Subj : Re: New to this
To   : Alonzo
From : Adept
Date : Sat Apr 26 2025 11:51:15

 Al> I could never understand why people just automatically go to college 
 Al> with no idea what they want to study. I knew years before I started 

Having done it (and uncertain about recommending it), the benefit is that it's a next step when you haven't otherwise figured out what to do with yourself, that allows for some qualification for various jobs.

I'm not sure how much it actually helped me, but it did set me up to eventually go back for a graduate degree, and having a Masters in Computer Science likely opens a door or two that a Bachelors would not, especially in a place like Germany.

Plus I get to put pretentious initials behind my name when I want to look fancy for some reason.

But, really, with my undergrad I did learn some amount of useful things that I would not have otherwise, and it gave me certain freedom that I (accidentally) turned into learning to be good at juggling.

It's also a relatively good half-step into adulthood that allows people to have a _somewhat_ sheltered situation while (hopefully) having more distance from parents.

Or, in other words, I think there are a lot of benefits to even most "useless" degrees. The problem is that, if it puts you tens of thousands in debt, without giving you good tools for getting out of that debt, the benefits are largely intangible or society-wide, and the drawback is grinding debt that is structured to follow you through bankruptcy.

(in the US. The UK's version is a lot of debt, but if your job doesn't pay well, it's irrelevant. And Germany's version is cheap.)

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