Is college a scam?

[Malthus]

Mine was in anthropology ... practically the definition of a "want fries with that?" degree. 

What people often overlook is that (a) getting a degree is useful education in basic skills like writing and research, no matter what the degree is in; (b) some employers don't care what you did your degree in, they just want proof you are capable of getting one; and (c) you can use your degree to get other, more immediately useful qualifications. 

you graduated in the 80's, right? was the secondary education pool already over flowing by then?

Early 90s. And yes.

[Valmy]

Early 90s. And yes.

And that is why Malthus became a Lawyer.

[Barrister]

they should separate the employment rates based on thing like business degrees and bullshit majors.

I had a bullshit major.

I had a non-bullshit major - geology.

Given that I wanted to go into law anyways, I'd have been better off taking a bullshit major like history and spent more time partying in university, and less time stuck in labs staring at rocks.

[Valmy]

I had a non-bullshit major - geology.

Given that I wanted to go into law anyways, I'd have been better off taking a bullshit major like history and spent more time partying in university, and less time stuck in labs staring at rocks.

Maybe if you had partied you wouldn't have been so good at doing the boring stuff at Law School.  After studying rocks and all...

[Malthus]

I had a non-bullshit major - geology.

Given that I wanted to go into law anyways, I'd have been better off taking a bullshit major like history and spent more time partying in university, and less time stuck in labs staring at rocks.

Maybe if you had partied you wouldn't have been so good at doing the boring stuff at Law School.  After studying rocks and all...

Well, he had to get his rocks off somehow. 

[dps]

they should separate the employment rates based on thing like business degrees and bullshit majors.

I had a bullshit major.

I had a non-bullshit major - geology.

Given that I wanted to go into law anyways, I'd have been better off taking a bullshit major like history and spent more time partying in university, and less time stuck in labs staring at rocks.

But if for some reason you couldn't get into law school, you at least had a non-bs degree. 

That's why, IMO, nobody should take pre-law as an undergraduate major.  You don't need it to get into law school--any B.S or B.A. is good enough for that--and by itself it's not much better than a degree in English lit or Art Theory in the job market.  Plus, you look like an idiot--it practically screams, "Wanted to be a lawyer but wasn't smart enough".

[Barrister]

they should separate the employment rates based on thing like business degrees and bullshit majors.

I had a bullshit major.

I had a non-bullshit major - geology.

Given that I wanted to go into law anyways, I'd have been better off taking a bullshit major like history and spent more time partying in university, and less time stuck in labs staring at rocks.

But if for some reason you couldn't get into law school, you at least had a non-bs degree. 

That's why, IMO, nobody should take pre-law as an undergraduate major.  You don't need it to get into law school--any B.S or B.A. is good enough for that--and by itself it's not much better than a degree in English lit or Art Theory in the job market.  Plus, you look like an idiot--it practically screams, "Wanted to be a lawyer but wasn't smart enough".

Are there any schools that actually hand out degrees in "pre-law"?

And if I would have gotten a geology job I would have gone crazy.  I did a co-op work term once where I did nothing but stare down a microscope and count mineral grains all day.

[garbon]

that's kind of not a bullshit one, depending one what you intend to do with it . i'm think more art and literature and such. unless you're going int a career for those feilds (and even then) it's just a useless costly piece of paper.

Didn't you see that recent news article about how psych grads have the lowest typical income of all college grads?

[dps]

Are there any schools that actually hand out degrees in "pre-law"?

I haven't really paid attention recently, but I know that there certainly used to be.  I would assume that there still are.

[Sheilbh]

I did a degree in English and got a pretty well-paid job that could have been interesting eventually.  It was totally unrelated, of course, but I think the most of the time the worth of a degree is more a signal to employers.  I think the university you go to tends to matter more.  Where I worked everyone was from a uni with a good reputation. 

Having said that I don't know that an English degree at Bristol (with its 3-9 contact hours a week) is necessarily worth £27 000 in tuition fees

[Grey Fox]

University here is 1800$ a session.

Altho, that's bound to be raised in the coming years.

[Josquius]

Students really should be made more aware of the whole you just need a degree thing. I Could have had years of fun doing history instead of struggling at something I thought would give me a better chance of a job.

But yes, the system with the whole need a degree thing sucks

[Iormlund]

that's kind of not a bullshit one, depending one what you intend to do with it . i'm think more art and literature and such. unless you're going int a career for those feilds (and even then) it's just a useless costly piece of paper.

Didn't you see that recent news article about how psych grads have the lowest typical income of all college grads?

That might have more to do with the amount of those with serious mental issues. Or is that restricted to our psych grads?

[Ideologue]

they should separate the employment rates based on thing like business degrees and bullshit majors.

I had a bullshit major.

I had a non-bullshit major - geology.

Given that I wanted to go into law anyways, I'd have been better off taking a bullshit major like history and spent more time partying in university, and less time stuck in labs staring at rocks.

Jor-El?

Anyway, I agree.  Post-secondary education has ruined my life.  I was happier as a waiter without $115,000 in debt.

[garbon]

that's kind of not a bullshit one, depending one what you intend to do with it . i'm think more art and literature and such. unless you're going int a career for those feilds (and even then) it's just a useless costly piece of paper.

Didn't you see that recent news article about how psych grads have the lowest typical income of all college grads?

That might have more to do with the amount of those with serious mental issues. Or is that restricted to our psych grads?

Would you like to re-phrase?

Anyway I'd say it has to do with psych as a nice catch-all major. Doesn't necessarily require too much work to major in and many of the platitudes and heuristics that are taught to students are easy to digest for the masses. To boot, it is somewhat respectable, so it is a great major for those who just want to graduate.