Would you do college before undergrad?

[thehockeykid]

What do u think about doing college before undergrad? I am already in university so I am just asking out of curiosity if you would have.

 

 

What do you think of what I would have done?

 

I personally would of liked to go have went to college for a hygienist for 2 years then work for 2 year, before I started undergrad.

 

If I were to back in highschool I would of had gotten my dental hygienist diploma or certificate then worked for 2 year at my cousins' dental office then I would of went to undergrad meanwhile working part time at my cousins dental office.

 

With doing that I would have be 21 years old starting undergrad, and I would qualify for OSAP as I would of been out of high school for 4 years.

[Wayward son]

I went to college out of high school. Worked for close to a decade before doing my undergrad. I don't regret that. I made good money, worked in interesting places, had a ton of fun, and I don't think that I would have achieved very high marks in university coming straight out of high school (although that point is probably irrelevant, as I doubt I would have been accepted with my high school marks in the first place).

[future_doc]

Having gone to college prior to undergrad, I was able to learn of my weaknesses and mature without affecting my GPA. As a result, I hit the ground running at university with a clean slate and a strong work ethic. I'm so glad that I went to college first.

[apache]

mmm, it's an individual decision, personally... i wouldn't, i like big schools, like big cities... i don't think i'd enjoy having intro small classes with other 18 year olds, it would get too cliquey, plus i like the feeling of being anonymous when i don't want to talk to anyone (even at this huge university i couldn't walk 5 min without running into someone i know)... but that's more of a lifestyle thing... in terms of pure learning, i'd do college, but i liked the almost new york like nature of university compared to high school (and people always forget, there's this thing called office hours, where you can talk to the prof one on one)

[aaronjw]

If you want practical ability, go to college first. If you just want theory goo to University.

 

Better luck finding a semi decent paying job out of college though - they get you more work ready than University ever will.

[apache]

hellz yeah, my friend's 30 and doing geographical surveying diploma now even though she has a dec job with the gov finally (good pay - ****ty job) after a degree and 10 years of experience in the field. her first internship will pay more than ger government job, after only like 4 months of training... so yeah, university, what did i say about writing and money again, yeah...

 

If you want practical ability, go to college first. If you just want theory goo to University.

 

Better luck finding a semi decent paying job out of college though - they get you more work ready than University ever will.

[aaronjw]

hellz yeah, my friend's 30 and doing geographical surveying diploma now even though she has a dec job with the gov finally (good pay - ****ty job) after a degree and 10 years of experience in the field. her first internship will pay more than ger government job, after only like 4 months of training... so yeah, university, what did i say about writing and money again, yeah...

 

I had to set some kids straight in class last week as they were dissing a friend who went to college instead of University. Literally making fun of him saying he won't be able to get a job because a college dipl. isn't as worthy to employers as a University degree amd that no matter the degree, at least having one means you will get a job over someone else just because you have a university education.

 

I lol'd hard when I heard this. I asked what their (apparently not so much) friend was taking in college and they said some civil engineering technologist program. I lol'd even harder and said your buddy will be making about $45K-$50K when he steps out of school and within 5 years that will shoot up to about $75K. He'll have the ability to moonlight thanks to his drafting skills he learnt in his program if he wants to make some extra cash. He'll have job opportunities with large firms who are dying for technologists (not engineers) and municipalities and if he wants to start his own business he'll be raking in gob loads of cash as municipalities, engineering firms (big and small) look to outsource to keep costs inline.

 

Then I asked what they were taking. They said Biology. I then ROFL'd and said I'll see you at Mc****s in 4 years when you've graduated and can't find a job.

[aaronjw]

What bugs me most about this University > College mentality is that it's perpetuated by academics who look down on people for going anywhere but University despite the fact not everyone needs to go to University.

 

College is a great place to get your feet wet in understanding what you want to (potentially) do with your life. There's a reason why many Universities have co-op/internship models these days. They've basically followed what has been successful from Colleges as most Universities know their students are not work prepared once they are done.

[apache]

a friend i know has a biology degree with a 3.9 gpa, and he got hired onto a small engineering firm as a generalist, he picked up autocad, and now that's what he does all day, and he get's paid better than he did as the jack-of-all-trades university role he had.

 

being smart or skilled doesn't have any correlation with employment or income, unless there's a monetary value (need for your skill).

 

i have a really huge intellect and propensity for abstract thinking, but that's not something i can objectively prove, or show how i add value to a company, unless they just decide to take a chance on me, whereas with a defined skill, you can. you'd think this would be frustrating, but i know how the world works, so i'm not bitter about the fact that i can't walk into a job and demand 150 k salary because i'm smarter than the person who does, it's what their skill is worth to the company that matters, which is why i'm using my transferable skills to learn an objective, generally monetarily valued skill... knowing about polymerase chain reaction doesn't make you very valuable, and doesn't endow you with a lot of transferable skills.

 

people always told me psych was a useless degree, and i got tons of interviews and offers, but decided to do med instead. i'd much rather hire a generalist who has proven they can learn new things than someone who can tell me something i can look up on wikipedia... i use to point this out to people when they trashed college, but now i just find it amusing... i have a friend with a chem masters, engineering degree (always get them mixed up, might be other way around), and he works as an electrician making insane cash because his cross-over skills make him an extra-valuable electrician... the guy is a mathematical genius too, survived cancer with a 99 percent death prognosis after 5 years... i asked him why he does it (because he's so smart and i don't like working in the cold, etc.) and he's like because with ot i gross over 225 a year (i've seen his pay stubs too, he's not exaggerating, and he spends a lot of his time standing around doing nothing, and doesn't work nearly as much as the average medical resident).

 

I had to set some kids straight in class last week as they were dissing a friend who went to college instead of University. Literally making fun of him saying he won't be able to get a job because a college dipl. isn't as worthy to employers as a University degree amd that no matter the degree, at least having one means you will get a job over someone else just because you have a university education.

 

I lol'd hard when I heard this. I asked what their (apparently not so much) friend was taking in college and they said some civil engineering technologist program. I lol'd even harder and said your buddy will be making about $45K-$50K when he steps out of school and within 5 years that will shoot up to about $75K. He'll have the ability to moonlight thanks to his drafting skills he learnt in his program if he wants to make some extra cash. He'll have job opportunities with large firms who are dying for technologists (not engineers) and municipalities and if he wants to start his own business he'll be raking in gob loads of cash as municipalities, engineering firms (big and small) look to outsource to keep costs inline.

 

Then I asked what they were taking. They said Biology. I then ROFL'd and said I'll see you at Mc****s in 4 years when you've graduated and can't find a job.

[apache]

it's why we diagnose so many "learning disabilities" in school too... maybe your kid doesn't enjoy abstract thought, or math, and has a real kinaesthetic intelligence... maybe welding would be good for him, but of course welding is in the trenches, far below the ivory tower unemployed phd's reside in... the funny thing is, you'd think i'm really academic, but i'm not, i dislike academics, it's fine to be academic to identify complex problems and solutions, but writing esoteric essays only a few people will read seems like an exercise in futility to me, this may contradict my advocacy of better literacy, but i think that writing books (that are not so convoluted and full of jargon left undefined) is really valuable in that it teaches people to think, so to me, that's doing something... it's more the self-contained sheltered academics that annoy me...

 

What bugs me most about this University > College mentality is that it's perpetuated by academics who look down on people for going anywhere but University despite the fact not everyone needs to go to University.

 

College is a great place to get your feet wet in understanding what you want to (potentially) do with your life. There's a reason why many Universities have co-op/internship models these days. They've basically followed what has been successful from Colleges as most Universities know their students are not work prepared once they are done.

[thebouque]

Having gone to college prior to undergrad, I was able to learn of my weaknesses and mature without affecting my GPA. As a result, I hit the ground running at university with a clean slate and a strong work ethic. I'm so glad that I went to college first.

 

Wait aren't you talking about cegep? Because pre university cegep isn't really ''college'' it's more grade 12 + 1st year undergrad and in Quebec we have no choice to go through it.

[future_doc]

Yes Cegep which I thought:confused: was equivalent to college in other provinces.s

 

The beauty of Cdegep is that for those of us who don't do well, it becomes a wake up call, allowing us to mature, change our ways and our Cegep history is not held against us.