Going To University is a Waste of Time??

Was listening/watching a podcast on this guy Grant Cordone..... seriously wealthy, heavily invested in property and business.

He graduated from university with accounting degree.

He believes that most people who attend university are wasting their time and money and when he employs people for his business he is not interested whatsoever if they have a degree.

I think there is some truth in this, most successful/seriously wealthy do not have a university degree.

Also wondering how many people went to university and did not even use it and went on to bigger and better things

Blubrry PowerPress Player

 

Can only speak from personal experience (and I'm in no way seriously wealthy)

I don't find the education part directly usable (I barely used what I learn in Uni in my current occupation). But as migrant

Going to uni improves my English
It trains my logic into a certain way
It provides me pathway to become resident here
I met hubby here
It is also pretty darn expensive for International student, so investment won't be recouped if I go back to parents country

 

I got to travel the world with my degree....

The degree itself? Meh...but three years "free" to get really, really good at something certainly didn't hurt.

 

I agree. Migrants tend to put more value on university degrees, even if it's just for the sake of getting the piece of paper. I believe it's good to always be learning and gaining knowledge.

The people who are ultra wealthy aren't ultra wealthy because they did/didn't go to university.... It's because they are entrepreneurs and willing to take big bold risks.

 

People often forget that education is about learning "how to think" and not "what to think". Education standards are going to s**t these days so don't know if that still stands if one attends a a party school.

Some made up stats:
1. For every high-school dropout that made gazillions there are a probably a 1000 or more making below average wages.
2. For every high-school dropout that made gazillions there are a probably 10 or more college graduates who makes just as much or more.
3. Some professions may not need a degree but many do - Engineers, Doctors, Scientists, Accountants, Lawyers etc - so no argument there.

The take home from all this is that people who made it by taking(forced to take) the less traveled path are a real inspiration for anyone (degree or not). They would succeed regardless of the path taken simply because they are self-driven, high motivated and just won't give up.

Add a bit of luck(very important) and you have a inspirational success story.

 

I LOVED Uni

No idea whether it helped or not, I'm very smart and switched on anyway

 

I have multiple degrees (undergrad and postgrad) that I busted my chops to attain (working fulltime, traveling for work, and studying part/fulltime). For me the knowledge and skills gained have better equipped me to critically analyse situations.

I know some very wealthy people who have (and don't have degrees). It's not the degree that determines one's wealth but rather their attitude, determination, and persistance.

Education is the one thing that cannot be taken away from anyone so it is priceless in my opinion.

 

I'm very glad that I went to university, but I believe that I would probably a fair bit better off financially if I hadn't gone. Starting investing a few years earlier would have made a world of difference!

 

This question seems to have been discussed before and from memory it was a heated discussion.

 

No need for heated discussion, we can all have different views on this and it will be dependent on our own personal experience and I guess we should all consider that this if how we form our opinions no right or wrong.

I agree with many of the posters comments.

 

I don't have a degree and come from Italian background, my parents did not encourage me to go to university even though at the time it was free. I also wanted to take the easy way out, I was pretty lazy. Both my children attended uni, one current at uni.

On the flip side my brother was forced to go to University as he was the male and they decided he must have a degree. He went on to complete Electrical Engineering degree and ended up starting a business and not using his degree. '

 

You don't need to look too far to find people who didn't go to uni and have been very successful. You also don't need to look very far to find a lot of successful uni graduates.

The most successful people who don't have higher education tend to be self employed. They got there with hard work and applying the intelligence and skills well. It doesn't take a degree to be able to do this.

For those in paid employment, those with degrees consistantly get paid more. This alone gives them more opportunities. They also tend to have higher expectations of themselves.

 

I love Grant Cardone's work, awesome salesman and real life educator.
Maybe going to university is not a waste of time, but it's definitely not the best use of ones time, too slow in my opinion.
Can't speak from experience though as never went to uni.
Google and YouTube is the modern day instant university.

 

Google is awesome

 

I think if the opportunity is there for you, I reckon that everyone should seriously consider. The people that you meet, the good life skills you pick up and knowledge you acquire is something which you cannot place any monetary value.

In saying that, I have met many people who never went to uni and they are so intelligent! I feel that universities def teaches you to be open minded but whether it's worth having a substantial HECS/HELP debt is a consideration.

 

While I understand what he is saying, would you hire an accountant, lawyer or visit a doctor who didn't go to uni? I don't expect my local entrepreneur or property developer to have a degree but I sure expect my doctor and dentist to!

I guess it all comes down to how you define success. I don't think that wealthy and successful are necessarily the same thing.

I don't know about people with degrees who did something else. I have 2 and I have used both of them to get jobs. I think uni degrees are useful for lots of things, for example, if you want to be a doctor or lawyer then uni is the path. However, if someone wanted to be seriously rich, I don't think uni is the right path.

 

I don't think they teach you to be an entrepreneur at uni, I guess there are a lot of other useful stuff you may learn? I don't know I never went. Perhaps it helps people become more confident.

 

In my mid 20s I worked for a superannuation company. I was in a department of 50 and the only non grad. Because of me they changed their selection criteria to target a mix of grad and non grad entries.

While I got to "middle" management, going further up the food chain you were often over looked for not having a degree.

I will be pushing my kids to get some qualifications such as uni or trade. Something to fall back on or use to open doors is not everything, but can help later in life.

 

I'm pretty sure you would learn a lot more about life skills out of uni rather than in uni, my opinion only.
A day on the streets is worth a week in school.
I reckon I learned plenty more on the days I wagged school than the days I was at school.

 

Only speaking from personal experience, I went to university for 5 years to complete a degree in Architecture. Upon completing the degree it was difficult to obtain a job mainly due to everyone wanting experience, a facet of the course they now omit...it used to be 6 years with the last year being an internship.

Now in the workplace you realise how little "knowledge" you actually gain from university, most of what I now know has been learnt on the job. In saying that I believe uni taught me how to think differently, not really sure it takes 5 years to learn that.

For me it was a means to an end, I had to complete the course to become an architect. Is it the most effective way to gain knowledge, I doubt it.