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Worthless degrees


ReconRat

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My wife got her associates degree in applied science to become a Radiology Tech, took her 3 years of busting her ass. Once she graduated she cant find a job, it been almost 2 years and nothing. So what is she doing now, wiping asses as a STNA for $9 a hour, and it only required a 3 week class. I work at a corrugated box factory with 50% of the people that work there dont even have a high school deploma and we make in the $18-$20 hr range. So im sold that college is a waste of time.

Ps... she is now back in school to become a RN and im sceptical, but she has faith so ill suport her

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It can be done. I'm working full time and taking 2-3 classes all 3 semesters. I will be done next spring.

where do you go to school? I am currently pursuing a BS in technical management, but can change whenever, GIBill paying, and I really want an Engineering degree,

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My wife got her associates degree in applied science to become a Radiology Tech, took her 3 years of busting her ass. Once she graduated she cant find a job, it been almost 2 years and nothing. So what is she doing now, wiping asses as a STNA for $9 a hour, and it only required a 3 week class. I work at a corrugated box factory with 50% of the people that work there dont even have a high school deploma and we make in the $18-$20 hr range. So im sold that college is a waste of time.

Ps... she is now back in school to become a RN and im sceptical, but she has faith so ill suport her

Gotta agree with you there. If I had it to do over again I definitely wouldn't go to school. I could have stayed at the job I had, been in management by now and be making twice what I make now within a few years. Btw, is your corrugated box factory hiring? :D

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Gotta agree with you there. If I had it to do over again I definitely wouldn't go to school. I could have stayed at the job I had, been in management by now and be making twice what I make now within a few years. Btw, is your corrugated box factory hiring? :D

We accually just hired 3 people, dont know if they are going to do any more soon or not. They take aps. for us at http://www.opportunityjobnetwork.com/knox/

Yea my wife gave up a $13 hr job as a team leader at SanoAmerica, just go to a ass wiping job making $9 in the end. If she was still there she would be a supervisor buy now making maybe $16 and have 4 weeks vaycay:nono:

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We accually just hired 3 people, dont know if they are going to do any more soon or not. They take aps. for us at http://www.opportunityjobnetwork.com/knox/

Yea my wife gave up a $13 hr job as a team leader at SanoAmerica, just go to a ass wiping job making $9 in the end. If she was still there she would be a supervisor buy now making maybe $16 and have 4 weeks vaycay:nono:

Support her schooling! RNs start out $40K+ easily.

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Support her schooling! RNs start out $40K+ easily.

I know, but when she started the RT program places were recruiting and offer huge signing bonuses then when she graduated they all dried up.I just hope history dont repeat itself

Edited by 2talltim
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College isn't all about making more money. While most do pay more there are some that just make it so you can do an easier job for the same pay and you not busting your ass. I wouldn't be making anywhere near what I do without college and I sure as hell wouldn't have my job without it.

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I know, but when she started the RT program places were recruiting and offer huge signing bonuses then when she graduated they all dried up.I just hope history dont repeat itself

Very true. The Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement cuts of 2011 took their toll. The wages are still there, but there's no fluff ... sign-on bonuses, pick-up bonuses, attendance bonuses. As a fiscal conservative, I can't bitch about cutting spending, but I've felt this impact quite acutely myself.

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^ This. Still a ton of RN jobs out there. At OSU base pay is no experience is 23 an hour. RNs at agency places and my old nursing home were pulling in 30's and upper 20's respectively. RN has a great job market and different avenues.

There were signing bonuses and stuff when I was in school that dried up along with the jobs once I graduated. I was happy to get experience and a job. My CSCC degree has paid for itself and I think I have a pretty easy job like blue03636 said. I'll be done with my bachelors beginning of May and look forward to other opportunities it will provide for me. I will likely continue for a master's degree.

Edit. Tim Licking Memorial had two Rad Tech positions posted when I was there Thursday.

Edited by Mykill
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funny; I received this in my student email earlier this month

Dear Alumni and Friends,

You may have heard about a recent Yahoo blog that put agriculture, and a couple of related majors, on a list of "useless" degrees. Given our greater than 90 percent placement rate and an increased demand for our graduates, I respectfully disagree, as do many leaders of agricultural colleges. I wanted to share with you the response from me and three other deans -- from Purdue, Iowa State and University of Illinois. Find it at http://cfaes.osu.edu.

Sincerely,

Bobby D. Moser

Vice President, Agricultural Administration

Dean, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

Link to original yahoo article

http://education.yahoo.net/articles/most_useless_degrees.htm

and the response

http://www.ag.purdue.edu/Connections/NOW/Pages/AgValue.aspx

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-s-levine/useless-college-majors_b_1217401.html

I Studied Agriculture & I Have A Job Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Studied-Agriculture-I-Have-A-Job/306700539376086

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If you can get a job you like it's not a worthless degree.

exactly. for a lot of the jobs out there, it doesnt matter WHAT your degree is in, just that you HAVE one period.

my dad ran an insurance agency for a number of years, and he had people in there with journalism degrees, poli sci, communications etc.

he didnt care what the degree was in. he just wanted to know that you could buckle down and do some work.

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From experience, it appears that the quantities of people attempting and obtaining college degrees is much higher. Mostly for the obvious reasons, many more grants and scholarships and parents with disposable income. The number of jobs that need a college degree haven't increased to keep pace. The result is graduates with temporarily unused degrees.

There are several results:

The obvious is an overwhelmed college graduate job market that can't be entered easily. (Never was that easy, just harder now.)

Another is struggling to convince employers that you aren't over qualified for a position. Since a lot of jobs don't really need a degree. Or at least the one that you have.

As well as convincing them that you won't leave for the better job you'd rather have. The one that would use the degree.

Employers can now ask for educational requirements that they couldn't ask for before. Up to and including advanced degrees of Masters and Doctorates. Which means the job market is downgrading the value of the degrees because of the availability.

The joke is that employers that previously would have asked for a high school degree, can now ask for a college degree. And on up the line for advanced degrees. Still pays the same. Which of course, makes the college degree the "new era" high school degree. Still have to have one. Finding a decent job with only a high school degree will only get more difficult as time goes on. Finding a legitimate job without a high school degree is going to continue to have rather low wages. edit: Alternatively, employers can choose to reduce wages offered instead of increasing the requirements. And some places, they do both.

Lastly, colleges and universities have felt free to increase tuition and fees, since the applicants are overwhelming the capacity. That course of action is hardly reversible, and has serious consequences for the future.

Edited by ReconRat
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I have no degree. Wish I did. Might get one. Dunno. Lyns has a fine art degree' date=' with a major in design and a minor in illustration. She started to hate not making money, so she taught herself how to code. She makes more money and still hates working. Bitch just can't be pleased.[/quote']

Well, all jobs suck. But code writers are an elite group. Unfortunately, that's mostly only recognized by another elite group, mostly code writers. Can't win.

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Only at this point in my life do I think about advancing my education by parting with large sums of money. After I barely graduated HS, I attended a local tech school for about 5 weeks or so before I took it upon myself to see if I could live comfortably on the wages that were available to a slacker such as myself. No other education besides my diploma from HS as well as the literature that I occasionally look at, which has been increasing the older I get. My current job lets me enjoy life and has gotten me the bikes that I wanted over the years. I will never have a family, so that doesn't worry me. My work ethic is good, a key factor in being able to keep a job. I still get nostalgic when I think about the time I worked in a full-service car wash. College isn't for everyone, although I would recommend keeping yourself informed and being able to speak coherently as you travel through life...

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My wife got her associates degree in applied science to become a Radiology Tech, took her 3 years of busting her ass. Once she graduated she cant find a job, it been almost 2 years and nothing. So what is she doing now, wiping asses as a STNA for $9 a hour, and it only required a 3 week class. I work at a corrugated box factory with 50% of the people that work there dont even have a high school deploma and we make in the $18-$20 hr range. So im sold that college is a waste of time.

Ps... she is now back in school to become a RN and im sceptical, but she has faith so ill suport her

The market is saturated with Rad. Techs looking for jobs. I was talking to the HR manager at one of my jobs and he said that now they can pick and choose who they go with and they have stacks of resumes for Rad Tech positions. I believe it since there was a waiting list at my college for several years to get into the Radiology program, they were that full of students. I ended up going with Respiratory Therapy and was recruited straight out of college. I now have 1 full time and 1 contigent job, with the option of going full time at the contingent job if things ever get bad at my full time job. I still decided to go back to school, only because I want to get into the management side of it and I need my MHA for that. Your wife should be good when she becomes a RN, there are ALWAYS positions open for nurses.

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  • 3 months later...

New to the forum, but have been trolling for a while and thought I would pipe up on this topic. I think College has its place, as do many other avenues for learning. Personally, I never went to college. I was a natural born geek with an affinity for computers. As such, I have not made less than a 6-figure salary in 9 years (note: i'm 35). Over the years I have taught myself advanced programming and Data Management and have done work for some major companies in the IT and Data Architecture practices. (Kraft, P&G, etc.). Interestingly, one of the biggest challenges is training "new" software developers that have a degree in Computer Sciences and believe they know the first thing about practical software development (in most cases, they don't and need to be trained). At this point in my carreer, nobody bothers asking for a degree, as I have more than sufficient work history and recommendations from previous employers.

As far as College, I think most of the Medical professions, hard sciences (quantum physics, etc.), and some more esoteric profressions make sense. As someone pointed out, getting a $50,000 debt wracked up and unable to pay it back because you can't get a job in your trained field is kinda a waste...

Nowadays we live in the information age...80%+ of what most people would want to learn can be done via the internet and libraries. There are still some classic roles, but the majority of knowlege can be gained through alternate institutions today whereas 40 years ago, your choices were pretty much "go to college" or "operate drillpress".

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If you want a job, anything in the skilled trades is golden. With all the kids going into college and the boomers with skilled training starting to retire, there's a deficit in anything infrastructure.

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I'm a big fan of the "its not always what you know, its who you know" cliche. That is how I've gotten several job offers and my 2 jobs since obtaining my degree :)

This is how I have gotten my past 4 jobs and why I was recently passed up for a promotion to a guy who's was less qualified but had an uncle high up in the company. I would be willing to bet this is how 9/10 people get hired.

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