What are some alternatives to college?

I feel like I go to college not to be a corporate drone and make tons of money, but because I can’t think of doing a job I enjoy without a college degree. That’s just me.

Getting a good job without a college degree, I think, is a lot of luck. Because, say you want to work for a certain position at Green Peace (I don’t know which one you want, so it’s hard to say). There are doubtless going to be tons of people applying for that same job (it sounds like a really cool one to have). Though no degree is required, there are going to be people applying who have degrees. Maybe in psychology, maybe in business, maybe in communication. But those people, even if their degree doesn’t have anything to do with the position, will look better than those who don’t.

Having a degree shows an employer that you know how to work hard, you’re worldly, you find knowledge and education important. Without a degree, it’s hard to have equivilant job experience to a BA or BS, or even an AA.

But, if you’re hell-bent on not going to college, it’s not impossible. I think the biggest determinant of who get’s a job is often who is the best-looking, has the friendliest face, and the best people skills.

I would guess maybe, a vocational school??

As a rule of thumb, never make a decision if you don’t have a plan of action, simply because “everyone else” is doing it.

Secondly, you have two main options here. First, you can start work right away. I did that, and within two years I was project manager at a corporate reno firm. Is it easy? Hell no. But if it’s something you’re interested in doing, I say have at it. It’s possible, but in this economy, expect your competition to slaughter you, as they have something to bring to the table that you don’t: higher education.

Your second option is to join the military. Seeing as you’re interested in Greenpeace, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you aren’t very much interested in it, but could be wrong. Let us know, and we can help you make an intelligent and informed choice with regards to a military career.

As an aside from these two major points, one thing you can look into is starting you’re own website or business. That’s dependent on how intelligent, creative or lucky you are. Generally, these things take experience, of which you don’t have. You could, of course, learn as you go along with a pre-existing and established place (obviously), but the trouble is finding one that will accept you.

Peace Corps
Real Estate school to be a broker agent, loan processor or escrow title officer
Vocational college classes for CPA or account work
Med tech schools in dental assisting

Greenpeace is not an alternative to an education, but an educational enhancement.

The biggest favor you can do yourself is to go to college, but don’t drink the kool-aid. School is only once place that you learn things, and is probably the least important in terms that grading is artificial. However, there is no other system that will provide you with the breadth of exposure to new ideas and concepts, and require you to reflect upon what’s being taught. The purpose of general ed requirements are exposure to ideas while you’re trying to figure out what you find interesting. And, some areas of study require a base of understanding.

The nice thing about college is that even with gen ed classes, you can take courses in things that interest you. College is not high school. The one thing they seem to forget to tell high school students is, at 18, very few people know what they want to do with the rest of their lives. You’re not supposed to know. Part of going to college is being exposed to different things. It’s okay to change your mind several times.

Deleted what I originally wrote here, as it was incredibly pretentious, pompous and assuming.

Do what you want, and be free. Just be smart about it.

McDonalds.

As has been previously mentioned, before acting you should consider the consequences of your actions very carefully. There is a reason that so many pursue higher education.
With this clearly stated I would suggest something that still offers additional work skills while remaining an alternative to university. A modern apprenticeship or militairy career may be suitable.

I know you can make good money in labor jobs like welding or carpentry, but those aren’t something I would want to do my whole life, and you still have to go to classes for that.

Okay.. I wasn’t specific enough. My bad.
I didn’t mean that I didn’t want to not to go college at all, but I’m just looking for interesting intern positions, or just something to do with my time and maybe help me decide more what I’d be interested in doing for a living.
I know that probably doesn’t sound like my original question at all. Apparently I need to think a bit first before asking a question.

Well in fairness you were generally specific <pity laughter>

Take Food Science! I’m currently in a two year food science degree program at my community college. I got a job through one of my teachers before I even got out because there is a sufficient demand for people with a background in food science – people never stop eating. The best part is you can pretty much do ANYTHING. You can work at food processing plants in QC, R&D in any type of food, for regulatory agencies (who btw don’t require college degrees, only 30 science credits and works experience like FDA, USDC, USDA, FNS, etc.). The classes are pretty sweet too, I took a brewing class where we made beer and went on a field trip to a vineyard and did wine tasting. You study chemistry, nutrition, microbiology, food chemistry etc. You can work for the town or state as an inspector which give great benefits, especially vacation time. I started at my job 2 years ago in the QC lab. I got promoted after 6 months to a higher position working with food labels doing ingredients and nutritional label and worrying about the regulatory aspects of labels. Now they want to promote me again. I believe if you get into a job and work hard as well as smart you CAN move up the ladder but it takes time, patience and dedication. I was in the same spot as you—I had no idea what to do. A friend told me to take some food science classes because I could easily get into FDA where they start you at like 40k a year which I don’t think is too bad for not having a degree.

Military. Go active duty and travel the world, and get paid to do so. You will learn discipline, respect and comradery! And at the end you decide you wanna go back to school they will help you pay for it!

@Achilles HOOAH!

Personally, I’ve done college and the military and I’ve found the military to offer everything I needed. I can still go to school (of course not full time) and get paid handsomely while I do so.

I was first in the Navy (if you want to travel the world, this is the branch to choose.. none other can offer such an adventure) and I loved it.

In the army I’ve also been able to travel to places that I would never have dreamed of traveling to.. some of which I could have done without .. but still… the experience was good to have. xD

Or if you are dead set on school.. than go to school.. get your degree.. THEN join the military as an officer or some such thing.. you’ll find the money and the lifestyle vastly challenging and equally rewarding.

@NaturalMineralWater My friend has actually got a fantastic arrangement with the Royal navy wherein they pay off her tuition fees entirely while she completes the mandatory training alongside her degree. Obviously she’ll have to do atleast two years service afterwards (I think it’s two years) but she’ll be getting paid for it and will be free of any university debt.

If you’re looking at what you want to do with your life, but you’re as yet unsure, I’d have to say (sorry), that that’s what general ed is for.

@generalspecific, I have a 22 year old daughter, and a 19 year old daughter. My oldest changed her mind 7 times before settling on something completely out of left field, and not readily employable. She is, however, committed to it, and will probably go on to get a PhD. My youngest is, at the moment, working overseas. She has no idea what she wants to do, but has decided that it’s hard to figure out what you want to do if the scenery never changes. Out of all her friends, she’s one of the few to leave town for her first year of college, and she can see how she’s grown over the last year. Universities offer all sorts of opportunities to study or travel abroad, or to attend an out of state university for a year at in-state rates. You have to be able to advocate for yourself; people who get to do interesting things make them happen for themselves. This is, in part, a very important part of an education.

Many really good schools have liberal studies majors, which are a classical education. Sometimes it’s helpful to talk with older people who have interesting jobs how they got where they are. Often their degree has nothing to with what their career is. If you think of college as part of the process of becoming a lifelong learner, then opportunities present themselves.

@Achilles I second that, join the military (I’m from a Navy family)and the governement will pay for your college education when you get out.

Everyone has offered some wise suggestions. There is another that the son of some friends of my parents followed. He took his college savings and bought a McDonalds franchise. He now owns six of them and makes more money than his dad, a PhD. chemist. However, this sort of thing takes a lot of research to make sure you choose the right franchise for you, and it takes hard work and attention to detail to make sure the franchise is successful.

Other than that, you should be aware that the Peace Corps still exists, and so does the movement that was VISTA, AmeriCorps.

@Darwin, how much college savings did he have? It seems a McDonalds franchise would cost more even than most parents save for their kid’s college.

Don’t get me wrong though, that’s awesome.

@monsson – This was some years ago, but I believe he had around $100,000. Current cost of a McDonald’s franchise according to this site is:

Total Investment: $950,200—$1,800,000
Initial Franchise Fee: $45,000
Royalty Fee: 12.5%+
Advertising Fee: N/A
Term of Agreement: 20 years
Renewal Fee: $45K

Sheesh. I wish some one would give me $100,000.

Nobody gave it to him. His parents earned it and carefully saved it up over 18 years.

Okay, well I wish my parents and saved $100,000 dollars up for me then. I mean, kudos to him, that’s really awesome.

I wish I had parents ;(

take a year off and work and travel maybe? that would be ideal, in my opinion. that way you see life in different ways and experience new things and maybe through those experiences you’ll find something that interests you enough that you could do it for the rest of your life.

You could go to a university and then take a year or a semester and go to another country to take a course there(it will be counted as credit). In Sweden(their exchange programs are in English) they have a free university program where you can study there for a semester or a year (I think a year is the most). They have a ton of different courses and I think you could find something you might want to take there. It would also be a great experience. And would look good on your record. Lund University and Uppsala University both have those kinds of programs.