College: Worth It or Not

College: Worth It or Not “College is a Waste of Time and Money” by Caroline Bird suggests that a college education is forced upon those who attend. As a student you shouldn’t lack the enthusiasm or motivation or it won’t be what you thought it would be. Bird states that those who think that going to college is a way to prepare for your future job are wrong, for there are students who are successful because of their family background. Bird makes valid points in her essay, but it isn’t all true to say that college wastes a student’s money and time and showing that going to college can benefit you in the end by giving you a well-paid job and having knowledge of new skills. Throughout high-school, students are taught that college is a great route to take. Bird states, “This is the way it used to be with women, and just as a society had systematically damaged women by insisting that their proper place was in the home, so we may be systematically damaging 18 yr-olds by insisting that their proper place is in college” (p. 9). They even have classes now that prepare you for that next big step, like taking AVID classes. AVID is a college readiness system for elementary through high school. AP classes are also available to students in high school. AP stands for advanced placement classes, which have a curriculum that you get when in college. Many may say that it is not worth taking classes like that, but also some may say that it is beneficial even if you don’t go to college or not. It has become “The thing to do’ says Bird. Going to college has now become something like a popularity contest, where you attend because everyone else is and your parents think it is right. Parents go along with it, not “thinking of the “higher” good at all. They send their children to college because they are convinced young people benefit financially from those four years of higher education” (p. 24). Parents are only thinking of the money that will come from spending money