What is your view on university/college?

Is it worth it? Should everyone attend it? Do you really learn a lot?

Being only 17 I've never been to university, nor do I intend too. This is for a few reasons:

• What you can learn seems very limited. If I were to hire a programmer for a site I'd much prefer to hire someone who has never been officially taught it, but has the passion for it as opposed to someone who's just got their diploma and is doing it as their job.
  
  I know more about internet marketing etc than I could ever learn in university as the best learning is from experience, and university just seems to give you the facts over 4 years instead of giving you 4 years of experience.
• One big memory game. The one thing that bugs the hell out of me about the final year of school is that it's one big memory game. The people who achieve the results are the people that write a few essays at the start of the year, and then over the year write them out 1000 times so they can just repeat them in the exams.
  
  Any current form of testing seems to follow the same road - it's not intelligence that's being tested, it's how much someone is willing to write out the same thing over and over.
• You become just another person. I never want to be "just another person" - I want to be remembered in the future. I'm not sure how I'll do this, but I don't like the idea of dying one day and then the world just moving on. So many people who've had great success (not just financially) seem to have never gone to university, or dropped out, including: Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and the founder of Facebook. These people did something different, which seems to be the reason for their greatness. They didn't study for years and years, they went out and did it, which is a step ahead of all the people who were in their class.

Longer rant than I planned, but my biggest complaint is that university doesn't promote doing. It's all about "study for 4 years and you may get a job", and that really annoys me.

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I'm aiming for an Arts degree, assuming my UAI is high enough, If not I'll probably do an entry course or go to TAFE. However, if I do get a good enough UAI I'm going to apply for courses then defer for a year so I can play with my band and live an education-free life for a while. Of course, an Arts degree is just daycare, but they pay you grants for books and that sort of thing, so I'll probably end up spending that on an arcade machine or something equally frivolous; I don't have to grow up and become a 9 to 5er yet, like you say Dave.

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I think a little college is worth it. You should at least get the general education that a basic college can offer you. It may seem useless, but it is good for you. Yes, you can get through it all by simply figuring out what you need to do to pass each class without trying. If you actually try to learn though it can be a good experience. People tend to respect those who go to college more and it is a good social experience.

Part of the reason why I am working on a game is so that I am not just simply another person. People shall know me through my work even if they do not know me personally.

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"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience,
which is the bitterest."
~Confucius

College is not = to university.

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I'm not sure what university referst to due to lingual barriers, but in The States, college is most certainly worth it. In High school, you are force to take a bunch of classes that you will probably never ever need or use again. In college, it's only about 1 1/2 to 2 years of basics before you get into specified classes that you will actually need and use; and hopefully find interesting. I'm going into an International Affairs program with a specialization on Arabic countries/cultures. That's a fairly specific field, which will give you more of an identity than many would think. Also, when you have a Masters or Doctorate, people are very respectful; even if they don't like you. If anything, it's worth the power and prestige that comes with those titles.

Also, college professors are usually more easy going than high school teachers. I remember one on the first day of class.

"Hello class. My name is Dr. Parrish. Let me just say that if you have something more important do to, you don't feel well, or you have a major test you need to study for, then don't come to this class. I know your time is limited, so don't come here if you have something more important to do. Also, I will never keep you late. If it is time to go, tell me and I will stop in mid sentence."

And he was actually true to his word. You didn't need an excuse of any kind to miss his class (save for the Congress Simulation, but that was only four days out of the whole semester), and he actually would stop in mid sentence when it was time to go.

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Well here in the states, or at least where I live, the words college and university are pretty interchangeable. Technically, I go to a university but people always ask for what college I attend.
Anyway, I think anymore it is important in today's world to have a degree to get a good white-collar job. I know a lot of employers will look through resumes and make two piles of those who went to college and those who didn't. I'm not saying that you can't get a great job without a degree. I just think it'll be a lot harder to find
I feel I have learned a lot more in college than I ever did in high school (A testament to the US education system perhaps), aside from my high school college-credit courses. I start to see subjects relating to each other and the real world when I always wondered why such things would ever be useful.
However, college/university is becoming more expensive ever year and only time will tell if the investment will still be worth it. I think it is at the moment for most people. However, I don't think its right for everyone. My older sister has tried going to college many times, but school is just not for her.
College is also not for those who already know what they want to do and know how to get where they are going. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg both got into Harvard and were already well on there way to starting a successful business. Why spend money on a university when you could invest it in your business?
A lot of successful people/companies started out young, either dropping out from college or making their business while attending college.

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I plan to go to college probably one that specializes in technology. I feel that in todays world people who never attend a university dont get the respect they deserve.

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Yeah seriously. I tell people I'm not going to be attending college, and at once they jump down my throat without hearing my explanation. (Happens a lot when teachers talk to me.) I'm not too great when it comes to concentration in school. If things are hard now, it's going to be hell for me in college. I would rather spend my time in life (which is short) doing something I can enjoy, rather than join something I know I wouldn't succeed in.

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I have 7 GSCEs, but God knows that won't get me anywhere these days. Except into college.

If I want to make a real progression and perhaps make something of myself, I have to take A-levels.

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I don't know about over there, but here in the US, college is much easier than High School. For one, the professors are more forgiving and flexible. One time, I forgot an assigment. Usually in HS, that would send the teacher into convulsions. HOwever, the professor just told me to slip it under his office door when I got a chance.

In terms of respect, that really doesn't make much difference here unless you are a doctor or something. If you go around bragging about your B.A. degree, nobody really cares. Maybe you should come over here to finish school.

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