Poll: Dropping out of high school?

[Disgruntledgrrl]

Ah well. Voice of experience here. I left high school in the 9th grade because my mother died and my dad was a bus driver in another state who had gone out of his way to get custody and sent us back to live with her so he didn't have to pay child support. Also I had met this guy and I decided I really wanted to make a go of it. This was back in 1990 (what a crap year that was).
Now I hit the ground running and went from fast food to parking lot to computer tech support.
Here are the 2 things that are detrimental to not finishing school:
1. I am nervous I will always be passed over for someone who has more education. Paper does count. Right now I'm applying for a training position but I have no credentials or certifications and I did NOT get a GED. Still. Paper still counts in the bigger corporations over "well she's been doing this job, we should let her have it."

2. There's a certain point in high school where "they" release your information to the credit companies. You begin with a credit score of 0.
I began MIA. I did not exist on any credit report which is FAR FAR FAR worse than having negative credit. Everything I ever paid for upfront from my apartment rent for 2 years to buying a car - nothing. Did not count.

That guy I stayed with? He took the GED and finished top 2% of the nation. I make more than him and I paid for the wedding and rings and my dress and the catering in 2005.

But I keep thinking my job can be yanked away because I still haven't made the time to take the GED. I don't have any college. I don't even have A+ cert.

So here's my advice:
3 things people are always going need are repair, delivery and product.
They're going to buy something (product), they'll need it sent to them (delivery), they'll need it fixed at some point (repair).

I'm in Repair. You're trying Product. Try Delivery.

 

[Onoto]

I think asking yourself whether or not you should have gone to college is much more reasonable. I can't think of any possible circumstance under which two years of teenaged employment tops a high school diploma, which I understand to be essentially required for any kind of promotion, which I'm sure you want. So, to answer the OP, no, you didn't make a mistake by graduating from high school.

In regards to whether college/education is worthwhile... it obviously depends on what you study and what your aspirations are. If you want to be a professional, you obviously require formal training. If you're simply interested in holding a job, you need to weigh your interest in academics and the utility of the information and diploma in the workplace. I do believe there is value in education outside of simple vocational training, but it's admittedly hard to main that idealism in the face of crushing economic realities.

 

[Korolev]

Well, I got a science degree, and that's working out for me!

 

[daemon37]

Its all about probability. If you drop out of highschool, you COULD become a millionaire, but it is VERY UNLIKELY. However, if you finish highschool and get a college degree it is at least a little MORE LIKELY, because more employers will be MORE LIKELY to take your application seriously.

In short, college degrees don't gaurantee anything, they just make you a little more likely to succeed.

 

[-Samurai-]

I dropped out of highschool and took a quick 2 weeks to get my GED. I'm 23, working in retail making my states minimum wage($7.40/hr).

I live on my own, pay all my bills in full and on time, and I still have about $300 spending money every month, all on minimum wage at 32-36 hours per week.

A GED is a highschool diploma equivalent. You're not worse off than someone that graduated, and they're not better than you for graduating.

Also; I'm working with several people that went through 4+ years of college, only to not be able to find a job in their field. They graduated highschool and college, and they're still not better off than me.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Because a Masters opens up other opportunities. An MBA gets you into a small-medium company with a well paying job. Less education isn't the solution; a degree into an early year job won't pay well. I think you're in a difficult position and you're blaming the system over your own personal misfortune.

My advice to you would be to call a University or College and ask them questions about what a Masters could do for you and what you WANT out of your future profession. Show motivation and effort is the first step to getting out of the dirt.

I am blaming the system and if recent financial history is to be believed, there are serious flaws. The housing collapse mirrors what I feel is an oncoming education collapse. For decades, everyone generally believed that purchasing a house was the best long term financial decision anyone could make, under the assumption that real estate can only go up and that everyone needed/deserved home ownership at any cost. The government believed that, too. And like housing, the government/schools/loan companies are doing everything in their power to educate as many people as possible, all the while creating massive loans that are doomed to go unpaid when people get out into the real world and don't get returns on their investment.

Of course if I call a school they're going to tell me all sorts of great things I could do with a masters degree. They are salespeople. The simple fact of the matter is that the jobs you're talking about are gone and are not coming back.

 

[OneEyeX]

I am blaming the system and if recent financial history is to be believed, there are serious flaws. The housing collapse mirrors what I feel is an oncoming education collapse. For decades, everyone generally believed that purchasing a house was the best long term financial decision anyone could make, under the assumption that real estate can only go up and that everyone needed/deserved home ownership at any cost. The government believed that, too. And like housing, the government/schools/loan companies are doing everything in their power to educate as many people as possible, all the while creating massive loans that are doomed to go unpaid when people get out into the real world and don't get returns on their investment.

Of course if I call a school they're going to tell me all sorts of great things I could do with a masters degree. They are salespeople. The simple fact of the matter is that the jobs you're talking about are gone and are not coming back.

The housing market crash was a very complex and tedious thing to explain. To learn everything about it, I would recommend you watch; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(film) as it will explain what was actually going on to cause such an incident.

Now, your analogy doesn't really add-up to an educational parallel, when you actually look at how the events played out.

I'll repeat myself again.
Call a school, see if there is anything they can do for you to help your career.
Even something as simple as a certification in project management might make a big difference.
Are the jobs there? Yes. The problem is, the standard of education is much higher now. College is becoming more and more of normal thing to do. Diplomas are becoming a requirement.

Essentially the argument you make in this thread is; My room is flooding, instead of swimming harder I should just try to drown faster.

The good jobs ARE out there, you just need to know who to know, network more and maybe get a masters. You need more; not less.

 

[KiKiweaky]

snip

You see, I AM closing in on 25, and I'm still stuck with a McJob. It's all a bunch of useless paper at the end of the day. Besides, if I had been working all this time and my job evaporated with the recession, I'd have enough money to pay for college twice over if I were so inclined.

Oh so youve actually finished college then? Hmm that is rather different now, so youre in debt possibly, still working a shitty job then with nothing much to show for it cept a piece of paper? Have you been looking for another job? (just asking) If your anything like me you'd generally prefer to wait for one to come to you =D but we had a talk from a lecturer about this sort of thing. Basicly he was saying that we are going to feel like we're wasting our time if we know people who are out working while we're in college.

I'm doing a degree in IT (my college is a piece of crap) and while I was on work experience I realised just how unprepared I am for the work place. A friend doing a similar degree in a nearby university is of the same opinion, college isnt really that relevant to what we are doing. Than again college here is pretty cheap costing me less than ?2,000 a year as I'm living nearby so dont need to move into a different house or anything.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I'm a virtually unemployable cripple

You too, eh?
OP: I have to go to college. Disabled people don't get many chances in the workforce.