Does college equal success? Can a person make it on their looks alone?

[Jvstice]

True enough. And even if you do, supposedly the average person just graduating high school in the US can expect to change careers an average of 8 times if what I heard in the late 90s still holds true.

 

For most people, an education is still worth pursuing though.

1) Many employers use a bachelors degree as a way of seeing if a potential employee can see something through to completion that they start, and look to it as a measure of how dedicated a person can be if they're just starting out in the job market.

 

2) Like Achilles said, the value of a GOOD education, not necessarily the diploma itself is priceless. An education is the only thing you can spend money on and can never have it either taken from you, or be lost by other means like theft.

[Rev7]

I think that your work ethic makes or breaks you. That is one of the most important things that I have learned from a teacher, and in second, always try your hardest.

I'm not saying your education was totally wasted if things didn't turn out perfect from college, and I'm not suggestign not to go to college, I'm just saying that you should expect life to not always turn out the way you plan.

That seems to be the case. I wasn't attacking you or anything, just a response. Education, is something that I think is taken for granted by a lot of people (by that I mean in my own country). I personally think that it is a gift, and I will try with the best of my ability to get everything that I possibly can from that gift. I think that education is very important. But, that is just my opinion...

 

~Rev

[Q]

I'm a very attractive individual.

Attractive or merely beautiful?

 

I've met quite a few beautiful women who were extremely unattractive (well, to me at least ) because they hadn't bothered to develop any kind of personality or depth of character, aside from social vampirism.

 

Here's a thought: Are you sure you're not ugly and that people aren't telling you that you're beautiful just to spare your feelings?

[*Don*]

My advice: GO TO COLLEGE.

It gives you the perfect crutch to fall back on if you ever need to.

 

Trust me. As a fellow Californian teenager getting ready for college, I kno what u must be going thru. I want to be a music producer and, with the skills that I have, I could be the next Dr. Dre. But reblistically speaking, I kno that the chances are very slim.

All in all, the suggestion that I would give is to play it safe and not to jeapordize your future.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Tch. I've been invited some times to be a teenage male clothes model and I've took it. But it was my decision and, as my contract specified, was just for about one summer. I made some good cash, but it surely isn't what I want to do next summer - much less for the rest of my life.

 

I've always had on my mind that I'm studying to reach but one objective: Get a good work that can keep both me and my wallet satisfied.

 

For me, the only feasible way of achieving that is through college, that'll broad my career choices a lot. Now, I may not be the best to advise on this, mainly because here the universities are for free, but I'm on the last year of High School and I plan on making my admission test this year yet.

[Jae Onasi]

I can't remember where I read it, but some study showed that people with a college degree make more money over their lifetime than those without a degree. While someone with X major may not end up working in the same field, the skills someone learns doing research in one particular field can usually be applied to other fields.

Knowledge is never wasted, as my grandma used to say.

[Achilles]

Here are some stats compliments of the university of Wisconsin.

 

What isn't shown here, but is similarly compelling, is the percentage of people unemployed vs their level of education. Not only does a degree help you earn more money, but it reduces your likelihood of finding yourself without a job. I guess for some strange reason employers like to hire skilled workers

[PoiuyWired]

My advice: GO TO COLLEGE.

It gives you the perfect crutch to fall back on if you ever need to.

 

Trust me. As a fellow Californian teenager getting ready for college, I kno what u must be going thru. I want to be a music producer and, with the skills that I have, I could be the next Dr. Dre. But reblistically speaking, I kno that the chances are very slim.

All in all, the suggestion that I would give is to play it safe and not to jeapordize your future.

 

 

Well, you can do both really. I mean you don't have to super squeeze your studies within a few years. You can work a bit and study a bit at the same time, then you can get the feel of it better.

 

There is no rule saying you need to get a degree before xxyy.

 

To be fair college is all nice and fun, though it seems to be way more expensive.

[Achilles]

That's like saying one shouldn't invest in a retirement fund because it costs too much.

 

Yes, college is expensive, but as the stats provided above show, you'll most likely get that money back several times over. If I know that if I earn achievement X and as soon as I do so, I can reasonably expect to see a 70% increase in my earnings, why on earth would I want to put off doing X (says the hypocrite that put off doing his Masters thesis for 2 years because he was burnt out )?

[Rev7]

~link snipped~ are some stats compliments of the university of Wisconsin.

 

What isn't shown here, but is similarly compelling, is the percentage of people unemployed vs their level of education. Not only does a degree help you earn more money, but it reduces your likelihood of finding yourself without a job. I guess for some strange reason employers like to hire skilled workers

Indeed. I had a question that involved that very graph on my math homework one day (making histograms I think?) and I was shocked at how much more someone with a professional degree made than someone that is just a college graduate. Amazing.

[Totenkopf]

The value of a college education in this day and age isn't that it's going to make you big bucks, but rather that it serves the same function a high school diploma did a generation or two ago. It seperates you from the fold. Much really depends on what kind of degree you get and what field you go into. Get a degree in social work and you may find that material success seems a lot more elusive than if you went into engineering or medicine. Don't make it high enough in your graduating class at law school and those good jobs will be a lot harder to come by when you hit the "real" world. There is no real cut and dry answer to this question. There are people who work in trades or sales that might not have a college degree, but may end up being more "succeessful" than many of those who do. Not saying don't go to college, just don't expect it to be some panacea either. It'll beat being reduced to saying "would you fries with that" or having to work lower end jobs on the economic ladder like aide or security guard, etc.....

[Phantom Joker]

My point there was that while we preach that everyone should get an education our legislation and excutive powers have made it more difficult. Recently a classmate who works for CalTans mentioned that the Governinator cut the state budget acoss the board meaning that a lot of our state budgets in every department were cut.

[rant]

Well, considering that the CA state government controls about 25% of the actual budget, with the remaining 75% going to programs required by voter initiative, I can't imagine why they're having to make cuts in popular programs.

 

God, I love democracy, but my fellow Americans can be so short-sighted.

[/rant]

 

Okay, that's over. My advice to the OP: I am going to go on this rant on the assumption that you are looking to go into a career, etc, and not marry a sugar daddy. If you are looking to marry some guy with a huge...wallet (made you look ) that is about to keel over dead, you may safely ignore the rest of this post.

 

If you are trying to leverage your looks into a job...well...go for it. BUT, make note that if your "qualifications" are based upon your looks and not your knowledge, skills, and abilities; plan on changing jobs a lot. If you are hired based on sex appeal alone, be aware that sooner or later, the person that hired you is going to actually need you to perform the job. If you are incapable of doing this, it could lead to some difficulties, probably including getting fired. Make sure that you have another job lined up, locked, loaded, and ready to fire. And as others have pointed out in this thread, looks fade. If you are going to pursue a career on looks alone, be ready for the slight flaw in our biology that is getting older.

 

Now, I am no Nordic God in the looks department, so I had to go the more conventional route. I will preface by stating that I have a Master's degree in Oceanography. Half of my current job is computer programming and the other half is quality assurance work, making sure that what we send to our client is accurate. (Oh, and the other half? Making sure my employees do their jobs correctly) At any rate, none of what I do has much to do with Oceanography. Do I think that my degree was a waste of time? No.

 

You may ask yourself, "why does this obnoxious poster not think his degree was a waste?" Well, I'll tell you. It got me in the door. Now, good looks can get you in the door, too. (If that be the case for you, jump down to the next paragraph) A college degree can be leveraged into a job. Many people that do the hiring are impressed by this. Not all, mind, but there is certainly enough anecdotal evidence mounting to infer that a degree is pretty much a requirement for a job that doesn't entail asking if someone wants fries with their burger. A degree states that you have some basic skills. Most important among those skills is the ability to learn. Also, and especially in tough times, you can point out all the hoops you had to jump through to finish your degree. Hiring authorities like hearing that you actually had to get your hands dirty and work your tail off in order to finish your degree.

 

Now, once you're in, now what? Even if you have a "professional" degree (Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, etc...) hard work and continuing education is essential. In fact, the best advice I ever had is "make yourself essential." That means lots of unpaid and unrecognized effort. However, it may also save you from the chopping block when the, er...stuff...hits the fan.

 

Frankly, whether you have a degree or not, you'd best be ready to work. The difference between someone with a degree and someone without is that the person without has got a longer road to walk and a few more roadblocks to overcome. The final question is one you have to ask yourself. How badly do you want to succeed?

 

At least that's my opinion. I could be wrong.