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Brigid

(17,621 posts)
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 09:54 PM Jan 2013

Real 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?

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Real World Experience vs. College: Which is more useful? (Original Post) Brigid Jan 2013 OP
depends on the person and the life situation you are in loli phabay Jan 2013 #1
It depends on what you want do for a living. No? panader0 Jan 2013 #2
In STEM fields, few are without a degree of some sort ProgressiveProfessor Jan 2013 #5
School of hard knocks here too. RebelOne Jan 2013 #7
i havent used anything i learned in college since i left. its probuably all out of date anyway with loli phabay Jan 2013 #8
I have both...they are both useful in seperate ways tjwash Jan 2013 #3
I think it's more who you know! MinneapolisMatt Jan 2013 #4
Depends on the field ProgressiveProfessor Jan 2013 #6
This ^ Blecht Jan 2013 #10
As for college it really depends on the field. white_wolf Jan 2013 #9
Odd, I thought my college was one part of the real world? Recursion Jan 2013 #11
Experience enriched by sense of history reteachinwi Jan 2013 #12
(d.) None of the above. WinkyDink Jan 2013 #13
 

loli phabay

(5,580 posts)
1. depends on the person and the life situation you are in
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 09:57 PM
Jan 2013

If you are stuck on a snowbound mountain then a college education isnt worth as much as having artic experience.

panader0

(25,816 posts)
2. It depends on what you want do for a living. No?
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 09:58 PM
Jan 2013

For me, it was the school of hard knocks. I am in construction. For my daughter it is college (engineering).

RebelOne

(30,947 posts)
7. School of hard knocks here too.
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 10:07 PM
Jan 2013

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)
8. i havent used anything i learned in college since i left. its probuably all out of date anyway with
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 10:09 PM
Jan 2013

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)
3. I have both...they are both useful in seperate ways
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 10:01 PM
Jan 2013

The problem is that I am old and that comes with a whole bunch of its own problems in today's workplace

Blecht

(3,803 posts)
10. This ^
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 10:20 PM
Jan 2013

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)
9. As for college it really depends on the field.
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 10:14 PM
Jan 2013

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.

 

reteachinwi

(579 posts)
12. Experience enriched by sense of history
Mon Jan 28, 2013, 11:31 PM
Jan 2013

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.

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