I was talking with someone today about going to college to get a degree for a specific field of work. I told him that before someone spends four years of college time and money in pursuit of a career, he should ask himself, “Are there other routes to this career without a college degree?” If you want to be a doctor, an engineer, or a professor, there are no other routes. But if you want to be a chef, a systems administrator or a web designer, there are lots of successful people in those fields who are self-taught and/or learned their expertise on the job. The four years you spend getting a degree in web design might be better spent actually designing websites for people who need them.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons you might go to college that have nothing to do with your future career. Maybe you want to discover your talents. Maybe you want the opportunity to explore different fields. Maybe you want to create the kinds of experiences and memories that only college can create.
But whatever your reasons are, think carefully about them. Make sure the college you pick is one that can actually give you what you want. Don’t just go because you think you have to. The access to information today means there are fewer and fewer reasons you have to go to college. But there are more and more reasons why you might want to go.