Should You Go to College? – Pros and Cons of Going

Should I go to college?

In Western society, more prospective students (and some of their parents) are asking this question and for various reasons.

Rising costs of going to school (books and board ain’t cheap!), lower guarantee of having a (good) job, the changing landscape of work, even the 2019 college admissions scandal is forcing Western society to reexamine whether a college education is worth it today.

This article will not give you a definite “yes” or “no” answer.

Instead, it will give you food for thought.

If you’re already in college, it will give you more insight into if you should continue or not.

Here’s what you’ll also get insight on:

• Who should and shouldn’t go to college
• Why college may not be right for you
• Alternatives to college
• Should you drop out of college or not?

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Why Should I Go to College?

Right off the bat, most people would be better off going to college.

Historically, a person who went to college was much better off than someone who did not.

For many people in 3rd world countries, college was automatically their ticket out of poverty.

In the present day, people with postgraduate degrees are more likely to earn vastly more money over their lifetime.

In fact, many hiring managers won’t even consider a candidate for an entry-level interview unless they have a degree.

Is this fair? Will the landscape for employment change in the future? Maybe. I just know for myself, college opened doors that would not otherwise be there.

So yes, if you have the resources —- go to college.

This is assuming everything is equal.

But we don’t live in a utopia, nor are we equal.

We all have different strengths and weaknesses and some of us were born to families of lesser means.

For many, college is simply out of the question (even with financial aid).

But even people who happen to be well off and can afford to go are having second doubts.

The Cons of Going to College 

Unfortunately, there’s many cons of attending college. Here’s some of them.

1. It’s an outdated system

The Western college system is a product from long ago where the terms “division of labor”, “collective bargaining”, and “work-life balance” held more sway than they do today. Let’s call this system “the industrial economy”.

The end point of college education was to get a specialized, white-collar job in a world where a large majority of the world was manual labor and blue-collar.

Then the Internet came along and changed everything.

Our world is now a data-driven environment with such intangibles like information and human capital ruling the roost.

This massive spread of information effectively globalized our world. Let’s call this “the sharing economy”. This created a massive shift in how we do business, learn new information, and conceptualize the world.

Simply put: college by itself is insufficient to meet the challenges of today’s rapidly changing environment.

Most of what a person will learn in college will be obsolete within a couple of years at best (being generous).

2. College will not prepare you for the real world

The real world is nothing like college.

College is a relatively insulated environment where reality is “suspended”.

There is no other environment where you will be able to skip class with no consequences, walk around in pajamas, eat junk food, smoke weed all day, and just in general consume without giving value.

College can be an environment where you can grow, but it’s something you have to seek out. You’re not going to magically become smarter just by attending college.

3. You risk wasting time

In college, all majors are considered equal.

A computer science major is considered equivalent to an art history degree because:

1. All students are paying the same “base price” for education
2. You are considered young so you have time to “figure it out”
3. There are no immediate consequences to bad choices.

In college, a comp sci major and an art history major are still “paying” the same base price despite one having more earning potential than the other.

If you ask many college students what they want to do for a career, many will have no clue.

Adults and older people will tell college students they “have time to figure it out”, so there aren’t any (immediate) consequences to choosing the wrong major.

So 4 years later, what happens? A lot of people come out with “buyers’ remorse” and think that they wasted their time in college.

Well, of course, they did. They wasted part of their developmental years (which they aren’t getting back) doing nothing of constructive value for themselves or other people.

Not only that, but the comp sci major will make thousands (maybe millions) of dollars more over the course of their career than the art history major.

If you don’t go into college with a game plan, you face the very real possibility of flushing 4 (or more!) years down the toilet that you aren’t getting back.

So if you’re going to college with the expectation to coast into a cushy job, then sorry, those days are over.

But if you’re willing to use college as a good tool, here’s how it can help you.

The Pros of Going to College

If you can afford it and/or the price is worth it to you, here’s 3 reasons why you may consider going.

1. It’s a unique opportunity

This is something that was lost on me when I was in school.

College is really the last time that you will experience an environment where:

• You’re away from your parents for extended periods of time
• With people of similar age
• Having little responsibilities
• Using other people’s money

There is literally no short-term immediate downside.

You most likely won’t see this because you’re young and lack perspective and context.

It is only until you leave college and enter the “real world” do you get that moment where you’re like:

damn, my biggest stressors were if I was going to pass or fail a class? I REALLY had it good!

2. Networking

At its absolute best, college is a massive networking event.

You’ll be going to classes with people who will be future CEOs, VPs, startup employees, app developers, you name it.

In general, some of your classmates are going to be doing rad shit and they’ll most likely want to bring their friends and acquaintances on the ride.

Most people have very strong memories of college, because those are the formative years. They won’t remember the times in class, it will be out of class that’s most important.

This is the perfect environment to develop social intelligence.

But who will these people be?

That’s the crazy thing, you won’t know.

You won’t know until 10+ years down the road when everyone starts rolling on their careers.

Then one day, you get a text or a phone call saying:

Hey man, been a while…you still working in IT? We need a director. You interested?

That’s why it’s not about getting good grades in college. If you don’t link up with your peers and establish at least some connections and solid bonds, you wasted a good networking opportunity.

3. Forgiving environment to make mistakes

The younger you are, the less consequences there are for failure. This means it’s a prime time to experiment and fall flat on your face.

College offers a soft “cushion” to the real world by creating a relatively low-risk environment for making mistakes.

The majority of people going to college have been sheltered from the real world and are not ready to go out there and get hammered by life.

Most young people do not know what they want from life and the brain is still developing.

Unfortunately, this environment doesn’t help you when you get out into the real world. College is still an incubator for carefree living, so it’s up to you to take responsibility for how you’ll end up.

Which Major Should You Choose In College?

If it’s not already obvious, college costs a BUCKETLOAD of cash. Either you, your parents, or a scholarship will have to pay for it.

This is easily the main objection I personally have against college. College cost has skyrocketed beyond the index of inflation and it’s ridiculous.

That’s why you need to know what majors unlock which fields.

If you”re setting yourself up for a low paying degree (like social work or elementary education), you need to know that upfront before you spend tons of money on a degree that will barely pay back your loans.

Social work and teaching children are great services to society. We need those people.

But if you go into this field, you need to accept the fact that you will most likely not be financially secure unless your partner has a high(er) salary to compensate.

Don’t go into a field like “gender studies”, “global studies”, or “philosophy” and expect to make $55,000 as an entry level salary. If you aren’t teaching or getting advanced degrees with those degrees, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Many college students enter college in the hope of landing a high paying job. If you don’t pick the right major guaranteed to do that now or sometime in the future, you are wasting your time.

Is College Right for You?

It’s easy to be in a financial position not favorable to a college education.

If that’s the case, it’s not the end of the world for you.

Your path will be harder, sometimes much harder – but you don’t necessarily need a college degree to attain high levels of success in the world.

However, as said earlier, most people will be better off with a college degree.

Many people overestimate the amount of jobs that need a college degree and underestimate the amount of jobs that don’t require one. Here are some of the options you have:

• Joining the military
• Starting your own business
• Working in a blue-collar trade
• Working in sales (or even marketing)
• Working in low-skilled, low-wage jobs (not recommended)
• Taking a gap year

Most 18 year olds (or people in general) do not have the talent or grit to start their own business, work in blue-collar trades, or have a successful career in sales (which is like having your own business). Everybody and anybody can work at Walmart or flip burgers, but using it as a long-term solution is a dead-end.

You’re better off going to college.

Here’s some advice to the people in college who are considering dropping out.

There are two types of you guys:

• The people who want to drop out because of “boredom”
• The people who want to drop out because they have a legitimate idea

In college I considered dropping out somewhere in my 2nd year.

I wanted to drop out because I was tired of school, I was tired of learning things I felt I wasn’t going to use, I wanted to go out into the real world.

In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t.

I didn’t have any damn idea of what I’d do next.

I didn’t have a business that I needed to drop college to keep going.

I didn’t have a plan.

I didn’t have anything.

in other words, I didn’t have a legitimate reason.

Many people who drop out are convinced they are going to encounter similar levels of success to a Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates.

But let me ask you this: do you have the levels of talent and acuity that these two possess?

The fact that these two dropped out of Harvard of all places speaks for itself.

Did you get into Harvard or a school of a similar level? Are you really that talented? Do you really have a legitimate idea worth pursuing that makes college look inferior?

Or are you just “whistling Dixie” and building sandcastles in the sky?

You need to be honest with yourself about this.

If you are someone who has a business or other idea that’s bursting at the seams that needs full-time resources, drop out. You can always come back.

If not, stay in school.

If you’re just a trust fund kid, then congrats. You got the golden ticket. Go nuts. Enjoy for the rest of us.

If you’re still somewhat unsure about this whole thing. Take a gap year. That’s what one of my subscribers did and it benefited him immensely.

Wrapping Up: It’s Nothing Personal, It’s Just Business

At the end of the day, higher education is a business. They’re looking out for their interests and you’re looking out for yours.

All colleges would like to enroll everyone in their universities and make as much money as possible off of every last one.

If you’re someone who is going to school just for “the experience” or with a major that has no ROI, you are a walking sucker.

Business-people love these people because they’re easy pickings.

Don’t be easy pickings. Do your research, pick a good major at the outset, make as many friends as possible, and have a plan on what you’re going to do when you get out.

If you don’t, you will be another one of the millions of people who feels swindled by the higher education system.

Did you go to college? If you did, write in the comments some mistakes you made and what you’d do differently if you were to go back.