Just took my last undergraduate class: 3 college myths
In typical Buzzfeed style...
1) I think liberal arts classes are overrated. I think that many people have this romanticized perception of liberal arts as something that will open your mind and teach you how to think critically. They can sound great on paper, but in reality, most of the times you will end up skimming or not reading the readings or skipping some classes. Better off taking a practical class or some hobby/fun class like photography instead of a class about Israeli film in the 20th century. If you really want to expand your horizons, read a book or sit in on a lecture.
2) College is not always fun. Sure, there's a lot of partying/drinking and you meet some of your closest friends, but there are also many times that are not so great--times where you might feel lonely, aimless, and sad. It is still very much a time when everyone is maturing and figuring things out. When people advertise college as the "best years of your life" that may be true in some cases, but for many others, it's not the case. That's okay.
3) This last one applies only to fields like finance where much can be learned on the job: GPA and grades matter. You are better off taking easier classes that maximize your GPA. You can also take fewer classes each semester to ease the workload--you will be much less stressed and thank yourself later. The cliched, "college dropout" or "C student" stories are all really outliers. You only hear those stories because they turned out to be successful (it's the classical survivorship bias issue). All else equal, getting better grades will help you and make your life easier. It's certainly possible to excel without a stellar GPA, but having one doesn't hurt.
These aren't myths, they are observations. Lame observations.
I would add: I'm sure few people would consider college "the best time of their life" immediately after graduation. That comes years later
From what I heard doing a job you enjoy and becoming financially stable is the best part of your life
If college was the best time of your life, you are doing something very wrong
For some college truly is the best time of their life. AKA my pals who got free rides into Ivys (and thinking they're masters of the universe) just to find out that the job world doesn't give free rides and they end up interning for art companies or becoming tour guides at your local museum
I'm going to uni with one of my best mates. I love him but dam he is immature and entitled as fuck. Going to be sad seeing him not go well in Uni.
What is Uni? What are mates? Please explain.
they peaked at undergrad .. that must suck
I think we are all in the business of identifying trends early, seeking inefficient markets, and creating capital efficiency. The more unique your experience is and ability to study and understand human beings both individually and in groups, I think is valuable. I am of the opinion that undergraduate business is great for the end goal of getting a job, but encourages group think. So I have a higher regard for liberal arts having worked for a while.
I think it is too early for you to fully appreciate your college years. Let a few years of corporate slavery set in, although pulling down a full time paycheck and still partying like a college student in a big city was great.
I agree with seeking the highest gpa possible.
something something intoxicated stallion
Why would you do this then?
This is just an opinion - yours specifically. It doesn't "bring light to a myth" or any other such nonsense. Mark Cuban disagrees with you, for one. Also, there's more than a bit of a practical difference between "20th century israeli film" and other liberal arts disciplines such as history, economics, political science, english composition, etc. You picked an outlier as a strawman to make your argument, something you would have learned not to do had you shown up more often to rhetoric class.
You might as well paint "Live, Laugh, Love" on your wall after this one, because your second point is utterly meaningless. "X is not always fun. Sure there are times that X is great, but there are also times when X is not great" can apply to almost anything in life, as well as life itself. "X may be true in some cases but not true in others" also applies here.
None of this is new or insightful. You're simply regurgitating what hundreds of others of said before you.
People who say you'll have the best time in your life in college, are talking about themselves. I had to take 5-6 classes every single semester while also working on the weekends at one point and 2-3 days out of the week for 3/4 years I was in college. And, because most of the money I was saving went to things like trips back home, books, tuition, and food and rent, I didn't have a lot of money, despite how much I worked.
But I still made it work, because the people I met were great while I was there and my college was 20 mins outside a major city and was located in a great neighborhood. I had the chance to do all of the things that people claim make college great. But I slept like shit, ate like shit, struggled to keep my GPA as high as I wanted it, and didn't have the most respect from employers who had trouble understanding where I was coming from.
I think college being 'the greatest' is only true if in your own situation you actually found college to be the best experience of your life. For me, it was fun and I look back on it with some smiles and some disappointments. It was a good experience but not great. Going to college is just as much fun as you make it in what I think is always true.
Also, I am very analytical even with grammar. Initially, I read that you just finished your last undergraduate class, titled "3 College Myths."
It should say something like, "Just finished my last undergraduate class. Here are 3 college myths."
My aim here is not to take a cheap shot at grammar, but I found it funny that you seem to take on this macro view of college experience, without actually learning what is meant to be taught in the classes that you did take.
Bravo.
HARDCORE
Nothing was missing more on this site than the valuable insight and perspective on college that an alumni of two days can provide.
I would not hire you.
I missed out on the college experience and it eats away at me years after the fact, I am miserable for it and have been for quite some time. Not having a crew to hang out with, no wild parties to speak of, no crazy experiences, not much of a great social life, and a lot of depression. It eats away at my soul to no I have never get a second chance at college, all because I had to be born to miserable sadistic parents that are terrible human beings.
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