General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsReal World Experience vs. College: Which is more useful?
In this hilarious and memorable scene from "Back to School," the real world and academe clash. Snobby Economics professor meets his match.
This scene has stuck with me from the first time I saw this movie. I think that while there is great value in a college education, real world experience, which only time can give, is not always valued enough. In the movie, even Dangerfield's character still insists that without an education, you're nothing; but he certainly took the professor to school. What do you think?
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)If you are stuck on a snowbound mountain then a college education isnt worth as much as having artic experience.
panader0
(25,816 posts)For me, it was the school of hard knocks. I am in construction. For my daughter it is college (engineering).
ProgressiveProfessor
(22,144 posts)Its a basic entry requirement
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I was married at 16 and divorced at 25. I clawed my way up the corporate world. I did office work, learned typesetting, worked at 2 magazines, and when I retired I was a copy editor for 30 outdoors magazines. My daughter has just received her master's degree in education. She is a teacher at a charter school in South Florida. She was fortunate that she worked at a college and got her education free to earn her bachelor's degree.
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)The speed that computing has grown in the past ten years. I definetly think my other experiences and learning have stood me in greater stead.
tjwash
(8,219 posts)The problem is that I am old and that comes with a whole bunch of its own problems in today's workplace
MinneapolisMatt
(1,550 posts)Seriously...connections get you everything. Front of the line.
ProgressiveProfessor
(22,144 posts)In STEM rarely. In business or liberal arts, much more so
Blecht
(3,803 posts)Nothing else matters for the most part. There are some exceptions -- jobs like nursing that require specialized training that you get in college, for example.
white_wolf
(6,238 posts)We've all heard the success stories of people who make millions without a degree, Bill Gates comes to mind. On the other hand, I don't think you can succeed at all without some kind of education to fall back on. At the very least you had better know how to read write and do basic math or otherwise even if you have the best idea in the world someone will rip you off somehow. For some fields a college education is essential. It would be very difficult if not impossible to teach yourself medicine or engineering. Even fields that can be self-taught such as law now require degrees simply because of the institutions that have been built up around them.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)*shrug*
reteachinwi
(579 posts)an understanding of science, a refined esthetic understanding, an appreciation for the difficulty inherent in understanding the truth of anything can lead to a much more examined life. Aren't both experience and formal education valuable? They are not exclusive.