Is College Worth It?

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I'm currently going to community college. I work every day that I don't have class so I don't really get time off. I live in a new city and know very few people. It's a little frustrating that I don't have time to make friends because it's difficult enough for me as it is.

I am trying to transfer to a 4-year university. I have legitimate academic goals so the purpose is not just socialization. However, I have life skills I could utilize and university technically isn't necessary and at times seems like a very long path to an uncertain future. But if I could make solid friends, it would all be worth it to me.

Here's the kicker -- I'm 27. I feel old as f**k on campus. People are hard to relate to because everyone is very young and I've had a lot of rough transformational experiences in my 20s that make it difficult enough to relate to people as it is without factoring in being on the spectrum. I feel really too old and quite weird making friends.

Is the social situation different at a 4-year college? Would there be any hope of me being involved in social life and getting to make friends and go to parties? Or am I too old and would it still be weird?

Yes. Were it not for having earned my MSEE, I might be working in construction or retail, or driving a truck to barely make ends meet.Yes. People actually live on-campus, so it is a community unto itself.Yes. As long as you are not one of those people who whines and complains about having no friends or dates, and who doesn't act like a creep around women.Too old? At 27, you could pass as a doctoral candidate, and as long as you never deny it (or claim that you are), then no one will think otherwise.

In general it's worth it, but *only* if you don't have to borrow money to do it. (Going into debt for college is generally a bad idea.)

I think it would be a good professional and social opportunity, and 27 is definitely not that old unless you're at a small liberal arts college where everyone else is of traditional age. It would be very wise to continue with part-time work that's related to your profession if at all possible, so you can keep your active connections going, and link them to your college work.

I think it depends on the major/career. STEM or other specialized fields are one thing in which a degree would be helpful if not outright necessary.

A "liberal arts" degree in some sort of non-technical field generally with the word "Studies" after it very well may not be worth it. Up until fairly recently, a college degree in something, anything, was a requisite for getting a decent job in most sectors. It was proof that a person could be motivated enough and intelligent enough to reach a goal of attaining a Bachelor's degree thereby making for a better probable job candidate than someone who didn't advance past high school. Things like writing, composition, grammar and critical thinking were advanced far beyond high school level courses.

The rigor of obtaining even a bachelor's degree, from what I'm told and have read isn't necessarily what it used to be. I read recently that a burgeoning number of employers that used to require a degree for a position don't care any longer. Couple that with student loans for a degree with far less value and marketability and the answer may be.....no.

I personally have known what I think is a surprising number of people in the last ten years or so who got a degree in some generic type of liberal arts field that didn't benefit them in any way as far as a career was concerned. The barista with a B.A. or M.A. is not a myth. The angry, sullen and judgmental cashier at the whole foods co-op with a B.A. or M.A.? Not a myth. Those same scenarios 20+ years ago would be nearly unheard of and of which most people would have asked themselves: "What's wrong with that person?" (as to why they didn't have a better job).

When most graduates with an Associate's (2-year) degree in a STEM field seem to have a better grasp of how to run a business than most liberal-arts graduates (except MBAs), it's no surprise that baristas and cashiers with their liberal-arts degrees are not just sitcom stereotypes.

Thanks for the replies, friends! I'm curious, what is a STEM degree?

Science
Technology
Engineering
Mathematics

Some people desperately try to sneak "Arts" in there (making it "STEAM"), but that will never catch on.

Art is not a science, and science is not an art.

True, if you are pursuing a "professional" degree for law, medicine, dentistry, architecture and such, you will be expected to "go the distance."

But, if you want only the tinge of college in your background without doing much, I have found that my three years in college (1.0 academic years), works nicely on resumes (C.V.s) like this: "Attended the University of Utah Department of Political Science (1982-1984)" while no employer ever asked what that all meant. They always presumed a degree or didn't care. Besides, I could mask my way into all sorts disciplines.

Ah ok, yeah I'm working toward a degree in material science so that works! Actually double majoring with music technology as the other major, which I would argue is both a science and an art

Unfortunately I will almost definitely have to take out loans to finish my education.. right now I'm working full-time and going to school full-time and barely making ends meet, and that's for community college..

Being a little older than most undergraduates, you probably won't have the same social experiences you woukd have had if you were younger. This also holds for being a transfer student as opposed to entering college as a freshman, and people who live in the dorms as opposed to people who live in other housing. However there will still be plenty of social opportunities for you.

That being said, if you wanted the quinessential college social experience, could you have it? Probably, but some of this will depend on how old others gauge you to be, and some of it will depend on how much you really desire to socialize with that age group, most of whome are teenagers and, if freshmen, are still in high school mode. They are also a minority. When the reality of university workloads hit, studies often become a priority and people grow up fast.

Is college worth it as far as the rest of life goes? Do you have a better alternative?

Of the three people I know who did not go to college, one has worked in food service for over 20 years and cannot support himself on his income. One makes a six figure salary, and one was making $20 per hour before he quit his job and is, at the moment, a home maker who also does odd jobs for extra cash.

Depends on what you want to do. 27 isn't old. I go with people who are in their 50s and 60s even older who are trying to get a degree. It's hard out there right now.

I don't feel like 27 and a 20 year old wouldn't have much to talk about. Both are still young

https://www.quora.com/Is-college-educat ... -and-money
Only one in four who matriculate graduate and get a good job, Fifty-one percent of those who graduated in 2016 ended up making $35,000 or less. For the seventy percent who had debt—an average of $37,000—many of these young people would have been better off going to work at McDonald’s after high school.

Too many kids are going to college. Matriculating at a four-year college today is a speculation, not an investment:

There is a huge supply (graduates) vs demand (suitable jobs) problem. Forty percent of high school graduates are rushing off to the ivied halls vs seven percent fifty years ago. There aren’t anywhere nearly enough suitable jobs. During the last decade the US job market has been transformed into a gig/part time market.

On the other hand nobody wants to go to community college because our society has stigmatized “dirty jobs.”
So at the end of the day - I think that going to university is a total waste of money because it has no real world value to offer, especially in a time like ours - where there are a LOT of ways to make money from the internet itself and the only thing these institutes are - is a money printing machine for their owners.

According to me there is NO better university than Google and YouTube.

Listen, if you are the kind of person who can hustle and do BOTH full time work and full time school.... then I strongly suspect you will be the kind of person who can benefit by the B.S. Putting that same effort into your career employment, which is basically working doubly hard, will allow you to advance. I say, go for it!

One option I haven't seen you mention, though, is working full time for an employer who will pay your tuition to take classes. Maybe your current employer doesn't, but many do. That way, you are earning a living and you graduate with no debt - a win win. So maybe you should find a job like that, before starting at university.

If you are hoping the social life to be vibrant and exciting, I would encourage you not to go for the 4 year degree just for that. As an upperclassman, you won't be socializing to the same degree as a freshman living in the dorms. All dorms have built-in formal and informal opportunities for socializing that you probably wouldn't have. Unless you were planning on living in a dorm? They aren't a great fit for most adult students and are more expensive than living on your own in the community. They tend to be noisy and full of adolescent behavior. The one area you might get benefit from socially is clubs and organizations, of which most 4-year schools have many. Perhaps pick a career oriented one (e.g. engineering fraternal organization) and a fun one (that goes on biking trips or other outings).

Good luck!

27 is most certainly not too late to get your degree. My mom picked up premed night courses and went to med school when she was in her 30s. Go for it!

As a freshman in college at a University, I think you'll find the social scene doesn't care much about you being a little older. Everyone's always open to everyone so long as you make the effort. They're more likely to drag you into a social situation you dont want to be in than not let you into one at all. First of all, most people dont ask how old you are. Second, most social situations involve either alcohol or weed so then everyone is loosened up enough to not care lol. And yeah, college is definitely worth it.