Am I more likely to be successful if I attend college?

Hi Shirley,

First of all, it's great that you're considering getting a college education! With regard to your question, I would say it all depends on what your career goals look like for the future. What is your definition of success? It's true that it is difficult for most people our age (I'm a college student) to find work regardless of major, but I think a college degree definitely makes you competitive in the current job market. I see that you tagged your question with psychology, and I think a college major in psychology could lead to some really amazing job prospects (either in psychology, or something totally unrelated!).

Regardless of career prospects, attending college will provide you with the space to explore a subject you love while also developing a sense of identity/self. For that reason alone, I think you should consider going to college. However, if you decide college just isn't for you, that in no way means you cannot have a "successful" life!

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Best,
David

I agree with the response you received above. In addition to considering your definition of success, you also want to be able to have choices. Having high level skills provide choices. Acquiring 21st century skills is critical to survival. Some of these can certainly be acquired by getting a degree from a community college where trades are taught if you don't want to go to a university . Some folks with Bachelor's degrees also get a trade from a community college to be well diversified. The job market is cyclical. We can only guess how hard it will be to find work in the near future. At best, you want to have a strong set of skills you can use in many types of positions. A high school diploma won't help you acquire competitive skills unless you want jobs that don't require many skills.

If you are serious about investigating options for your future and wish to avoid relying on anecdotal information, do some research. The site mentioned in the prior response has several readable summaries you might find interesting: https://cew.georgetown.edu/publications/reports/

Best to you.

Hi Shirley,

Great question to which I would say, that depends. There are many successful people who don't go to college and many who do. So what does success mean to you? To me success means knowing that you have helped or made a difference in someone's life. For some people success is based upon how much money they make, what type of car they drive or what kind of house they live in. So you need to decide what success means to you. If you do decide to attend college, and graduate with a degree you will have the potential earn money over your working lifetime than if you just had a high school diploma, According to a few studies, one done by Georgetown University, they say a college graduate will earn one million dollars more than a high school graduate over their working lifetime. Also, having a college degree will provide you with more job opportunities than if you just had a high school diploma.

You can be a SUCCESS no matter which route you choose!

Best of luck to you!