Degrees & Dilemmas
College is the place where caffeine becomes a food group, and somehow, everyone suddenly becomes a philosopher. For some, it’s a launchpad. For others, it’s just a really expensive life experience. So, before you commit years of your life to college, let’s take a look at ten cons of going to college that no glossy brochure will warn you about.
1. Shoulder Student Debt For Decades
You walk across the graduation stage feeling invincible, but a few months later, a bill lands in your inbox with all the subtlety of a slap. Suddenly, you're not celebrating a degree—you’re dodging payment deadlines.
2. Still Might End Up Unemployed
You nailed every final—yet somehow, no one’s begging you to work for them. You scroll through job listings that all want experience, but how do you get experience without a job? It’s a paradox wrapped in a cruel joke.
3. Stress Becomes A Daily Struggle
Between deadlines, tests, and trying to remember if you ate today, stress becomes part of your daily routine. That is how balancing classes and social life turns into a juggling act, and something usually ends up crashing to the ground.
4. Four Years Without A Paycheck
Four years of studying can feel productive, but those same years could’ve been used to build experience or start a side hustle. Time doesn’t stand still. So, when others are stacking income, you’re still in class learning things you may never apply.
5. Homesickness Hits Hard
At first, moving out feels like the adventure of a lifetime. However, soon enough, you find yourself staring at your dorm ceiling, missing your parents. That sense of “I can do this” turns into “Can I book a trip home without blowing my food budget?”
Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash
6. Dropping Out Leaves You Hanging
College doesn’t always go according to plan. One rough semester or one really bad professor can knock you off course. You might walk away before finishing, but the bills still stick around like they own you. It’s like paying full price for a concert and getting kicked out before the opening act.
7. Lack Of Hands-On Experience
The college has a syllabus for everything—even creativity. You’re told how to write, how to think, how to express ideas. Eventually, it starts feeling like there’s a “right” way to be creative. For free spirits, that structure can become a cage that stifles originality instead of nurturing it.
8. Choosing A Major Too Early
At 18, you’re expected to choose what you want to do forever—before you’ve even figured out how to do laundry properly. You commit to a major, only to realize two years in that you hate it. Some people get lucky. Others get stuck.
9. Social Pressure Feels Unrelenting
College life comes with a quiet expectation to always be “on.” You’re meant to join clubs, go out, make friends, and somehow stay academically afloat. But when you're not in the mood, that pressure still hangs over you.
10. Campus Life Isn’t For Everyone
Some people love the buzz of campus life, while others feel stuck in a world that doesn’t match their pace or personality. Shared bathrooms and chaotic dining halls can wear you down. If you crave privacy, college living might feel more draining than exciting.
Now, let’s take a look at ten undeniable pros that still make higher ed hard to ignore.
1. Boosts Lifetime Earning Potential
Picture this: two people walk into a job interview. One has four years of college under their belt and a diploma, while the other has life smarts but no formal training. Guess who gets the first call back? College is a badge that tells the world you finished what you started.
2. Expands Career Opportunities
Every field has its gatekeepers, and college often hands you the key. Want to be a video game developer? Or maybe a marine biologist? College lets you settle on something that lights you up. And once you find it, there’s a whole lineup of paths waiting to be explored.
3. Build A Strong Professional Network
College is a goldmine of potential connections. Your future coworkers and business partners might be sitting next to you in class right now. Stick around long enough, and someone you once helped cram for a final might offer you your dream job years down the road.
4. Develops Critical Thinking Skills
Not every lesson happens at a desk. One day, you're asked to argue both sides of a debate, then write a paper defending one. Next, you’re decoding Shakespeare. Hence, the college trains your brain to stretch and snap back.
5. Opens Doors To Advanced Degrees
Dreaming big? Law school, med school, and grad school all start with that first degree. You don’t just walk into a courtroom or operating room without some serious groundwork, and college lays that foundation brick by brick
Universidad Pablo de Olavide from Sevilla, España on Wikimedia
6. Encourages Personal Growth And Independence
Nothing matures you faster than figuring out how to unclog a dorm sink with a fork or learning the painful difference between laundry detergent and fabric softener. College is where you figure out how to bounce back when things get rough.
7. Provides Access To Campus Resources
Colleges are mini-cities built to help you thrive. There’s usually a center or office for just about everything: writing help, mental wellness, job hunting, and even outdoor adventures. And most of it’s included in the tuition price tag.
8. Increases Cultural And Social Awareness
Your college is a melting pot of worldviews. Every conversation can teach you something unexpected. The more people you meet, the more you realize how much there is to learn—and how interesting that makes the world.
9. Enhances Communication Skills
Group projects. Class presentations. Awkward icebreakers where you share two truths and a lie. Like it or not, college makes you talk a lot. You learn how to shape your thoughts and read the room, and these skills stick with you forever.
Henri Mathieu-Saint-Laurent on Pexels
10. Offers Unique Life Experiences
Imagine hiking through a rainforest with your environmental studies class. Or writing a play with a group of theater majors at 2 a.m. It’s four years of structured chaos that you’ll never fully be able to explain to someone who wasn’t there.
