By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Is attending an expensive top tier College really worth all the money?
Not so related to China, and maybe a bit boring but I need some real honest answers from those willing.
When I had just finished highschool, I had a bad desire to go to the USA to study. Infact I still do. But that 45000$/yr is no joke. More so for an international student. I felt life was being unfair. Here is this guy with a burning desire to unleash his academic potential on the world but unfortunately and not to sound sef-pitying, was born in the wrong part of the world.
But a few years later I'm coming to see that maybe I don't really need to go to MIT or Princeton to get a first class education. All the knowledge sits right before me. Or does it?
I (due to the fact that I usually don't understand spick in lectures here) attend my classes through itunes. Yes. iTunes. More specifically iTunes U, the project that provides free university courseware like video lectures from grade A unis around the world. Sometime back, I watched the famous MIT Professor Gilbert Strang's 35 video lectures on linear algebra and advanced calculus. Some of Professor Anant Angarwal's on electronics and circuits. Others on C++ and advanced programming. All the text books and materials I needed were online. I mean, these guys are geniuses. And so easy to understand. Everything I need to obtain my dream lies within the world wide web, libraries and occasionally my current school of study.
So the question comes to mind, is all that money worth it for college? Is studying on financial aid and paying back difficult loans worth it?
In the movie, Good Will Hunting, Will Hunting tells the professor (Robin Williams)that a person just dropped 150,000$ for an education he could easily get in a public library for a 1.50$ full day pass at a public library.
I know the power of a degree from a top uni guarantees one a good job. But isn't the most important thing the knowledge you possess and not where it was obtained from?
I'm at a point in my life where I feel I might be studying in vain.
This is a question for guys who have gone through this system and are already at a later stage in life and can give me some real insight on their opinions and experiences.
12 years 18 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
It may surprise you that how much you put into it is how much you will get out of it. So your not from America and I'm not sure if you even know what division 1 and division 2 schools are. How much you put in it is how much you will get out.
Nile, it really depends on your end goal. Are you going to Harvard/Yale/Princeton for the name on the degree? To me, that's a waste of space and money. The names might get you a job, but it's still going to be up to you and your ability/knowledge to keep the job.
Some of the smartest, most competent people I know never stepped foot in any prestigious school, but worked hard, studied what they could where they could and are successful.
I earned my career based on my knowledge and experience. I did 2 years of community college for about 3k total. Bachelor's at a local school with an excellent reputation. 2 years of that school cost 16k total. And my masters cost about 16k. And I worked, interned, volunteered... so for far less than your 45k a year, I was fully educated.
There is a value in a degree... it's tangible proof of effort. But it doesn't have to be at a school that breaks your bank for the rest of your life. Supplementing your knowledge with things like iTunes Uni is an awesome idea. I love it. And yes, it goes on your resume 
The value of a degree from a top tier school isn't in the education. George Bush Jr. went to Harvard and was a complete idiot in my opinion.
The true value of a top tier school is the networking. It is the ability to get job offers that are unavailable or almost impossible to obtain for anyone who didn't go to the right school.
People don't go to Harvard, Yale, etc. for their first job. They go for their end goal as Judges, politicians and other people of true power.
Is it worth the 45k per year? That depends on you and your end goals. You have already proved that you don't need the education these schools offer. So the question is, what do you want to get out of the school that you attend?
Anyone with or without an education in the right place can achieve anything. But getting an education at the right schools can make your path in life much easier if you have the drive to succeed.
I think with your intellecetual abiity now,you shouldnt worry too much about Uni,just follow your heart and principles about life
Thanks all you guys. I really appreciate the answers. I'll try my best to work with whatever is thrown at me in this life. Hopefully, it will come to some avail in the end.
