[quote=flyer]No question there are many people doing well without college as you described, FIH, and, as noted in the excerpt I mentioned below,
“One of the country’s most-sought-after employers, Google, has found that it is increasingly hiring people without college degrees because the signal of the credential is no longer as clear as it used to be that someone is job ready.
If colleges don’t provide the mix of academic and practical experiences that students need and students fail to take advantage of them, pretty soon we’ll see other employers looking for alternatives to the college degree as well.”
All of that is great, but, wrt to those who do attend college, it has been my experience having raised three kids who graduated from college, that around 100% of the kids who are planning for college, are in college, or have completed college, believe they will get exactly what they want when they graduate, and, from what we’ve seen, many seem to be completely amazed when it doesn’t work out that way. This has even been the case for many with advanced degrees.
Guess I shouldn’t be shocked, but I have to admit,
I was surprised to see these stats. Apparently, there is a huge disconnect somewhere between perception and reality for many when it comes to this issue.[/quote]
flyer, my youngest is a college sophomore majoring in accounting and just received a perfectly decent current black suit from a sibling who bought it at a designer consignment shop in SF. I’m getting them a very nice leather designer accessory to go with that black suit for x-mas as they will be going out on interviews for internships (start-date next fall) in the first half of 2016. The school they attend is heavy on internships beginning in the junior year and utilizes a “learn by doing” philosophy in the classroom. Besides doing well in upper-division courses, part of that “learn by doing” is developing “presence” by looking, walking and talking the part, looking like you’re “worth it,” developing credible interview skills and getting early internship experience. Indoctrination into a Greek organization also helps a college student get a “leg up” on chances for valuable internships because of the work they do out in the community. In addition, this school has placement services and very well-connected longtime professors (as does Cal State Northridge and SFSU). At least four of the CSU’s (and maybe more) do NOT use TA’s to teach a class … only full professors.
A good friend’s 23-yo daughter is graduating with a dual-degree (BS & MS) in accounting in ten days from a state university and has already passed two out of four sections of the CPA exam. She secured a position at THE biggest accounting firm in the state back in June, with a reporting date of 1/11/16 and already has a 1 br apt lined up less than a mile from work. A lot of universities around the country are now offering the BS/MS option or BS/MBA option in their business schools to be completed in 5.5 or 6 years (utilizing summer term(s)) with ONE graduation ceremony. Business students who sign up for this option receive their 500-level (Master’s level classes) at the same tuition price as their undergrad classes and can take them simultaneously with undergrad classes. It’s a great option for serious business students who want to graduate with a career.
There IS value in graduating from a CA public university but it’s dependent on what the student makes of their time there. I have a neighbor who graduated 1.5 years ago from UCSD with a microbiology degree (who I helped get on Medi-Cal) and cannot find a job (doesn’t want to leave SD) and thus is working part time locally for $13 hr.
And, in business, personality, presence and connections have a lot to do with success, especially to get that first foot in the door starting out.
