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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second, very few people in the U.S. go to the 7 or 8 schools you listed.

That's exactly what makes it an accomplishment. An accomplishment means you've done something that very few people have done. If millions of people have done it, it's not an accomplishment.

What? Please look up “accomplishment” on the dictionary and report back.

Hint: It has nothing to do with what other people are doing.

RUNNING THE Boston Marathon is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Earning a PhD is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Getting elected president is not an accomplishment. Donald Trump has done it. So even though few have done it, we know that any unaccomplished jerk can do it.

Escaping OP's clutches will be her son's first grown-up accomplishment!!!

[Anonymous]

Of course OP is a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second, very few people in the U.S. go to the 7 or 8 schools you listed.

That's exactly what makes it an accomplishment. An accomplishment means you've done something that very few people have done. If millions of people have done it, it's not an accomplishment.

What? Please look up “accomplishment” on the dictionary and report back.

Hint: It has nothing to do with what other people are doing.

RUNNING THE Boston Marathon is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Earning a PhD is not an accomplishment. Too many other people have done it.

Getting elected president is not an accomplishment. Donald Trump has done it. So even though few have done it, we know that any unaccomplished jerk can do it.

All those things ARE accomplishments. Running a marathon is not an accomplishment? Apparently you’re a troll.

I was being sarcastic, following the earlier posters line of reasoning. Except for president. Trump proved that if you can con enough people, you can get elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your son is much wiser than you.

+100
What a horrible parent.

[Anonymous]

OP, just in case you are serious the issue will be his professional ceiling. He will reach it quickly if all he has is a Boot Camp certification. In order to advance in almost any career he will need a degree.

[Anonymous]

This is huge misunderstanding or trolling.

Look around hard to find entry level positions in the IT field that says you don't need a college degree.
Most of the positions say a CS or related degree.

Ignorance or trolling.

[Anonymous]

A college degree in CS is the minimum qualification for most well paying programming jobs and makes a person more well rounded. While it's easier to get a good job after graduating from a top school, it doesn't mean longer term career success. I graduated from a State school but now manage several people who graduated from an Ivy. They are no where near the top developers on my team! The best two people I have went to much lower ranked state schools. For one of them, they are a top performer because they have solid technical skills but their people skills are off the charts. The other one is similar but just works harder then the Ivy grads and as a result, produces more and over time, has improved their skills to exceed the Ivy kids.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read the whole thread, and I assume the OP is trolling, but on the off chance she is not...

I'm not a IT professional in that I can't do the technical stuff, but I now hire IT folks. While we will certainly consider someone without a degree for lower level positions, they will quickly out-grow the salary range for that position without additional qualifications. I recently had my best developer leave to go to *graduate school* because he wanted to earn more and couldn't do it without an advanced degree.

[Anonymous]

OP, there are a lot of government contractors in this area (and around the US) and most of them require degrees for any type of IT/computer positions. It's literally spelled out in the RFP/SOW that it's required for the position as part of the contract. He can have all the skills in the world and would never be considered for one of those positions.

[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.

Bootcamp can teach you to code, but it doesn't teach you to design software or manage a development project. You're a code monkey, not a computer programmer. Any state school will do for computer programming or software engineering, but he absolutely needs to go to college. Computer programming is hard no matter where you go. It's absolutely an accomplishment to graduate with that degree.

[Anonymous]

Eventually OP, if you are not a troll, your child will be middle aged. If he gets laid off from the private IT world, most federal and state IT positions require a bachelors degree.

I had a friend who dropped out of college 20+ years ago to take a job at IBM; after layoffs I was trying to help him, but he couldn't be hired at my state agency for a much lower salary because he didn't have a degree. He did home repair until after the recession.

Your son is sounds smart. Best to get a degree now, even a degree with basement level grades is a degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+100 And electricians and plumbers and trades can't be outsourced, but coding can.

[Anonymous]

I have to assume the OP is joking but just in case, I am a tech exec at a tech company and I wouldn't look at a resume without a degree - I know some skills can be developed elsewhere but affects the whole package. Unless it's a top 10 university, I don't really care where you went but I do care that you went. Top universities get a second look regardless because its pre-vetting. And designing software by the way is a lot more than just knowing a programming language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, just in case you are serious the issue will be his professional ceiling. He will reach it quickly if all he has is a Boot Camp certification. In order to advance in almost any career he will need a degree.

With the cost of higher education gotting out of control, this is changing. Many companies like Google and Accenture have started programs where they are training people themselves and putting them on the same track as people with undergrad degrees. Those programs are great for people who don't want to (or have the means to) do a four year degree. However, I feel that OP's kid wants to go to college and should be allowed to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, just in case you are serious the issue will be his professional ceiling. He will reach it quickly if all he has is a Boot Camp certification. In order to advance in almost any career he will need a degree.

With the cost of higher education gotting out of control, this is changing. Many companies like Google and Accenture have started programs where they are training people themselves and putting them on the same track as people with undergrad degrees. Those programs are great for people who don't want to (or have the means to) do a four year degree. However, I feel that OP's kid wants to go to college and should be allowed to go.

Google, Orgacle, MS, Amazon, etc. have had traning courses on its products for certificates for a long time.
Nothing really new.

In the distant futrue, these tech giants might establish its own colleges, but now is important for us, so in the mean time, get your degree.