| "I've fallen on tough times and can't continue my education" If this has anything to do with the monetary cost of education I say this: If you are in the States, take out as much Federal Loans as you can and get the degree from the best possible school you can get into or transfer to. You can defer payment indefinitely if you do not get a job that pays above a certain level. There has never been a better time in the history of mankind to take on debt. Look at what the fed is doing. There are stories about professors in the 70s that said their college debt basically 'melted away' as inflation went nuts. There's literally no social stigma to having crushingly high levels of student debt. College has absolutely nothing to do with teaching you skills for a job. It's a social signal that tells other people how they should treat you. Not having a degree will force you to do something extraordinary--like starting and succeeding with a company or doing very cool projects. Those paths may work but ultimately you are taking a very real risk of whether you can impress people with sheer ability. This is unfortunate, but we are incredibly ape-like when it comes to signaling. College is a straightforward way to signal that you are of a certain status and that you can do what needs to be done even if the reasons for doing it are not perfectly understood. Unless you are some Maverick, fearless entrepreneur with what you know is incredible drive and raw intellectual ability to solve problems better than the 100 million college-educated kids living in the emerging world who can work remotely for 1/3 of your cost, then, sure, don't do college. But if you have any inkling that you may be somewhat normal, save yourself the possibility of feeling hopelessly low in the social hierarchy for the better part of your life. And, again, to anyone who has examples of people doing very well without college, I am saying that these people are unbelievably bold and we really should look at them as trailblazers. I mean, sure, shoot for the stars and don't go, but realize what you're doing. |