My son doesn't have to go to college, but wants to anyway:

[Anonymous]

I'd love to know what these schools are that you deem so bad. I wouldn't be surprised if my kid was going to one on his list.

[Anonymous]

OP, did you go to college? Did you attend any of the schools named in your OP?

I agree with everyone else that attending college is important for reasons other than the specific degree you get at the end of it. DCUM is an insular community who by and large believe as you do, secretly or otherwise. There are a lot of successful, happy people in the world who went to colleges you wouldn't approve of.

[Anonymous]

Everything everyone has said already. And college is also about learning to be an educated human being and citizen. Having vocabulary, knowledge, and the ability to write and reason makes a difference wherever you want to be hired or otherwise taken seriously among others who are college educated. Education has value beyond the job credential, as important as that is. That said, it is completely not necessary to spend $80K a year on a college education. And community colleges and public regional colleges are a cost-effective way to get that education.

[Anonymous]

Your son is wise. He is planning his career and not just a job. To climb into management, most organizations require that he check the box for a college degree - it may not even matter in what discipline. Boot camps are great if it meets his end goal of learning a trade, but it doesn't sound like it's his end goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son will be graduating high school in May and wants to be a computer coder. Unfortunately, academics have never been his strong point. None of the universities he's been accepted to are very well-known, and if he does go to college, he'll be going a nearby state college, living at home to save money on a room and board. The thing is, though, that in order to achieve his dream, he doesn't have to go to college at all. There are bootcamps that teach people how to code in a matter of weeks, after which he could be making serious money https://www.bestcolleges.com/bootcamps/guides/salary-potential/#:~:text=Hack%20Reactor's%202019%20online%20software,a%20median%20salary%20of%20%2460%2C000.

You'd have thought that when I pointed out to him that he could start a serious career in coding after a matter of weeks instead of 4 years, he would've felt relieved and excited. Only he didn't. He said that he wants to actually accomplish something, and not going to college would rob him of that satisfaction. Graduating from a lackluster college is really not an accomplishment. If he were going to be attending Harvard or Stanford or Yale or Berkeley or Princeton or UCLA or MIT, then I would more than understand his desire to go to college, as extremely few people graduate from schools like that, and those who do become highly respected worldwide afterwards. But graduating from a college like the one my son's been accepted into is the easiest thing in the world and hundreds of thousands of people do it every year.

When I explained this to my son, he responded by saying that graduating from a bad college would be better than never graduating from college at all. So then I told my son that I would be happy to pay for the coding bootcamp, but if he wanted to go to the state college, he would have to take out loans and would likely be in lots of debt by the time he graduated and started his career. He said he would be willing to do whatever it took to pay off his debt. I just don't understand why anyone would want to take 4 years to do something that can be accomplished in 12 to 24 weeks.

Cool story, bruh.

[Anonymous]

Your poor child is SO much more clear headed than you are.

Don't bother posting on here if you are going to ignore all of the responses.

OF COURSE, a job seeker with a college degree in the 2020's onward will do better in the long run than someone with a "few weeks" of training.

How awful that you would not even acknowledge your child's willingness to work towards a degree. Finishing college IS an accomplishment. And it opens doors. You need counselling or SOMETHING.

[Anonymous]

College was the best years of my life (and I've had a pretty great life before and since). I want my kids to have this opportunity as well.

[Anonymous]

Your son is right. You are so very, very, very, very, very wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So OP wants her to son to pursue the current version of vocational educational and enter the work world with valuable skills.

If she had recommended he pursue plumbing or become an electrician you would probably all still be calling them a craptastic parent and calling troll.

Nope if he wanted to pursue a career where the best way to set yourself up for a solid career was vocational school or an apprenticeship, then I would recommend he do that. Software development (“coding”) is best learned in a college computer science setting. I posted upthread about the quality of education that comes out of coding boot camps because I see it in people’s interviews. If OP’s son wants to work in software development, he should go to college. If he wants to be a plumber, he should go to a trade school or find an apprenticeship.

Just wanted to add — I have several cousins who passed on college for trade school or apprenticeships and they’re doing great as adults. I don’t think college is the right choice for everyone. But if you want a career on computer science, college is very helpful.

+1 Also, I have a lot of electricians in my family. People talk as if trade school is this easy thing. It is hard to become an electrician (as it should be since someone incompetent could kill themselves or burn down your house!) and not a quick process.

Coding bootcamp is nowhere near the same category as a skilled trade training + apprenticeship. Someone wanting a career in CS needs to go to college. If nothing else, decent jobs will require a degree.

[Anonymous]

You can’t be for real. Maybe your son has picked up on your poisonous attitude and knows what’s best for him. I am guessing your son has at least a B average and you are saying that is bad. Let’s get a frame of reference here. You really need to lighten up. You sound like a destructive force.

[Anonymous]

Clearly, the kid is smarter than OP gives credit for.

OP, I hire in the IT space. I have even hired someone without a college degree. He is a very unique individual who is essentially one of those savant types that you hear about, who is entirely self taught (but has been coding since he was 11 or 12). But that is ONE exception among a sea of hundreds, if not thousands. For the most part, people with certifications or are otherwise self taught have serious gaps, that limit them in their growth.

[Anonymous]

OP, it sounds like you don't care about a future relationship with your son.

[Anonymous]

Graduating from a lackluster college is really not an accomplishment.

You are wrong on this. For someone who doesn't come by school easily, it absolutely WOULD be a great accomplishment. It took me five years to get an associate's degree from community college. And I could not get all A's. Or, even all B's. It was really hard for me. Your attitude is terrible.

[Anonymous]

Why can't he do both? Let him do the bootcamp this summer, which becomes a great preparation for starting school in the fall.

Further, if the bootcamp enables him to pickup some part time work while in college...even better.

That said, my buddy was the 15th employee hired at Google when he was still a high school senior. He was a hardware genius who taught himself how to build huge server farms. Worked for Google for like a decade and retired in his late 20s. Insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it sounds like you don't care about a future relationship with your son.

But I suspect he will be better off (the son that is).