Ouch. That hurt the wallet....

[NC-smokinlmm]

Well said.

I went to a good private college, my parents helped with the money some, but I am still paying off the debt (and will be for a long time to come). Every time I sit down and look at it, I would be making close to what I do now (if not more ) as a tradesman, and I would have been working 4 more years raking in cash instead of debt. If I had to do it all over, I would skip college and follow a path very similar to yours.

The education system in this country is in need of some serious work. College degrees are more expensive than ever, while being less useful than ever.

/rant 2.0

Ditto, I don't use any of my degrees. I feel as though I wasted a ton of time and money. That is 7 extra years that I could have used to further my business and work expirence...

My boy can do what he wants but I won't sugar coat college. If you want to be a tradesman or own a service business you had just better get to work...

 

[SBLC]

Ditto, I don't use any of my degrees. I feel as though I wasted a ton of time and money. That is 7 extra years that I could have used to further my business and work expirence...

My boy can do what he wants but I won't sugar coat college. If you want to be a tradesman or own a service business you had just better get to work...

To be honest (I like mechanical engineering) I have to agree; I wasted 6 years getting through college that I could have worked and saved money. I don't think everyone should/needs to go to college, there are trades out there that don't need college. I just feell bad for the kids that get a useless degree (I won't name them, wouldn't want to offend) and come out with debt and a. job that doesn't pay enough to allow a shake at paying off the debt.

If I had my choice I would go farm as I liked that lifestyle. I think farming/shoveling , hardwork really help puts things into perspecTive . I knowb after shoveling as a kid it made my mind up that I was going to take school serious and get to a place I could retire the shovel hands. Hence the mechanical engineering


Posted from mobile device

 

[TheBac]

You guys are not exactly making me feel better. :hehe:

I do not have a college degree. Tried to, but calculus was just too much. Numbers, I'm great at.....but I couldn't handle theoretical math.

I would say being a "dumb truck driver" has turned out ok, though.

 

[JD Dave]

My guidance counselor sat me down and told me I was crazy wanting to start farming out of high school. My dad didn't even really ever pressure me to farm, he said find something you like to do and everything will fall into place. Life is to short and you won't excel at something you dislike. Times are changing now, young kids just want to play video games, computers and don't want to get their hands dirty. The dirty jobs is where the money is going to be so I'd be pushing my kids towards a trade. Plus with a trade most of the time you can pick up side work if your looking for extra money. JMO

 

[jacobdewey]

Don't get me wrong, I think education is extremely important. I use basic math, geometry, and algebra daily. Reading, writing, History, and English are just as important, but these are all things you can, and most learn by junior high. High school would be a great opportunity for you to take the steps to get a head start. For the kids that can't make up their mind, you can always have generalized classes. College should be nothing more than an appendage to K-12 for the kids who take longer to decide what they would like to be when they grow up.

Without the dirty jobs, society would cease to exist. Farming, logging, and mining (including any drilling of oils, gases ect.) make the world go round. Take them away and society would come to a screeching halt. No other jobs are available if you don't have food, shelter, or the means to produce tools or parts. Now if we could only get the epa and liberal environmentalists to understand this....These should be the highest paying jobs.

What your kids learn at home is more important than what you could do at college. If your kids are honest, treat people with respect, are hard working, and most importantly have COMMON SENSE, then they will defiantly go places. One thing that I think helped me in life so far is the fact that my dad always was teasing us as kids. Calling us knuckle head, butt wad, dink, and so on were all terms of endearment, so now I think us kids aren't offended as easily as most folks. You need to be able to laugh at yourself or the stresses of every day life will eat at you.

lol Rant 3.0 over.

 

[SmokeShow]

To be honest (I like mechanical engineering) I have to agree; I wasted 6 years getting through college that I could have worked and saved money. I don't think everyone should/needs to go to college, there are trades out there that don't need college. I just feell bad for the kids that get a useless degree (I won't name them, wouldn't want to offend) and come out with debt and a. job that doesn't pay enough to allow a shake at paying off the debt.

If I had my choice I would go farm as I liked that lifestyle. I think farming/shoveling , hardwork really help puts things into perspecTive . I knowb after shoveling as a kid it made my mind up that I was going to take school serious and get to a place I could retire the shovel hands. Hence the mechanical engineering


Posted from mobile device

x2

I'm a lic. prof. engr in Civil and I'm not sure the salaries are always worth the expense. Tradesmen make more than I do. Granted, they are hard on their bodies over time, but their wages are higher. At least until the later years when an engr may become an owner or co-owner of a firm and then make more money but that simply takes years of experience most of the time.

I believe EE's and ME's may have more earning potential even without having to be licensed. Especially ME's. I started out taking classes for both ME and CE and went CE because I thought I wanted to do surveying. Then find out you can no longer have your years of experience under a PE and PLS count simultaneously (making it take no less than 8 years to get both) so I dropped the surveying part too and just stuck with CE. I maybe should have went ME from the get go because that's more interesting stuff to me but oh well.

I don't dislike what I do but like others have said, I'm not one to push that all kids need to go to college. Its extremely expensive, just not for everyone and there are lots of trades jobs that earn substantial wages comparatively.

 

[Janimal444]

I want the best for my children, and I have a fairly big chunk set aside for them already for whatever they choose to do.... That being said, I hate college and I feel it is a waste of time and money.
I went to work straight out of high school. I've worked many jobs, always doing my best and treating people honestly and with respect. My first job out of high school was at a ski resort parking cars and heading up snow removal. I worked hard and received a great recommendation for my next job as an electrician, pulling wire and doing grunt work for the journeymen. That job lasted for a while and also gave me a chance for a job as a conductor for Union Pacific RR. I could make 70-90k with hard work and no college education. I've always said, it's not what you know, it's who you know.
All this time I worked on my dads farm in my off time. After a bit at the RR I could see it wasn't for me so I used the money I had saved to start buying into farms. I own 605 acres of my own now and am in the process of buying another 350 acres. I own 20% stock In my dads 3400 acre farm and I am also working on buying the controlling shares as he is starting to slow down. I'm in a position now that I all I owe money on is my mortgage. That probably wouldn't be possible if I had an enormous school debt I was trying to pay back.

What I'm trying to get at is, with respect for others, hard work, and common sense, you can do anything. I feel sticking to the mold of the education system in this country is a mistake. It needs some serious reform starting at the Kindergarten level.
I would love if by the time my kids make it into high school, and had an idea of what they wanted to do with their life, that they could start working towards that goal. When they graduate high school, they could go straight into an internship and learn the trade hands on, without paying for the education. They would be providing a service as an Intern, and in return the employer would be teaching and gaining an employee. It's a win win.

That's what I would do if I was president!... But with no college degree, I wouldn't be as qualified as our current president. :roflmao::roflmao: There is what a college education from "top professors" will get you.

Rant over!

Right on!:thumb::thumb: I do have a mechanical engineering degree and that piece of paper opened up doors and landed me my current position. That being said, everything I learned was on the job. I have to thank my father because when I went off to school I did not want to take engineering, and he told me that if I wanted any financial assistance from him whatsoever I would be taking engineering, end of story.

I think college is a joke and a waste of money. And don't even get me started on these clowns and their liberal art degrees. Talk about pissing money away, dropping 100k on a sociology degree or something of that sort. I blame the parents, they have to be smart enough to let their kid know that the benefits of a joke liberal arts degree are not going to outweigh the $100k plus debt that they will graduate with.

 

[Janimal444]

x2

I'm a lic. prof. engr in Civil and I'm not sure the salaries are always worth the expense. Tradesmen make more than I do. Granted, they are hard on their bodies over time, but their wages are higher. At least until the later years when an engr may become an owner or co-owner of a firm and then make more money but that simply takes years of experience most of the time.

I believe EE's and ME's may have more earning potential even without having to be licensed. Especially ME's. I started out taking classes for both ME and CE and went CE because I thought I wanted to do surveying. Then find out you can no longer have your years of experience under a PE and PLS count simultaneously (making it take no less than 8 years to get both) so I dropped the surveying part too and just stuck with CE. I maybe should have went ME from the get go because that's more interesting stuff to me but oh well.

I don't dislike what I do but like others have said, I'm not one to push that all kids need to go to college. Its extremely expensive, just not for everyone and there are lots of trades jobs that earn substantial wages comparatively.

I see it everyday. I work as a PM for a heavy civil construction firm, building water and wastewater treatment facilities. We do public work in Massachusetts so our tradesmen are paid the Massachusetts prevailing wage. Laborer rate is $49.00/hour and rate for an electrician, for instance, is $73.00. Not a bad gig I'd say! That being said, I don't think that is exactly the best use of Mass. taxpayer dollars.

 

[TheBac]

Well, Kole's off to MSU.......

Roni cried. He's her little boy.

I shook his hand, gave him $100 to put in his wallet for an emergency, and told him to "Have fun, but use your head."

Man, I hope he takes college more seriously than he did HS.

 

[TheBac]

My guidance counselor sat me down and told me I was crazy wanting to start farming out of high school. My dad didn't even really ever pressure me to farm, he said find something you like to do and everything will fall into place. Life is to short and you won't excel at something you dislike. Times are changing now, young kids just want to play video games, computers and don't want to get their hands dirty. The dirty jobs is where the money is going to be so I'd be pushing my kids towards a trade. Plus with a trade most of the time you can pick up side work if your looking for extra money. JMO

I hadn't read this earlier. I have been on my route for almost 18 years, and it heartens me to see almost every dairy and crop farm being taken over by the next generation, with the matriarch moving into an "assistant" role. I say "almost" b/c there are a few older guys still working their farms in their 60s b/c they love it...in fact, a couple are teaching their grandkids the trade, b/c those kids will probably take over those farms.

It is wild to watch other families grow and change, not just my own.