When I was a manager I interviewed and hired a mixture of college grads and non-college grads. Some with an MBA. What I found is the more "educated" they were, the worse they were as an employee. The ones who only had a HS diploma or maybe a little college worked harder and were grateful for the opportunity. Attitude and work ethic is everything. I don't have a degree, and found the highly educated ones to be slow and hard to teach, since they already know everything lol
"Indeed, median annual earnings for full-time working 25- to 32-year-olds with bachelor's degrees grew by nearly $6,700 to $45,500 from 1965 to 2013. During that same time, median annual earnings for high school graduates in that same age group fell by nearly $3,400 to $28,000.Feb 11, 2014" Study: Income Gap Between Young College and High School Grads ... All you need to know is to be found within the internet, boys. Colitch = mo' betta!!
Zippy, congratulations and good luck with this transition. My only daughter went away to college last year and it was very hard on me. There's an emptiness that you're likely to feel that can be overwhelming at times. Like Pumpmaster, I fell into a pretty deep depression for a few weeks. It does get better after time. Good luck.
Thanks for all the comments, they made me feel better. My son is going for electrical engineering, he graduated 3rd in his class summa cum laude. He's very smart, much smarter then I was. He does give me props by recognizing that I've accomplished a lot without a college degree. In the end I'm proud of him and happy that he is having the opportunity that I never had. And no kidding I just sat on the toilet with the seat up, little bastard.
Location matters, too. Here in NJ, good vocational programs with coordinated apprenticeships and continuing ed/training are some of the top earners 6-8 years after high school graduation, and without the debt. In fact, apprenticeship programs are now being called, "the other college, without the debt." In other words (and I'm using VERY round numbers here), there are a lot of 24-26 year old kids who never went to college buying houses with money they earned as apprentices, with starting salaries in the $60-90,000 range, compared to college graduates with advanced degrees, who are starting careers with the same starting salaries (if they're lucky) but are carrying $300,000 or more in college tuition debt. These kids are NOT buying houses... they're either back at home or renting apartments until the bulk of their debt is paid off. And here's something else that's kind of scary... ask your next waiter or waitress what their degree is. Most of them will tell you they have at least a bachelors... in something. What does that tell you?
Very true LB. I wasn't going to bring it up as its not related to zippys question. Although i wasted money on my first run at college to get a degree ill never use, because it was community college it was cheap, no debt. Not having debt allowed me to enter the hvac program which was also cheap. Now I'm making good money, health eye and dental insurance, 401k, living in an apartment but am ready to start looking for a house after the wedding. Most i know who went away for a degree are bar tenders or waiting at a restaurant. Living at home still. And zippy, I'm going to say this half jokingly..... talk your son into NOT being an engineer! Dudes are smart and all, but i hate them. They tend to look at things from a numbers stand point, not a real world stand point. You have no idea how many times I'm on a job looking at somthing an engineer drew up..... just shaking my head. Last year at a power plant we did this job the engineers laid out. Long story short they put 3 units right next to each other so you can't service them. A year later we had to go back and redo the whole job and tell the engineers "told you so". Don't let him become one of those fools
A BA is a total waste of money. Per Bass, have him do hands on work over the summers to earn a practical perspective. Machinists make great engineers.
Most of my clients are engineers. Some are very sharp, the vast majority are clueless. Can't even find the on / off switch on their computer half the time lol It's scary that some of these people are licensed and allowed to practice.
Morale of the story - if you go to college or follow another path you will have to work hard and deal with failure! Which path is taken is up to each individual.
Maybe I went to school during the right time, but I can't say anything negative about it. All I have is a BA in business and now I work in Marketing for a major tech firm. No way I could have done that without college. But..... I have a 12 year old that I am pushing towards a trade as opposed to college. Barry is right that college is more than just about finding a job, but at 50k a year you must take that into account. My big concern about my kids is automation. How do I help them find a path that won't find them out of a job and replaced by a robot or algorithm????? Welding still has some years left, but not beyond 25.
Also, you have to ask yourself; how did you feel when you left home for the first time? I couldn't wait to be on my own. If you strive to be independent which probably hits around puberty; it's a healthy natural human response. That's how we should raise our kids is to be self reliant and to take care of themselves. We as parents, won't be around forever. That's is we had children, to continue...
My only issue with college is the debt these kids rack up. I work with a lot of college kids at my 2nd job on the loading dock. Even after they graduate and get a "real" job in their fields they are staying on at night to help pay their loans. I kinda feel bad for them actually. They worked hard in school for 4 years, worked at a tough job at night while trying to find time to study and then you have to try to fit in getting laid and partying, which I think all kids that age have to experience to "get off the parental leash" Now, they're teaching, or working at a business but they still have to work nights. My two oldest are into their adult lives. My oldest, from my first old lady, is 30 and is a diesel engine mechanic. He makes over 100 K a year but works his butt off. He lives down near Topsail. My second oldest is 23 and is a union fitter. He also makes a ton of money. He needs to learn to keep his pecker in his pants and stop making me a grand dad. Neither of them are in any debt. I mean, my oldest drives on Audi for crying out load. What a tool. I still have two under my roof. The oldest currently at home is also the smartest. He wants to go in the Air Force, learn software coding, and then go to college on the GI Bill. The youngest wants to be a Navy Seal. He's only 13 though and reminds me of me more than the others and that scares me to death.
have him go into cyber security in the Air Force. My son is working on his BS in that right now (junior) and is getting heavily recruited by huge companies and the govt.
