Do you ever regret going to college

Going straight to college after highschool did **** all for me, and it didn't help my self-esteem either. I'm in my mid 20's, with a crap part time job, no girlfriend, and majoring in piano performance. And we all know how rich musicians get.

no, but I regret not making better choices with regard to my education

No, made some good friends there, learnt some interesting stuff, got to see new places so I aint complaining.

It's been more than four years since I graduated, a time long enough to reflect on my life choices and see them scrutinized by the turbulence of practical life. I still value higher education enough to justify sinking 4-5 years and an infinite supply of resources into it, but I regret my college experience. I shouldn't have gone to a local university, and I shouldn't have gone to that local university. There's more to it be we'll leave it at that. As for my major, even though I didn't make a dime out of my computer engineering degree, I still don't regret it; it granted me invaluable knowledge, both technical and life-related. But in retrospect, I should've chosen my major more wisely.

Despite how cliched and credulous it can sound at times, I still can't help but think it does happen for a reason. My abysmal college experience taught me the value of sovereignty, the value of being unwavering and bold when it comes to life choices. It instilled in me how vigorous my decision-making process must be in addition to the proper valuation of my worth.

There's no way I'd have turned out the way I did without that grim experience, and I like who and what I'm becoming.

No. But I do know some that do because they were dumb fucks who sunk themselves in student loans while chasing a degree in english, political science or sociology.

I also have some friends and siblings that have done this. The problem is you can't tell an 18 year old that their dream degree won't land them a dream job. I have a friend that has a Masters in Percussion Performance........ He's gonna be playing gigs well into his 90's before he pays those loans off.

@Tangmashi: That would be a good idea for a topic in OT

@GoldenElementXL: The thing though, that sounds like an amazing way to pay it back though. Life is to precious to just play it safe, and you can not look down on someones field of study. Not to mention do not let them fool you, there is no safe major guaranteed to get you a job. Its not what you study, but how well you can market yourself. I have friends with 4.0s who studied things like comp sci and business that can not get jobs because of how competitive it is, and they have a very limited network.

Life is also too precious to spend it trying to find ways to pay back a loan. I'm not looking down on any field of study if that's what you love. But there are certainly fields that set you up for financial success in the future. I can guarantee if you go to school to be a Nurse, Surgical Technologist or a Medical Imaging Technologist you will find a job within 6 months of graduation. These jobs are always in demand and pay double of what a Teacher, Cop or Journalist make. I have friends and family that work in all of those fields. I would never recommend someone go to school for Computer Science or Business, because like you said they are very competitive.

My journalist friend and percussionist friend both love the fields they are in but do not love the money they make. Deciding what major to pursue is huge and is probably too big of a decision for an 18 year old to make alone. I wish I would have started out differently myself. I was a graphic design major, switched to music education, then computer science, then finally Aeronautics/Engineering which is where I ended up. I didn't graduate college until I was 26. I am the poster child for what not to do in college. The one thing I did right however was not take student loans.

I know this isn't exactly answering the question..... But I feel lucky that I didn't go to college.

I moved out of my parents house right out of high school and worked a bunch of different entry level jobs. One of those jobs was making copies and running general errands for a construction company. While visiting the job sites I found the work intriguing and started to volunteer to do anything and everything I could to grow. Blah, blah, blah and years later I'm now a project manager running large scale projects.

When I look at where I am and I look at where my peers are (similar careers; similar age) I find that I seem to be doing better than those with a degree. I seem to be doing better even than licensed architects and engineer because, ultimately, the money is made during construction (thats for another discussion though).

I would say that I agree with what some others have stated. I think it's unfortunate that the general rule seems to be EVERYONE should go DIRECTLY to college immediately after high school. For some it may make sense (for example, some people have specific passions and know for sure they want to become doctors or lawyers, etc) but as a whole I think people graduating high school may benefit from working, even at entry level positions, in different fields to see what interests them.

It's weird for me to say this because I still have two years left, but somehow this post greatly resonates with me. I regret my uni experience so far. I mildly regret my choice of university and even though I believe the major I chose (which is ME) was the best possible choice, I still don't feel quite right about it.

And yet I too believe it's all happening to me for reasons. I was actually thinking to myself yesterday as I got back home from the obligatory job assigned to me by my uni: If someone were to ask me what the only good thing about this job experience was, what would my response be? And then I said to myself: "Well, I became more courageous."

But the most important thing that I learned while enduring these two years of "prison", was that fate is the greatest player of them all. And what I'm hoping to learn is that fate will eventually lead one to his desired place. But only if the man keeps faith in fate.

College is the proverbial foot in the door in many white collar jobs. Plus some of my closest friends were from my college days.

@GoldenElementXL:

I commend you on not having to take out loans, others are not as fortunate though. There is nothing with exploring your interest, I will graduate late as well I will be 24 when I finish but i am not concerned with that at all. There is no wrong way of doing things. Also if you are interested in those guaranteed jobs that is fine, but a lot of people are not. The basis of your life exists well beyond working and paying bills. A lot of people rush into school and then work, and then have a mid life crisis when they realize that they have done very little outside the professional/academic world.

Basically i am not saying your wrong, but I am saying you should not live with regrets. Hopefully with the added time in school you dd more then just academia the whole way through.

The remorse grows with time. I started harboring these feelings as a sophomore. The revelations gradually transpire, until they culminate following your graduation and transition into practical life. Only then do you realize the full scale of your affliction.

The good news is that if you don't break under the weight of these revelations, you start seeing as clearly as you never did, and you get serious about your personal legend. You develop the resolve for well-being, and the courage for sheer obstinacy in your pursuits.

If time proves me right, recall this post in the hour of need and know that there's a silver lining. Beware of the fickleness of faith.

I'm still in college (senior) and I don't think I'll regret it in the future. My education has already given me so many awesome skills that I couldn't imagine not having gone to school. I plan on getting my PhD next and I think that will be a good decision too.

Before college I was a bus boy making $5/hr...my student research funding gives me more than that plus the work is awesome.

I regret skipping my college classes to go smoke weed and play games.

Wow. This was pretty poetic.

I will recall this post then. Patience is a virtue after all.

I accrued a lot of debt, but I launched on an interesting career, met my wife, and made some great friends there. So I absolutely don't regret it

Dropping out of college allowed me to purchase my first house at the age of 20 so it's definitely not for everyone.

I don't regret going but it was pretty useless lol. Best part about college was being able to hang out with my friends.

From the context, by a "college" you mean a university, right? As where I live, a "college" is a high school and some of the kids might be regretting going there, but there is no much choice as their parents still can overrule their "not wanting" ;) As for the Uni, I got my degree already in my ripe years ;) after working, travelling, marrying, having kids and etc.... crazy, I know...

Probably yes. Got a next to useless degree while not learning much more than i already knew . On the other hand i made 2 best friends in college and the 3 of us are still great friends so in that regard i dont regret it

No real regrets except I should have thought clearly what I wanted to major in first. I was one semester (plus summer classes) from a degree in mechanical engineering when I decided I wanted meteorology instead.

Pissed off my parents, my mom especially.

Yes.... but i have a good excuse.

I went to and got my degree from a baptist seminary. I served as a youth pastor for 11 years and now i'm an atheist. I left ministry and had to start from the bottom with a house and family. Luckily, certifications helped me climb up the IT ladder and now that i have a decent job... i can't wait to go back to school for something worth while.

This exactly happened to me and I regret every second of it.

I finished Hight school, was giving a deadline to apply to college and I had to pick something from a book with hundreds of professions.

Now I am 20,000 in debt and I'm working in a completely different field that only required a $500 certification.

Sometimes. Sometimes I wonder if it will really get me anywhere or if it was just a waste of time and I would've been better off learning a trade (though I don't really see myself doing a trade) or working some job and earning money, but then if I did that I'd probably wonder if the job is dead end and maybe I should've gone to college.

Gen ed courses are a toss up. On one hand I can see how they can be considered a waste of time and delay your graduation, on the other hand some of them were interesting and also it was nice to have some courses that weren't in my major, too many classes in one subject during one semester can be pretty dull too.

Of course i am happy with my "investment" why wouldn't i be? it means i can earn a living and provide for myself and my family.

And if i weren't happy with the field i chose, i can always go back and study something else.