If you could do college all over again what would you do differently?

[lightthecandle]

in terms of:

managing your time
socializing and talking to people
growing (in all ways, ie emotionally, personally, etc)
worrying less
spending more time actually studying....
etc...

[NotesMaeve]

Worrying less. Would have cut ties sooner with my father. Would have taken better care of me physically. (I drained my bramage pretty bad from a few little stunts. )

[Asmoday]

Honestly, I'd just not go.

[Angela]

I would take the time to determine what's important: my values, my purpose in life. As it was, I was aimless and at the effect of others; I was not the captain of my own ship.

I sure wish I had done the Landmark Forum back then. I can clearly see how much of my pain was unnecessary. (Well, I guess in our personal development world, everything is the way it is and it's all necessary. But you know what I mean, I think!). If I had a child in college or high school, I would do everything I could to encourage them to do the Forum & the Advanced Course. Then I'd stop meddling.

[Matthew Shea]

I'd go back a little further and pick a co-ed high school instead of an all boys one. The education I got was great, but would have been just as good elsewhere and I was at a big disadvantage trying to learn again from scratch to socialize with women in college. In college, I'd skip the frat, which I joined to get that social jumpstart I needed, and would suck it up and beg, plead and borrow from my parents instead of working. I also didn't really have a good idea what I wanted to do going into it. I certainly would have a different major if I did it all over again.

[Angela]

What major would you pick, Matthew? Which one DID you pick? Why would it have made a difference?

[Matthew Shea]

I would have done computer science instead of mechanical engineering. By the time I graduated, I was bored stiff with engineering. My interest in computers had developed substantially, though. I'm convinced that, given a major in computer systems, my career would have started a bit further ahead and I'd be in a spot that suits my career goals a lot more closely by now, especially with an added masters in IT management.

[Angela]

Have your goals for your career path changed, then? Are you resigned to a different path, or have you simply adjusted your time frame?

[chopsaw]

When I first started college I was a business major. I thought I wanted the 5-9 (it's not a typo) corporate lifestyle. But I was wrong. I really wanted a classical education. I don't think that bit of self discovery could have been realized any other way. But if I had to do it all again, (using my current hindsight as foresight) I would have spent more time studying art, theater, music, philosophy, and foriegn languages.

I eventually learned to choose courses for personal enrichment, rather than classes I thought would get the ol foot in the door like a Fuller Brush salesman.

[Matthew Shea]

Not sure. I don't know that I want to continue the ol' 9 - 5 for much longer. Gotta figure out the next step at this point.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by Asmoday

Honestly, I'd just not go.

I'd have to agree here. What is it that you want to do that requires a degree?

Because I bet it doesn't.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Third for 'just not go'.

I like school in the sense that I like to learn new things, but not only does my job have nothing to do with my major, having a degree hasn't made any difference in the work I am doing or how I am paid.

Now, I plan to start learning stuff on my own to do what I actually want to do.

If you want to be a doctor, or something that similarly *requires* school, then by all means.

[Lola]

If you could do college all over again what would you do differently?

ummmmm - finish. Be less clueless, less short-sighted, less know-it-all, and finish back then, when I was in my early 20's, instead of now in my mid 40's.

Which, as it relates to posters that have said why bother, is for myself. To prove to myself I can successfully finish something I started. I've had 20+ years worth of good, well paying jobs without the degree, so that's not the issue, as has been pointed out. It's a personal challenge kind of thing.


(Cue the "Rocky" music...)

[Faith]

I knew I wanted to be a librarian when I was sixteen years old. I wish I had pursued that objective back then. I knew exactly what I wanted at a young age. But I let my mother talk me into majoring in what she wanted me to be - a teacher. After two years of college, I quit and got married to a guy who thought I didn't need any more education. With him, I got even more off track. After much conflict, I went to the cheapest school I could find, and chose accounting as my major, because the husband could only see value in an education that would translate into money. Six classes short of a BA in accounting, I quit, because, as my very wise ten year old daughter observed, "Mom, if you hate doing this homework so much, what are you going to do when you have to do it all day long?" By then, I was working in a library, as a clerk, not as a librarian, at a university to which I transferred what credits they would take (about half), and finally, at the age of fifty, got a BA in communication studies. Now I do still work in that library at a job I love, and I've decided not to pursue the Masters in Library Science in order to be considered a professional librarian. But I think I'll always harbour some regret at not pursuing my ambition from the get-go.

As far as the value of a college education - to me it was priceless. I found interest and value in every class I took - even the boring accounting classes. Everything you learn helps form a framework on which you can continue to add understanding about the world you live in. The papers you write, the presentations you give, the studying you do, even the socializing you do, all add to the skills you can use to meet the challenges of life. I'm not saying you can't learn all these things on your own, but only the most highly motivated people actually do. You can also learn a lot on the job - which is why I'm no longer excited about the Masters degree. I probably know most of it already, and I'd rather spend my time now learning other things.

So my advice is: examine your heart and your values. Do you know what you want? Do you know how to get there? Once you can answer those questions, then do it. And don't let other people have too much influence on your decisions, even if they hold the purse that helps finance them. It's your life, not theirs. That was a lesson I was very slow to learn.

Also, I agree that college isn't the only route to a satisfying life, but for me, it was essential.

Faith

[brooke]

The one thing I wish I had a chance to do over was how I managed money and credit in college. I established a lot of bad patterns then (using credit cards on stupid things I couldn't afford) that I am still feeling the consquences of (I am now 34). College is a really vulnerable time financially... the credit card companies know it. I would have educated myself more about credit, debt, budgeting, etc, and started a solid financial rock from there! You can read more about my personal experience as I have written articles on my blog about it... Advice on Marriage, Life and More : Plain Advice (financial category).
As far as the actual education goes, sometimes I wish I would have gone into a more lucrative career. But really, social work is a perfect fit for me and I wouldn't change it in the end.

[juicemcnewton]

I'd actually go to class. I'm not so worried about the degree as the amount of information I could of gained going to class.

[Tasaio]

Here's another reply of "I just wouldn't go..."

Baltar made some posts that pretty much sum up my view, about why you should NOT go to college:

Is having a degree worth the time and effort?

University Degrees - necessary in making a valuable contribution?

Is college the best choice?

For the record, I was a good student and did well at college. In fact, my professor told me that I was going to get into grad school with my marks.

But it was still a waste of money, if not time.

Now, I'm guessing you want advice for a coming year, so my answer is this:

Know what you want to take. Don't spend a huge amount of money, sampling different courses.

Audit! Sit in on classes, and pretend you're paying. Believe me, you aren't cheating anyone out of money (you're just saving your own).

- Walk around campus, and memorize the map! Good grief, I only explored tho full campus my second year. It saved me a lot of time.

- Buy a laptop, especially if you're in math/computers/hard sciences. I cannot stress how useful my beloved Toshiba has proven.

- Become tech-savvy.

- Stay away from high population first year courses! I.e., Anthro-100, Biology-100.

If you have to take one for your degree, then do so. But stay away from popular "bird" courses! They're loud, crowded, taught by bad Profs, and usually give ridiculous tests.

- If you can, stay well clear of courses only consisting of MC-tests. Again, this applies to Anthro and Bio.

- Don't overestimate the value of humanities, and underestimate the value of math courses.

A final note (I'm quoting Baltar):

...I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that to be a doctor you need to go to medical school. However just having a random college degree isn't going to allow you to practice law or dentistry. Getting a degree for the sake of getting one makes absolutely no sense, and getting a random degree when you're not sure what you want to be doing is even worse.

I suppose if you want to be a Borg Drone employee then you definitely need a degree precisely so you can be like all the other drones. Today this means getting a degree, because everyone has them and having one shows that you're obedient and a conformist, which employers absolutely love. Creative, out-of-the-box thinking people are too dangerous to hire. But if you don't want to be a drone then a college degree is only necessary if you actually need it to do what you want to do.

[Zukin]

Originally Posted by lightthecandle

in terms of:

managing your time
socializing and talking to people
growing (in all ways, ie emotionally, personally, etc)
worrying less
spending more time actually studying....
etc...

Managing time & worrying less: I would have eliminated worry from my life. I would have written down a list of goals, so I could look at everything and ask myself "does this help me reach my goals or not?"

Socializing: I would have made friends with people who were into personal development, success, business, technology, and changing the world rather than with people who were into music, movies, TV, anime, and other things I think of as wastes of time now.

Growing: I would have read a lot more personal development material and integrated it into my life

Studying: I would have spent more time studying what I actually wanted to by developing an independent study program, rather than studying a subject I didn't really like.

[Iksander]

I dropped out of highschool and spent three years (traveling) figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. That was the best choice I ever made - now I make more money than the average college grad working as a programmer and freelancing.

I am now in college heading for Aerospace engineering - I concluded college to be the most efficient route to that goal; I also have heard many good things about Graduate school being highly intellectual and far from regurgitation practice.

Learning to educate yourself first before going into college is important I believe - otherwise you just become a programmed sheep.

[bluskygirl]

While I know that I wouldn't have been hired for my job without a degree, I sometimes think I would have been better off not going as well. My job isn't particularly in my field, and I have quite a large sum of school loan debt that I'll be paying off for the rest of my life. I may not have been able to make as much money without a degree, but I also wouldn't be saddled with the loan debt. Since you're in school (or sound like you are), I am not sure hearing this is much help to you!

So, from my experience in college, I would say first that you should stay in the town where you classes are. I commuted and that made it very difficult to make friends and socialize outside of classes. Also, if you are not sure where you're going with your major, I would suggest not declaring if you don't have to and spend a semester taking a handful of subjects that you find interesting but aren't completely sure about. I did this and that is what ultimately led to my degree in hydrology- I found something that really interested me and I wanted to learn more. That made the rest of it... studying, going to class, etc. much easier. Don't spin your wheels working toward something that is high-paying or high-status just because it seems like a good deal. You don't want to end up with a degree (and/or the associated debt) that you're not grateful for getting!

[Kaspian]

Originally Posted by lightthecandle

managing your time
socializing and talking to people
growing (in all ways, ie emotionally, personally, etc)
worrying less
spending more time actually studying....

Managing time: I took a lot of challenging classes, practiced horn, spend many hours in rehearsals and science labs, played in at least one community orchestra, and worked part time. I think that being incredibly busy taught me to manage my time well. If anything, perhaps I could have chosen to do some assignments less well in order to give myself a little down-time.

Socializing: I enjoyed the company of several friends both in classes and rehearsals as well as outside of school.

Growing: Oh boy did I! Not only learning to be less perfectionist, but also working though some issues from the past, figuring out that I can choose how I feel, getting to really know myself better, and seeking constant improvement.

Worrying Less: I didn't have the time or energy for worry, though being busy certainly added stress. I could have saved myself some stress and work if I had dropped a couple classes that I didn't like a bit earlier in the quarter.

More Time Studying: See above.


Now that I've been out a few years, I know that I never want to do that to myself again! I learned a lot from the way I did college, both academically and personally, and there's very little I could change without altering those lessons. However, some experiences are not worth repeating. No more constant sleep deprivation. No more having almost every waking hour scheduled day after day after day. I know now that I want to be more balanced and take better care of my overall well-being than that.

[RT Wolf]

Originally Posted by chopsaw

When I first started college I was a business major. I thought I wanted the 5-9 (it's not a typo) corporate lifestyle. But I was wrong. I really wanted a classical education. I don't think that bit of self discovery could have been realized any other way. But if I had to do it all again, (using my current hindsight as foresight) I would have spent more time studying art, theater, music, philosophy, and foriegn languages.

You still could. There's a number of fine liberal arts colleges in the states. Like this one:

St. John's College | Annapolis | Santa Fe