I went to college for two years, the first year in which scholarships paid my way, the second the college (whose name I legally can't disclose) "paid" me to attend, provided I continued to play a certain sport. This meant that the second year I didn't have to study at all, so 1)I partied a lot:smallbiggrin: 2) I was able to take a step back and really analyze college. I've also ended up pulling in six figures, and made my first million by the age of 23, without the need for a degree. Hence, I do have some credit to my following advice. However, being male, I can't give accurate advice if OP is a female, because college treats them differently, but some of it still holds true.
The Bad:
1) College is a government cash cow. You spend approxiamately 5 years (the average time taken in the USA to complete a 4-year degree) and receive a piece of paper that for most of the population, isn't going to amount to much (unless you study to become a doctor/lawyer/something that truly requires the training, and then actually do the profession you studied for) as well as be +$100,000 US Dollars in debt. This means when you leave college, you probably won't be any traveling the world, having fun, etc. You'll need to get employed so you can pay for something that's price has risen way faster than inflation, for no apparent reason except that people are willing to pay for it.
2) Your college degree doesn't mean jack in 90% of jobs, and in the 10% it does matter (doctor/lawyer) it only really matters when you first seek employment anyway. An that is only if you don't have someone on the inside helping get you employed. If you have good connections, it will do even less.
The Good:
1) The average american male has 3 choice out of high school. A) College
B) Enlistment
C) Minimum-wage job, probably in your home town meaning you'll still be living with your parents.
If you are female add:
D) Sex work
Of course, you can always start you own business, travel the world, get into crime, etc. but 95% of the people at my 5 year high school reunion chose one of those three/four options. Of the four, college is IMO the best for average joe (though sex work, if you can put up with people judging you and not develop of drug addiction, can set you up for life in ~10-20 years depending on your lifestyle and how money savvy you are).
2)While the education normally isn't worth it, the social experience is
provided you capitalize on your oppurtunity. This means:
A) Building a broad, strong network of connection in many fields.
B) Devoloping your self-confidence
C) (If you are a male) Learning how to and getting laid...
a lot
Top Tips:
1) Don't pay much for college.
Unless you are become a doctor/lawyer/etc. where your actually school matters, going to an in-state state university, preferably with a decent football/basketball team. Why? Because a large college is easier, both the work-load and being able to cheat, and in-state tuition is much cheaper.
Get as many scholarships as you can. If you are decent at a sport, see if you can get a sport scholarship. Academic scholarship are easy to get, and if you are Caucasian, it doesn't hurt to answer the question "what race do you most align yourself with" on your application with a minority group, provided you look somewhat like you could be. (Make sure you check the wording of the question. Also, I am not a lawyer, so don't take this as sound legal advice. This is just what worked for me.) If you are able to align yourself with minority enough to pass college interviews, you will probably gain some scholarship from this, although they will not say it because of you race. If you ever have any troubles with this, threaten them with a lawsuit. (When I told the college that I wouldn't be attending after my first year, they found out I was Caucasian and not Native America, and threaten to sue me for misleading information leading to extra funding that I didn't deserve. The next day, I walked in with one of my dad's friends, who was suited up with a briefcase, claiming to be a lawyer. He told them that we where going to counter-she for discrimination, because scholarships granted on race alone was exactly that. The bought it, and agreed to settle by giving me my next year all-expenses paid if I continued to play football for them.)
2) If you are good at a sport, join the team.
You may get a scholarship, and if you are a male, you have just become a whole lot more desirable with the female populus of your social via the social status you've gained. If you are of minority descent, you have to stick to main-stream sports to get the full effect (I'm not being racist, it's just the way it is). If you're a good-looking white guy, you can join teams such as tennis or lacrosse, but football/basketball is still the best way to go. Plus the team atmosphere really gives you a chance to make good friends, which is a massive bonus.
3) If you can't/don't want to join a sports team, join a cool frat.
Greek life is great life bro-man:smalltongue: Honestly, if you are decent with people (not the fat frat bro that will eat anything) and you join a cool frat (not the nerd-frat or a minority frat) you are going to get a lot of party invites, a lot of friends, and a lot of the P. To tell if a frat is cool or not, go to there rush events at the start of the year, and see which one has the most hot chicks (I know, I probably sound sexist AF, but these are the facts). The one with the most hot chicks are the coolest. Being a cool guy in a cool frat means mega-bucks for your social status!
Personally, I played football and rushed a frat, which was good especially in the second year when I had a lot of free time other kids where devoting to studying. However, I was never top of my class in college, because a lot of time was spent socializing. (although, as long as your passing you classes, you are doing enough, (doctors/lawyers exempt from this))
4) Get Laid
This does a hell of a lot for your self-esteem, plus college is one place in the world where average joe with average game can get laid like Casinova. Take advantage of this, it will do you a world of good.
5) Realize Social Status is King
If college had a currency, it would be social status. And the cool guys who hang with others cool guys are the millionaires. And everything in college cost. Want to be invited to a lot of parties, you need the status. Want to get the cute blonde in the corner, status helps. Want someone to make a distaction while you cheat on a test, people will do that if your cool. And the best thing about being cool is that it's easy.
Coolness = Giving more status to a person/situation than you take + Not getting taken advatage of + How easy you make getting what you want look
If you need more help with this, check out websites like
GoodLookingLoseror
Girlschase. (I'm not affiliated so I can't speak for all their content, but the boys tend to know what they are talking about)
6) Don't Spend to Much Time Gaming
Playing Madden on a Tuesday afternoon with your frat bros is a great way to recover from a four-day bender. However, spending every weekend in your room playing some MMO is a could way to waste your opportunity. Moderation is key. Also, think about stepping away from table top gaming for a while, or keeping it on the down-low. I get called 'a cool guy/have a cool life' or whatever, so people are sometimes surprise that I play D&D. However, I don't get all nerdy with people who don't game, and so people don't give a crap and still think I'm cool. That's in the real world. In college, kids are ruthless, and most of college is made up of people fighting for mid-social status roles, who will look for any opportunity to bring you down. And sadly, D&D isn't cool, so it will hit your social status pretty hard. That doesn't mean be ***** to the guys/gals that chose to game, the coolest guys are only ***** to guys that are ***** to them first, but I would recommend spending you time in college trying out different interests, and returning to table top gaming afterwards.
7) Don't Judge (especially chicks)
Learn this now. Chicks love sex. Guys loves sex. Chicks slut-shame other chicks, so they themselves can get better boyfriends, by remove competition. Guys
who can't get any slut-shame chicks. It's sad that even in college girls don't get the freedom guys get when it comes to sex (I'm not a feminist, I think the pay-gap is bull-hockey, but this is the truth.) Instead, help girls explore their bodies, and do it discreetly. Even if you bang the hottest chick in school, don't go spreading it. If you're a guy who kiss-and-tells, you won't be doing much kissing.
7)
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF COLLEGE
If you're a guy, never get into a monogamous relationship. Trust me. I don't care if the school's hottest cheerleader wants to date you. By all means, bang her for as long as she'll stick around waiting for you to get committed, but don't get monogamous. Ever.
If you a girl, date the college's starting QB, and keep your sexploits discreet (I know you won't listen to me, and you're still going to tell your friends, because let's face it, sex is fun to talk about) But I can't tell you how many times I've seen a girl's BFF this week be 'that B*tch' next week.
Hope this helps.