Most people, especially in Singapore, would agree with the
article in theory, but will prefer to play it safe in practice.
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/college-edu…
In this environment, opportunity cost trumps tradition. For many
undergraduates and parents, the cost of going to college is now far
greater than the supposed benefits.
“College (University) costs - along with living and medical
costs - are rising, and salaries are going down right now,”
Managing Director of Formula Capital and Wall Street Journal
columnist James Altucher said. “College (University) graduates
don’t have the same benefits as they did 30 years ago.”
Parents should beware of their child’s intentions. Many students
want to spend their parents’ money—it’s their last chance to go all
out.
Now is the time to reflect on prospects.
When potential students think about college (University), they
should ask themselves what they’re hoping to get out of it. Analyze
their life. Assess their majors. This is a major investment
decision. Discuss possible returns, separating anticipation from
reality.
“If a student wants to go back to school (University) in their
20s, when they’ve made some money, traveled, and matured a bit,
then go ahead,” Altucher said. “But a parent shouldn’t have to
spend $50,000 a year for their kid to go to frat parties all day
long.”
An alternative to college (University) is becoming an expert at
one area and offering your services. The best university in the
world is called Google. You can learn anything you want on the
Internet, free of charge.
Why don’t parents give a quarter of the amount they would have
spent on an education to their kid to invest? The cost of starting
a business is next to zero. Not everyone is an entrepreneur, but
there’s no harm in trying to be one.
“Critical thinking shouldn’t cost $200,000,” Altucher said.
“There are other ways to learn that while kids can make money and
get experience. Lay your own track. Become an artist, entrepreneur,
investor.”
One of the real benefits of a college (University) education is
developing a good network.
College (University) students: Imagine where and how you see
yourself in 20 years. Then, look at your current friends and
picture their futures. If you have trouble doing this, or see
something you don’t want to see, chances are you need to start
taking your education more seriously.
Michael Jordan once said, “I have failed over and over again in
my life, and that is why I succeed.” The sooner you start a
business (and fail), the more you learn about the world and even
more importantly, yourself.
In the process, you’ll be making more connections in a year than
you would have made by being a full-time student for more than four
years of your life. By doing this, you’re forced to grow as a
human, and you’ll be better prepared for what the world throws at
you.
The ambitious kids who know what they want to do and where they
want to be, the ones who diligently participate in extracurricular
activity, connect with their professors and friends, go to special
events and presentations around campus and the city, and find time
to have fun: Those ones need to be nurtured and invested in.
“College (University) isn’t for everyone,” Trends Research
Institute founder Gerald Celente said. “It’s is a place where I
began to learn how to learn. People look at it as the end.”
It matters what and where you get your degree in, but only to
open the door. After that, your name and your word will carry you
or bring you down. Your GPA and everything
else related to education won’t matter.
If you enter into college (University) without being consciously
aware of what you’re doing and making effrot to maximize its
potential, then don’t be upset after graduation when you’re living
in your parents’ home jobless and hundreds of thousands of dollars
in debt.