Comments on: Avoid tertiary education if possible.

By: chrisgale

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 17:36:00 +0000

EW, I can answer that one easily: I have two sons, and one has just finished the health intermediate year — which leads to either a medical degree, or entry to physiotherapy, radiation therapy, laboratory technology, pharmacy, dentistry or dental tech. It is brutal: there are about 600 places in all over those courses and 3000 start the year. That son phoned me up a week ago and asked for career advice for one of his friends (who I think likes him… because she’s probably not going to get the course she wanted.

The Australasian system has some flaws. There are casualties. (Did I add that we have a drinking problem, and used to have legal highs beign delivererd to the hostels? This only stopped when we banned them — they are all now illegal).

If you have to get the credentials, you have to compete for them. One does what one can to help: he has lived at home this year, and although he has got through the year fairly well he may not have done well enough. But he has a plan B.My advice to anyone entering that kind of year is have a plan B. And do not get a GF or BF during that year.

I told (and tell) the boys, Jenny, that I would rather buy them a round the world ticket — including surfing in Bali, Dance Parties in Berlin and Ibiza, and visiting the relatives — than send them to university. It will round their social life of, expose them to temptation, and is cheaper and shorter than the four year “college experience”.

And both boys have read Worthless. I suggest that any mother get this book for any child, girl or boy, who is thinking of going to college.

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By: Jenny

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:44:00 +0000

I really want to send all of my girls to college, I don’t care if their degrees are worthless, I want them to see their world is bigger, I want them to meet a lot of people, I want them to make connections they wouldn’t be able to if they stayed local.

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By: Jenny

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:43:00 +0000

I think college is still useful for getting young adults out of their small areas and showing them there is a bigger world out there. We were from a small, poor community made mostly of farmers. My parents insisted we all go to college, and my brothers both got engineering degrees, and they tried to push me towards that too, but it didn’t happen. My degree is pretty worthless, but the intelligence level and salary level of the man I married was greatly increased. I probably would have married a farmer if I’d stayed home. I love farmers, but it’s a hard life with little reward.

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By: elusive wapiti

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 14:31:00 +0000

Thanks Chris for the link and the mention.

I wholly agree with your comment about the inefficiency of the US system…frankly I wasn’t aware that in Europe, Oz, or NZ, students specialize at the bachelor level and not the 3d year or master level.

As for whether this inefficiency leads high-IQ women to put off childbearing, I’m unsure that eliminating general education requirements would appreciably impact the timing of family formation and childbirth. Dispensing with all of those pre-requisites would merely change the coursework required to obtain the feminist merit badge, but not do away it coursework entirely. Put another way, they’d still go through the 4 years, but just in their focus.

Great advice for the rest of your post. The economics of a college education should drive your decision to go, not vanity or inertia or peer pressure. And the admonition against going into debt to do any of this is sound advice. Captain Capitalism’s book “Worthless” (which I review here) does a great job exploring this question.

Question: Given credentialing, and the “need” for young people to posess a BS or BA (the lack thereof being a negative discriminator for hiring), how would you advise a young person entering the job market where such credentials are required?

My advice for such person faced with credentialing barriers to enter his desired field would be to look abroad, as you recommend, or to satisfy their GE requirements at a local community college and transfer their credits, general ed-complete, to a higher-tier school. Thus while one is still paying money for stuff high schoolers used to know 100 years ago, it does check the box in a much cheaper fashion…and probably doable whilst still living with parents.

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