Attending college is waste of your time

Attending college is a huge wastage of your time particularly if you are coming from a computer science or software background.

People across the world may relate to this article but you are more likely to relate to this article if you are coming from Indian Education system.

Even more likely if you are a millenial and belong to a younger generation.

Few Disclaimers to begin with

I know this article will attract criticisms from people who disagree with me. But i want to point out that we human beings all have different personality. Some are more comfortable with the Education System while some others are not so comfortable.

I have written this article for those people who don't fit in the SYSTEM. People who would be better off if they don't attend college.

If i fail to publish this article so that i don't have to disagree with some people i would be doing a disservice to those people who can benefit from this article.

Few more disclaimers !

I was fortunate to have excellent teachers and professors in my college who took genuine and sincere efforts to teach and who were better than most colleges would have.

My disappointment with my education and college has less to do with quality of teaching because i already had good teachers but it is more to do with the rigidity of the education system. Which is a bigger problem that my teachers and professors could not have solved even if they did not like it.

With the disclaimers being told let us begin our discussion about why attending college can be a waste of your time

If you are someone who enjoy / appreciate spontaneity in your life and freedom in your life. You would hate college and rigidity of the education system.

Learning is good and i always wanted to learn but when i went to college there was so much pressure on me to perform and get better grades and find a good job that i actually stopped enjoying the process of learning and reading good books.

The system of college puts so much pressure on students that you would be so much stressed out that you will fail to enjoy reading books and the process of learning the subject.

Learning happens the best in a more relaxed environment where you have enough time to reflect and assimilate what you have learned and you have enough time to share and connect with people !

So if you are someone who appreciate spontaneity and flexibility then you would not like the system of education.

College curriculum teaches you more than what you need to know

This is more true about education system in India. As a student of computer science I had to learn about civil engineering, mechanical engineering also in my first year. And teaching about computer science doesn't really begin until the second year.

I really liked learning mechanics and had above average grades in this subject. But it hasn't really helped me through my career as a software engineer. I could have learned mechanics later in my life also as a hobby when i had found some free time.

You don't need to attend college to learn Fundamentals Concepts

Most people would say that college education teaches you fundamental concepts and you would not learn fundamental subjects without a college education.

But i have found excellent tutorials on youtube that teach you fundamentals even better than college. When i was in college I really liked learning about SQL and databases but i didn't got the time to study this subject in depth. Because there were restrictions of time and i had other subjects to learn.

Finally after i passed out of college i was able to breathe and relax and fulfill my desire to learn SQL Databases. Tutorials on YouTube helped me gain a better understanding of SQL databases than what i learned in college.

System of college is less forgiving on you

If you go through a breakup with your girlfriend or a boyfriend you might need some time to relax and have a break in order to recover. But being in a college does not help here.

You have so much pressure to perform better and get good grades that you can't really relax in your life and take a break. This has consequences. Failure to find time to relax and reflect in your life can lead to depression.

Education system particularly in India have no provision that allows student to take a break and resume their learning where they have left.

System of college can ruin your relationships and friends and family life

System of college puts so much extra pressure on you and your life that it ruins your relationships and friends and family.

You don't get enough time to speak with your friends and family and enjoy the company of your friends and family.

This is sad because it doesn't have to be like this. You can learn even without all this pressure. Learning and education should not require you to sacrifice your friends and family relationships.

You don't get the time to innovate and work on new ideas

The education system in india is so much rigid that it kills creativity and desire to work on new ideas.

You will have new ideas and huge desire to work on those ideas but you will not find time to work on those ideas and even if you somehow you find time to work on your new ideas you will not have the support of peers. Because most likely they don't have time also.

Do you fit in the college culture ?

College is for those people who love competition and who are more comfortable with deadlines and schedules and for people who doesnt mind being a part of rat race.

College is more suited for you if you feel more comfortable doing 9 to 5 job and you are less likely and less interested to start an independent business or just work as a freelancer. The opposite is true also.

But if you are someone who dislike competition, who dislike being compared with other people, who dislike the rigidity and deadlines and schedules the system of college will ruin your productivity. You can be more productive even without getting into a college.

If you enjoy learning in a more relaxed environment then college is not for you. At Least not the conventional regular type of college.

You will be more productive and have more efficient utilization of your time and energy if you just choose to skip the college and spend your time learning from good books and connecting with good people and share your ideas.

Some myths about having a college degree

Myth : College degree gives you job security

Your college degree in itself does not provide you any job security. The knowledge that you gain is the only thing that can give you job security.

If you can gain knowledge without the college degree then you can have job security even without the college degree.

And if you fail to obtain knowledge even after getting a degree you will still not have job security.

There are so many people with college degree who does not have the required skills and knowledge. Therefore companies have stopped trusting the college degree.

When attending college will be useful and productive

Attending college will become more useful and productive if it has a more relaxed and flexible education system.

There is less emphasis on grades and people are not judged by their grades. System of grading students can be replaced with pass or fail system. Where results are declared as just pass or fail instead of grading the students.

There is less emphasis on the label and degree. You learn for the sake of learning and not for getting a certificate or a degree.

Students have the freedom to learn as they go and they can choose the subjects they want to learn as long as they fulfill the prerequisites.

The freedom and flexibility to choose the subjects is so much important and it can completely change the scenario of education in India. This can make education more interesting and an enjoyable experience.

Benefits of not-attending college

You will save your money and time

I could have learned better and faster if i did not attended college and I wonder if getting the college degree was worth spending all the hard earned money of my parents.

You will start earning income and achieve financial independence early in your life

When you're attending college it will take 4 years of your life to find a job and become financially independent. I can guarantee you that if you don't attend college you can start to earn good income in just 2 years.

2 years is a good enough time for anyone to learn and start a business or even become prepared to find a job.

You will learn better and faster

You will have better relationships and friends and family life

Learning new concepts and education is good but the rigidity of this system is what really sucks and this ruins your experience of learning and sometimes it makes me wonder my life would have been better if i had just skipped my college.