- Joined
- Feb 3, 2013
1.) Emigrate to Europe where universities are taxpayer-funded and thus won't put you into crippling debt. Also, we have solid beer. What's university life without proper Pilsner!?No, you just have to be extremely smart about it. A lot of times people don't even think about the college they go to or what is actually important. There's a couple of things you really want to know:
1) Make sure you know what you want to do. This is the most important. Research degrees and their career paths. See if you need a college degree or associates degree. Make absolutely sure you can do what you want to do with only a bachelors.
2) Examine their career services, job services and employment after graduation. A lot of colleges tout their locations and amenities. Who gives a fuck. See how many get jobs. See if they have department specific career services (you don't want to get the same career service treatment that Philosophy majors do if you are a Chemistry one).
3) Go with as little debt as you can. College debt is the worst debt you can ever have. Don't be like me when we were told college debt was 'good debt' and then suddenly the economy prolapsed and whoops! You can't discharge it through bankruptcy because the government and the banks make billions off of it. College debt is garbage debt. It is incredibly difficult to discharge through bankruptcy. And take ONLY federal loans. I don't care what the interest rate is. The re-payment options on federal loans beat out private ones, especially if you hit hard times.
4) Avoid boutique degrees. Highly specialized undergraduate degrees are something you should be skeptical of unless they are a STEM field. Otherwise research. Sometimes universities try to attract people with cool sounding degrees that are basically for professionals looking for a salary bump or functionally worthless.
5) If you are ending your academic career at the Undergraduate level, then the name of the college and reputation might matter. If you are continuing for Graduate or Professional, nobody cares.
6) Don't go for pointless shit like location to a city or anything like that unless you plan on staying there. While college can be a chance to explore and grow in different environments, you are dropping a lot of money. Make sure the location fits why you are going.
7) If you are going for a humanities degree or degree in Social Science, don't waste your money. I'm not joking. If you dislike the politics espoused by universities, don't do it. The field is completely corrupted if you don't toe the line. You will find yourself extremely isolated. Social Science is not the way for academic or critical thought these days. Its only for parroting the ideology to put asses in seats and publish books. This goes even if you do online. You will NOT get anywhere in these fields unless you buy what they are selling.
If you are unsure if college is for you, find a good community college in your area and take some classes. Or a cheap state University. Typically community colleges aren't all that bad and they're a lot cheaper than dropping 30k and figuring out college doesn't fit for you.
9) Realize that most of this SJW nonsense is at expensive private schools and even then only in certain departments. You can research schools to see if they have any insane shit out of department people need. Also, be incredibly diligent if you decide to do Online colleges. Avoid for-profit colleges like the plague. They will get you nothing. Do online programs from reputable, non-profit, private/state universities. There is a difference between for-profit and private universities, learn them if you want to go the online route.
10) To re-iterate, make absolutely sure you know what you want to do. The value of a Bachelor's is incredibly difficult to see right now, even for STEM. Do your research into what you want to do, how you want to go about it. Some people can get away with getting just a Bachelor's. Most STEM fields with the exception of Computer Science and some Engineering require higher degrees to earn decent money.
Follow these steps and it should be ok. You just have to be extremely vigilant and be your own guidance counselor.
1.) Sign in for a STEM degree; physics is highly recommended. It'll teach you to think logically and along the lines of cause-and-effect.
2.) But don't turn it into a race. Rushing towards graduation as fast as you can is not what this is all about. Rather, find time to read as many books from as many areas of knowledge is possible. What do you think university libraries are for? All these professors and seminars may be nice, but the library is the motherlode of knowledge. Get into the classics, start with Plato if you wish. Make sure to always study both sides of an issue: Read both Marx and Adam Smith. Bert Brecht and Ernst Jünger. Peter Weiss and Carl Schmitt, etc.
3.) Don't forget to party! Gaudeamus igitur, as we say. Find out where the girls are pretty, the beer is cheap and the DJ won't go home before breakfast time.
4.) If you encounter any SJWs, just give them a hug. These people are just lonesome and need huggies.
