Does anyone actually regret going to college?

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At this point in my life I really regret going to college. I was originally going to pursue a degree in secondary education, but I let myself be talked into getting a degree in Safety. I love history and I really would like to teach it, but that will never happen now. I spent 8 years of my life pursuing that bachelor's degree, racked up $50000 in student loans, got about three interviews and no offers. That was 5 years ago. Then I did not understand AS. If I had known about my AS sooner in life, I would have made different decisions. Now I can't see how to market myself effectively against recent grads, me having no experience and long out of college. I was never good at 'networking', probably because it is a social thing. I have nothing from the college experience but debt and regret. On the other hand, my AS personality my not have made for a very effective safety manager. If I could return my degree for a refund, I would. Today, I work two part-time jobs to make ends meet. Neither requires college. I did get lucky in that one of those jobs is with the USPS, that actually has career potential.

Sorry to hear that. At least you got yourself an education though. Remind yourself of all the good that going to college has brought you.

To answer your question: I do regret going to college sometimes. The fact that I dislike my university does not help. There are days I tell myself, "Maybe I should have gone to trade school? That way I'd have a job". Then I remind myself that trade school does not have any fields that interest me. So I might as well finish up college, although it has been an extremely frustrating experience.

Sorry to hear that. Did two degrees in six years, on scholarships, and had fun in college (despite one brief hospitalization sophomore year).

Can you see about getting your loans written off due to disability / inability to find work?

not yet, though i attend with the increasingly nagging thought that it is all for nothing.

YES. I have:
-an associate's in applied science in computer science with a 4.0
-a bachelors of science in management information sciences with a 4.0
-a bachelors of arts in sociology with a 3.85
-finishing a masters in sociology with a 3.85
Both of these last lowering in GPAs are from mouthing off in classes and getting B+s or A-s as a result. I'm not all that smart, but I have a sure fire method of memorizing data. I feel like an idiot for trying so hard, frankly.

I'm also a certified medical assistant (lol!) and Linux+ certified (double lol!).

I'm very obviously trying to make up for the fact that my mom took me out of school at the end of the 2nd grade and never let me go back. Knowing that doesn't help at all.

I'm also permanently disabled and laughably unable to actually work. Also doesn't seem to help me stop going to school.

I don't know about the idea that knowing you were on the spectrum would change what you would have majored in or kept you from getting an unnecessary degree. Young people are encouraged to charge into school and set a career path way too early. No one knows what they should do in their late teens and early twenties.

I certainly regret going to College (University) but it's not like I had much of a choice. I was 17 and my parents flat out said "either go to University or pay room and board at 18". They wanted me to be an Engineer like my brother but I could not grasp abstract concepts at all and almost failed High School Physics and Math (as a Honour student).

I hated Commerce but I was pretty much told that was my only option. I wanted to either work in Construction or Traffic Light installation (two of my special interests) or at least trade school (College) but was told by everyone that those careers are dead end and for "dropouts" and soon those jobs will evaporate completely. I barely made it through by reminding myself the big job would be well worth it.

While I am not exactly making minimum wage, it took three long years to find a job after graduation and I am still working WAY below my skill level. I was like a fish out of water after graduating and found out the "surplus of jobs" were a)in Ottawa and b)required a Master's at minimum. Meanwhile, all those "dropouts" have more money than they know what to do with. I was the smart, successful one but ended up near the bottom of the pile and it angers me to know what a waste of time and money my degree was. Even my degree-less Fiancee makes almost as much as me!

I am supposedly with an organization with amazing potential for growth but every resume sent gets the same "we had an unusually high number of applicants" rejection letter. I want to reply, I have 8 1/2 years experience and a %$#$@# Degree along with a number of Certifications. What else do you want?

You need to choose a good College, what would you then do not regret.

I regret the career path I chose knowing what I do know about my own limitations. There's no going back now though with all the time and energy spent, as well as the debt. I'm not even sure what I could handle with all my disabilities. It's scary to think about.

My student debt makes me feel like a slave.

Not at all. I earned my degrees at a time when Engineering degrees were still in demand, and paid for most expenses that weren't covered by merit scholarships out of my own pocket. The G.I. Bill covered the rest.

Had I not earned any degrees, I would be like most of my high school classmates - living off dwindling pensions after being forced into early retirements from manufacturing jobs in the automobile and steel industries.

Thank you all for the responses.The reality of life is that in this day and age, getting a degree is very expensive (and climbing) and having a degree is cheaper than dirt to employers. College is a GAMBLE, and a very large one, with no guarantees attached. As for college loans of the Federal type, if they are forgiven by the DOE, The IRS promptly hits you with a hefty tax bill because they consider the loans as income. There really is no good way out of college loan debt!

No regrets at all! I practically have a full-ride scholarship so loans aren't a concern for me. College definitely beats high school. I didn't come from a very good high school but now in college I'm surrounded by other highly motivated people. There's more variety in clubs and more resources available to the students overall.

Furthermore, deadlines for assignments and projects are a lot more structured. Professors will have problem sets regularly due on Friday unless mentioned otherwise, for example. In contrast, some high school teachers will only tell you the due date of an assignment verbally, then tell you to turn it in a day early and deny the fact that 90% of the class agrees that they definitely said the due date was on the following day.

I also absolutely despised busy work in high school. Some teachers gave out heavy workload that wasn't even intellectually challenging, yet it was nearly impossible to get everything done. Now I have problems for physics that may take me two hours to do a single one, but I feel accomplished when it's done.

I also like the fact that there are breaks scattered throughout the day. I'd have two classes from 10 am to 11:50 am and not have lab until 6 PM, giving me some time to eat, go back to my dorm, take a nap, and do some work. I hated having to sit through 7-8 hours of school. In high school, there's brunch and lunch, but nothing beats having more freedom over where you can go for your breaks.

I also find the disabilities office and services here to be more helpful than the ones back in my high school. At my university, the professors always have a place for me to take my exams separately, whether it's in their office or at the disabilities office. I wasn't fully aware of my rights in high school, so I would just take it when a teacher shrugged at me and told me they didn't have a place for me to test separately.

I could go on and on, but it's getting late and I feel my ability to coherently connect thoughts is slowly deteriorating!

Well, I'm sure happy I didn't jump straight into it and begin university at only age 17/18.

As a recent graduate a lot of former classmates applied to begin university studies for 2016.

I honestly believe it's absolutely silly. I am for now aiming to get part-time or full-time work in retail and save-up first. I also want to be well-established (moved out of home, decent savings, etc.) before beginning at university.

I'm also not too sure exactly what I want to do yet, I have a few ideas but ideas are just that - ideas.

So I'll probably be around aged 20 when I do begin.

Plus, this also gives me the time to learn and consume as much other types of knowledge as I cnan. There's all kinds of things I can and will be doing within the next three years. First Aid course, Boxing/self-defence classes, language classes, workshops of all kind, volunteer work, etc. far better to do all this kind of stuff now then be too consumed with the univeristy workload to find the time to learn anything else.

i kind of wish i had set up some kind of plan for myself when i was 17. then my goals were nothing beyond attending community college, i wasn't even sure if i would transfer to uni or not.

now i'm decided that i will wait some time before transferring. following some sort of pursuits like described above...^ i hope Outrider manages a way to hold down his home/apartment and all that while he attends uni if he plans to live by himself (do you)?
independent living is my biggest longterm goal at the moment but i'll accept some dependent living first...college roommates or not.

Yes, I regret going. But my reasons are a bit different. I knew I could not afford to go and did not want to study anything particular so I did not go for a long time. I met my ex husband and he was going (rarely. He barely made it to class and was failing everything) and in short told me losers were those who didn't go to college and guilted me into going. I picked a subject, literally within a week - Anthropology and began going to school with him. After the first semester I was offered a scholarship for older female students with good grades. This was nice but my ex guilted me into taking out max loans again because I was a loser who didn't have a job and he was tired of paying the bills. We didn't need the money to survive. Basically back in those days if you didn't have a bank account they would deposit it wherever you wanted. It was deposited in his account and he spent around $60,000 on what I don't exactly know over the course of four years, not living expenses. To this day I'm still paying off money I never spent.

I was about three credits short of a bachelors and quit. I had amassed so many credits but hardly any were in the actual subject as the tri-colleges in my area barely had any Anthro classes. Got a very good dream job not doing anything with Anthro then got laid off three years later. Now just self studying. I found I learn more when I just teach myself.