote all the software the company runs on now. Stuff I learned certainly helps me make good guesses at what managers want when I built their databases, for instance. I've applied optimization models to help solve problems. I understand basic finance and accounting because I took classes in that. It definitely helps at times, and will help even more as I take a greater role in project management. I have certain tools at my disposal that someone that didn't attend university and take my specific course load (most people in IT) might not have. Corp fin and optimization modeling are probably the two most valuable courses that I took. I can't speak for the future and might never apply them directly as instructed, but it introduces another element into my analysis of a situation and decision making process. I will be forever aware of those concepts, even if i have to do some refreshing to apply them properly and without mistake, or modify their application to suit the circumstances. Having said that, this is only important to me because I see myself handling fairly large projects that involve a lot of money in the not too distant future. Most people, in most jobs, probably don't need those types of analytical skills. I think it's essential to have a basic awareness of many concepts taught in b-school if you're ever going to be responsible for a large budget or any kind of planning that involves money or investment. So in that sense, I'd say a b.com is probably more useful than most, even though most b.com students are destined for mediocrity because lack the brainpower to apply what they've been taught in a useful way.

Originally Posted by quartzguy

Click to expand...

I have to disagree with some of what has been written. I think when a person studies one of the hard sciences; math, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics. they change as a person. This change also happens with other majors but it is most vivid in those that study the sciences. No doubt there are many college grads working in fields not related to their studies. I would venture to guess the more difficult the major the less you see of this - I can't imagine many engineering grads working retail. I studied communications as an undergrad and am perusing a graduate degree in a highly quantitative discipline. The change I am noticing in myself as a person, as a being, is stark. I think, I hope, the tools and outlook I take from this experience are highly desirable by employers. And if not, I'm a hell of a lot smarter for the journey and that is truly priceless!
Quant stuff is very useful and has broad application. Most stuff taught in university is not very useful. And don't knock retail. My salesman at Harry Rosen made over 100k/yr, which is much more than the average engineer. He had something that was innate and couldn't be taught at university; people skills. A lot of engineers are mediocre, just as a lot of people in retail are mediocre. I don't think that the difficulty of a degree has much to do with how someone turns out in life.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Click to expand...

He had something that was innate and couldn't be taught at university; people skills.

Thank God I was not born to be a yes man to the riche and famouse.

Originally Posted by makushin

Click to expand...

It's a maturing, and weed out stage. You learn a few interesting things along the way, but you are right, very little will be directly useful for your job. It's frustrating too. I'm in dental school and spent the last 2 nights learning biochemical pathways that nobody will remember after the boards. Of course in dental school, all the clinical work is actually very relevant. But it's the game you have to play. I studied econ in undergrad so I understand the useless degree.

I will say this... if you don't go to certain schools, or major in certain things, you might not see any financial return on college. If your goal is to make a good living, a history degree from State U will get you nowhere, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Journeyman electricians and plumbers make $40-$50/hr where I'm from. History grads work at starbucks.

If you really are interested in History, Philosophy or some other nonsense at least double major and have your second major be potentially lucrative like marketing, business management, Econ or finance. Of course the computer sciences, engineering courses are lucrative (possibly more so). THats what I did, I doubled in Economics and International Studies. International studies was my main interest and economics i retained b/c it was the only other business course I was interested in, it offered many classes in my concentration within Intl' Studies and I felt it would make me a stronger candidate when looking for jobs.

I ended up loving both majors and they have been a big help so far since graduating. So think smart when selecting your studies in college.