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College Is a Waste of Time and Money Essays

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Hayley Drummond
Professor Dill
Tuesday, Thursday 8:00-9:15
Essay # 1 Summary
September 10, 2011 Caroline Bird’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money” explains her beliefs on why, for some people, going to college is an ineffective and inefficient use of their time. She states that many students do not belong in college because they are there for the wrong reasons and they are not happy learning. She also gives evidence to suggest that going to college and getting a degree does not actually allows a person to make more money in their life time. Her final claim is that college does not prepare most students for the real world and the jobs they will have once they graduate. Bird believes most students are not in college for …show more content…

Bird’s second point is that, contrary to popular belief, college is not the best monetary investment a young person can make. Bird explains this by comparing the money that would be spent on education versus money that is put in a bank for interest. The outcome shows investing money that would otherwise be spent on a college education would earn over half a million dollars more than the earnings of a male college graduate compared to a non-graduate. Bird also states that even if a graduate makes more money in their job than a non-graduate, there is no evidence that the higher income is due to their college education. She attributes financial success to luck rather than a college education. In this argument she mainly puts forth logical reasons why college is not for everyone. She shows actual dollar amounts that logically prove an education is not necessarily the most profitable investment. Bird’s final point is that college does not prepare most people for the jobs they are going to have in the future. She states the work attached to most jobs is totally unrelated to their college education. For example, although there are many graduates with a psychology degree, there are only so many jobs in psychology. The remaining graduates are forced to find jobs with work unrelated to the degree they have obtained. Also, she brings up the point that college does not make people intelligent and successful, but successful and intelligent people go to

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