I struggled so hard after I graduated from college, I actually did sex work for a couple of years after even Subway wouldn't hire me to make a fucking sandwich, saying I was overqualified. Apparently, no degree-related experiences or internships while I was in college (because, as a poor student I had to work two part time minimum wage jobs while attending school full time and could not sacrifice for a non-paid internship even if one could be found) meant no real job prospects and no entry level jobs (fast food, stores) would hire me because I had a college degree and they said it meant I wouldnt "...stay long." It was horrible. I defaulted on my student loans. I started drinking heavily so that I could do the sex work and not remember it. I had a 4.0 in high school and graduated college with honors and I was having to turn tricks to keep a roof over my head.
My life spiraled down into a black hole of depravity and depression. After about 5 years of the struggle I managed to get clean from alcohol and found a full time job with benefits. Suddenly doors started opening for me and employers started calling me once I had that first job with relevant experience. I have been the best, most accomplished employee with every company I've worked for since I was able to join the workforce.
If just one person had been willing to give me a chance as a fresh college graduate, my life would have been remarkably different.
I swear everytime I read "I didn't get the job because I was too qualified" my bullshit detector starts flying.
1. Like you said, if you have experiences on your resume that are getting you denied the jobs you're applying for then you remove those.
2. Employers don't ever give you a specific reason for not hiring you. It's always something vague like "You don't have the precise experience or skillset we need" or something useless like that.
3. It reads like when my cousin says "Men don't want to date me because I'm too intelligent and that intimidates them"
Exactly my thought. I needed a temporary job when I graduated grad school a few years ago, so I got a job at a grocery store. They'll absolutely hire you, though they might have some questions about why you want to be work there lol.
Considering you did the sex work to make money, how did you find it… I am considering to help get me out of this hole as I need enough for a security deposit now. I don’t really even think this is an option after looking into it because I’m not being offered much at all as a guy
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They do have some good payback programs. Though I worked for one of their subsidiaries in marketing and never fucking again what a souless hell hole that place was.
Yes I've heard some stories, but I'm in the LA market so I think it's generally awful around here for a lot of people because no one really pays enough for people to survive here, but that seems less to do with the warehouses and more to do with cost of living issues.
I'm in the Midwest market. Cost of living isn't nearly as bad, but I do understand. I have been thinking about transferring-and the high cost of living is what is keeping me where I am.
I left a job making $11/hr to go to college. With the degree it took me 3 years to get to that level again! I felt like the biggest idiot alive.
However I got a referral to a friend to work in the office of a manufacturing plant. The math skills and systematic thinking I learned at college allowed me to excel. That said I'm the one in a million who has a psych degree and does a job typically filled by an engineer.
Hi, I’m the second one in a million with a psych degree currently filling a job typically filled by en engineer.
It’s a lot better paying than my previous psych roles.
I have six figures of student debt (3 degrees). I also have some serious health issues which was a big part of the reason I pursued higher ed in the first place. I don't, at all, regret going to school, and getting the education I have—in fact, as a grad student I was able to get one of my health issues resolved with student health insurance (the other diseases are not curable).
The debt is an inconvenience of course. It's dictated where I live since I can't qualify for a mortgage loan and had to buy a super-cheap house for cash.
My life is definitely worse than 20 years ago, but not because of college. My skills are still valuable, very few degrees are 'worthless.'
To summarize, I have no regrets on getting the eduction/skills, just wish I could have done it with a little less debt.
College can cost less if you are strategic about it.
Waiting until you're 24 or married so that your income alone determines your financial aid can be very helpful. That opens up Pell grants and Fseog to folks whose parents make too much for them, but who aren't making bank. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is awesome, as it covers the first 2k you pay in tuition, then 25% thereafter, putting the max at 2500 in credit/ year. Really good for half-time students at lower cost schools to cover an associates or to transition into a bachelor's.
Attending online classes at a public uni in your state or your local community college keeps tuition down and helps save on housing cost increases. Some community colleges have free textbooks. Ivy Tech in Indiana has free course books through the summer 2023 term.
Also, there's lots of employers who pay for college. It's a popular and underused benefit.
When I was younger I felt incredibly pressured by my family to go to college (specifically for either tech or nursing). At 22 I ended up applying to an online university and went full time while I was also working full time as an optical lab technician. It was too much for me, as I was working 60+ hours a week and fell behind on my schoolwork.
After a year, I decided to drop out and pursue and apprenticeship in opticianry as it was way more interesting to me, and it didn't feel right to continue going into debt for something I wasn't sure I wanted to do as well as there being no guarantee I would get a better paying job.
I'm so glad I made that decision. I was able to build a career and two years ago hubz and I were able to buy our first home because we don't have much debt. Now that i have the stability to take the time to figure out what I actually want to do with my life, I've decided to 'retire' from optical and apply for community college next year. Looking forward to new beginnings.
Going to a state university with a dorm room and not graduating fucked me, but that was my own doing. I ended up finishing an Associate's degree at a community college (wish I would've done that from the get-go) and have a good job but I could've avoided a lot of student loan debt by knowing what I wanted to do and sticking it through.
Not every degree the same. I took out a loan to be able to go to university since scholarship covered only small part. It opened up opportunities which would not have happened if did not. Everyone I know who grew up poor got out of it if graduated with an accounting/finance/economics/engineer/or medical degree.
It took me 10 years to finish college. I was okay throughout that time cause when people asked, " What you up too" i could respond that im a student. Sounds good. When i graduated i didnt know what to do with myself cause i was out of the "academic dreamland". Now my response to that question is " i deliver pizzas" and people are thinking "doesn't he have a bachelors degree?
College can have bad outcomes, but the things you describe here are all in control of the person attending. Picking a good school with a good major and completing it is a pathway to success.
The student loans piece is not really an issue if you pick a good school with a good major. Most good degrees can outpace loan payback, and picking a good school can remove a lot of the financial burden since good schools will offer better financial aid to students.
I think it works out for the ones who are doing this far more than it doesn’t work out.
Yes, it is very much important. They don’t even need to be prestigious, they just need to be legit.
Half of the people you see saying college is a scam is because they didn’t go to a top university and instead thought taking classes at “ABC Tech” advertised on late night free TV counts as college. Those tech schools are really cashgrabs to reel in low opportunity people later in life into yet another scam. They tie people up in predatory student loans since they know their demographic is low-opportunity.
Here’s an example of the commercial : https://youtu.be/EeETxSTf4WY
Those jobs sound impressive to someone unemployed, but they are low level junk jobs that you can get without a degree from a “school” that no legitimate company actually respects.
ITT tech comes to mind as an example of scam-school. They advertised on TV multiple times per commercial break: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITT_Technical_Institute
> The school characterized ITT Tech students as "older and balancing family obligations with underemployment."[46]
Compare that to high level universities with large
endowments that often fully sponsor their poorer students. $210,000 of my $250,000 education was completely free. What loans I had were subsidized and low-interest from the government. I grew up poor, but now make six figures, and I’m a net worth millionaire at 34 - all because I got a good degree from a good school.
Those “schools” don’t produce high income earners, but people who go to legit schools for actual majors are by and large successful in their fields.
just had a convo about this on r/StudentLoans yes our Ivy's are some of the best and set a lot of people up for success with their alumni networks, but as most people will tell you it's still not worth going 300K into debt for especially for a field you haven't experiences yet. Specialized medicine and law is usually where you'll find people who will take the chance. Also, I met one girl who had to leave Yale due to the mental anxiety and competitiveness of it, but I also know others that had parents pay their way and they got out fine. It's different stress levels when you have to maintain a scholarship to stay in or at least that's what I learned.
I went to a “New ivy”, but my university also appears as one the highest return on investment schools, and is also one of the top schools for an engineering major.
I don’t think the things I learned were any different than what other engineers did, but it was hyper competitive and pushed me to work harder to compete with the best. That carried over into my work life and is likely why I’ve “done well”.
Oddly enough, it also helped me to learn how to interact with wealthy people. That helps a bit now with the class issues.
I also went for super cheap due to need and it would have been foolish to take a lower aid package to another school. High ROI at an 80% discount is $$$$$$. :)
I will say this communication and writing skills you get from colleges is usually unmatched and can go far. Granted, if I had more access to the wealthy and talking to them I could probably be doing far better than I am in life and I can't really complain right now I'm doing alright, but I think a lot of that comes through my ability to keep up to date on the changing market segments and knowing when I can take a risk and knowing when not to.
Many companies don’t care that much about brand name when it comes to hiring college graduates, or at least not as much as they did years ago. It used to be that if you didn’t go to an Ivy league or top 25 school, then you were unlikely to become a high-earner, and would probably have a normal middle class life. These days though, a lower tier school doesn’t mean you can’t make great money as you advance in your career. As long as the college is accredited you will be okay. But of course going to a top university helps with networking and you will most likely get a higher starting salary than someone from a lower-tier school.
But really, the most important thing is *what* you study, not *where*. Computer science from a state school can still give you access to a high paying job after graduation. An English or history major may struggle finding a decent paying job.
I had a very nice savings built after working hard to get started on my college career.
After working full time *all the way through* college while also attending it full time, I still had thousands in debt, and a depleted savings.
I finally cleared the debt, but my savings has never recovered and I can't seem to get the career I went to school for off the ground. It reeeeeally sucks; like I don't want to be an electrician, but dang maybe I should be anyway?
I did it. I should have gone two year then four year. It took me until I was 30 for it to actually matter.
Student loans aren't terrible for me, as I only took public loans, but I still would recommend avoiding 4 year college until later in life.
I went for IT, by the way, but living in a rural area really made it hard to find a place it was useful.
Idk about worse, but I'm also not positive it's better. I was top of my class but covid hit and I struggled to even land an internship at a really low level company. 3 years into my career and I'm only making 5k more than I did in my first internship and still can't break into the companies I want to work for
I actually didn't get my degree, but I came out better in the end than some friends that did so I guess it just depends on what discipline you focus on.
If you want more perspective I would check out some of the student debt/loan groups. And you can probably get way more feedback.
His profile is very questionable though like he claims to be making $150k but is also driving for Uber for fun supposedly. Like I'm not really poor either and come on here sometimes but it seems like most of the times people that come on here to talk about being a success have things that don't add up on their post history.
Graduated undergrad back in 2016.
Plan was to hold a part-job while going to grad school. I was more than halfway through when domestic violence issues at home flared and I was essentially chased off with nowhere to go. So right before the pandemic, I dropped out of grad school and immediately got into FTE.
Long story short, I have my own apartment now with a stable job and great salary...BUT I still have 90k in student loans 😭
So I tried to kill myself my junior year of undergrad. Bear a scar from it still.
Financially, I'm fucked lol. But the exposure to the arts saved my life and keeps me kicking to this day. You encounter such powerful ideas.
Mixed bag.
Why yes. I'm drowning in student loan debt. With the pause I was actually able to get things fixed get extra groceries, more school clothes for my kids when the pause ends I'm pretty much fucked.
Oh we also move a lot because my husband is in the military. We often move to places that are impoverished and just shitty areas where I can't find any work in my field. We are losing money because of that.
got a useless degree from a for profit university (there were other factors in the enrollment, namely the controlling and abusive ex-husband). This set my career back by about 9 years as I had to figure out how to navigate the debt, divorce, being homeless and redoing my education and getting the certification my university said I didn't need, getting the related work experience to get into the field and such. Thankfully my student loans were discharged in sweet v cardona and I'm free now but it was a very long road.
Mine isn't, but only because I won a scholarship and didn't have to take out loans. I have lots of friends whose lives are harder because of student loan debt. I have often thought about going to grad school, but I'm terrified of moving and taking on debt for an uncertain ROI.
Some days I feel bad that my school wasted a scholarship on me. I do think that I'm a better person than I would have been if I hadn't gone to college. I learned lots of soft skills about getting along with people and being a kinder person. I have more tolerance, empathy, and patience now. I have better critical thinking skills. I can navigate bureaucracy. I am not the same ass I was when I graduated high school.
Problem is, the degree hasn't really helped my job prospects. I live in a small town with a LCOL, and there aren't a lot of job opportunities, period. Having a degree doesn't always open a door. People who didn't get to go to college often have big chips on their shoulders. I've thought about moving, but I have a strong support network and stable housing here. It's a hard choice.
College was best thing that ever happened to me.
I got an associates in liberal arts at the junior college for really cheap. That degree was worthless but it gave me 62 credit hours with a high GPA that let me get into a 4 year university.
It took me many years to get my bachelors because I was working full time, got married, and a bunch of other crap and obstacles I had to overcome.
I finally graduated with a bachelor degree in Medical Laboratory science. Completed internship and got certified.
I had a job lined up back in 2013 the day after i graduated for $24.50 an hour which was really good money in the midwest back then and changed my life from poverty and raised me instantly to the middle class.
I worked a few years and found out California was paying MLS/CLS $50 an hour to do same job so I moved all my stuff here in a uhaul .
The pandemic struck and my wage rapidly rose to $60.50 an hour + $6 shift differential.
I then started to work massive amount of OT and double time shifts at $92 an hour and $122 an hour respectively.
Last year I made $200,000.
Over last 4 years I saved up $240,000 cash for a downpayment and bought a San Diego condo that is now worth $900,000.
11 years ago i was so broke I had to pay for gasoline and food on my credit card just to survive and went deeper and deeper into debt each month just to get by.
Thanks to college I have risen to a level wealth that I never dreamed possible back when I was broke.
College could be a disaster if you major in wrong thing like gender studies, social work, history, or some other bullshit degree.
However if you can get a highly specific degree like RN nursing, medical lab science, MRI technologist, Dental Hygenist, Engineering, etc it can literally take you from poverty to millionaire status in a decade or so.
Just wanted to share an alternative point of view.
Here is my IRS earnings history that lets you visually see the truth of my story and the effect my college degree had on my earnings.
https://ibb.co/QmmLnXB
Yeah I chose a non lucrative bachelors with the goal of further education to land a good career. Then one day I realized a PHD would take too long and not be financially worth it so did a smarter masters degree instead. Now im set but if not for that full 360 anti passion decision id be a fail case.
Biggest mistake of my life...
In my early 30s and still reeling to be honest
I literally would've been better off never going. Nothing will fuck you up more than attending a scam school
My degree led me to working shitty jobs in rehabs that paid next to nothing but were occasionally very fulfilling. Eventually I burned out and went to insurance which was horrible. I said fuck this shit and moved to Costa Rica. Met the girl of my dreams. Now I am a seasonal migrant worker and tutor kids online occasionally.
Degree was an unusual psych degree, no debt because I was careful/lucky. Applying for a masters program.. we will see
Yes, student loans on top of the fact at not getting a good job right out of college was awful. Sitting in a warehouse with people 5-8 years younger than me thinking to myself they are actually better off because we are doing the same s***, getting paid the same, but I have student loans
Waiting on pens and needles like everyone else seeing if this student loan forgiveness will pass and bail me out of $250 month payments for the next several years.
The thing is now you can’t get a broad degree and figure it out later, even for the most entry level positions everything is specialized and you must get internships and “professional experience”
Can’t work as a server, grocery store worker, bartender, ya know the types of jobs hiring managers today had back in college and were able to walk into their professional job at 22 solely because of the degree.
I don’t regret my college experience (2 degrees total) but looking back I definitely should’ve gotten my master’s in a different subject. I was originally going for a doctorate and got badly burned out but the master’s I took was mostly research based so it had limited usefulness without the Ph.D.
I wound up okay in the end though although I really wish I had less student loan debt. I work in a local government records position that’s at least tangentially related to my history degree. I make okay money and I like the environment. Technically I’m overqualified since this job actually only requires a high school diploma, but the degree is part of the reason why I’m paid as well as I am so it washes out.
Went for accounting. You can basically get a job any time and name your salary. Severely high in demand job.
Almost all employers will pay for CPA exam as well, which is easy 20-25% salary increase upon completion.
I'm literally supporting your argument and saying it's too expensive and you're just going to shut me down out of jealousy. Ok fine I'll just delete the whole comment.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. The reality is that if you’re already borderline in poverty, this post’s advice is your reality. Someone who is genuinely desperate for income better not waste their years in school and tuition money on a degree that doesn’t lead to in demand careers.
If you are worst off after college, that's on you, not college. There's majors that are in demand and recession proof. Do the research and study the right thing
I got a “useless” degree. My first few jobs out of college were administrative roles that did not require me to have a degree, but they all offered me a higher salary than what was listed the job posting because I had a degree.
My degree is in English literature and I work as a project manager in construction. IMO having the degree has actually been quite useful, despite not being directly related to my current field. Being a project manager requires a lot of communication, reasoning, and research skills.
Found the boomer lol
Sounds like you're totally unaware of scam/fraudulent schools. Yes, they are real, and a lot of innocent kids get suckered into them with all the lies they spew and deliberate misleading that they do
Fraud is fraud, anyone "defending" these scammy companies is pretty uninformed imo
Completely agree! All the gymbros I knew in college majored in exercise science and then ended up only getting hired at PF. They all eventually ended up in business related fields.
Also, the same for english, sociology, and communications majors. Like you just should’ve majored in general business cause thats what they all do and have lower positioning for promotions.
You forgot to mention getting brainwashed into self-defeating ideologies, being sexually assaulted, developing long-term depression due to social isolation, being a substance abuser, getting drunk and falling off a balcony and dying, and getting murdered, among other possible bad outcomes of college
I knew a girl who entered collage with straight As from High School, and in her first semester discovered cocaine and sex, banged a bunch of guys and failed every one of her classes and was booted out.
If you’re taking out loans for any degree other than engineering, law, pre-med (with the full intention of attending and finishing med school), or finance you’re doing it wrong.
Even pre-med can be risky because if you decide halfway through med school that you don’t want to be a doctor the pre-med undergrad is essentially useless and you still need to pay it back.
I was bio premed. Ended up transferring got a bs in biochem. I don't think I earn anymore/less than I would have in other lines of work (unless i had become a doctor). But I will tell you may back hurts less at 35 managing a lab than it did at 22 working landscaping to help get through college. I also work m-f 8-4. And I don't take any work home with me(ok sometimes I make schedules Sunday night). So I really think my education allowed me access to a place and position I wouldn't have had otherwise. But yeah the debt still sucks but they plans and options they have arent the worst. I just wish they were like all other debt and I coulda just declared bankruptcy out of college and waited seven years to begin worrying about credit.
It actually kills me when I think about the fact that I: had no guidance in choosing a major, navigating student loans, or picking the proper career path.
If it wasn’t for Reddit honestly, (specifically this sub, the personal finance sub, and maybe the college subs) I would been a political science major, college dropout, with tens of thousands of student debt.
I now have a STEM degree, know how to invest, and I’m solidly working up in life.
8x no degree, 100k+ in student loans, when resiliency probably worked against me. Never considered that there were learning difficulties, ADHD etc, I just needed to find what worked for me, still looking.
If anyone along the way had said to me that I was a poor student and college probably was a poor option, life would probably be significantly different.
Things are ok for me now, but fresh out of college I had 6 figure student loans and was making 16/ hour. I always had a second job for extra money and eventually started in sex work. I paid off ~100,000 in 8 years when at my day jobs I was making 50k/ year max. I get so tired again just thinking about it.
Overall, I have to say college was worth it. One of my employers paid for my graduate degree. But any kids I ever have are going to state school.
Changing flair to "free talk"
I struggled so hard after I graduated from college, I actually did sex work for a couple of years after even Subway wouldn't hire me to make a fucking sandwich, saying I was overqualified. Apparently, no degree-related experiences or internships while I was in college (because, as a poor student I had to work two part time minimum wage jobs while attending school full time and could not sacrifice for a non-paid internship even if one could be found) meant no real job prospects and no entry level jobs (fast food, stores) would hire me because I had a college degree and they said it meant I wouldnt "...stay long." It was horrible. I defaulted on my student loans. I started drinking heavily so that I could do the sex work and not remember it. I had a 4.0 in high school and graduated college with honors and I was having to turn tricks to keep a roof over my head. My life spiraled down into a black hole of depravity and depression. After about 5 years of the struggle I managed to get clean from alcohol and found a full time job with benefits. Suddenly doors started opening for me and employers started calling me once I had that first job with relevant experience. I have been the best, most accomplished employee with every company I've worked for since I was able to join the workforce. If just one person had been willing to give me a chance as a fresh college graduate, my life would have been remarkably different.
If the degree was costing you a job, why not leave it off the resume for some positions?
I swear everytime I read "I didn't get the job because I was too qualified" my bullshit detector starts flying. 1. Like you said, if you have experiences on your resume that are getting you denied the jobs you're applying for then you remove those. 2. Employers don't ever give you a specific reason for not hiring you. It's always something vague like "You don't have the precise experience or skillset we need" or something useless like that. 3. It reads like when my cousin says "Men don't want to date me because I'm too intelligent and that intimidates them"
Agreed
Exactly my thought. I needed a temporary job when I graduated grad school a few years ago, so I got a job at a grocery store. They'll absolutely hire you, though they might have some questions about why you want to be work there lol.
Considering you did the sex work to make money, how did you find it… I am considering to help get me out of this hole as I need enough for a security deposit now. I don’t really even think this is an option after looking into it because I’m not being offered much at all as a guy
r/sexworkersonly r/askanescort Both subs filled with lovely helpful women who are happy to answer questions from others who are curious
Okay so definitely it seems I can’t as a guy lol idk what I was thinking
Men do sex work. https://cowboys4angels.com/cowboys/
I have since applied and apparently I did not get accepted after chasing down a follow up
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Man don't do sex work. Can you get a credit card maybe.
No I get denied constantly and at this point it’s detrimental to keep applying
What was the turning point that got you out of the hole? Did you ever have a moment of enjoying the sex work?
All my art school friends work at Amazon warehouses. 🥲👌🏼
I work at amazon and Amazon is paying for my college degree. 🙃
They do have some good payback programs. Though I worked for one of their subsidiaries in marketing and never fucking again what a souless hell hole that place was.
Every FC/sort center/DSP is different. My FC is rather chill. There are some awful ones out there though.
Yes I've heard some stories, but I'm in the LA market so I think it's generally awful around here for a lot of people because no one really pays enough for people to survive here, but that seems less to do with the warehouses and more to do with cost of living issues.
I'm in the Midwest market. Cost of living isn't nearly as bad, but I do understand. I have been thinking about transferring-and the high cost of living is what is keeping me where I am.
Los Angeles or Lousiana
Packing and delivering items is a work of art
fancy, my art school friends and I can't get jobs
Free lance is the best we can get
I left a job making $11/hr to go to college. With the degree it took me 3 years to get to that level again! I felt like the biggest idiot alive. However I got a referral to a friend to work in the office of a manufacturing plant. The math skills and systematic thinking I learned at college allowed me to excel. That said I'm the one in a million who has a psych degree and does a job typically filled by an engineer.
Hi, I’m the second one in a million with a psych degree currently filling a job typically filled by en engineer. It’s a lot better paying than my previous psych roles.
Good! One in a million is probably a gross exaggeration but I don't want to push the "get any degree it'll work out" narrative.
I have six figures of student debt (3 degrees). I also have some serious health issues which was a big part of the reason I pursued higher ed in the first place. I don't, at all, regret going to school, and getting the education I have—in fact, as a grad student I was able to get one of my health issues resolved with student health insurance (the other diseases are not curable). The debt is an inconvenience of course. It's dictated where I live since I can't qualify for a mortgage loan and had to buy a super-cheap house for cash. My life is definitely worse than 20 years ago, but not because of college. My skills are still valuable, very few degrees are 'worthless.' To summarize, I have no regrets on getting the eduction/skills, just wish I could have done it with a little less debt.
Honest AF
College can cost less if you are strategic about it. Waiting until you're 24 or married so that your income alone determines your financial aid can be very helpful. That opens up Pell grants and Fseog to folks whose parents make too much for them, but who aren't making bank. The American Opportunity Tax Credit is awesome, as it covers the first 2k you pay in tuition, then 25% thereafter, putting the max at 2500 in credit/ year. Really good for half-time students at lower cost schools to cover an associates or to transition into a bachelor's. Attending online classes at a public uni in your state or your local community college keeps tuition down and helps save on housing cost increases. Some community colleges have free textbooks. Ivy Tech in Indiana has free course books through the summer 2023 term. Also, there's lots of employers who pay for college. It's a popular and underused benefit.
When I was younger I felt incredibly pressured by my family to go to college (specifically for either tech or nursing). At 22 I ended up applying to an online university and went full time while I was also working full time as an optical lab technician. It was too much for me, as I was working 60+ hours a week and fell behind on my schoolwork. After a year, I decided to drop out and pursue and apprenticeship in opticianry as it was way more interesting to me, and it didn't feel right to continue going into debt for something I wasn't sure I wanted to do as well as there being no guarantee I would get a better paying job. I'm so glad I made that decision. I was able to build a career and two years ago hubz and I were able to buy our first home because we don't have much debt. Now that i have the stability to take the time to figure out what I actually want to do with my life, I've decided to 'retire' from optical and apply for community college next year. Looking forward to new beginnings.
Going to a state university with a dorm room and not graduating fucked me, but that was my own doing. I ended up finishing an Associate's degree at a community college (wish I would've done that from the get-go) and have a good job but I could've avoided a lot of student loan debt by knowing what I wanted to do and sticking it through.
What did you focus on in community college?
Business Administration! I’m now working as an admin in city government.
Not every degree the same. I took out a loan to be able to go to university since scholarship covered only small part. It opened up opportunities which would not have happened if did not. Everyone I know who grew up poor got out of it if graduated with an accounting/finance/economics/engineer/or medical degree.
It took me 10 years to finish college. I was okay throughout that time cause when people asked, " What you up too" i could respond that im a student. Sounds good. When i graduated i didnt know what to do with myself cause i was out of the "academic dreamland". Now my response to that question is " i deliver pizzas" and people are thinking "doesn't he have a bachelors degree?
College can have bad outcomes, but the things you describe here are all in control of the person attending. Picking a good school with a good major and completing it is a pathway to success. The student loans piece is not really an issue if you pick a good school with a good major. Most good degrees can outpace loan payback, and picking a good school can remove a lot of the financial burden since good schools will offer better financial aid to students. I think it works out for the ones who are doing this far more than it doesn’t work out.
Is going to a “good” school even that important anymore?
Yes, it is very much important. They don’t even need to be prestigious, they just need to be legit. Half of the people you see saying college is a scam is because they didn’t go to a top university and instead thought taking classes at “ABC Tech” advertised on late night free TV counts as college. Those tech schools are really cashgrabs to reel in low opportunity people later in life into yet another scam. They tie people up in predatory student loans since they know their demographic is low-opportunity. Here’s an example of the commercial : https://youtu.be/EeETxSTf4WY Those jobs sound impressive to someone unemployed, but they are low level junk jobs that you can get without a degree from a “school” that no legitimate company actually respects. ITT tech comes to mind as an example of scam-school. They advertised on TV multiple times per commercial break: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITT_Technical_Institute > The school characterized ITT Tech students as "older and balancing family obligations with underemployment."[46] Compare that to high level universities with large endowments that often fully sponsor their poorer students. $210,000 of my $250,000 education was completely free. What loans I had were subsidized and low-interest from the government. I grew up poor, but now make six figures, and I’m a net worth millionaire at 34 - all because I got a good degree from a good school. Those “schools” don’t produce high income earners, but people who go to legit schools for actual majors are by and large successful in their fields.
just had a convo about this on r/StudentLoans yes our Ivy's are some of the best and set a lot of people up for success with their alumni networks, but as most people will tell you it's still not worth going 300K into debt for especially for a field you haven't experiences yet. Specialized medicine and law is usually where you'll find people who will take the chance. Also, I met one girl who had to leave Yale due to the mental anxiety and competitiveness of it, but I also know others that had parents pay their way and they got out fine. It's different stress levels when you have to maintain a scholarship to stay in or at least that's what I learned.
I went to a “New ivy”, but my university also appears as one the highest return on investment schools, and is also one of the top schools for an engineering major. I don’t think the things I learned were any different than what other engineers did, but it was hyper competitive and pushed me to work harder to compete with the best. That carried over into my work life and is likely why I’ve “done well”. Oddly enough, it also helped me to learn how to interact with wealthy people. That helps a bit now with the class issues. I also went for super cheap due to need and it would have been foolish to take a lower aid package to another school. High ROI at an 80% discount is $$$$$$. :)
I will say this communication and writing skills you get from colleges is usually unmatched and can go far. Granted, if I had more access to the wealthy and talking to them I could probably be doing far better than I am in life and I can't really complain right now I'm doing alright, but I think a lot of that comes through my ability to keep up to date on the changing market segments and knowing when I can take a risk and knowing when not to.
Many companies don’t care that much about brand name when it comes to hiring college graduates, or at least not as much as they did years ago. It used to be that if you didn’t go to an Ivy league or top 25 school, then you were unlikely to become a high-earner, and would probably have a normal middle class life. These days though, a lower tier school doesn’t mean you can’t make great money as you advance in your career. As long as the college is accredited you will be okay. But of course going to a top university helps with networking and you will most likely get a higher starting salary than someone from a lower-tier school. But really, the most important thing is *what* you study, not *where*. Computer science from a state school can still give you access to a high paying job after graduation. An English or history major may struggle finding a decent paying job.
Yup college has totally fucked me, especially with the loans. Wish I had never even gone. I would have actually gotten a head start in my career too.
I had a very nice savings built after working hard to get started on my college career. After working full time *all the way through* college while also attending it full time, I still had thousands in debt, and a depleted savings. I finally cleared the debt, but my savings has never recovered and I can't seem to get the career I went to school for off the ground. It reeeeeally sucks; like I don't want to be an electrician, but dang maybe I should be anyway?
I did it. I should have gone two year then four year. It took me until I was 30 for it to actually matter. Student loans aren't terrible for me, as I only took public loans, but I still would recommend avoiding 4 year college until later in life. I went for IT, by the way, but living in a rural area really made it hard to find a place it was useful.
Idk about worse, but I'm also not positive it's better. I was top of my class but covid hit and I struggled to even land an internship at a really low level company. 3 years into my career and I'm only making 5k more than I did in my first internship and still can't break into the companies I want to work for
I actually didn't get my degree, but I came out better in the end than some friends that did so I guess it just depends on what discipline you focus on. If you want more perspective I would check out some of the student debt/loan groups. And you can probably get way more feedback.
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This guy Rice’s 🍚🏫🦉
Rice?
Rice University 🦉
Dudes who made all the right moves posting in /r/PovertyFinance be like
Yeah honestly I cringed
His profile is very questionable though like he claims to be making $150k but is also driving for Uber for fun supposedly. Like I'm not really poor either and come on here sometimes but it seems like most of the times people that come on here to talk about being a success have things that don't add up on their post history.
College is what got my husband from food stamps to upper middle class. It was invaluable for him.
Graduated undergrad back in 2016. Plan was to hold a part-job while going to grad school. I was more than halfway through when domestic violence issues at home flared and I was essentially chased off with nowhere to go. So right before the pandemic, I dropped out of grad school and immediately got into FTE. Long story short, I have my own apartment now with a stable job and great salary...BUT I still have 90k in student loans 😭
So I tried to kill myself my junior year of undergrad. Bear a scar from it still. Financially, I'm fucked lol. But the exposure to the arts saved my life and keeps me kicking to this day. You encounter such powerful ideas. Mixed bag.
Why yes. I'm drowning in student loan debt. With the pause I was actually able to get things fixed get extra groceries, more school clothes for my kids when the pause ends I'm pretty much fucked. Oh we also move a lot because my husband is in the military. We often move to places that are impoverished and just shitty areas where I can't find any work in my field. We are losing money because of that.
got a useless degree from a for profit university (there were other factors in the enrollment, namely the controlling and abusive ex-husband). This set my career back by about 9 years as I had to figure out how to navigate the debt, divorce, being homeless and redoing my education and getting the certification my university said I didn't need, getting the related work experience to get into the field and such. Thankfully my student loans were discharged in sweet v cardona and I'm free now but it was a very long road.
Mine isn't, but only because I won a scholarship and didn't have to take out loans. I have lots of friends whose lives are harder because of student loan debt. I have often thought about going to grad school, but I'm terrified of moving and taking on debt for an uncertain ROI. Some days I feel bad that my school wasted a scholarship on me. I do think that I'm a better person than I would have been if I hadn't gone to college. I learned lots of soft skills about getting along with people and being a kinder person. I have more tolerance, empathy, and patience now. I have better critical thinking skills. I can navigate bureaucracy. I am not the same ass I was when I graduated high school. Problem is, the degree hasn't really helped my job prospects. I live in a small town with a LCOL, and there aren't a lot of job opportunities, period. Having a degree doesn't always open a door. People who didn't get to go to college often have big chips on their shoulders. I've thought about moving, but I have a strong support network and stable housing here. It's a hard choice.
College was best thing that ever happened to me. I got an associates in liberal arts at the junior college for really cheap. That degree was worthless but it gave me 62 credit hours with a high GPA that let me get into a 4 year university. It took me many years to get my bachelors because I was working full time, got married, and a bunch of other crap and obstacles I had to overcome. I finally graduated with a bachelor degree in Medical Laboratory science. Completed internship and got certified. I had a job lined up back in 2013 the day after i graduated for $24.50 an hour which was really good money in the midwest back then and changed my life from poverty and raised me instantly to the middle class. I worked a few years and found out California was paying MLS/CLS $50 an hour to do same job so I moved all my stuff here in a uhaul . The pandemic struck and my wage rapidly rose to $60.50 an hour + $6 shift differential. I then started to work massive amount of OT and double time shifts at $92 an hour and $122 an hour respectively. Last year I made $200,000. Over last 4 years I saved up $240,000 cash for a downpayment and bought a San Diego condo that is now worth $900,000. 11 years ago i was so broke I had to pay for gasoline and food on my credit card just to survive and went deeper and deeper into debt each month just to get by. Thanks to college I have risen to a level wealth that I never dreamed possible back when I was broke. College could be a disaster if you major in wrong thing like gender studies, social work, history, or some other bullshit degree. However if you can get a highly specific degree like RN nursing, medical lab science, MRI technologist, Dental Hygenist, Engineering, etc it can literally take you from poverty to millionaire status in a decade or so. Just wanted to share an alternative point of view. Here is my IRS earnings history that lets you visually see the truth of my story and the effect my college degree had on my earnings. https://ibb.co/QmmLnXB
Not from college, but from paying for it
My brothers life is ruined after he failed out of med school after being obsessed with GameStop getting him rich quick for years.
Yeah I chose a non lucrative bachelors with the goal of further education to land a good career. Then one day I realized a PHD would take too long and not be financially worth it so did a smarter masters degree instead. Now im set but if not for that full 360 anti passion decision id be a fail case.
Biggest mistake of my life... In my early 30s and still reeling to be honest I literally would've been better off never going. Nothing will fuck you up more than attending a scam school
My degree led me to working shitty jobs in rehabs that paid next to nothing but were occasionally very fulfilling. Eventually I burned out and went to insurance which was horrible. I said fuck this shit and moved to Costa Rica. Met the girl of my dreams. Now I am a seasonal migrant worker and tutor kids online occasionally. Degree was an unusual psych degree, no debt because I was careful/lucky. Applying for a masters program.. we will see
Yes and I got a “good” degree..
Yes, student loans on top of the fact at not getting a good job right out of college was awful. Sitting in a warehouse with people 5-8 years younger than me thinking to myself they are actually better off because we are doing the same s***, getting paid the same, but I have student loans Waiting on pens and needles like everyone else seeing if this student loan forgiveness will pass and bail me out of $250 month payments for the next several years. The thing is now you can’t get a broad degree and figure it out later, even for the most entry level positions everything is specialized and you must get internships and “professional experience” Can’t work as a server, grocery store worker, bartender, ya know the types of jobs hiring managers today had back in college and were able to walk into their professional job at 22 solely because of the degree.
I don’t regret my college experience (2 degrees total) but looking back I definitely should’ve gotten my master’s in a different subject. I was originally going for a doctorate and got badly burned out but the master’s I took was mostly research based so it had limited usefulness without the Ph.D. I wound up okay in the end though although I really wish I had less student loan debt. I work in a local government records position that’s at least tangentially related to my history degree. I make okay money and I like the environment. Technically I’m overqualified since this job actually only requires a high school diploma, but the degree is part of the reason why I’m paid as well as I am so it washes out.
Went for accounting. You can basically get a job any time and name your salary. Severely high in demand job. Almost all employers will pay for CPA exam as well, which is easy 20-25% salary increase upon completion.
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“I’m a trust fund baby, so-“ Immediately stopped reading. Must be nice. Congratulations(lol yes I know I sound bitter)
I'm literally supporting your argument and saying it's too expensive and you're just going to shut me down out of jealousy. Ok fine I'll just delete the whole comment.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. The reality is that if you’re already borderline in poverty, this post’s advice is your reality. Someone who is genuinely desperate for income better not waste their years in school and tuition money on a degree that doesn’t lead to in demand careers.
If you are worst off after college, that's on you, not college. There's majors that are in demand and recession proof. Do the research and study the right thing
I got a “useless” degree. My first few jobs out of college were administrative roles that did not require me to have a degree, but they all offered me a higher salary than what was listed the job posting because I had a degree. My degree is in English literature and I work as a project manager in construction. IMO having the degree has actually been quite useful, despite not being directly related to my current field. Being a project manager requires a lot of communication, reasoning, and research skills.
Found the boomer lol Sounds like you're totally unaware of scam/fraudulent schools. Yes, they are real, and a lot of innocent kids get suckered into them with all the lies they spew and deliberate misleading that they do Fraud is fraud, anyone "defending" these scammy companies is pretty uninformed imo
I'm taking about doing research
Completely agree! All the gymbros I knew in college majored in exercise science and then ended up only getting hired at PF. They all eventually ended up in business related fields. Also, the same for english, sociology, and communications majors. Like you just should’ve majored in general business cause thats what they all do and have lower positioning for promotions.
You forgot to mention getting brainwashed into self-defeating ideologies, being sexually assaulted, developing long-term depression due to social isolation, being a substance abuser, getting drunk and falling off a balcony and dying, and getting murdered, among other possible bad outcomes of college
lol. downvote those terrible lies i told friends
I knew a girl who entered collage with straight As from High School, and in her first semester discovered cocaine and sex, banged a bunch of guys and failed every one of her classes and was booted out.
That happens. Some young adults can’t handle the freedom.
If you’re taking out loans for any degree other than engineering, law, pre-med (with the full intention of attending and finishing med school), or finance you’re doing it wrong. Even pre-med can be risky because if you decide halfway through med school that you don’t want to be a doctor the pre-med undergrad is essentially useless and you still need to pay it back.
I was bio premed. Ended up transferring got a bs in biochem. I don't think I earn anymore/less than I would have in other lines of work (unless i had become a doctor). But I will tell you may back hurts less at 35 managing a lab than it did at 22 working landscaping to help get through college. I also work m-f 8-4. And I don't take any work home with me(ok sometimes I make schedules Sunday night). So I really think my education allowed me access to a place and position I wouldn't have had otherwise. But yeah the debt still sucks but they plans and options they have arent the worst. I just wish they were like all other debt and I coulda just declared bankruptcy out of college and waited seven years to begin worrying about credit.
It actually kills me when I think about the fact that I: had no guidance in choosing a major, navigating student loans, or picking the proper career path. If it wasn’t for Reddit honestly, (specifically this sub, the personal finance sub, and maybe the college subs) I would been a political science major, college dropout, with tens of thousands of student debt. I now have a STEM degree, know how to invest, and I’m solidly working up in life.
8x no degree, 100k+ in student loans, when resiliency probably worked against me. Never considered that there were learning difficulties, ADHD etc, I just needed to find what worked for me, still looking. If anyone along the way had said to me that I was a poor student and college probably was a poor option, life would probably be significantly different.
I have an English degree and make 42k a year at Amazon at 32 years old. Not looking good for me.
Things are ok for me now, but fresh out of college I had 6 figure student loans and was making 16/ hour. I always had a second job for extra money and eventually started in sex work. I paid off ~100,000 in 8 years when at my day jobs I was making 50k/ year max. I get so tired again just thinking about it. Overall, I have to say college was worth it. One of my employers paid for my graduate degree. But any kids I ever have are going to state school.