Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Teaching and reality


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by OTOH on December 19, 2003 at 23:23:45:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Teaching and reality posted by Rick Denney on December 19, 2003 at 14:18:40:

OK, college is not necessarily vocational training, although most of the "for profit" colleges are really trade schools. However, my undergraduate degree in Industrial/Quality engineering allowed me to take a job as a manufacturing quality engineer while it would have been nearly impossible to get that job without the specific training that I received in my undergraduate program. I learned the jobs skills that I needed for my profession in college, and got a job because of those skills.

Could someone have gotten the same job without the same degree? Probably, but only if they had the appropriate level of training and experience in experimental design, statistical analysis, and manufacturing concepts. There are other places than college to get that training, but not many. To say "don't go to a college undergraduate program execting job training; that's not what they deliver," is a generalization that just isn't always true.

Even though I am no longer a manufacturing engineer, I still use the skills I learned, more than 25 years ago in college, on the job just about every day. If one decides to get a degree in tuba performance, or history, or philosophy, they might be able to do my job, but they will have to come by the knowledge necessary to do so some other way. Even getting in the door will be harder for them.

My point is that I believe that someone should at least think about what profession they might want to undertake before completing an undergraduate degree, unless they have 40 to 160 thousand dollars to throw away. For example, my daughter is completing a BFA, with a concentration in photography at an Ivy League school. The total annual cost for tuition and all other expenses is currently over $40,000 per year. She decided to pursue this major because she loves art, but she also thought about what she would do with such a degree. She is interested in photo journalism and publishing. I doubt that she will ever earn enough more to offset the more than $100k spent on her degree (she's graduating in 3 yrs or it would have been more), but having the degree will make her more competitive when seeking a job in the fields in which she is interested. She will also have learned much more than she will ever use in her professions, whatever they become, and have had a memorable life experience.

A tuba performance major should also put some thought into what other professions such a degree would allow them to be competitive for. If the only thing that would make them happy is performing, then they should go for it, but realize that a degree does not make one more competitive when seeking such a position. They only thing that counts is their ability to make music.


Follow Ups: