How much of what you have learned in college/graduate school are you really using in your job?

[Anonymous]

I'm a lawyer and I can honestly say that I use only what I have learned in two classes in my last semester of law school. When it comes to my liberal arts BA, the yield is even lower (0). What a waste of time and money! I think in a lot of professions we'd be better off with some sort of longer apprenticeships instead.

What is your situation?

[Anonymous]

Pretty much the same here. I'm an account manager with a cosmetics company. Have a degree in finance.

[Anonymous]

I have an MBA, am a management consultant, and use what I learned in business school all the time. My MBA program was general, rather than specialized (e.g., my degree is not in finance), which made it much more useful for a managment consulting role.

College is probably less useful on a day to day basis but I consider a lot of the classes I took to be foundations for business school. I went to a SLAC so the point was not necessarily to have a trade upon graduation.

I think your point is well taken for some people. I did not know at 17 what I wanted to do, would never have imagined the course my career has taken, and not sure I would have ended up here if I had gone the apprentice route.

[Anonymous]

Undergrad was about learning to think and articulate, and my program served me well in that. The particular subjects/topics I was thinking/articulating about in undergrad aren't what I'm doing in my job today, but the skill set was honed there.
Grad degree was actually helpful. Masters in Museum Studies. The market is glutted now, and I urge you not to read this and run out and get your Museum Studies degree, but is was useful and I use it in my Museum job today.

[Anonymous]

I use what I learned in undergraduate and graduate school every day! I majored in mathematics in undergraduate and studied energy/power systems in graduate school. I currently build mathematical models for energy systems and for energy policy analysis. I went to undergraduate school on scholarship and a research assistantship in grad school meant that my tuition was covered there too. While I didn't have to pay for my education, if I had, it would have been worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

I have a masters degree in international conflict resolution. Another in counseling. I use some of what I learned, but I agree with the PP who said my studies taught me how to think and write more than anything. I use those skills daily.

[Anonymous]

Critical thinking. Writing. Analysis. Presentation of Ideas.

Also, I find my liberal arts education has been really helpful in being able to complete the newspaper crossword.

[Anonymous]

College and grad school were huge confidence builders for me. I was decidedly average in every way in high school, and in college I excelled. I had two papers that won awards and I was in Phi Beta Kappa which was a pretty cool induction ceremony. I felt smart

For grad school, I got a full fellowship and it was the coolest two years of my life. I love being a student. But it didn't make sense to continue on after getting my master's degree. So for me school was about exploring different interests, building confidence, learning critical thinking and writing skills. Time management too. I do think the biggest skill I learned in grad school was public speaking. We had to do a lot of presentations and it was great to get practice in a low stakes environment of a classroom.

All of the jobs I have been interested in since grad school have been master's degree required or preferred. So I think it's been a huge deal to have it on my resume.

[Anonymous]

I need to read and write well and the basic understanding of my subject (I do research). I also need to know math and statistical analysis for my job. I'd say I use 20% of what I learned in college and 30% of what I learned in grad school.

[Anonymous]

Critical thinking from my liberal arts degree. Economics from my IR MA.

[Anonymous]

Critical thinking, general literacy from college.

Analytical reasoning, written and oral verbal expression from law school.

General statistical knowledge, skills in psychotherapy, assessment, group dynamics, culural competence from graduate school (Psyd).

Work currently as a psychologists in an educational setting and private practice. I feel I use many of the knowledge and skills I learned in school.

The thing no higher educational institution has ever taught me: how to market myself and successfully run a business. That's something I've had to pick up totally on my own. Too bad more schools don't teach their students this.

[Anonymous]

^ Sorry about the typos. Evidently I also didn't learn to type well in college and grad school : )

[Anonymous]

Statistician. A LOT.

[Anonymous]

Professor in the same field as my undergrad major, so a lot.

[Anonymous]

Economist. Plenty. Undergrad -- in a unusual foreign language/literature combo -- a surprising amount, but it's a mental discipline more than anything else.