tempperm
New Member
I think we need to do a better job promoting colleges. My brother in law got a 3 year college diploma, works in the trades, no problems finding work and makes excellent money and is part of a union. Not bad.
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Is university education becoming too common?
- Thread starter theowne
- Start date
theowne
Active Member
And I can also confirm that there seems to be a widespread idea that Ryerson is the "easy" engineering degree to get back in high school, people always seemed to have less respect for a person if he was going to Ryerson. But it's also based on the acceptance patterns, because a guy with a 70 average wasn't going to get into U of T engineering, but he could get accepted to Ryerson. Now, whether he'll actually go on four years to get is degree is another matter entirely, but you can see where people get that idea from, because the standard really does seem to be lower. But why? It just goes back to the idea that everyone just has to get into university, and if you can't get into the elite program you wanted, then you can get into the backup one, and etc.
highlife
New Member
You have to accept the fact that a lot of people go the University because most jobs today require it, which is why a bachelor's degree is so common.
Do you really need Art History, Philosophy, Applied Mathematics, Geography, or Comparative Politics to work in an office job today? Not really.
It's not necessarily a bad thing, having kids aspiring to attend University is better than having them aspiring to become a professional poker player in Las Vegas. (No offense to the professional poker players). Although, I have to agree it's equally good if they aspire to work in the trades.
Also, there are plenty of elitist Universities schools out there. Obtaining a degree from one of these schools would be uncommon. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to attend any of them. I got mine from a Canadian University.
Do you really need Art History, Philosophy, Applied Mathematics, Geography, or Comparative Politics to work in an office job today? Not really.
It's not necessarily a bad thing, having kids aspiring to attend University is better than having them aspiring to become a professional poker player in Las Vegas. (No offense to the professional poker players). Although, I have to agree it's equally good if they aspire to work in the trades.
Also, there are plenty of elitist Universities schools out there. Obtaining a degree from one of these schools would be uncommon. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to attend any of them. I got mine from a Canadian University.
scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
If memory serves me correctly, Queen's was only accepting ~10% of applicants for a few years back when the double cohort was powerful and scary. That percentage compares favourably with some "elite" schools in the States, only it probably doesn't since so many people apply to so many schools without any intention of going to their 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc., choice.
syn
Senior Member
I don't think universities should become places that cater only to the "elite". I think as a society we need to do a better job of educating kids on all the options available to them equally, without classifying one "better" than the others.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
How about we make a high school diploma mean something? Then, employers wouldn't need to look for BAs in order to find folks that can write, think and calculate.
syn
Senior Member
^Well, a lot of places hire college grads. University can help anyone regardless of what field your in. The standard for critical thinking has increased a lot too, so it's no wonder that companies require a Bachelors degree at the very minimum. I don't think there's anything wrong with anyone who's qualified able to access university. The problem is that far too many people are under the impression it's the only way to go if you want a 'real' career.
theowne
Active Member
I don't know about that. My brother is in his third year of Political science, not because he's really interested in it or anything, and I can't see how he has gotten any "smarter" or learned deeper critical thinking. If anything he's just mastered the art of taking any subject and fitting into his already perfected "mold" for an essay.
Chuck
Senior Member
Rumour has it that U of T is slashing first year admissions by 10% or more for fall, 2008.
lordmandeep
Banned
Rumour has it that Ryerson will accept many more students then they can handle.
syn
Senior Member
That doesn't seem too surprising since the whole double cohort thing has finally died down.
syn
Senior Member
Well, it all depends. Have you read his essay? Do you discuss important issues, etc.? Going to university doesn't make you a superhuman, but I would say it helps. It also depends on what you want to get out of it.
whatever
Senior Member
I don't think the trades and higher education are as disparate as people think. I finished both a degree and an apprenticeship, and am having a great time working in the trades right now. I'm not a total outlier either; more and more young guys coming in now have some form of higher education. Not all of them have degrees, and not all of them finished whatever program they took, but the majority have at least a year or two of post-secondary education
Dilla
Senior Member
That point is huge. When you have to go through 3 interviews to get a waitressing job at Jack Astor's (my sister had to go through that), something is amiss. Similarity, one doesn't need a University education to work as a bank teller, but that's the way it is now. I don't know what's the chicken and what's the egg here, though. Has it become this way due to so many having the education, or are so many getting the education because it has become this way? Maybe it's both.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
My high school English teacher suggested, in 1968, that every child should be awarded a BA at birth and have done with it. I think Benc7's bigger-picture analysis sums up what's happened quite nicely.