After reading and discussing "College is a Waste of Time and Money", what are your thoughts? Does Caroline Bird make a compelling argument? Do you see her perspective? If you don't agree with her, were you able to be open-minded to her perspective and at least consider it, even momentarily? Share your thoughts.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout reading this article there were many things that I did not agree with. I don't think that she made a compelling argument at all, the information that she was using I found to be very stereotypical and somewhat opinionated. I thought that the information she used was old and outdated. Many of her arguments were not backed up with informative information.
ReplyDeleteI could somewhat see her perspective on this subject but mostly I just found her writing to be annoying and rather stereotypical. I tried to open up my mind but for some reason I could not even think about it. I thought some of her points were good yet, they just were not backed up with enough information for me to find them believable.
My thoughts about this article are that I obviously do not agree with the article in my own sense of view, because i already know i want to go to college. But in a sense, I am able to step out of the perspective of my own life and agree with the author's perspective. I do believe it is true that college-bound students need to consider all options after highschool, if that includes or discludes a college education. Caroline Bird absolutely makes a compelling argument for her case in the fact that all highschool students should choose what they feel is right for their after-highschool life, instead of following social norms that may end up for the worse, in the long run. I am a very open-minded person and it was very easy to see where the author was coming from since she made clear and factual evidence which made her argument stronger that college is not for everyone.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, I do believe that Caroline Bird's argument was convincing, but in some ways I did not always buy what she was saying. She did not use outside sources to support her argument. I was always taught that going to college was the right thing & I had already decided that I was going to college long before I read this article, in fact years ago. When it comes to college being a waste of money, I do not think that is true. I think that even though college is very expensive, that it is worth it in the end because you have many more choices when it comes to jobs. I do however see where she is coming from. Although they were not included in her article, I have heard stories about people being happy with their lives without going to college. You can make a living and be content with your life even if you do not go to college. Even though I am choosing to go to college, I know people who have made a living without going to college, therefore that statement is supported. I did consider what my life would be like if I did not go to college, but with the career that I plan to aspire I realized that a college education is the only way I can acheive my dreams. College may seem like a waste of time and money to some people, but it does not seem like a waste of time and money to me. It seems like college will be very helpful when it comes to my future.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article "College is a Waste of Time and Money" my thoughts were extremely negative. I found it hard to believe most of the information she wrote, and I felt that she contradicted herself too many times to make any valid statements. I think that if the author wrote the essay in a different way, it would have been much easier to see her perspective. There were many times that she made generalizations and assumptions. Also, her statistics were very old, and sometimes contradicted her claim. There were a couple times throughout the the article that I felt I agreed with her argument, however. For example, one time she talked about how colleges graduate far too many students than jobs need in particular work fields. Because of this, many students have no where to go after college because there are no jobs available for them. I thought this was a strong statement that actually made me pause and consider the negative attributes of college. Although her article may be accurate from some people, I do not believe that the path she wants many people to take is right for me. I want to go to college and learn to be independent. College is not only a way to better one's education, but it is also a crucial part of becoming an adult. In my opinion, missing out on college is one of the most terrible decisions one could make in their life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Caroline Bird that there is a majority of college students that do not want to be there or would rather be doing something else with their lives. I think that there a college students who are in college because they believe it is necessary to get a good job. I also think there are some who are there because their parents are forcing them to go. I do not think that anyone should be forced to go to college especially if what they want to do with their life does not require it. In some cases, parents are wasting their money on college because students are either very unhappy and dropout or they cannot find a job that fits the diploma they have earned. Ultimately, I believe that college is a choice, not a requirement. It is a decision that should be made by that person without any others.
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ReplyDeleteIn many ways, this article kind of feel through with support. When reading it, I kept noticing how all of her arguements were outdated and really unsupportive of her true claim. For example she said, "Only 74% of people think college is very important". To me this seems like quite a high persentage. Of corse some people will not think college is very important because in reality there are a few professions where having a college degree many be kindof unessacry, or the people that were interviewed were lazy and do not really want to be in school at all. Do to these differnt things I did not think that the authors claim was over all effective.
ReplyDeleteNow I did find a couple single facts that I agreed with. She talked about some times the monetary gain and the physic gains and how they realate to life. The physic gain is how the job makes you feel and the emotional benifits of working. She said that this is the most important thing. I agree with this statement. If someone does not like their job then the money really does not make a differnce. However many people gain better and specialized jobs due to college degrees. So in the end I believe with a college degree the physic gains will be larger.
Although in many ways I did not agree with her overall message, I did try to keep an open mind while looking through all of the informaiton. There were some things and facts that almost had me convinced that college was unimportnat. However, due to her overall lack of true support and updated information I could not complelety agree with her.
I think that college could be a waste of time and money. The key words is could be instead of is. College may be only right for some. Some now, some later, or for some not at all. I really don't think the author makes a compelling agrument. She doesn't really cite her sources of information well. Also, when it says she surveyed students from college, I think it matters what kind of college they go to. I see her persepective from her assumptions not the facts. I do like how this article goes against what the majority of society believes. I think in some ways it might be better to wait for college that way you can experiment with the possible careers you want to become so that way when you do go to college, you are for sure on what you want to persue and then it doesn't seem like a waste. I believe the majority of people need college to become successful where the minority, like Bill Gates, doesn't. Everyone is given the equal opportunity for college, it just depends if and how you take it on.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading "College is a Waste of Time and Money", I was actually turned off by it. I did not agree with what the author was trying to say about college. However, there were points in the article that did make me step back and look at what I thought from a different angle. She discussed how college did not make people happy, more intelligent or more ambitious but it is the other way around. I did not disagree with this point however I never really thought about it that way. I do believe that those who do go to college will be smarter than those who did not go in the areas that they studied. There are obviously exceptions to that rule. There are geniuses in the world and probably don't all go to college and would still be smarter than someone who did. That is not the point however. For the most part, the normal population would benefit from going to college and getting a higher level of education. I believe the author is very bitter about the whole idea of college and has an underlying idea as to why she really wrote this article. I also believe that some of the author's stats did not help her convince the reader. They in fact did the exact opposite and actually proved some of her own points wrong.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this essay was full of bias. I can she she got some of these ideas from her own experience and not off of other pople. She does have somewhat of an argument, but it can be easily proven wrong by statistics and proof now. At the time the article wasz written she could have easily changed some people because college was new and there was not much proof yet that college was good or bad. At that time she could have gotten these ideas from any college. College in the 1970's were no way equivalent to what have today. I can sort of see where she comes from in her ideas, but they are just to easily over turned. She had some point that worked for her where she said that some people still got the same pay as non-college participants did when they were done, but that only lasts for a littl while. Eventually these graduates will get jobs they are qualified for and get payed more than the people who only graduated from high school. She had some good ideas for back then, but those ideas could easily be proven wrong in todays world.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this girl has gotten rejected from every college she applied to and now she is just mad at the world. I don't feel like you absolutely have to go to college to be successful, however, it cannot hurt. I do not think college will ever be a waste of time if you really utilize that time wisely and actually go to your classes and try to learn something. If you really go to college with a purpose and you really try and get good grades it will not be a waste of time. I do not know why this author feels the way she does but she did not change my views about college at all. I never once considered not going to college while i read this article. Most jobs now require a college diploma and I'm certainly not going to go into life and the real world without a job, so I plan on going to college regardless of what this author says.
ReplyDeleteThe article entitled "College is a Waste of Time" describes the authors views that college is impractical for most everyone. I believe that college can be a fit for some personalities and interests, but not all. It is true that not everyone has their entire life planned out by the time they walk across the stage at graduation; some sheltered eighteen year olds may not know what to do with their lives since they will not be under parental watch. If a student does not know what they want to be when the get older I would not encourage them to waste their money, more likely, their parents money on an "undecided" major. However, I strongly believe that students who have dreams to be successful and have an idea how to achieve that goal can greatly benefit from the college experience.
ReplyDeleteI believe that college is not a waste of time because the people who chose to go to college make it their own choice, and it would not be a waste of time because if an idividual goes o college, it will only help them. Getting a college degree will help you in life in many ways. It could help you with your whole future with getting a job. There is no way that a college degree can hurt you it will only help you in the long run. I believe that she does make a good argument just not a good enough one to make me believe that going to college is a waste of time. I am able to see from her perspective she had some very vaild points in her argument I just don't believe that her arguments were strong enough points to convience me that going to college is a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading and discussing "College is a Waste of Time and Money", I have a clearer grasp on my thoughts about college. She did make a statement that made a lot of sense to me, stating that college is at best "a social center" or "aging vat". And that college keeps students "out of the mainstream economic life for a few more years". In my mind college has always been this social animal, people don't just go for the academic and its benefit, but go to party and have a good time. In movies and TV, college students are rarely depicted as in the middle of lectures or actually doing some form of learning. The students are usually partying and having a good time, or pressuring their roommates who ARE actually trying to keep their studies up. I also agree with the aging vat. The people in college are technically adults, but at the same time, they're still students and most of what they do revolves around the university they've aligned themselves with. Many of them have yet to face the integral and fiscal responsibilities of "true adults" until they're graduated. And suddenly when graduation is gone, they're finally adults, but at the same time they're being dropped off into reality and basically told "Ok time for the real world now, go get a job." Suddenly these "adults" no longer have the universities to rely on, they actually have to go out and do something with their lives. I feel as if she does make a compelling argument, and that college for those who don't want it or what may come with it IS a waste of time and money. I think this all depends on how that person feels about their own situation.
ReplyDeleteI though that her view on college was very inaccurate. She was very one sided. At first I agreed with some of her views, but as she went on more flaws in her logic became apparent. Her argument was very compelling, but I think her lack of hard evidence was what made it so unstable. I saw her perspective, but there were too many alternatives for her claim to be the one and only solution. Because she was careful not to use superlatives a lot of her claims were able to be used. I think college is not a waste of time and money for me. Because the topic is so subjective it's to disagree with her statements. but I think that college is important to more than the few she allotted.
ReplyDeleteI think that Caroline Bird has a supported idea, but it is not one that would take hold in society. True, some people might think of college the same way she does. As a whole, however, most people are unlikely to avoid college. Bird's argument, as previously stated, had support and was quite valid. I definitely see her perspective, and, though I don't completely agree, I was able to consider it from her perspective. I think that college should be for those who want to go, not for people who think it is expected. Plenty of people, myself included, need to go to college to be more succuessful in his or her chosen career path. Most careers require higher education in the first place. One may become a movie star whether or not they go to college because it depends on his or her abilities. A person who desires to be a doctor, for example, would have to go to college and on so as to attain the necessary knowledge. I want to major in musical theater and perhaps be on Broadway. I do not need a college education for this dream, but it will greatly increase my chances of succeeding. Lastly, I don't think people pay for the education when they go to college. One can learn anything with the right source. College is important to go to because it is the most reasonable way to gain imperative education, and because most employers prefer someone with an education over someone without. So truly, one is paying for the certificate rather than the education.
ReplyDeleteI unfortunatly completely disagreed with her argument, but I also think that's because I'm raised to think that college is what you do after high school. I was able to consider her ideas, but most of the time her evidence was all assumptions and weren't fair judgements. I had lots of questions like, Did she go to college? Did she have a bad experience in college? I wasnted to immeadiatly know more about her, and what her motives were for think this way. I felt as though her points were thoughtful and made sense, but only applied to those unmotivated, lazy students. It bothered me reading this, because I so strongly disagree with her. She took college way out of proportion and emphasized points that didn't help her case. I thought that her essay was effective, but just not on myself because of how strongly I believe in going to college. Although, I think that most of people that went to college reading this would disagree as well, which makes me think her audience may be those uneducated or debating whether or not to go to college. I will say though, that she wrote it very well.
ReplyDeleteThe author of this article did not even come close to persuading me that college is a waste of time and money. I have always believed that a college education is necessary nowadays to get a good job. In my opinion, whether or not an application has a college education should be one of the first things that a potential employer looks at. Now I understand that everyone views success in life a little differently, and that whether or not a college education is required for success may differ from person to person, but I believe that a majority of people believe that a college education is necessary. The information that the author provided was also very outdated, for she did not cite anything that was past the year 2000. Her information also was very opinion based, and she generalized a lot in her arguments. For example, she starts of the paper by saying " A great majority of our nine million college students...". Well how many is a great majority of nine million? There just seemed to be a lot of holes in her argument, which took away from the validity of the argument. Finally, there was some bias in the paper, further taking away the validity of the paper.
ReplyDeleteI think this article was written by someone who hates college to much to see its benfits clearly. She is oviously trying to persade us that college is a waste of time and money but she does not give very much evidence to support her claim. She states that people who go to college feel like they are serving a sentence or dislike it there. This could be true but they do it so they can have a better life after. She also fails to mention that there are certain job that a person cannot get without a college degree and that those job are often well paying. Even though I don't agree with her she is right in saying that not everyone should go to college. For people who are just going to waste time and money should not go but only the amitious who want to better themselves with an education and who want to work hard in life.
ReplyDeleteI think this article had many flaws in its argument. I had a bit of a closed mind about this subject because of what I have been taught since ementary school. I still listened to the authors argument by forgeting some of my thougts that I already had. I immediatly remember my thoughts when I saw how many holes the author had in their argument. The author only gave pieces of vague information and left out some information that would prove her wrong. The author says that people do not need college to become successful but it depends on who the people are and what their goals are. I have high expectations for myself so not going to college would make me and my parents think of me as a failure. This might be different for other students but I think not going to college is a bad thing. One more problem she had with her information was that it was a little out dated. One of her studies was from the 70s. A lot of bad thing happened in the 70s that could have caused a drop in college students behaving the same way as years before. It is very easy to punch holes in her argument, therefore I believe it to be invalid.
ReplyDeleteI thought the article was interesting but not quite completely researched. There were times that the author quoted and cited good sources, but some of her strongest points had no back up except opinio. I think that the message is good because I do agree that college is not for everyone. However, I don't think it is education that they don't need I think it's the way college is organized. Some people may need life-preparation classes and not career-preparation classes. Not everyone will persue a career. Some stay-at-home parents might already know that they are most likely going to end up staying at home, so what is the point in getting a degree for something they will do for two years, then never using it again. However, if college campuses offered more life classes I think it would be very helpful. Her argument about money was plausible, however she neglected the fact that financial aid is available as well as scholarships. I would also like to know the college campuses that she interviewed students at, because I think the results would be different results at Yale as opposed to Ivy Tech or another community college. Overall, I did agree with some parts of her argument were plausible but the most important points were not backed upp very well.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article i had mixed opinions about the information being stated. On one hand i understand where she is coming from when she states that college is not for everyone. Although, the author makes it seem like college as a whole is a major waste of time, which I disagree with. I did not understand part of the evidence she tried to use to support her argument. The evidence also seemed outdated and it made little since how she portrayed it to fit with her point of view. Her argument did not seem to match up with the way that she was stating her evidence. She had a lot of unnecessary information in the article as well. I think she could have written an article with less of the fancy word usage. After reading some part of it I just could comprehend what she said because she used so many unnecessary words. I understood her perspective, I just think that she did not do the best job supporting her claim. I did my best to keep an open mind to what she had to say, but i disagreed with what she used to support it.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the article was thought provoking, but I don't think the author's argument was compelling enough. Much of her support could be interepreted the wrong way or didn't seem valid all together. I did see where she was coming from on the issue as I myself believe that college isn't for everyone, but I think she almost tried to take it to far in some of her points. I was open minded to her perspective and had several "ahhhhh" or "hmm" moments when she made me think about her argument and did seem to make a valid point. There were several points that Caroline made that I agreed with, but even on those points you could take it further and argue against her. For example, when she said the majority of college kids don't want to be there, it can be seen two ways. On one hand there are the kids that flat out hate the fact that they are at college and may only attend because they're parents or someone is keeping them there. While on the other hand, many kids say they don't really want to be at college, but they themselves know that a college education could help them out and make them have a better chance at success so they stick through it and stay in school. Overall, I thought the article was interesting in opening my eyes to new viewpoints and arguments as to why someone might not want to go to college, but it did not move me enough firmly say college is a waste of time and money for everyone.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think I would have to disagree with how harshly the author denounced college. College is extremely important to our community. Without it we would not have doctors, lawyers, teachers, or bankers, people who are all very important to our economy. However, I did find some of her arguments valid. I think there are too many people that only go to college becuase they believe it is the right thing to do. College has sort of a bandwagon effect, many students observe all their peers going, so they think they must too. I think, though, that not everyone is meant for college. We still need, whether people agree with it or not, fastfood workers, plumbers, etc. Jobs that do not require a college education still have to get done. That is why I agree with the author that not everyone needs to go, especially the people who do not enjoy school. For example, my dad never went to college and is an extremely successful man, he is a supervisor of a coalmine while he also owns his own business. He is only one of the many people who succeeded in life without ever stepping into a college lecture. That is why I can see both sides to this argument.
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